Revision as of 22:50, 18 July 2020

There can hardly be civilizations without celebrations and the world created by The Skald is no different. These are some of the celebrations that may be encountered or referenced.

Updates may occur as we all find new reasons to party.

The list is divided between national and local festivities. Some locales always have something going on, while others may keep to a few a year.

National/Tapestrial Events

The Annual Review

Guild-related shops are closed and trade routes are rather bare, limited to time-sensitive offerings. Attentions are poised on the capital, Inizio D'Oro, where the guild leaders confer in their great meeting with the Primo Uomo. Many guilds and people alike pay close attention to who meets with the Primo Uomo, the length of the meeting, and try to gauge results before anything is officially conferred. This has become a long standing tradition, as many a time the power-struggle can shift, sometimes with favorable contracts, other times, with the announcement of a royal wedding, or even a coronation.

It is on this day that the plaza at the capital is filled with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, waiting for the doors to open and for someone to take the podium.

In other parts of the world, it is a time of contemplation. Nobles, guild leaders, and other people of influence have their eyes to the sky and road, searching eagerly for their messengers carrying news of the results.

Beyond that, the day is normal and sometimes can make for a stressful day off.

Date(s): Announced In Character

The Hounding

"Stay indoors, stay indoors," the natives beg. "It's just one night. Don't look outside, just listen, listen. To the bugles, the brays, and the cries of unfortunate prey."

For a single night during a great harvest moon, terror runs free through the lands in the form of a fox hunt... and you are the fox.

Massive shadow hounds announce their presence and will tear through anything in their path to run you down. Their howls and barking are answered by horns and the galloping of hooves as wraith-like riders on nightmares come to collect their hunt. Little can bar their hounds from you if and when they find you. They are ferocious creatures, loyal only to their hunters, and can shrink and grow to fill spaces as they keep after you.

The natives will urge you to stay inside. The morning before they hurriedly paint the top their outside door and window frames with a band of rich purple to ward off the hunting party. They encourage any campers in the woods to stay the night at the local inn, or even offer them a seat in their own living rooms if just to get them out of the wilds for the night. For the sake of the visitor's life and the villager's conscious.

Even the animals are wary and it is their strange behavior that signals the coming hunt. Locals are attuned and will notice that suddenly there is no game to hunt, no birds to listen to... Just an eerie quiet...

The next morning the unheeded are mourned for. Some found may be found headless, some torn apart as though the dogs had gotten them... and few may be taken by some other means, as if their heart was unable to keep up with the demands. Others are completely gone, as if spirited away.

Primary Play Style

The game the dice is based off of normally is inspired/influenced by a tabletop setting called Ten Candles:

Ten Candles is described as a "tragic horror" game rather than survival horror for one main reason: in Ten Candles there are no survivors. In the final scene of the game, when only one candle remains, all of the characters will die. In this, Ten Candles is not a game about "winning" or beating the monsters. Instead, it is a game about what happens in the dark, and about those who try to survive within it.

• Players get 10 posts to escape back indoors.
• Each group starts with 10 d6 they can roll. Rolling a 6 is a success, failing to roll a 6 results in a round over.
  • If a large group, to reduce confusion it may be decided that individuals will have their own dice pools. The round will not be over if a roll is failed however the amount of dice lost will remain the same.
• Each round the dice pool shrinks by 1, or if a roll had been failed, by 2.
• Running out of dice before 10 posts is a game over.

Badges that can be earned: The Fox and The Hounds, Lucky, Out of the Bag (Inaugural run only).

Date(s): Halloween night.

Tidbits: The first on-site hosted Hounding had two appearances. In 2019 the Tapestry saw the Hounding last not one night, but all month.

Special Versions

In 2019 as part of the failure to stop the release of Havelock the Virtuoso of Ill Omen, the Hounding lasted not one night, but every night for a month until a deal had been struck with the Prima Figilia Marietta Arturo to restore Meizarae without harming her. In July of 2020 that deal is broken by one of Battaglia's own by raising hand against the tree that contained Meizarae.

Virtuoso of Ill Omen Arc Finale

A special version of the Hounding is put into play, counting down to the climax of the arc. Starting July 24th, a game similar to Bunko will be played as the hounds chase and possibly kill the participants. Each week the rooms of their appearance will move inward until they have reached the city centers.

If Havelock isn't stopped by then, a different mode will be used and instead of their only choice being to run; they will have the opportunity to fight against a being chosen by the Skald personally over 300 years ago to guide and form heroes worthy of retelling.

Game Mode 1, the Encroaching Dark:

• Win condition: Reach the goal post by completing all objectives and staying ahead of the Hound (Player is Alive)
• Lose condition: Get passed by Hound. Hound must be on the objective ahead of player to count as a loss. (Player is Dead)

Complete the objective to move on to the next one. The number of objectives is subject to the sides of the dice used. Six is suggested.

• Players start on square 2, Hounds on square 1. Hound rolls first.
• You have as many dice as the objective number. (2 on objective 2, 3 on objective 3, etc)

The state of the game will be reiterated after each participant has a turn (or loss their turn).

• If no dice match the necessary number? Lose a turn.
• Extra appearances of the needed number: Gain Wildcard.
  • Use wildcards to fulfill missing objective numbers. Must have at least one number naturally earned.
  • Can be used in place of a loss of turn.
  • Allow use as an escape from lose scenario? No. Only prevent one.
• Be warned, Hounds have the same rules when it comes to wildcards!

Each player’s run is an individual game despite running with others. This means that if the hound passes one, the others are not doomed by default. Thematically there is likely more than one hound on the chase.

Players may try to throw each other under the bus, only if they are working on the same objective, pausing the game for a single d20 match. The loser loses a turn. Weigh your options carefully! You can use a wildcard to escape the loss of turn caused by losing the sabotage attempt... but will you need this card later?

Example Both players are starting at Round 1 of 6.

Player 1: /r1d6 = 2 (P1 lose a turn, because none of the dice match goal number)

Player 2: /r1d6 = 1 (P2 move on to next round, having rolled 1/1)

Player 2 again (P1 lost a turn!), because they are on round 2 they get two dice and have to roll two 2’s to move on. /r2d6 = 1, 2

Player 1 /r1d6 = 1 (P1 finally moves on to next round)

Player 2 /r2d6 = 2, 2 (P2 moves on to round 3, and because they had already banked a 2 last turn, they have one extra 2, resulting in a wildcard for later!)

Local Events

Inizio D'Oro

Maestro's Gala

A turn of the year event when a stream of colors crease the night sky. These colors are believed to be the Song Coil of The Skald, an aurora gifted to only the Capital. The inhabitants of Inizio D'Oro host a black-tie gathering at the Prima Famiglia's manor courtyard. This is one of the few times they are exposed to the public in a more intimate and mingling fashion.

Fortune tellers will find a lot of work during this event.

Date(s): Jan 1st, evening. Badges to Obtain: None

Concerto Battaglia

A military festival to display the achievements of the guild and promote morale both within and outside the ranks. Hosted in the fields outside of the city for space, utilizing tents and strings of banners to mark locations and arenas of entertainment. This event has the potential to be multiple days and can also be used to announce graduations within the 'orchestra' including official placements of new recruits and the debut of First and/or Second Chairs. If a ball is held, it will usually be only for the guild and their plus ones.

Activities:

• Archery
• Jousting
• Falconry
• Vaulting

Date(s): Late Spring/ Early Summer. One or two days. Badges to Obtain: Joust, Winner, Lucky/Unlucky.

Uhrwerkstadt

Fortschrittsfeier

A two-day festival celebrating the successes of the town's inventors and the 'official' start of a free summer. This festival kicks off with a parade of the accomplishments where the town's leader awards the best work. It is a little like a science fair and the whole town, no matter the type of work or experiments being done, has a chance to show off their greatest successes for the year. This is a great chance to impress, advertise, and network for many aspiring inventors and creators!

For the people of this alpine village, this also ends the work year with the reward of one season of fun and revelry (hence 'free summer').

The second day of this celebration finds the square filled completely with long benches and tables wet with spilled brew from steins being slid down the whole length to people. Food is simple things capable of being eaten without utensils, like brats on rolls, turkey legs, and so on. The winning invention is set up at the top of the stairs to the Zeithalle (the reigning guild's base) for all to see. On the stairs themselves is the musicians hired to play for the duration of the fest, keeping a loud and fast pace to encourage dancing-- if you can find room to.

• The inaugural event earned participants a special Stein in their inventories.
• The winner of the Parade gets the Winner badge.

Trivia: While the name of the festival translates to Progress Celebration, it is more commonly known as Inventor's Triumph.

Date(s): Summer Solstice

Chanson Isole'e

Hors du Silence

A celebration of the receding waters that surround the hamlet, marking Spring's return. It is a grand welcome for the first cargo caravans and a time to give great thanks as sailors take their ships out of service for cleaning and upkeep. The party and market lasts about a week with guilds of all sizes participating in a contest of Flag Throwing, a sport where men show off their strength and acrobatics while waving and throwing large guild banners, entertaining the masses with their practice routines while the actual contest occurs at the end of the week.

The Flag Throwing contest is a bit like a dance off and can be done in groups, pairs, or singles.

Badges that can be earned: Winner.

Date(s): Week after Official Spring.

Otkrytoye Polotno

The Games

A competitive day that loosely traces itself to the days of Stoneheart. All or some of the events will be available, per host.

This is a mass knock-em-out match set within a circular space. The rules are painfully simple: last man standing wins, no weapons or magic. To make matters more hectic, every participant is given a belt of pouches containing various colored dyes that they can use to tag their opponents, creating a colored fog to make things even harder. It is added for fun and breaks up the white color scheme of the frozen wastes. Audience members can purchase their own handfuls of the powder to pitch into the arena in favor or hindrance!

• Money is also a prize here... everyone participates drops a gold into the pot. The pot will always contain at least 500. A portion of audience purchases will go into pot.

• This fight will be oocly decided by a method of host's choosing.

Tug Of War

A team on each side of a long heavy rope will pit their strengths against each other to try and get the other team to fall into shallow pit of icy water.

• 3v3 or 5v5
• Each player rolls a d20 and the combined totals will be compared. The difference will determine how much of slip the losing team has and a set amount (to represent the pool) is needed to win.
  • modifications to rolls may be permitted by the host to compensate for natural strengths or weaknesses. This may be done as the use of a different die or imposing an amount to be added or subtracted from that players results.

Archery: Five rounds with a d10:

1. String break
2. Miss
3. Bounce
4. Outer Edge
5. Inner Edge
6. Outer Mid
7. Inner Mid
8. Outer Center
9. Inner Center
10. Perfect Center

• More rounds may be added as desired.
• Players may declare a +/-1 to their rolls to notate proficiency or lack thereof.
  • 10 is max point for any arrow. 1 is the minimum point for any arrow.
• Each participant may shoot all arrows, it is advised to do so before posting so reactions can be formulated.
  • Tip: Use our Discord to do all the rolls at once! It will even total them for you, hosts! /roll 5d10

Big Fish Who can snag the big one?! Who has the patience and perseverance to sit in the cold to do so?! Number of chances may range from 10 or more based on host's desire.

D4 (Success Rate)

1. Pole yanked from you!
2. Easy catch
3. Struggle, lose fish
4. struggle, keep fish!

D100 (Size! centimeters)

Self explanatory. Bigger number, bigger fish. Turn in the biggest offering!

• Plan on cheating? Depending on how you plan to, speak to the host (concerning enhanced lines) for dice modifications they may supply.
  • You can also choose to cheat by thieving or just being mean and kicking their catch box into the water (or anything else you can think of) just make sure to talk to your victim about it, or give them a chance on catching you.

Badges that can be earned: True Colors, Grand Archer, Baited Line, Sturdy Anchor, Generic Win, Lucky/Unlucky

General Gold adjustments: 1st: 500 |2nd: 250 |3rd: 100 |4th: 50 |5th: 25

Audience members are not eligible.

Date(s): End of January.