Seasonal Cycle
13.1 Overview of Seasons
| Season | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Spring (Wind-Waking) | Lush spring blooms carpet the Aurora Plains. The "Festival of the Whispering Winds" celebrates the arrival of spring. New migration routes are scouted. Foals are born and young riders begin training. Trade caravans prepare for the active season. The East Wind, Eurus, carries the seeds of new ideas and the promise of new beginnings. |
| Summer (Sun-Ride) | Peak travel and trading season. Caravans range far across the plains, reaching distant settlements. Long days are spent herding, foraging, and trading. Skill-sharing sessions intensify. The afternoon heat brings leisure time for storytelling and music. The South Wind, Notus, ignites the fires of the heart and the flames of imagination. |
| Autumn (Star-Harvest) | Herds are gathered, stores prepared for winter. The Equinox Gathering brings tribes together for grand festivals. The Night of the Ancestors honors forebears with offerings and tales of their deeds. Herbs and medicinal plants are harvested for winter. The West Wind, Zephyrus, sweeps away the old and makes way for the new. |
| Winter (Deep-Rest) | Caravans seek sheltered valleys and oases. The "Night of the Celestial Herd" is observed under winter's clearest skies. Storytelling reaches its peak as families gather closely. Elders transmit the most sacred teachings. The North Wind, Boreas, brings the knowledge of the past and the lessons of history. |
13.2 The Festival of the Whispering Winds (Spring)
Held on the first day that the East Wind, Eurus, blows warm across the plains, this festival marks the official beginning of the travel season. Tribes decorate their caravans with fresh Aurora Bloom garlands, children race on ponies for the first time, and the Mystical Stewards perform the Rite of the Waking Earth, pressing their palms into the soil to feel the returning pulse of the plains.
13.3 The Festival of the Long Ride (Summer)
At midsummer, when the days are longest, the Nomads celebrate with a week-long competition of horsemanship, archery, and endurance riding known as the Festival of the Long Ride. Riders from every tribe converge at the Hollow of Echoes for races, mounted combat demonstrations, and a grueling long-distance ride across the open plains. The victor is crowned Sun Rider for the year, an honor that carries great prestige.
13.4 The Night of the Ancestors (Autumn)
During the autumn equinox, the Nomads honor their deceased with the Night of the Ancestors. Fires are lit in a ring around the camp, and each family places a carved totem and a bowl of food outside their caravan as an offering. Shamans enter a trance state to commune with ancestral spirits, and their messages are shared with the assembled tribes at dawn.
13.5 The Night of the Celestial Herd (Winter)
On the longest night of the year, when the sky is at its clearest, the Nomads perform the Dance of the Celestial Herd. White-painted riders on pale horses circle the camp in formation, mimicking the constellation patterns of the Celestial Herd. Sky Seers read the year's fortune in the stars, and the eldest Shaman recites the Roll of the Remembered
the names of all Nomads who passed during the year, commending their spirits to the Eternal Sky.