the feast of flowering + 2nd anniversary
March 13th - April 13th, 2023
This event has ended!
As winter slowly loosens its grip on Ivras, excitement is building for the yearly springtime Feast of Flowering, a festival where everyone—commoners, nobles, merchants, farmers—are called upon to ask the Patrons for a prosperous new year.
Historically, this vibrant, sometimes frenzied feast day was celebrated by individuals building shrines and performing ritual sacrifices to any of the three patrons in exchange for fertile agriculture and… fruitful family planning. Now, practice has become more secular, and many willing Ivratians simply tithe: extending generosity to neighbors, reflecting & showing contrition for past wrongs, or giving of their worldly goods to the state treasury (or that of the Order, if you’re so inclined).
Still, some more spiritual denizens take an old world approach, continuing to answer a direct call to sacrifice gold, crops, or whatever they have to offer at an individually-crafted shrine.
The Main Event associated with the Feast of Flowering is the burning of a massive wicker effigy in the central square of Faline, just outside the palace gates. Any Ivratian who can make the journey is encouraged to bring something to throw onto the effigy, signaling their commitment to a strong, unified Ivras. This is a modern nod to historical spiritual practices, as well as an excellent excuse to partake at some of Faline’s finest alehouses before setting a huge horse on fire.
Last year, one year after the corruption of Archmage Hagia, the Feast of Flowering celebrations were subdued, and in some cases, canceled entirely.
The year that followed has been considered bad by many. Now there are whispers among the superstitious—and others—perhaps the bad year was a consequence of unhappy Patrons, snubbed of their yearly springtime offering?
Others scoff at this, citing more worldly reasons for the rough times. What’s certain is that this year’s celebration will likely be more well-attended than the last… better bring your most heartfelt, flammable offering to the effigy!
Many smaller cities and towns have elected to raise their own effigies, spreading the tradition from Faline to most corners of Ivras—at least the parts that recognise the Crown’s authority.
flowers galore 💐🌷🌸🌻
A new custom has emerged, starting in Faline but quickly spreading throughout the country: during the festivities, masked shrine wardens are handing out bundles of spring flowers to honor each of the three Patrons, but you’re supposed to only pick one of the Patrons to receive flowers from.
Despite this, a rumour has spread that if you manage to get your hands on a flower from each Patron, and bring all of them to the effigy to be burned, your year will be prosperous and fruitful…
Back-alley trading of flowers, bartering, even outright stealing has become rampant.
- To participate, either pick one Patron whose flower your character will start with, or head over to the #rolling channel to let RNG decide for you.
- To gain the remaining two flowers, depict your character asking for, trading, bartering, or stealing a flower from another player’s character who has that particular flower.
- Each piece must be worth at least 5g before the double bonus is applied. Collabs and roleplays are welcome as long as it is clear what flower each character receives, and that each player contributes 5g to the finished piece.
Rewards: Every piece will earn double gold, and if your character gets all three flowers, they will earn either +1 to Power or Discipline (mages) or 50 bonus gold (nonmages) and a special badge!
This activity is open to both mage and nonmage characters.
✨ event tag in wanted-ads forum
In the wanted-ads forum of the Anathema Discord server, you can now add the '💐 Event' tag to event-related posts, and use that tag to filter threads so you can find someone to RP, collab, or art trade with during this event!
📖 two story prompts
Explore the festivities with these two story prompts! One is especially geared towards nonmages, but all characters can of course complete them. Mages will earn stat rewards for every response.
Click here to see the story prompts!
🔥🐐 collab prompt
Earn double gold with this collab/roleplay prompt:
How do your characters show goodwill during the Feast of Flowering? Will they use the holiday to surprise the other with an act of generosity or as an opportunity to make amends?
2nd anniversary
Happy birthday to Anathema! While the Feast of Flowering goes on, we also celebrate the game’s second birthday.
🌟 ley token raffle
A ley token gives you access to the mysterious Ley Lodge, a place of deep magic and powerful items that allow players to create new kinds of characters and access other valuable in-game rewards.
Write, draw, or describe what you would use a Ley Token for. A new character or a current one? Create a piece worth at least 1 gold to enter the raffle, and when the event ends, we will let a random number generator pick a winner!
Click here to post your raffle submissions!
📚 new prompts
Nine new prompts have been added to the Prompts page! Dive into your character’s interests with these new questions.
🎲 d20 roll prompts
Stuck in a roleplay? Unsure what to draw? Head over to the #rolling channel on Discord to try out our new D20 Roll Prompts! You will get a randomly chosen prompt of a word or phrase that can be interpreted in whatever way you like! Literally or figuratively, as an overarching theme, or mentioned in passing—anything goes (as long as you can point it out to staff if we ask about it!)
Every work that contains a D20 roll prompt will earn +2 gold!
Character badge:
Every character who participated in this event may put the below badge on their profile:
<a href="https://toyhou.se/~bulletins/1185384"> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/BiPHz4H.png" alt="Feast of Flowering II"> </a>
Flower Game reward badge:
And if your character managed to collect all three flowers, they can use this badge on their profile:
<a href="https://toyhou.se/~bulletins/1185384"> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/AbB1Acq.png" alt="Flowers of the Patrons"> </a>
1 year, 23 days ago Edited 11:46 am
win a ley token!
Ley Tokens are a valuable currency that can only be spent at the mysterious Ley Lodge. Each can be used only once to claim a rare and powerful item from this special shop.
To enter to win a Ley Token your own:
Entries must be worth at least 1 gold (i.e. at least 100 words or at least an uncolored headshot).
Post your entry as a reply to this comment. Every player may only enter once. If you win, you do not necessarily have to use your Ley Token to create what you depict in your entry.
All entries must be created for this contest! Already-existing content of characters/designs you own is not valid for entry.
And the winner is... OverlyOptimistic!
1 year, 1 month ago Edited 10:52 am
User: ChikPeas Character: Maxin Entry: https://toyhou.se/20234215.maxin/20234241.anathema/gallery#62439283
1 year, 1 month ago
[ NOTE: This is a resubmission of a previous Ley Token submission, the gold has already been counted! ]
From the shadows, eyes of many horrors peer out once more... cautiously... intently.
https://toyhou.se/15509124.faisal/15509698.anathema
1 year, 1 month ago
User: JulieJewel24 Character: Future character Entry: https://toyhou.se/~literature/175070.blood-upon-snow
1 year, 1 month ago
User: empiredog Character: future character https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos
https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos/20714295.anathema app + 1053words = 20g x 2 = 40g https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos#62550008 10g https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos#62550059 12g https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos/gallery#62552103 8g https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos/gallery#62729536 16g https://toyhou.se/20679030.janik-a-vanthos/gallery#62729560 18g
Gold total: + 104g Posting for staff record.
1 year, 1 month ago Edited 4:26 pm
User: OverlyOptimistic
Character: Moacir
Entry: https://toyhou.se/~literature/176177.a-sense-of-regret
1 year, 1 month ago
Lil ley token entry!! I would be turning Six into a Palladin :)
----
Six didn't like their magic. For a long time, they didn't think they had any. Their stay at Namarast had been to find their father, nothing else, and the magic Agathias had dragged out of them- well. Six rather didn't acknowledge it.
It was a very practical magic all the same. Azcasu had found a good use for Six, the poison mage, as a bartender. The owner of The Black Jug had a really good mental radar for people with bad intentions, and Six could quietly knock them down. Didn't kill them, Six wasn't sure how to do that.
Six wasn't sure how to do most things with their magic.
It went ignored. Six favored knives, strength, agility. Those were things they could control, and their magic felt like a convenient little skill they had. But they could go through life without it. Didn't need to rely on it.
When the Spire claimed them, there was nothing left.
No strength nor knife could get them out. It'd taken a long, long time before Six broke, and gave in to the Spire. It'd toyed with all of their insecurities, given them an impossible choice of facing all of those fears, before they'd have any hope of being let out.
With days passing, weeks, time unstable.. Was anyone going to miss them? Was anyone coming?
The insecurity would stay. The feeling of being powerless and dependent on others would too. But their magic grew fast after the event.
At first, this scared Six. Where before, everything had been based on luck and chance, they gained a sense of control over their power. They drew moisture from the air, creating water where there had been none, and their magic wasn't poison. It was water. It'd always been water.
That magic kept growing, changing, expanding. It would be the most in control Six had ever felt about anything.
And they needed so much more of it.
----
322 words - 3G
1 year, 1 month ago Edited 12:57 pm
Kalais gets a shattered totem. In a burst of emotional overload his body bursts apart with roiling colourful smoke, essentially pushing away a lot of those he cares for and in a way giving himself the freedom he craves.
Coloured headshot: 2g x2 = 4g
1 year, 25 days ago
story prompts
For this event, there are two Story Prompts available! You may do as many of the prompts as you like with any of your characters, but each character can only complete each prompt once.
At the end of the event, Mages will receive a stat point bonus for every Story Prompt they complete.
Prompt responses must be worth at least 1 gold (i.e. at least 100 words or at least an uncolored headshot).
Upload your response like any other art or literature submission, tagthis character profile, and claim your gold; collect double your total count for prompt responses.
1 year, 1 month ago
story prompt 1
a glimpse of magic
A group of mages, claiming they are from the Mage Court, have set up a festive display near the effigy. Its colorful banners and decorations are obviously pro-magic, and its goal seems to be letting non-mages “play with magic” as a way to garner more understanding and good-will from the general populace.
In this prompt, imagine your nonmage temporarily gaining a magic ability. What would it be?
What does your nonmage think about this?
What does your mage think about this?
Prompt responses must be worth at least 1 gold (i.e. at least 100 words or at least an uncolored headshot).
Upload your response like any other art or literature submission, tag this character profile, and claim your gold; collect double your total count for prompt responses. You may submit collabs and RP as prompt responses, but every participating character's choice must be clearly indicated for mods.
1 year, 1 month ago Edited 11:01 am
story prompt 2
feed the flames
Perhaps your character is only here for the festivities, or perhaps they harbor a heartfelt belief in the Patrons—in any case, they have decided to attend the burning of the effigy.
What do they throw on the fire?
Prompt responses must be worth at least 1 gold (i.e. at least 100 words or at least an uncolored headshot).
Upload your response like any other art or literature submission, tag this character profile, and claim your gold; collect double your total count for prompt responses. You may submit collabs and RP as prompt responses, but every participating character's choice must be clearly indicated for mods.
1 year, 1 month ago Edited 11:03 am