It begins in the early morning, as the light of the sun finally breaks over the valley. Even the natural things in the home of the industrious Flinterforged are never truly still, but on this day, the currents on the wind and the hum of the nearby creatures shiver with the coming Change.
The shiver extends to the settlement, as well, slithering into the hinges of doors and the places where floorboards creak, into circuitry and seeds, paints and pens, the creators and their crafts. Each one feels it a little differently, as the shift of a current, the new intensity of light, the air’s symphony transposed into a different key. But all who feel it recognize, in their own way, the coming of something new.
Hi, Guildfriends! The Day’s Work has been a bit hectic of late for @Tinker and myself, but better late than never to get in on the Day of Change spirit, right? Right. So how do you think the Day of Change festival would be celebrated at Flinterforge? What rituals do we Flinters observe? A feast? A talent show? A gallery-style exhibition of our latest projects? What would you contribute to the group preparations? Sound off!
I imagine that the Day of Change is part showcase for the previous year’s work and part proposal session for the coming year. A big, open room in the guild hall (with plenty of windows) is set up for an indoor gallery for the visual artist, bigger projects are shown out on the lawn for sculptural, mechanical, etc works. In the evening, there are performances for the musically- and theatrically-inclined creators, either on a stage outside or a cozy room in the Hall. Throughout the day, at each of these spots, you can find posters and previews of the coming year’s big works - early schematics, moodboards, swatches of materials - and groups with their sketchbooks out, looking for collaborators.
People take the day in shifts - part of the day manning their station to show off their work, and part of the day wandering the halls and grounds to make sure they see everyone else’s accomplishments…all fueled by those whose craft is food and drink, sampling the most successful and innovative new recipes of the year. Some guild members - inclined towards photography and fast portraiture - are set in charge of capturing the day for posterity.
I’m so excited to hear what everyone else envisions for the Day of Change…I love pondering magiq festivals and holidays!!
I think people might also set up little contests/challenges, either for individuals or teams! Like egg drop challenges or trying to engineer a toy boat out of pipe cleaners and paper and stuff like that, trying to see whose boat can carry the most weight or can sail the farthest (I bet these can get pretty elaborate)! The prizes could be pies or bragging rights or even drafting books/notebooks (I imagine many flinters fill up books with ideas and notes and schematics pretty quickly). Maybe some people work through the day and into the night on projects, to show off as the day winds down, like light shows or fireworks.
I think theres also probably a showcase of inter-guild collaborative projects, like new adventuring gadgets (or renewed old ones) for weatherwatch friends or a sustainable veggie garden project full of new techniques and tools and breeds of plants, undertaken with the help of some gossmerim!
Maybe theres even a giant pumpkin contest, to see who was able to grow the biggest pumpkin that year! Giant pumpkins in the mundane are already massive, I imagine those grown by flinters here would be humongous! Maybe big enough to turn into houses or workshops or tents to showcase other projects and products after judging, even. There could be amazing collaborations between sculptors and pumpkin-growers as well, with HUGE jackolanterns and pumpkin carvings/sculptures! I cant help but imagine a shed-sized pumpkin completely filled with smaller pumpkin carvings!
I ADORE the idea of a toy boat contest, and I think it makes perfect sense. The boats are seen as a symbol of the Change, helping us let go of the things that are passing so we can embrace the things that are new. People team up to try to come up with the best boat, and there’s a whole variety of awards given, typical ones for distance and carry weight and best decorated, but also bizzare Neithernorian-type categories, like “Most Unusual Materials,” or “Strongest Reaction to Magimystic Currents.” And maybe at the end of the contest the boats are all swept away on the winds of the Change.
In the last few years I’ve come to see the Day of Change as a sort of magimystic New Year celebration, so I’d imagine that Flinterforge includes some sort of event where we embrace what’s new and express good wishes for the coming days, etc. Maybe part of that is the exchange of proposals for upcoming projects, and maybe there’s something in the fireworks, too? After the boats have carried the old things away earlier in the day, there are galleries and performances and food and just generally enjoying one another’s company and the heightened sense of Magiq. And at the end, everyone gets to put a wish for the coming days into a firework, or a balloon, or a floating lantern, whatever they best vibe with, and launch it up into the sky to attract the sort of Changes they’re hoping for.
Yes! I love the floating lantern launch idea! And like, people decorate their lantern/balloon first so it’s personal too. Also @Wyvern now I’m dreaming of giant pumpkin structures on the lawn instead of gazebos and I’m in LOVE.
I love the idea that every lantern or balloon (or firework!) is a personal expression of oneself and whatever your wish for the future might be! I think in that case, fireworks shows would be even more special on the DoC, because they would be made up individuals all expressing their individuality but also creating a common, beautiful expression of the guild(s) and the meaning of the DoC.
(Belated sorry-- I have alot to catch up on from being awol.)
But ! Perhaps everyone is given/acquires a flint at the beginning of the Day, and at some point through out it, each person would approach a main forge and use the flint to make a spark. At the end of the day once everyone’s spark is in the forge, the forge is lit via the power of the group, and it stays lit until the beginning of the next DoC
I just really enjoy the thought process of everyone helps pitch in to create one work together as a community