Gossmere and the Day of Change

The Reading Room Old Guild Halls Old Gossmere
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“Come, babies. Come sit and let me tell you a tale.” The skin of her hands was thin, like a brown paper bag holding something delicious; the oil soaked through so it was nearly translucent. Those hands idly moved over the time-worn wood of a walking stick, laid across her lap. "Let me tell you of the one named Stormslayer. The Day of Change comes, and it is time to tell her story once again.*

The scene is repeated across the plains: Wagons and tents circled around a central hearth, burning brightly and cheerfully. The early chores are done and it is time to sit for the mid-morning meal. In one circle sits a wizened old woman. In another, a burly young man with a shock of black hair and thick black beard. In a third, a slender woman, a mother, in the prime of her days with narrow, square shoulders. The Keeper of the Hearth is not always the oldest, but knows all the stories of the tribes, and carries the honor of tellling the tale. Colorful banners and ribbons catch the morning breeze. It passes through one camp to the next, connecting them each together with soft, invisible whispers. The tribes pause, sit, and listen.

Hello, @Gossmere!

The Day of Change is coming up in about a week! We’re celebrating as a community via activities like Guild Bingo (with that gorgeous board AG came up with!) but we thought it would be fun to come up with some ways that our guild, Gossmere, celebrates this day of remembrance in our community.

For those of you who are new to the Ackerly Green community, the Day of Change marks the day Deidre Green performed some incredible figuration magiq, summoned the Icons of Eleannor, and defeated The Storm (a malevolent eidolon of adept powers/spirits controlled by the Silver and used to strike down opposition to their magiq-hoarding plans).. In years past, we’ve used the magic of the day to remake our guild homes in Neithernor. The Knocking Doors may be closed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the day to celebrate anyway!

So let’s hear it, Gossmere! Give us your best imaginings as to how our guild spends the Day of Change!

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The morning mists are disturbed by the waking of the tribes. Today, first chores are done with a fervor, shared labor being met in equal measure with excited smiles, humming, and idle chatter. I think that before the Keepers have even found their spots by the Hearth, Gossmerim have begun forming a ring around the fire with blankets and pillows.

I also am prone to think the day of change holds a special significance within the tribes, the tribes that ever change and flow. Perhaps this is the day one may pass from one wandering band to the next. Or perhaps its a great coming together of many tribes before again scattering to the six corners. Gifts spread throughout the crowd, perhaps passing from hand to hand into the great and complex spirals of the Common Drum. Bracelets, I have always thought, to be most common. Hand woven of colorful ribbon, some occasionally donning beads or small feathers or scales. Found treasures from adventures, a favorite paperback, or just simply a picture of people you don’t know, all smiling on an adventure in a part of Neithernor that you have never seen.

As night settles, the stories continue. Performances are put on the aid of magimystical powers. Storms summoned and sent away in elaborate displays of lightning and glass that almost look like fireworks in the plains sky.

For the Diaphane, or perhaps simply those of us prone to depression or anxiety, I also think the day of change is about healing. What storms rage inside you? How best can you quell them, how best can you be kind to yourself and others in the coming cycle?

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