It's Halloween, my favorite time of year. We’ve
already got a witch hunter and a god that fights against things that go bump in
the night for our October posts, but this month is about more than just ghouls
and ghosts. It is also harvest season.
Harvest time, especially during the technological
equivalent time on Golarion, is profoundly important. It is something pretty
much every culture has in common, although they may celebrate it differently.
This week we’re going to come up with some harvest festivals from a few
different countries. We will touch on both human and non-human cultures as
well.
First we’ll delve into Taldor, the great decadent empire, and its many serfs; then the common folk in the dark land of Nidal. Next we’ll explore harvests in the deserts of Katapesh; Halflings and their grand celebrations; and the Kellid subsistence farmers in the tainted lands of Numeria. Let’s take a look how all these folk celebrate.
The massive underclass of "the unbearded" make
up 99% of Taldor's population. Even so the Taldane nobility sees most of the
profit from a harvest. Taldor has a devastating tax rate and laws designed to
keep the unbearded in poverty. It could be said that in arguably one of the
oldest empires in Avistan the Taldane serfs are practically slaves.
But the lords of Taldor know what open revolt looks like;
they seek not to go the way of Galt to the north. During the harvest season the
Taldane nobility put on a show for the peasantry. After crops of have been
taken in, the local lords set up a festival day. The serfs from across the land
are invited to come and feast with their overseers.
Now to the Lords this is just show, let the peasants feel
as if they’re equals. Many of the richer noblemen put on gaudy parade with
over-the-top floats. They throw baubles at the serfs so that they may dress
themselves up as kings and queens. At the feast the farmers see the return of
some of their food stuff to eat, but it is of the lowest quality, with the
weakest watered down ale to chase it.
The rulers of Taldane know full well that this does
nothing tangible for their charges, but the hope is that it’s enough to keep
them in their place one more season. Thus far things have gone as planned and
serfs look forward to harvest time every year. The Taldane lords just hope they
never look to the west and the free country of Andoran.
Even the plight of the Taldane serfs pales in comparison
to the outright fear that the common folk of Nidal have for their overlords,
the chosen of Zon-Kuthon. Nidal is a dark and foreboding place that any sane
person would want to steer clear of. The peasantry is rightfully terrified that
if they try and leave they’ll be flayed alive.
Harvest season may be a time for bringing in the grain
from the fields and the fruit from the trees, but in Nidal the bigger fear is the
harvest of the soul. As the nights begin to get longer and the darkness has
more time to settle in, the more sinister creatures begin to walk the land. The
Nidalese people use their harvest festival as a time to ward off these evils.
Large bonfires are built at the center of small farming
towns. Lanterns are hung from the trees around the village to keep light in the
dark places. Although Zon-Kuthon is the only god allowed worship within the
borders of Nidal, silent prayers are made to various goodly gods for
protection. The people drink and tell stories, usually the elders regale the
young about the time a monster actually did come to the area. Finally at the
end, some of the harvest is thrown into the bonfire to appease the dark god
and keep the town safe.
Not all harvest festivals are dark or just for show, nor
are all harvest festivals in the fall. In the far off reaches of Katapesh
the biggest crop is the Pesh cactus. This succulent blooms in the spring and so
the people of Katapesh celebrate their bountiful harvest during the blooming
months when the sun starts to stay out longer.
The Avistani drug Pesh is primarily used by addicts with
little more knowledge of the plant than its intoxicating effects. In Katapesh
the drug is renowned for opening the mind’s eye and is highly
sought after by seers and oracles of all stripes. During the Pesh harvest
soothsayers from across the land will come gather at harvest sites to get the
purest and freshest Pesh in hopes of seeing something truly monumental.
The Day of the Open Eye has become a phenomenon now,
focused around these ecstatic holy men. Large gatherings have cropped up and
the whole event has become a time to celebrate for all. Of course Pesh use,
even by non-seers, is common. But it’s also a time to drink wine and eat
copious amounts of food. The whole event ends in the wee hours of the morning
when the last seer utters his final words. There is, of course, a chronicle on
hand to record all visions spoken by the oracles.
One of the more peculiar occurrences of these Kelesh
festivities is that they tend to draw Pugwampi. The mischievous little gremlins
are drawn to the fact that half the people there are in an altered state and
just ripe for their shenanigans. To this end halflings are always invited to
the festivities, already added as good luck charms to everything from noble’s
courts to trading caravans. It is thought that the halfling’s natural good luck
will ward off the Pugwampi’s misfortune.
Halflings abound all over Golarion, but not all places
see them as lucky charms. Much of Avistan sees them as second class citizens
and even slaves. The place where halflings are the most free is within the
borders of Andoran. Here halflings own land, run for office, and live happy and
healthy lives. With that comes much more to celebrate about, and celebrate they
do.
The halflings in Andoran usually live in small clusters of
larger family groups, with a handful of extended families comprising the whole
town. Calling someone “cousin” is almost always because they actually are.
Cayden Cailean tends to be a very prominent god in these halfling towns and as
such it can be seen in the way they celebrate.
The Halfling families celebrate the harvest, not in one
feast but over the course of a few days. Each major family hosts a gathering
and they desperately try and outdo one another. Not for vanity mind you, but
for the honor of throwing the best party. Food, music, games and most of all
beer are prevalent throughout these Halfling bacchanals. Some of Cayden’s most
fervent worshipers try to (and often succeed at) staying drunk for the entire week.
Abundance doesn’t come naturally everywhere. The wastes
of Numeria do not lend themselves to anything more than subsistence farming.
The Kellids grow mostly root vegetables to partner with the meat they hunt for.
Grains are mainly the province of larger towns that can afford to import them
from Brevory or the River Kingdoms.
Lack of available space isn’t the only problem that
Numerian farmers have to deal with. The metals and runoff that have made their
way into the land after falling from the sky have poisoned much of the soil.
Sometimes these contaminants are unnoticed until too late, and they don’t just
kill off those who eat the tainted food. Sometimes the tainted food eats them.
Legend among the Kellids speaks of the night of the
killer potato; when the alien liquids had seeped into the land mutated one of
the Numerian farmer’s spuds into a perverted form of life. The homicidal potato
murdered the farmer and devoured others in the village before running off into
the night. Many Kellids swear that the mutant potato still roams the Numerian
wastes.
During the harvest season much of the food must be
checked for contamination. This process has helped form the somber harvest
ritual that many Kellid tribe go through before their meager victuals can be
eaten. Not every part of their ceremony is dour. Usually one of the younger men
of the tribe will dress up as the mutant potato and chase around the kids, who
in turn whack him with sticks. When the Potato man finally “dies” the children
are offered tasty treats for their heroism.
And there you have it, five different harvest
celebrations. But Golarion is a big place and there are probably many other
harvest traditions. Be it Golarion or Homebrew, figuring out the important customs of a people helps shape the culture. So what are your harvest ideas?
