HOPES-CULTURE
Keywords:
HOPES-CULTURE, CULTURE_HOPES
Celebrations:
They are very excited and happy during each one. Snow fae love to celebrate, and are very excited and happy during each one. Hope's Hand is the main holiday, but they do their best to celebrate all the other gods and goddesses they believe in. They even have a separate celebration in their own home for the god or goddess of winds and snow they think is out there somewhere. Birthdays are a quiet affair due to this, but the snow fae do their best with them. The Queen's coronation is always a big celebration, as is her birthday. They like to light candles every time they get the chance, even though the fire scares them. They make their own candles from imported wax. They are a happy lot, and sometimes selfish but not many fights break out.
Religions:
There is no religion for the god of Hope, so they do their best to make their own. They worship the god of hope, Omnira, the goddess of the stars, youth and music, and on a lesser though not less important, Kedanna and Raegan. They also have a temple to Lanteia where the mothers go to seek guidance. Temples, Reagan, Lorwin, Lanteia, Kedanna, and Omnira. They also have a temple devoted to the snow, winter and the winds. The building is empty, with no statue or offerings, but the snow fae go there every time they need to just think or plan without anything in the way. They kneel on the ground in a specific place, and think of nothing in particular, just meditate mostly.
Recreation:
A snow fae's favorite thing to do is look after the greenhouses, or the other plants that manage to survive in their climate. They also love playing games of chance, and enjoy skating. The little fae, who's wings don't grow in so quickly are the ones who skate the most. By the hearth fires, which are carefully contained, they love to tell tales of fancy and even tales of their Kings and Queens who came before them.
Arts:
The fae enjoy candle making. They import the wax from anywhere which will trade with them. They also enjoy creating stained glass windows which they export to different countries. They love to experiment with spices from the greenhouses.
Calendar:
Their calendar is set into 4 parts. They have a spring, autumn, summer and winter calendar but this was only introduced to them by other types of fae. They don't mark their calendar by months, but rather by celebrations. They also go by phases of the moons. Their calendar is unsteady, but usually if the plants in the greenhouses are dying and turning brown it's autumn, and if they're dead, it's winter. When they plant new plants it's spring, and when the plants grow up, it's summer.
Diet:
They eat from the greenhouse mostly, though they also like to taste snow on occasion. If any rabbits come along or hares, they will catch them and eat them. A big hare will feed a fae family for a week.
Transportation:
They fly of course, but some are mages so can doorway to other places. Some are also druids and clerics so can earthwalk or divine motion to areas. Those who doorway can take other fae with them.
Superstitions:
The fae believe that if you fly over the graves of the Kings and Queens, they will rise up and haunt you until you go to the statue of the god of hope and pray for mercy. They also have a belief that there is an evil pixy living up on the mountain who takes their Hope's Hand presents and trees. This proved to be true, and he has since left the building. They believe that if you leave a candle burning for too long, you will have bad luck the next day.
Births:
When a snow fae is born, the mother takes the infant to the temple of Lanteia. Their, the child is gently bathed with water by the priest, after a small dip in the blood fountain. No one is quite sure why this is done, but it has always been so. The infant is then swaddled, and taken to the statue of Lanteia and Lorwin to be blessed. The family celebrates the birth of the child by wrapping the infant in a quilt made by the whole family.
Childhood:
The snow fae take a long time to grow. This is especially true for their wings. They won't be able to fly until they are about ten, and then it is only a few feet above the ground and more like hovering. About the time they turn fifteen, they are able to keep up with slow adults. After this stage has passed, every year, their wings grow in faster and faster until the fae is fully grown. With the way the calendar is a little unsteady, it is a little hard to keep certain when the child has a birthday but it's not impossible.
Adelessence:
When the fae hits puberty, they become a little unstable. They are prone to bursts of uncontrolled magic. The parents must watch over them and carefully tutor them in the craft they have chosen. If the child has chosen thievery or any other non-magical art, they are prone to bursts of anger or or sadness.
Adulthood:
By this time, the fae has usually figured out what they want to do in life. They either sign up for the army, leave, become a craftsman, marry or any number of other options. They are slow to settle down, but once they find their groove, it's hard to get them to do anything else. Some are specifically trained for the army.
Death:
Upon their death, the snow fae is taken to the empty temple where the family grieves. The snow fae melts into a pool of snow and is shoveled up and taken outside. There, the family says a prayer to Seir, digs a snow grave and deposits the snow inside it. They then mark it with a plaque baring the name of the fae.
Education:
The fae is either taught by their parents or grandparents. In case of a royal fae, there are some who have been trained specifically to become tutors. The army trains those who wish to join it. If any fae are homeless or hurt, the army does their best to find them and find them a place where they could belong.
Craftsmen:
The craftsmen take students if they are too old to continue their crafts. The temples train potential priests/priestesses. There is a school for parents to send their children to, if they don't have the means to teach them at home.