Thursday, January 9, 2014

Can You Hear The Song? 21: The Twilight Goodbye


Noah has lost track of time.  Or at least, the track of time that it inherited from the surface world.  Most people in Noah don't know or care about stars, seasons or years.  They have their calendars, but most of them don't track years at all.

That is relevant information from prior age, when something seasonal made following the time easy.  Being deep under the water, the City of Kaiju doesn't have any seasons at all.  Most of the heat in Noah is generated through a combination of geothermal energy and the Kaiju power plants.  Its this radioactive effect in the Blue Dome has spawned most of the Kaiju, Demons and Angels the city knows about.

The heat produced by these statis sources keep Noah temperate, albeit some what chilly.  Most of the energy is leaked into the nearby seawater.  Sometimes cold air forms in pockets around Noah, which triggers a series of micro pressure systems.  Fog isn't an uncommon result.  Same with rain, and some frost on some days.  But the pattern isn't regular enough to ever distinguish one part of a year from another.

Instead, most Noahites and Kaij rely on the Net to keep them up to date on time.  This includes hours as well as days.  Noah lights itself as well, not reliant on any sort of sun light, if any.  This means that people set schedules rather haphazardly, some people always being awake, used to setting their own rthythms rather than relying on outside conditions to set their biological clocks.

This forms a part of Noah's culture, as it has no night or day.  A single, long twilight defines it.  Most people live day to day anyway, and see no real importance in keeping track of the year.

Noah does have some annual holidays, but these holidays aren't very unique from another.  Often they take the form of weeklong breaks.  Some of the meaning of these holidays have faded or gone away completely.  But most enjoy the ceremony some of them represent, even if they bleed into one another a bit.

KRAMPUSFEST
Marking the end of a year, most Noahites tend to forget or not care about that part of Krampusfest.  A eight-day long festival, most of the city spends the eight-days enjoying events set up throughout the Weaveways.  Krampusfest is about thanking one another and trying to act charitably- often it ends in drunken debuchery, often as part of release mechanism.  For the first seven days, one isn't supposed to drink any alcohol and people are supposed to fast during the day until the last day, Xmas.
The Moria Weave observes its own traditions, often with large crowds massing in the streets to sing and spread cheer.  Babylon promotes its own private events, often claiming that good cheer is spread by a character they call Nick.
Throughout the whole Krampusfest Jezebel and her followers instead attend and create charity events, often feeding the homeless and trying to encourage others to be charitable and not just party during Krampusfest.

ST. EZEKIEL'S DAY
A single day set aside to recognize the historical founder of Noah.  This holiday is split between two different opinions in Noah.  One half, usually those better off, think of it as a chance to remember the origins of the city.  Often this is call to faith or chance to remember those who died to protect Noah from outside threats.  The other half protests it, thinking it shameful to dedicate a holiday (or any time slot) to a person they think was a deplorable fundamentalist, racist and sexist windbag.  They arrang street marches, often protests on St. Ezekiel's Day- most often trying to picket the parades in Cherubim Heights or Ezekiel Square.  More than one riot has started on St. Ezekiel's Day, of course.

THE MOURNING
This is day of silence all Angels in the Golden Crown perform, remembering the loss of their leader Metatron.  Others tend to share drinks.  More shameful demons try to pull a prank on Metatron's Memorial, often leading to some sort of incident.

HALFDAY
These two days are a more unique recent event in Noah.  Halfday is a festival usually set six months before or after Krampusfest.  During Halfday, teenage youths celebrate obtaining their maturity.  Teenagers throughout the City are allowed some control over various parts of the city.  Often this means apprentices get to be masters.  Teenagers receive a gift.
This culminates in family ceremonies where everyone kneels before the waiting Teen, informing them they are no longer children, but adults.  Everyone celebrates, strong drinks given to the awaiting teen, who then goes to whatever dance or gathering of those their age is nearest.  At the dance, only teenagers who've reached the age of maturity are allowed in.
Its a time for coming of age.  And for those who've done it before, its an excuse to drink and party.

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