Grand Feast

Grand Feast/Great Hunt

Held in the fall just before the coming of winter.

In celebration of a successful and the biggest hunt of the year, a large feast would be held throughout the Kingdom, Not only observed by the Royal Family, but celebrated throughout the Kingdom.

The Great Hunt

tracking

Every year, it is tradition for all the Elder Men of the Royal Fear Family to go on what we would call the Great Hunt.  This hunt would often take months, with the men sometimes sailing or traveling for many days out, even setting up camps to rest and for a base of operation.

They would bring back a bounty but not just for the Royal family, but for the people who dwelled within the kingdom. The reason for this Hunt was the Feast Holidays came close to the end of the year. So to fill each pantry and belly, A hunt was started. NO MAN, WOMAN, OR CHILD would see hunger in the Kingdom of Oleryben.

While a very perilous journey, the wives, mothers and children, and those left behind, would weep on the men's departure, but the village would also celebrate on their return.  It became tradition to wash clean the pots and cauldrons, and scrub one's kitchen clean to be ready for the promise of meat during the days or months the Huntsmen were out. Some people even used that time to buy a brand new copper pot or other kitchen tools to be able to "christen" the kitchen with fresh food and new cookware.  They would save up their coins over the year just to be able to buy something new.  It was the people's show of thanks for the men who would risk their lives in treacherous weather and dangerous animals to bring back food for the people.

This was also a rite of passage for many young Fear males.  Having earned their place next to their Fathers and Grandfathers, Uncles and so fourth. One couldn't just go, they had to EARN the right to go.

There is of course the exception.  The local villagers sometimes had their own version of the Hunt, with their own sons joining them when they had earned their right. As long as the beasts native to Oleryben went unharmed.

Also no, it is never restricted to JUST males.  There are many a lady and person who can stand on their own and bring down a beast 3 times their size. Again, one must earn their right to hunt.

There were also strict rules the Hunters would adhere to....

-If you cannot fell the beast, then it has earned its right to live in peace.

Show it respect and leave its territory. Never draw your weapon upon it again.

-The young, offspring and the fertile females were not to be touched. If we are to ensure a future supply.

-Do NOT kill for sport. The Hunt is not a game and the lives of the creatures we seek are not a prize.

-Leave the hunting grounds as you found it. Leave not a footstep nor a whisper behind you.

-Give thanks to the beast whose life you took.  Show humility and sit with it, admire its size and beauty. Respect the challenge it gave you. Reflect on the amount of discipline and courage you took just encountering it.

-If you return injured or empty handed. Meditate, reflect upon it. The circumstance has shown you a lesson in which you need further better yourself. Your time will come again.

Grand Feast is a celebration of abundance food, the gathering of family, and the prosperity of Alliances. "Let no man starve in Oleryben".