Because of the lack of a ceremonial thread for Autumn, this thread counts towards both the winter seasonal task set and the fall set.


As usual, I've roleplayed that you're all already here, since playing out the whole arrival part can be tedious. Members may or may not bring an item to the fire - painted black (autumn) or blue (winter). Please post in the same order as you enter the thread now. Skip the poster before you if 3 days have passed without them posting. Have fun!

The Chief waited patiently as everyone took their seats, studying them with pride. They were plentiful. It seemed to him both ironic and worrying that their headcount usually peaked in the winter. Why was it that in the one part of the year when they least needed more mouths to feed, they came flocking to these borders and asked for the chance of a new home here? Despite rarely having been truly on his own, he could understand that the burdens of being a loner were intensified when the weather turned dangerous on a daily basis and robbed them of their prey. He anticipated this surge of newcomers each winter now, and their storages held food for even a few more. Dawali had complete faith in the mixed audience that sat and stood in front of him, and waited patiently for them to settle until only the powerful cracks and snaps of the ceremonial fire could be heard. Without delaying any further, he clapped his hands together and spoke, his deep voice reaching far with ease, without the need of shouting. "AniWayans! Fall is dying to make way for winter," he said, ceremoniously. His hands moved in wide patterns as he spoke, trying to address everyone present. "This is no cause for celebration, for winter will without a doubt be trying. I want to celebrate one thing, however, before we begin. Since our last meeting, Nayati reports to me of a successful hunt. I want to applaud all of you; Nayati, Ralla, Liliana, Moonfyre and Ember." He motioned for them to take the praise by standing up or stepping forward somehow, before clapping. "You have secured much food in a single hunt, and proved a successful team. Well done!" Firsts things firsts, before the usual treating of the fire. Otherwise it would get lost in all the feasting.

They reacted as expected, though some things were not entirely as he had anticipated. It did not take a trained eye to spot the change between Ember and Moonfyre, and Dawali was more than glad for the dark-furred female. Lord knew she had suffered many disappointments lately. He only wished he could have conducted a burial ceremony for her little ones, but he'd not wanted to borth her when she seemed to prefer her own company to others'. He'd lost many children; he knew how it was, but undoubtedly it was different for a female. He still felt very glad to see that she had found someone she could trust, and did his trained eye pick up more? Others were arriving together, and Dawali shot Nayati a look which he knew would be interpreted correctly. What was he up to, no, what were they up to? They would have to speak at a later time. It wasn't the onl thing brewing for his pale-pelsted friend lately, either. Big things were coming. The applause and cheering died, and the Chief spoke again, bringing the subject directly onto the ceremony at hand. "Onward to tonight's ceremony!" He clapped his russet hands together, creating a sharp sound that carried further than the crackling of the Great Fire. "We have lived through Autumn, collecting foods for the coming cold season. Our storages are quite full of both meats, fish, medical supplies, food for our animals, and other foodstuffs that we can benefit from throughout the winter. It's been a good warm part of the year, and now we face the cold half." He turned his eyes downwards and bent down to pick up a handful of sand. "By extinguishing the Great Fire, and setting a new flame to it, we can show that we come prepared, and that we will endure this season as well as we did the last." This was the signal for the others to move in; together they would extinguish the Great Fire.

The flames were absent for not long, though it was felt strongly. The absence of light only made the transition more dramatic; one of the few features the Amara male could enjoy about this season. Otherwise, it was his most hated part of the year. No sooner than did mature flames flicker out of the newly lit Great Fire again, did he bend down to the ground once more, to pick up two packets. Tobacco, and one painted black; his own sacrifice to ask for a good winter. "By offering that which is important to us to this Fire, we pray for a winter that treats us well." The red-hued male tossed the two packages onto the fire with one powerful movement, and waited no longer than a few moments before he swung his arm out and stepped aside to reveal the pile of foods, drums, flutes and items for games awaiting. "Now, for the feast!" He did not require food just yet, but took his usual seat at the corner of the ceremonial circle. A merry tune flew from the bone whistle he played where he sat, providing for others the opportunity to dance.

Dawali sat in quiet, sometimes approached by tribesmembers, sometimes left for moments of solitude. Some of these moments were spent studying the friends and family who feasted all around them, how they interacted with each other and the relations that were there, and obvious for most. It moved him to see his people (his people? Were they, or were they the people of this land? Perhaps it was vain to think of them as his own - was he not merely one of them, with the burden of leadership?) demonstrate their strength. For while a feast was "just" a moment of gathering that could allow one to forget their troubles for a moment, they proved by their mere presence, and their smiles, that they were part of something which one could be proud of. This was strength - there was strength as much in numbers as in the bond between the ones that made up numbers.

Some moments were filled with tones from his flute, and merry tunes flew from him where he sat cross-legged at the edge of the dancing ground. He would eat later, perhaps. For now, he simply enjoyed the rhythms of the drums and the fire, and the musky scent of burning tobacco. It strangely reminded him of the past and the present at once, and when he looked around himself he saw things as if in a haze, both clear and in a wonderful, wonderful dream.