Prompt-ober Week 2

Here are my responses for week 2 of Prompt-ober. It’s a little shorter than week 1’s but was no less fun to write.

 

Day #8 – Describe a food that is eaten on special occasions.

The Winter Festival is an amalgamation of many different traditional celebrations that take place during wintertime in Deralan. All have a common theme of fending off the darkness and lifting spirits during the harsh cold of Deralan’s winters. These are commonly celebrated with large public celebrations, including fireworks, bonfires, dancing, and traditional food.

The specific foods eaten during the Winter Festival vary from region to region, but most are fried. Meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, even dough is battered and deep fried in boiling oil. While food is not the scarcest by early winter, deep frying them covers up the drier bits of meat and tasteless vegetables. Vendors will save up their money for months to afford the oil needed to sell these treats. They usually don’t make much, if any, money off of this endeavor, but they are happy to partake in the holiday festivities. Besides, people remember their local business people come springtime, and if this can help drum up a little business, it’s all worth it.

 

Day #9 – Describe a common game or sport.

If you ever find yourself with a group of Deru in a boring situation, someone will inevitably bring out a small bag of dice and suggest a game of küžidem. The rules are simple: throw six six-sided dice and try to get a certain number of points based on what you roll, similar to Yahtzee. The game is a common one all over Deralan, popular with peasant and noble alike. The game’s name reflects its simplicity – küžidem simply translates as “six stones.”

What’s unique about this variant is its use as a makeshift form of divination. The numbers one through six are ascribed a particular magical element. Oftentimes, if a question needs to be answered and no one knows the answer, a quick throw of the dice can be interpreted to provide one from the gods, like oracle bones or a magic eight ball.

 

Day #10 – Describe a form of music or dance.

Classical dance in Deralan is a delicate, meticulous art. Using round hand fans and dressed in light, airy fabrics, dancers portray scenes of heroes and gods from Deralan mythology with careful precision. Dancers train for years before being considered good enough to perform at a high level, building up the strength and dexterity necessary to perform the complex movements involved in these dances.

Deralan classical dance is a spectacle usually reserved for the highest members of society. They’re the only ones with enough money to finance the intense training, as well as the elaborate costumes and sets required for the biggest spectacles. The typical costume of a classical dancer is a simple dress with a knee-length skirt made of light fabric to enhance the dancer’s movements. They are accessorized with a decorated hand fan that represents their character and simple hairstyles. More elaborate roles, such as those of gods or kings, may require more elaborate outfits and headwear.

Typically, troupes of dancers are female-only. Male roles are often performed by women in drag, although the occasional male dancer has been taken into dance schools on personal recommendations. Men would be treated equally to women, performing the same moves and wearing the same costumes.

 

Day #11 – Describe a temple or important sacred space.

Rising high above the skyline of Deralan City, the Grand Temple is the tallest temple in the kingdom. It is constructed in the traditional style: a six-sided tower with gold-tiled roofs and pale white walls. Topping this massive structure is a spire with three golden orbs, representing the sun and two moons that are the symbols of the most important deities in the mythology of Deralan.

The interior of the temple is large and mostly open in the center. Spiraling around the walls are large stone statues of the gods. Each one is meticulously hand-carved and painted lovingly. Placed on pedestal bases, these idols are placed in front of large windows, so their shadows play across the central worship floor. Worshippers ascend to their god of choice and lay their offering at the statue’s feet, burning incense and saying prayers as they do so.

For major holidays, the statue of an appropriate god will be wheeled out carefully into the main floor, which is inlaid with the sacred six-pointed star of the Deralan religion. Worshippers file in to lay their offerings at the god’s feet, usually flowers and fruits that pile up in great mounds. These offerings are usually distributed to the poor or used to decorate the temple by the monks.

 

Day #12 – Describe the item’s on an average person’s nightstand.

The average person in Deralan wouldn’t be able to afford a nightstand, nor would they really have need for it, keeping anything valuable at their bedside on the floor. The rich typically have servants who can fetch anything they might need in the night for them. Only the middle class would have a nightstand, on which they would have a candle and anything else they needed handy during the night – a book, glasses, a cup of tea, whatever. Most people’s bedrooms are kept largely unadorned, as the more public spaces in the house are the focus of decoration.

 

Day #13 – Describe a depiction of a god in your world.

It can be dangerous to travel through the wilderness of Deralan, especially alone. Bandits, wild animals, even general weather can be disastrous, even fatal. Therefore, the smart traveler will take precautions of the supernatural variety before beginning their trip. Before leaving, it is a custom to give offerings to the god of journeys, Zëčüdiebalun. He is depicted in the same style as many gods, with a humanoid body dressed in fine robes. His head is that of a hare’s, representative of his fleet-footed nature. He carries a walking stick that takes the form of a long stalk of grain, and his attendants, little rabbits dressed in uniforms, play around his feet. It is believed that if you spot a rabbit on your travels, you will definitely reach your destination safely, as long as you’ve made the appropriate offerings and prayers before departure. Like all gods, Zëčüdiebalun loves incense, flowers, and bowls of grain. Carrots, not so much, so take care.