The Aeonic Cycle

The first of the Requiem Days begins in mourning. Bells toll across Elyndor and black banners hang from the spires. Citizens scatter ash upon their doorsteps to symbolize the dust of all that was lost in the passing year, and in memory of the Cataclysm that birthed the Second Aeon. No trade or travel occurs; it is a day for elegies, funerals, and cleansing flame. In Wintersmarch, warriors walk barefoot through snow carrying embers from the Forge of Aethrakar, letting them die in silence.

The Dominion forbids spellcasting, song, and even public speech from sunrise to sunset. Families gather in candlelight, communicating only through gesture or written word. The Arcanum says this is the moment when the world itself inhales, when Aether stills between cycles. Federation cities observe it with machine shutdowns and the dimming of all lights, their engineers performing silent maintenance in the glow of a single lantern.

At dawn, silence breaks as the first fires are relit. In the Dominion, every home and temple kindles a new flame using fresh Aether-oil, symbolizing rebirth. In Solara, the forges roar again; artisans and engineers unveil new inventions, prototypes, and artworks created in secret during the past year. Children carry lanterns in parades known as The March of Sparks, said to mimic the Architects scattering stars across the heavens.

A sacred day of purification and oaths. Rivers and bathhouses overflow as the populace washes away the soot of the old year. Mages meditate beneath open skies, breathing in Aether currents, while priests anoint the faithful with silver dust and water from the Luminous Veil. In the Federation, this is when apprentices swear their craft vows for the coming year, an echo of the Dominion's magical covenants.

The final and most joyous of the five. Tradition says the Architects once stood together on this day to realign the Breath and Spark. Across Aeonar, music returns in full splendor. The Dominion holds grand feasts lit by floating orbs of light, while the Federation celebrates with communal banquets powered by synchronized generators that cast mirrored auroras across their caverns. Families share gifts as the end of the year has arrived, and the new year is about to begin. It is the one night when both realms look upward, one to the stars, the other to the glowing vaults, and for a moment, remember they share the same light.