The Sowing (March)
Most marriages on the Island occur right before the planting season begins. It is a time of celebration and levity. The ground isn’t quite soft enough to till the soil and this is the perfect time for the townsfolk to gather. Wedding celebrations are often combined with newly made couples sharing their day with friends who have also bound their families together. The culmination of these events however is called the Sowing. It is an evening of ritualistic coupling, typically amongst the married folk of the Island though many of the not yet married couples also engage in the Sowing. All who participate (and are married) drink a sickly sweet tonic prepared by Madame Visage, it is said to increase fertility, it also produces a euphoric glow. Any child conceived on this debauched night is said to be blessed by Mother Hydra.
The Darker Truth
One young woman and one young man are chosen by lottery, they must be a child of the Sowing, they must have had their eighteenth year and have made their choice to remain within the community. They are taken to the caverns below the Black Church and there they are made drunk on this concoction of Madam Visage, the Deep Ones rise from the depths and are given the pair. The young man is often devoured by the Deep Ones after he has been coupled with by the strongest of the female Deep Ones. A mercy in truth. The young woman however is bred by many of the male Deep Ones. She is left alive and is then taken to the Asylum. In the hopes that she will birth a viable child from her union with the creatures of the Deep.
The Harvest (August)
A time in which the people of the Island gather to bring in the harvest. This is a time of plenty and there are often friendly competitions in the form of wrestling matches, horse races, feats of strength, swimming races. Many younger children play games in which they see who can hold their breath the longest. Simple games in truth but it is a time of camaraderie and working together. Women gather to prepare the harvested foods for storing for the leaner winter months.
The Darker Truth
This is also the time in which the lottery is drawn for the following years Sowing. Contracts are often sealed during this time for the following years marriages as well. Sacrifices are made to the Gods to shield the island from a harsh winter. Since the islands founding this particular ritual has only failed once when the Shteynhoyz family refused to sacrifice their youngest when the Oracle of Visage named them.
With no Oracle having been born in generations the sacrifice and the unions are determined instead by the Voice alone.
Darkest Night (Decemeber)
The biggest and most elaborate celebration the Island has for the year. Each of the Founding Families provides a portion of the sacrifices made. 8 horses, 8 sheep, 8 goats, 8 chickens, 8 pigs, 8 cows, 8 humans. Those humans who are sacrificed must be willing sacrifices and offer themselves up to their gods.
The first and second night of the week long celebration is a gathering of folk, everyone sits around fires held in the fields around the island and they reminisce over the year that has come and gone. There is much drinking, music and debauchery, it is not a solemn time.
The third night is the night of sacrifice and is the darkest and longest night of the year. There is much ritual and pomp with everyone wearing their absolute finest though the event itself is held in the caverns beneath the Black church. This is a more solemn affair with everyone offering silent vigil to the lives offered to their gods.
The fourth through the sixth night of the celebration is a massive feast in which the animals sacrificed are then eaten by the populace of the island. Tables are set up through the town center.
The seventh night there are bonfires on the beach. The towns populace is led down to the beach by the Voice. This is a night for costumes and wild parties. Once the first and largest bonfire is lit chaos reigns. There are few rules enforced on this night but oddly enough peace usually is held.
The Darker Truth
The Darkest Night is a time in which the island itself holds it’s breath. Only once has it ever happened that there were not Seven human sacrifices. The island was nearly destroyed by a storm that lasted seven days and seven nights. It ended only when the last members of the Shteynhoyz family were killed by the De la Poer after one of the Oracle of Visage made it known what their gods demanded of them.
First Blood
The Voice along with Founding fathers’, have claim to any and all town’s girls once they reach womanhood. They do this because they believe purity of bloodlines will appease their gods.
The Tidelong Year
Marks the moment when a child of Cresline Cay becomes an adult in the eyes of the island. It is not just a ceremony of celebration but rather one of choice. It is a bitter sweet moment for the parents.
When an islander reaches their eighteenth birthday, they must decide the course of their life. They may remain on Cresline Cay and take their place among the Community, or they may leave the island for one year and walk the world beyond the tide before making that decision. This rite applies to every child born on the island, whether they belong to one of the Founding Families or to Settler Families.
The ritual is held on the evening of the islander’s eighteenth birthday. At dusk the one who has come of age is brought before the Black Church, dressed in a dress or trousers and shirt made specifically for this moment. They will never wear these clothes again. The moment is not meant to honor family or lineage, but the bond between the islanders and the island itself.
The Ceremony begins at the fountain of sweet water before the Black Church. The youngling goes to the fountain alone, their parents may not accompany them there. The Voice makes a mark from their brow to the tip of their nose with the sacred water from the fountain. This mark is known as the Line of the Tide. Its meant to signify that every life on Cresline Cay begins with the sea and must choose whether to remain within it’s covenant or drift beyond it. As the mark is made the Voice speaks the ancient charge. “You were born of this tide but the tide does not bind what does not wish to return to it. Beyond these waters lies a world that has forgotten the deep. Look upon it if you must. When the year has turned you must choose your shore.”
Once the mark is made the Voice and the youngling walk up the stone stairs where the Voice rings the bell before the Black Church. The doors of the Black Church open and the youngling enters the church alone and kneels before the altar. The doors close behind them. They remain there for as long as it takes for them to make their decision. Remain on the island now or take the year to explore.
Those who remain open the doors of the church and invite the whole of the Community to join them there. They then stand before the altar and the Voice and swear themselves to the island and it’s Covenant. They are said to have Chosen the Tide and they begin their duties within the Community immediately the day after. But first a huge celebration.
Those who choose to leave begin the Tidelong Year. They have only a few minutes to say their goodbyes before they are walked to the docks by the whole of the community. There they board one of the ships. On the bow of the ship they are given a small object known as a Tide Token by either their mother or their father (Mother for boys, father for girls). Each token is different, though all are drawn from the island itself. Some are carved bone, others a coin stamped with the lighthouse, a shard of black stone from the sea caves, or a small sigil etched into driftwood.
They are told only one thing: “When you return your token for the next.”
From the moment they depart, the year begins. They may travel where they wish, learn trades, see distant cities, and live among people who have never heard the name Cresline Cay. They are given enough money to live in their bank account. None question do what these young of the Island do during their year.
They must return before or on the day of their nineteenth birthday. If they return in time, they bring their Tide Token before the Voice and swear the Oath of the Returning Tide, binding themselves to Cresline Cay and the life they have chosen.
If they fail to return before that day passes, the island closes itself to them forever. They may never again set foot upon Cresline Cay, no excuse is ever heard or is ever good enough. On the following Darkest Night, their name is spoken once before the gathered island. After that, they are counted among the lost beyond the tide and their names will never again be mentioned. Not by family or friend.