Lore:Proving Festival

Proving Festival decorations and garb

The Proving Festival is an Akaviri holiday beginning on the 18th of Hearthfire which involves several days of feasting, music, storytelling, and questing. It is dedicated to the honoring of one's ancestors by calling for their judgment and proving oneself to them. The ancestors may then grant good or bad luck—and, if angered, enter the realm of the living to express their displeasure. Some people lose sleep during the festival, troubled by strange noises in the night. The tradition was carried on in the town of Hakoshae, in northern Elsweyr, where Akaviri refugees fled after the assassination of the Akaviri Potentate in 2E 430. The festival was forgotten there for generations, as the Akaviri were apparently too hard-pressed to sustain the celebration, but it experienced a revival with the Rim-Men in 2E 582.

The celebration involves performing three proofs. First, the Proof of Reverence calls for the ancestors' attention. The ancestors' names are written on a paper lotus and placed in a river in order to flow to the ancestors in the afterlife. Second, the Proof of Strength is a display of might and bravery, such as by retrieving something from a Senche-lion lair. Lastly, the Proof of Wisdom tests knowledge and wit. It has historically been fulfilled many ways, often with the creation of grand essays, ornate poems, and lengthy philosophical debates. With few scholars among them, the people of Hakoshae chose the solving of riddles. After four or so days, the festival is concluded with a closing ceremony.

The revival of the festival in 2E 582 revealed why it had really been cancelled: it summoned a disgruntled Akaviri spirit, who was angered by his betrayal at the hands of Hakoshae's founder. However, the spirit was satisfied when Hakoshe's leader, a descendant of the founder, disclosed the truth to a forgiving townsfolk.