Wednesday Roll Table #5 - Festivals

This weeks Roll Table: Town Festivals

d8	Festival/Event
1	Monarch's Birthday - This King, Queen, Prince or Princess' Birthday festival is the talk of the town for months ahead of time. The monarch may be uncharacteristically generous, since it is for a noble cause, the celebration of themself! A great feast is sure to be had, while gifts are tributed to the crown.
2	Madame Thul'sad's Travelling Circus - No one is ever quite sure when the circus is going to come to town, but rumours tend to pick up when the Madame's circus stops in nearby towns. (Although sometimes it seems that her circus will appear out of nowhere, not even having been seen travelling on the road). Not much is known about Madame Thul'sad, but her circus has many freaks (such as the savage elf and the calm orc, the giant dwarf). Many of the discriminated races are over-represented in the circus, tieflings and half-orcs especially. Tricksters and magic are available for viewing, and strange monstrosities. There is always an interesting magical item or monster to interest any adventurer.
3	High Heaven's Holy Handful - Five days, one for each finger of a hand, where the clerics and priests of the land put aside their theological differences, to enforce their beliefs on the populace much stricter than normal, further restrictions are added to instill the values of piety and self-sacrifice. The list of things banned during these five days is impossibly long, including alcohol, fighting, sexual relations, food (besides stale bread and water at sundown), dance, music, gambling, and games of any sort. Because of all of these restrictions, the day before High Heaven's Holy Handful is filled with sin and excess, causing many to nickname it the Hell Before 4H.
4	Abyssaleem - This old tradition originally has it's roots in a practice of once a year dressing up as scary fiends, demons, and devils to scare of monsters and goblins from raiding a town's harvest. Nowadays it is just an excuse to get dressed up as the scariest kind of creature you can imagine and scare each other, while consuming large quantities of ale. Scary isn't always the intention, as the increase in popularity of dressing up as Succubi can attest to. Some of the more outrageous citizens have even speculated that this would be a good time for fiends and devils to infiltrate the general populous, either for nefarious purposes, or to experience life as a mortal.
5	Sacrific - This dark day is thought to keep evil spirits at bay for this unfortunate town. Every year twenty poor souls are chosen to be sacrificed in return for a safe and happy year. This number tends to be bigger in tough times but never goes below twenty. These twenty people are tortured and sacrificed, each in a unique way, publicly, by their closest family members and friends. After everyone is sacrificed, the clerics and priests call upon their gods to raise them back to life. No one is sacrificed more than once, and before the sacrifice no one discusses raising the victims back to life. The success rate for the resurrection is very good, although sometimes it doesn't seem to work and no one knows why.
6	Battle of the Bard's - This town is known for it's very unique festival, that happens to be starting right away, the "Battle of the Bards". Entertainers from all around the land, as well as their teams, groupies, and fans, flock to the town to compete in a head-to-head tournament. The winner gets international fame, a large cash prize, and often a magical instrument, depending on the year. The winner's are often the most musicians and entertainers in the world (and perhaps not of this world).
7	Tradesman Day - Local woodworkers, blacksmiths, fishermen, barkeeps and all manner of other civilian occupations grew tired of adventurers taking all of the glory. They wanted people to realize how much skill and hard work was required to do all of the jobs in town, and how without them adventurers couldn't function. Many adventurers try to avoid town on this day, as the workers can be particularly unpleasant towards them, and they might get sucked into waiting tables or working an anvil.
8	Children's Day - To celebrate the future of society, the mayor turns his power over to a randomly determined child for day. The children host town council meetings, go to work, and stay up as late as they want. They have to make sure they have food on the table for their parents however, or their parents might throw a temper tantrum.