Yearly Events in Shadewood Hollow

Winter (December - February)

• December 25th - Christmas Day: Observed with religious services, gift-giving, and family celebrations.

• December 31st - New Year’s Eve Vigil: Prayers, songs, and lanterns ward off dark forces; spirits are believed to walk the Hollow collecting debts, prompting coins to be left on windowsills as offerings.

• January 1 - New Year's Day: Marked by gatherings and reflections to welcome the new year.

• Mid-January - Deep Winter Blessing: Farmers bless livestock, witches brew frost-warding potions, and miners leave bread at mine entrances to avoid "hollow whispers."

• February 13th - Day of the Red Hand: A day of reckoning for debts and justice, marked by red cloth tied on wrists and a red handprint on the sheriff's office door, believed to be a day of remembrance for the injustice of John Cole.

 

Spring (March - May)

• March 20-21 - Spring Thaw Festival: Planting season begins with blessings over seeds, shared food, and offerings at the woods' edge to keep "sleepers of the hollow" at bay.

• April 14th - The Howl of Vance Night: Wolves howl across the Hollow as townsfolk stay indoors, while superstitious miners carve wolf sigils on doors to honor the Vance family, rumored to be ‘wolves’ themselves.

• May (First Full Moon) - Planting Moon Festival: Crops are planted under the full moon, while "growth charms" from witches are distributed to ensure a bountiful season. 

 

Summer (June - August)

• June 3rd - The Lantern Flame Festival: Lanterns are lit throughout town as people pay symbolic "debts" with coins left at doors; many avoid the "Calloway Chair" at the Black Lantern, said to bring unpayable debts.

• June 20th - West Virginia Day: Commemorates the state's admission to the Union in 1863, and marks the day that West Virginia officially became the 35th state of the United States.

• July 4th - Independence Day: Celebrated with patriotic events, fireworks, and communal festivities.

• July 23rd (Full Moon) - The Midnight Harvest: Witches and herbalists gather rare plants under the full moon, while farmers collect "night crops" like mushrooms and wild onions.

• August 15th (New Moon) - The Silver Harvest: Miners harvest silver and rare minerals, blacksmiths craft sacred tools, and shadows are said to "walk freely" in the mines, prompting workers to avoid whistling underground.

 

Autumn (September - November)

• 1st Monday in September - Labor Day: Honoring workers' contributions, often with parades and public events.

• September 15th - The Shadewood Reckoning: A community debt-settling day where ledgers are cleared, and those who fail to pay are "marked for debt" as the church bell ominously rings.

• October 31st - Hollow's Veil Night: The veil between worlds thins, and townsfolk leave food offerings for the dead while avoiding the "Oak of Judgment." 

• 4th Thursday in November - Thanksgiving Day: A time for family gatherings and feasts to express gratitude.

• November 27th - The Sealed Gate: Commemorating a deadly landslide, townsfolk place offerings at mine entrances as it's believed the spirits of trapped miners stir, marked by the midnight toll of a single bell.

 

Shapeshifter/Wolf-Specific Events

• January (First Full Moon) - Moon of Blooded Snow: Werewolves face dominance trials and ritual hunts, with younger wolves tested for control under the Wolf Moon’s heightened influence.

• March 20th - Moon of Changing Skins: Shapeshifters confront their beastly nature in reflection pools during rituals to master their transformations, with "Skinmasters" marked as having achieved control.

• June 21st - The Silver Hunt: Werewolves participate in a ceremonial hunt led by the alpha, with young packlings undergoing rites of passage marked by symbolic wounds.

• September 14th (Harvest Moon) - The Wolf’s Accord: Shapeshifter and werewolf factions meet on neutral ground for peace rituals, with shared breath symbolizing kinship and the blessing of the "first wolves."

 

Vampire-Specific Events

• May 15th (Blood Moon) - The Feast of the Vein: Vampires gather for secret feasts to honor fledglings and share blood-chalices in ceremonies of indulgence, with townsfolk reportedly dreaming of "red seas."

• August 25th (Red Moon) - The Blood Tide: Hidden banquets are held where new vampire bloodlines are born, and "blood oaths" are made between vampire factions. Some townsfolk experience unexplained hunger or a taste of copper in their mouths.

 

Daemon-Specific Events

• February 13th - Day of the Red Hand: Daemons mark their contracts, and red handprints appear on doors, believed by humans to be John Cole's ghost, but known by Daemons as the "Mark of the Ferryman."

• April 30th (Walpurgis Night) - Night of the Hollow Flame: Daemons gather around sacred flames to call in old debts, tossing "tokens of claim" into the fire, with humans sometimes lured into making secret bargains.

 

Witch-Specific Events

• April 30th - Night of Whispering Flames: Witches gather around sacred bonfires to divine the future through the cracks and pops of burning bones and herbs, as ghostly figures are said to watch from the treeline.

• October 31st - Hollow’s Veil Night: On the thinnest night of the veil, witches honor ancestors with silent suppers and rune-casting, while offerings are left at the forest's edge to appease the Hollow's oldest spirits.