Every organized group in the universe (except the most
misanthropic) will eventually come up with an excuse
to have a party. Servitors of Divine Fire and the
Sword are no exception.
Gabriel's Feast is a tradition that's about five
thousand years old: his Servitors began it as a simple
gathering of all Servitors of Divine Fire that could
make it, the better to catch up on the news and, well,
visit. Gabrielites are very often working solo, which
can be somewhat lonely: it's not a bad idea to touch
base every so often. This gathering quickly evolved
into a somewhat formal affair, complete with a full
banquet. Needless to say, the entertainment was
usually spectacular: Servitors of Gabriel have a knack
for attracting true artists to their functions.
Fast forward a few millennia. Once Laurence came into
his own, he made it a point to formally honor most (if
not all) Catholic feast days and holidays. The
Archangel of the Sword has an especial fondness for
the story of the Annunciation, so his Servitors began
celebrating that holiday with a celebration of their
own. It proved to end up being the one festival in
Heaven that every Servitor of the Sword made sure to
attend. Aside from the deep religious significance
that it has for Catholic angels (a reminder of God's
special regard for humanity, and thus a reaffirmation
of the rightness of the War), the cooking is
incredibly good. Laurence himself presides over the
kitchen for this one.
Yes, of course the Archangel of the Sword knows how
to cook. Everyone needs a hobby, he learned from the
best (Novalis and Eli), and Laurence takes very
seriously the idea of feeding the hungry. He never
sets his Servitors a task that he doesn't do himself,
after all.
Anyway, these two festivals are very close together,
by corporeal standards (in fact, at first they
overlapped). Both groups had an open admissions
policy: the Gabrielites needed performers (and an
audience), and the Laurencians would sooner touch a
steel blade with bare hands than turn away somebody
who wanted a meal. After a century or two, it became
fairly clear that the two parties had become linked in
everybody's head, anyway, so they might as well make
it official. Besides, this way each group would be
able to relax for part of the weekend.
For the purposes of this discussion, we'll accept that
the Festival begins on Friday night (and just ignore
that "Friday" is a somewhat meaningless concept in the
celestial plane). The festivities start with a
firework show, courtesy of the Volcano, then proceed
with the ceremonial lighting of bonfires throughout
the slopes. The attendees begin arriving around this
time, and immediately head to their favorite spot.
The rule is, "Check your Word at the door", so this is
one of those times where one can get away with hanging
out with those deemed normally ... inappropriate ...
to know. Even those Dominicans that show up are a
little more relaxed about things.
The bonfires last all night, and so does the
entertainment. On Friday night, it's usually amateur,
in the sense that there's no set list of performers.
There's no lack of volunteers, however. Some bonfires
will have themes, some are catch as catch can, and a
few won't have anybody lower than a Master or Mistress
playing the crowd. A sizeable contingent of
celestials and blessed souls will wander the slopes of
the Volcano for the entire night (often with suitable
liquid refreshment), checking out the performances
pretty much at random. The bravest go look for the
bonfire where the Superiors are: most years, Novalis
can convince Jean to sing.
Yes, of course Jean can sing. Exquisitely well, in
fact: remember that comment above about how everyone
needs a hobby? Well, now you know Jean's.
Anyway, this stage of the Festival lasts all "night"
(see above comment on ignoring the essential
meaninglessness of that concept, for the purposes of
this description): it officially ends with the daily
rush of Essence. At that point, the various attendees
have a choice: the more religious flit over to the
Church of the Sword (or Halls of Worship, or in these
happier times, Khalid's Mosque) for a series of vigils
and hymns. The rest are welcome to hang around for
the rest of the day: there isn't much in the way of
formal activities, but there's always a lot of
impromptu exhibitions going on. For example, Michael
and David have gotten into the habit of getting their
Servitors together and having a good old-fashioned
tourney on the Volcano's slopes. The place looks
almost like a carnival at times.
However, the Gabrielites do not share in this part of
the Festival: they've all gathered in Conclave. It's
at this time that business is discussed, formal
rewards are given out, and those chosen for Words
revealed. The day starts with all the Servitors of
Divine Fire present gathered in one place to listen to
Gabriel (who is usually remarkably lucid during
Festival) speak to them, then breaks down into the
various hierarchies, committees and groups that make
up Gabriel's organization. Soldekai is one busy
Chamberlain on this day, as he tries his best to be
present at every group for at least part of the time.
These meetings are usually informal enough, but very
important: real business gets discussed here.
However, it would take the invasion of Heaven itself
to make a meeting last past a certain point in the
day. At that point, the Gabrielites gather (along
with everyone else that can fit - which is to say,
everyone) on the lip of the Volcano to eat. The food
isn't that spectacular (for that, wait for the next
day), but no one is here for the food. They're here
to listen and watch as Heaven's best artists
demonstrate their craft. The performances are usually
grouped by Superior Word, and every Archangel is
represented. Other than that, anything goes: there's
dancing, singing, playing of various instruments,
dramatic performances (Marc always does a comedy skit,
performing personally - yes, that's his hobby) and a
few things that have no human analogue. The
highlight, however, is Israfel: she has been a fixture
of Festival since the very beginning, and always
performs a different original piece each year. It is
said that the sound of her voice and lyre on this
night can remove dissonance.
The party breaks up after this (who could go on after
the Angel of Music? Who in his/her/its right mind
would want to?). The next day is going to be more
serious, anyway.
Laurence's part of Festival starts, naturally enough,
with a sunrise Mass (sunrise being defined as "morning
rush of Essence", of course). Those souls and
celestials who are not Catholic often attend their own
services, or simply sleep in. Many entities do
attend, however: this is Heaven, after all. Religious
fervor isn't precisely rare, here. At any rate, the
Mass itself could be defined as a work of art: the
music and singing would be enough to knock a living
human unconscious from sheer sensory overload.
Pleasant sensory overload, mind you, but it would
still be overwhelming.
After services (and a short time to let all the
impious heathen make it back to Festival in time for
the food), the feast begins. Words simply fail to
describe the cooking. There are a _lot_ of cooks in
Heaven, all of whom have their own (very firm) idea of
what is properly Divine food, and they think that
Festival is the best way to prove their point. Only
in Heaven (with its cheerful disregard of the laws of
physics) could such a table - nay, a veritable
mountain - of food be prepared.
Now, it should be borne in mind that this is not a
feast for Gluttons. People do eat, true, and eat
quite well - but nothing is wasted, and Laurence has
made arrangements for Novalis to cart away the
remainder as part of her ongoing duties of relief for
the poor. He even insists on making up a plate of the
best items (a reasonably sized plate, to be sure) for
the hungriest entity in Hell: how it gets there is one
of Dominic's better kept secrets. Laurence, when
asked, insists that it's simple Christian charity:
however, such a pious sentiment doesn't really jibe
with the nasty smile that creeps onto his face when
the subject comes up. Haagenti hates Festival with a
passion - but he cleans his plate, and even sends it
back, washed and everything (the last time he didn't,
he didn't get sent another one for a full decade).
The Prince of Gluttony isn't the only demon to loathe
this holiday, of course: theoretically, most of Hell
would like to shut it down, once and for all.
Unfortunately, the assorted Demon Princes have
discovered that getting volunteers (or draftees) isn't
all that easy. It's a fairly reliable rumor (it
should be) that coming to the attention to either
Gabriel or Laurence during this period is an excellent
way of also coming to the attention of the Order of
the Eternal Sword, with all the drawbacks that that
entails. That takes care of the rank-and-file.
Those of sufficient power to be undaunted by this are
usually smart enough to consider the benefits of not
rocking the boat. Sure, you can't do anything over
the top, but even a demon can appreciate having a
nice, *quiet* three day weekend where you can watch TV
or get a meal without worrying that a Ofanite strike
team will be busting down the door. Quiet is an
underrated quality. That leaves the seriously crazy -
and trying to get a bunch of lunatics to do anything
useful enough to justify the inevitable backlash is
all too often a waste of time.
Besides, Hell is usually too busy recovering from its
own solstice parties to be up for corrupting
humanity, anyway.
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