Auril's Blesstide

Auril's Blesstide, or Auril's Day, was a holiday (of sorts) held annually in the city of Waterdeep on the first day of new frost in the year.

Description
Auril's Blesstide was officially proclaimed at dawn by horn-blowing griffon-riders on the first day of frost in the year. It was not so much a holiday as a way to seek to appease the Frostmaiden in hopes of a mild winter.

Activities
On Auril's Day, nearly everyone in the city of Waterdeep dressed in only white clothing, and no one ate any warm food for the whole day. Most selling in the streets also stopped on this day.

Not a small number of citizens, primarily young nobles and merchants, also took part in a "parade". The "parade" was actually a foot-race that started at the Cliffwatch in North Ward and ran across the city, through the West Gate, and all the way down to the water. Participants, men and women both, ran either naked or with only a light, white tunic. When they reached the shore, they dove into icy cold waters. The annual "Cliffs Run", as it was called, ended at Seas' Edge Beach.

History
The Cliffs Run component of the festivities seems to have been started sometime in the mid-to-late 13 century by some drunk and disrespectful young nobles, but the jest caught on and became an annual part of the "celebrations".

On Auril's Blesstide in 1367 DR, which fell on the 10 of Uktar that year, festivities were interrupted by the discovery of the ice sculptures of three nude men on the Seas' Edge Beach. Whether they were actually only ice sculptures or the bodies of three participants in the day's parade and swim turned to ice by some magic was not immediately known to authorities. No one could definitively identify the men, but some claimed that the sculptures bore the likenesses of three unknown patrons of the Fiery Flagon from the previous night. Magical attempts either to speak with the dead or to restore the ice to flesh failed.

Notable Participants
Raegar Stoneblade, a thief of Waterdeep, claimed to have participated in the Cliffs Run, but he may have just been flirting with the apprentices Traya Ginara and Tsarra Chaadren.

Appearances

 * Blackstaff (mentioned only)