Midwinter

Midwinter (also known as Deadwinter Day) is a festival to mark the midpoint of winter in the Calendar of Harptos. It occurs on a special day between Hammer 30 and Alturiak 1. Amongst nobles and monarchs it is known as Midwinter and is traditionally used to make or renew alliances, although the common people call it Deadwinter, a reference to the cold and hard times remaining before the spring.

On Midwinter Day the Red Fellowship of the Deity known as the Red Knight observes the Retreat. This solemn ceremony consists of an assembly wherein the clergy discuss the previous year's campaigns. Strategies are discussed, battles analyzed, and the accumulated lore integrated into the church's teachings.

The holiest day of the year for the Church of Shevarash is Midwinter Night, during which the Dark Court Slaughter is remembered. Inductions into the ranks of the clergy occur at this time. Each new cleric screams vows of vengeance into the night air and swears neither to laugh nor smile until the Spider Queen and her followers are no more.