Hello, I’m suggesting a holiday event for thanksgiving or Christmas, Mainly a log in event. The way it works is, the days leading up to the holiday, each day you log in you (one per 24hrs) will get a "log on “prize” could be a thrall or weapon or even a decor item. etc. When it comes to Christmas day or eve, you could win a random purge thrall or something of equal value
also suggesting having holiday theme decor pieces or armor/clothing etc. For example Christmas, maybe a tree or another themed decor piece.
Actually holidays and events like Christmas would fit into the Conan universe really well, it’s just that you’re focusing only on the modern interpretation of Christmas as a purely Christian/Catholic holiday (with maybe a little bit of modern commercialism thrown). Christmas, it could be argue is a very Howard-esq holiday, because it takes what came before and makes it it’s own (seemingly new) thing.
If I may quote Wikipedia, in relation to the creation of the Conan and the Hyborian Age:
That’s why you get things like Stygia, which is Egypt. Except it’s not, because it “came before” Egypt. But it still has the basic motifs and appearance of Egypt. That’s the same with pretty much every other nation and kingdom in the Hyborian Age.
And the same thing could be done with Christmas.
It’s fascinating to look into the origins and what not of various Christmas myths and traditions and see how they developed, a lot of times from Pagan/non-Christian practices, into their modern versions.
The Christmas tree for example:
It has it’s modern roots (haha, get it, tree - roots) in the 16th-century with Martin Luther. But the use of evergreen trees and flora, particularly in winter related festivals, predates that by centuries.
A Roman mid-winter holiday, Saturnalia, for example would see Roman’s decorating their houses and villas with evergreen plant wreaths.
In ye olde Scandinavia/Germania, there’s the legend of Donar’s Oak (also known as Thor’s Oak). The story goes that a group of pagans, to whom tree worship and the use of sacred groves was common, were preparing to sacrifice a goat (or a baby, depending on the version of the story you read) to the god Thor at a sacred oak tree. St. Boniface came upon this and in one swing of his axe cut the tree down. He the pointed to an evergreen tree growing nearby and told them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Holy Trinity, how it points to heaven and is an evergreen representing the eternal life that God/Christ offered.
But it goes just beyond Christmas trees. Christmas elfs for example. The first appearance of a Christmas elf was circa 1856. However, this is predated by the Nisse/Tomte/Tomtenisse, a mythological creature of Nordic folklore. It said that Nisse were small elf-like beings with white beards that lived on farms and if treated kindly they would reward the family of the farm with gifts and help. If treated poorly or if the farmer/the children were lazy or misbehaved, then the Nisse would punish them by playing tricks or causing mischief. Apart from their relationship to Christmas elfs, you can probably also see their possible relationship to the modern interpretation of Santa Claus (White beard, rewarding good behavior/punishing bad).
The Nisse can also be connected to another Scandi tradition/folklore creature, the Yule Goat.
Some of the earliest customs relating to the Yule Goat included young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays and performing pranks, similar to the Christmas tradition of ‘Wassailing’ which in turn became modern day Caroling. Another fun tradition was to place a Yule goat (made of wood and strew) in a neighbor’s house without being noticing. The recipient would then have to get rid of the goat in the same way. In recent times the Yule Goat has become a gift giver, similar to Santa Clause and is even sometimes depicted as either accompanying Santa or being ridden by Santa/pulling Santa’s slay.
It also should be noted that some believe that the Yule Goat also has it’s origins in the worship of the Viking god Thor, who’s chariot was pulled by a pair of goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr.
But let’s go back to the Roman’s Saturnalia for a moment, because it’s connection to Christmas goes deeper then just evergreens as decorations. The actual birth date of Jesus Christ (historically or biblical) is unknown. It’s theorized that the reason we celebrate Christmas (ie; Christ’s birth) in December is because the early Church, wanting to appeal to the Romans, decided to celebrate it in conjunction with Saturnalia as a way of drawing Roman converts. This in turn lead to Christmas including traditions and things that had previously been associated with Saturnalia, such as being “merry”, feasting and of course, gift giving.
Christmas, could work in Conan Exiles. Yes, it wouldn’t be Christmas exactly as we know it in a modern sense, but with a little bit of creativity, you could end up with something that is easily recognized as a proxy to Christmas, that is it’s own thing, while borrowing heavily from ancient traditions.
You know your stuff. wow. would add two side notes. 1st with the evergreens; it was also a symbol for the return of spring. 2nd Krampus… need i say more ?
wow. would add two side notes. 1st with the evergreens; it was also a symbol for the return of spring. 2nd Krampus… need i say more ?