The Holidays and Festivals universally celebrated by the people of the cities of Tamriel in Arena offer diverse advantages or disadvantages usually related to the services in cities, which players may use in their favor. Each festivity takes place on a fixed date of the year on which its effects become available until the next day.
List of Holidays in ArenaEdit
As presented in the table found in the player's guide and corroborated in the game itself, the holidays and their dates in the Calendar are as follows:
| Holiday Name | Date |
|---|---|
| New Life Festival | 1st day of Morningstar |
| South Winds Prayer† | 15th day of Morningstar |
| Heart's Day | 16th day of Sun's Dawn |
| First Planting | 7th day of First Seed |
| Jester's Day | 28th day of Rain's Hand |
| Second Planting | 7th day of Second Seed |
| Mid Year Celebration | 16th day of Mid Year |
| Merchant's Festival | 10th day of Sun's Height |
| Sun's Rest | 20th day of Sun's Height |
| Harvest's End | 27th day of Last Seed |
| Tales and Tallows | 3rd day of Hearthfire |
| Witches' Festival | 13th day of Frostfall |
| Emperor's Day† | 30th day of Frostfall |
| Warrior's Festival | 20th day of Sun's Dusk |
| North Winds Prayer† | 1st day of Evening Star |
| Old Life‡ | 30th day of Evening Star |
- †The name attributed to this holiday in the guide is slightly different in the game, see below.
- ‡ This holiday doesn't appear in the original table found in the guide.
Descriptions and RumorsEdit
Each time the date of a holiday arrives, a message describing it hits the screen and the NPCs in the cities may mention rumors about the holiday. These are:
New Life FestivalEdit
- Description
- "Today the people of [Settlement name] are having the New Life Festival in celebration of a new year. The Emperor has ordered yet another tax increase in his New Life Address, and there is much grumbling about this. Still, despite financial difficulties, the New Life tradition of free ale at all the taverns in the [settlement type] continues. The people of [Settlement name] certainly know how to hold a celebration..."
- Related Rumors
- "when ale flows free in all the taverns in all the cities of Tamriel."
- "the biggest party of the year!"
- "a huge drunken orgy I really don't approve of."
- "when everyone goes wild 'cause the drinks are free everywhere."
- "the time when free drinks turns everyone out on the street."
South Wind's PrayerEdit
- Description
- "The 15th of Morning Star is a holiday taken very seriously in [Settlement name], where they call it South Wind's Prayer, a plea by all the religions of Tamriel for a good planting season. Citizens with every affliction known in Tamriel flock to services in the [settlement type]'s [Temple name] temple, as the clergy is known to perform free healings on this day. The people know that only a few will be judged worthy of this service, but few can afford the [Temple name]'s usual price..."
- Related Rumors
- "when the [Temple name] will occasionally perform free healings."
- "the time when everyone prays for a good planting season."
- "a major religious holiday here in [Settlement name]."
- "when I can get this festering sore on my foot healed, maybe for free!"
- "held over at the [Temple name], where the clergy sometimes heals the sick for free."
Heart's DayEdit
- Description
- "Today is the 16th of Sun's Dawn, a holiday celebrated all over Tamriel as Heart's Day. It seems that in every house, the Legend of the Lovers is being sung for the younger generation. In honor of these Lovers, Polydor and Eloisa, the inns of the [settlement type] offer a free room for visitors. If such kindness had been given the Lovers, it is said, it would always be springtime in the world."
- Related Rumors
- "when tavern rooms all over Tamriel are free for the night."
- "when my family gets together to sing 'The Legend of the Lovers.'"
- "a great time for getting a good room at the [tavern name] for free!"
- "when, in honor of Polydor and Eloisa, rooms may be had for free in any inn."
- "the celebration in honor of the Lovers, Polydor and Eloisa."
First PlantingEdit
- Description
- "On the 7th of First Seed every year, the people of [Settlement name] celebrate First Planting, symbolically sowing the seeds for the autumn harvest. It is a festival of fresh beginnings, both for the crops and for the men and women of the [settlement type]. Neighbors are reconciled in their disputes, resolutions are formed, bad habits dropped, the diseased cured. The clerics at the [Temple name] run a free clinic all day long to cure people of poisoning, different diseases, paralyzation, and the other banes [sic] found in the world of Arena."
- Related Rumors
- "when I might be cured of my... social disease at no charge."
- "the holiday when disputes between neighbors are cleared up. In theory, of course."
- "a good time to visit the [Temple name]. They cure people of all sorts of diseases for free then."
- "one of the two times the clerics at the [Temple name] won't demand a donation for curing you."
- "when everyone makes resolutions they never intend to keep."
Jester's DayEdit
- Description
- "Be warned that today is Jester's Day in the [settlement type] of [Settlement name], and pranks are being set up from one end of town to the other. It is as if a spell has been cast over the community, for even the most taciturn and dignified councilman might attempt to play a joke on his [title]. The Thieves Guild finds particular attention as everyone looks for pickpockets in particular."
- Related Rumors
- "when you really have to be on the lookout for pickpockets."
- "a great time to be in [Settlement name], if you're a thief."
- "a little too much revelry than I'm accustomed to."
- "when everyone's a jester and a thief."
- "one holiday too vulgar to be believed, in my opinion."
Second PlantingEdit
- Description
- "The celebration of Second Planting is in full glory this day. It is a holiday with traditions similar to First Planting, improvements on the first seeding symbolically to suggest improvements on the soul. The free clinic of the [Temple name] is open for the second and last time this year, offering cures for those suffering from any kind of disease or affliction. Because peace and not conflict is stressed at this time, battle injuries are healed only at full price."
- Related Rumors
- "when you can see every diseased [race] in [Settlement name] heading for the [Temple name] for a free cure."
- "a good time to see the clerics at the [Temple name] if you're poisoned or sick."
- "my last chance to get a free cure for my scabies at the [Temple name]. Until next year."
- "the perfect time to get your diseases cured at the [Temple name] for free."
- "when everyone is supposed to realize his own limitations, supposedly."
Mid Year CelebrationEdit
- Description
- "Today is the 16th of Mid Year, the traditional day for the Mid Year Celebration. Perhaps to alleviate the annual news of the Emperor's latest tax increase, the [settlement type] temples offer blessings for only half the donation they usually suggest. Many so blessed feel confident enough to enter the [province] dungeons when they are not fully prepared, so this joyous festival has often been known to turn suddenly into a day of defeat and tragedy."
- Related Rumors
- "when the Emperor will probably announce yet another tax increase."
- "when the [Temple name] offers blessings for half price."
- "when the Emperor's heralds go all over Tamriel, mostly to announce new taxes."
- "a good time to visit the [Temple name] if you don't mind the lines, blessing are half price."
- "when requested donations for blessings at the [Temple name] are at half their usual price."
Merchants' FestivalEdit
- Description
- "The bargain shoppers of the known world are out in force today and it is little wonder, for the 10th of Sun's Height is a holiday called the Merchants' Festival. Every marketplace and equipment store has dropped their prices to at least half. The only shop not being patronized today is the Mages Guild, where prices are as exorbitant as usual. Most citizens in need of a magical item are waiting two months for the celebration of Tales and Tallows when prices will be more reasonable..."
- Related Rumors
- "when everyone in [Settlement name] goes shopping for the best bargains of the year."
- "the best time to buy all the equipment and supplies you might need."
- "when supplies most everywhere in Tamriel are half-price, by order of the Guild."
- "the busiest shopping day of the year, bar none."
- "a day worth spending all the money you've saved, believe me."
Sun's RestEdit
- Description
- "You will have to wait until tomorrow if you are planning on making any equipment purchases, for all stores are closed in observance of Sun's Rest. Of course, the temples, taverns, and Mages Guild in the [settlement type] are still open their regular hours, but most citizens chose to devote this day to relaxation, not commerce or prayer. This is not a convenient arrangement for all, but the Merchants' Guild heavily fines any shop that stays open, so everyone complies."
- Related Rumors
- "when all the stores in [Settlement name], maybe in all Tamriel, are closed."
- "a day worth remembering, 'cause you can't do any shopping then."
- "when everyone goes crazy, because there's not a shop open in all [Settlement name]]."
- "when people have to take a trip out to the country if they want to buy something."
- "the day the business quarter of [Settlement name] looks utterly deserted."
Harvest's EndEdit
- Description
- "Perhaps no other festival fires the spirit of the [settlement type] of [Settlement name] as much as the one held today, Harvest's End. The work of the year is over, the seeding, sowing, and reaping. Now is the time to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of the harvest, and even visitors to the [settlement type] are invited to join the farmers. The taverns offer free drinks all day long, an extravagance before the economy of the coming winter months. Underfed farm hands gorging themselves and then getting sick in the town square are the most common sights of the celebration of Harvest's End."
- Related Rumors
- "when everyone in [Settlement name], even people with no money, visits the taverns for a food orgy."
- "the day when gluttony is encouraged all over Tamriel."
- "an excellent time to sample drinks in every tavern in [Settlement name] for free!"
- "when food is free and drinks are free in almost every inn in Tamriel."
- "the food festival celebrating a successful harvest, even if it's not successful at all."
Tales and TallowsEdit
- Description
- "No other holiday divides the people of [Settlement name] like the 3rd of Hearth Fire. A few of the oldest, more superstitious men and women do not speak all day long for fear that the evil spirits of the dead will enter their bodies. Most citizens enjoy the holiday, calling it Tales and Tallows, but even the most lighthearted avoid the dark streets of [Settlement name], for everyone knows the dead do walk tonight. Only the Mages Guild completely thrives on this day. In celebration of the oldest magical science, necromancy, all magical items are half price today."
- Related Rumors
- "when magical items are half price in the Mages Guild."
- "the day all temples in [Settlement name] are closed to the public so the clergies may pray for the dead."
- "when the undead walk the streets of [Settlement name]."
- "the best day to pick up a magical item cheaply over at the Mages Guild."
- "a bad time to get sick, for all the temples all over Tamriel close for prayers."
Witches' FestivalEdit
- Description
- "Today is the 13th of Frostfall, known throughout Tamriel as the Witches' Festival when the forces of sorcery and religion clash. The Mages Guild gets most of the business since weapons and items are evaluated for their mystic potential free of charge and magic spells are one half their usual price. Demonologists, conjurors, lamias, warlocks, and thaumaturgists meet in the wilderness outside [Settlement name], and the creatures created or summoned there may plague Tamriel for eons. Most wise men choose not to wander this night."
- Related Rumors
- "the day the temples and Mages Guild vie for attention. Guess whose side I'm on."
- "when you can get any item evaluated for mystic potential at the Mages Guild for free."
- "when this [Settlement type] is filled to her edges with Mages, Nightblades, and Spellswords."
- "a good day to buy a cheap spell scroll at the Mages Guild if you get there early."
- "when every temples in Tamriel is open all night long to combat evil."
Emperor's BirthdayEdit
- Description
- "Once the 30th of Frostfall, the Emperor's Birthday, was the most popular holiday of the year. Great traveling carnivals entertained the masses, while the aristocracy of [Settlement name] enjoyed the annual Goblin Chase on horseback. Recently, these traditions have fallen into neglect. It has been decades since there was a big carnival in [Settlement name] and longer still since a [title] of the [settlement type] sponsered [sic] a Goblin Chase. It is rumored that the Emperor has even begun refusing any audience."
- Related Rumors
- "when we had parades and hunts ... in the good old days."
- "the day the aristocrats in [Settlement name] used to have the horseback Goblin Chase in the old days."
- "not the Emperor's real birthday - it's all symbolic, you know."
- "when everyone celebrates in the taverns."
- "in honor of the Emperor's forty-somethingth [sic] year in Tamriel."
Warriors FestivalEdit
- Description
- "Today is the 20th of Sun's Dusk, the Warriors Festival in [Settlement name]. Most all the local warriors, spellswords, and rogues come to the [settlement type]'s equipment stores and blacksmiths where all weapons are half price. Unfortunately, the low prices also tempt many an untrained boy to buy his first sword and the normally quiet [Settlement name] streets ring with amateur skirmishes. The [title] has pardoned most of these ruffians in the past, but has promised to be less merciful this year."
- Related Rumors
- "a good time to pick up a sword or whatever cheap in one of the equipment stores."
- "when all weapons in all equipment stores are half price."
- "the day when the warriors of [Settlement name] test their mettle, unfortunately in the streets."
- "a truly barbaric celebration of warfare."
- "the perfect time to buy a weapon you couldn't ordinarily afford."
North Wind's PrayerEdit
- Description
- "Today is the 15th of Evening Star, a holiday reverently observed by the [Temple name] as North Wind's Prayer. It is a thanksgiving to the Gods for a good harvest and a mild winter. Some years, like this one, the harvest was not particularly good and the winter unseasonally harsh in [Settlement name], but as the [title] is fond of saying, "It could be much worse." The temples offer all their services blessing, curing, healing for half the donation usually requested."
- Related Rumors
- "the holiest day of the year, in my opinion."
- "when you can get blessed, cured, healed, the works in the [Temple name] for half price."
- "a day of thanksgiving."
- "when the [Temple name] ask only half the usual donation for any of the services there."
- "a pretty good time to get fixed up by the [Temple name] for a reasonable donation."
Old LifeEdit
- Description
- "On the last day of the year the Empire celebrates the holiday called Old Life. Many go to the temples to reflect on their past. Some go for more than this, for it is rumored that priests will as the last act of the year perform resurrections on beloved friends and family members free of the usual charge. Worshippers know better than to expect this philanthropy, but they arrive in a macabre procession with the recently deceased nevertheless."
- Related Rumors
- "when all prepare for the real party - New Life, the next day."
- "the day we ask forgiveness for old sins, before committing new ones."
- "a day of rest before New Life, which is one big party."
- "a good time to go to the temple of your choice."
- "when even unpopular temples in [Settlement name] are packed with people."