Broken Memorial

The Broken Memorial is a communal festival held throughout Itum to honor those who have drifted, broken, or disappeared. Itum's guilds don't officially sanction the event, though nearly every province and settlement has at least one memorial site. Often this is centered around the largest tree nearby, or a grove of trees where offerings can be placed.

While the festival is solemn and focused on mourning and remembering lost loved ones, it's a way for the community to come together to comfort one another and share memories of the people who are no longer in their lives.

Bottles, jars, or charms are hung from branches, each containing a folded note or a small, personal token to remember someone. Typically infused with an illumination enchantment where the object is infused with essence through Itumic runes. They glow faintly for about a year before fading. During the annual gathering, citizens will reignite the memories of lost ones once a year in order to keep their spirits alive.

At the base of these trees, piles of letters, herbs, and offerings accumulate year after year.

Once a year, during the Memorial Gathering, communities meet to hang new offerings. Anyone may contribute, not only family members. Friends and strangers can hang a bottle in someone's memory.

For many, the Broken Memorial is the only way to ensure that those lost are remembered, even if their bodies or minds could not be brought back.

Trivia

• This festival was created based on an event planned for the 2020 version of Tailraise, which was the Blossom Festival.
• Players can examine letters at the Memorial Square which shows a random one each time. Each of these are a commemoration of someone from Taw's life.