New Year's Eve Without Revelry

"Year of Renewal? New Year Carnival?"

Anse looked at the Spirit Network message and was momentarily dazed.

Is it almost New Year's already?

Before he knew it, he had been in this world for half a year. Yet so much had happened during those six months that it felt as though five or even ten years had passed.

He rarely thought about his previous life anymore. That experience felt incredibly distant now.

Time passes both slowly and quickly.

He pulled up the Spirit Network calendar to check the date and holidays.

It was now 07:39 on the 29th day of the 12th month, Dalereckoning 1699. In less than two days, it would be New Year's.

By the customs of most places on Toril, people would hold a week-long "New Year Carnival" to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.

Abeir and Toril used different calendars, but their time cycles were exactly the same. Coupled with the repeated planar convergences between the two worlds, the two calendar systems coexisted, and many races also had traditions for celebrating the New Year.

The Horley Federation had begun preparing for the New Year Carnival long ago. They planned to hold a grand celebration, while also commemorating the recovery of Baldur's Gate.

The celebration would be held in the massive plaza beneath the Platinum Tower. It could accommodate gatherings of tens of thousands, ensuring a lively occasion.

In fact, the Federation could hardly avoid being lively even if it wanted to. Baldur's Gate had been explosively popular lately, constantly drawing in people from all over and developing at a staggering pace, rising as Sword Coast's newest powerhouse.

Anse had never paid attention to such matters. He had left everything to the central government, with the council at its core, to handle on