Winter’s Knell - An Ala Mhigan Festival - Lore
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Given the next upcoming event  with the Ala Mhigan Resistance Linkshell regarding this Ala Mhigan Festival (more info to come soon on that), we figured it would be handy to give people some information on this lost 1.0 festival! Lore sadly enough got lost with the Calamity, but thankfully there’s still some, if not most, stored in the depths of the internet.
If you want to read more onto the celebration yourself? We got links provided. (Also as usual a shout out for @mirkemenagerie / Sounsyy for providing said links ♥ )
But for the sake of easiness, a summary below!
What is Winter’s Knell? Is it just Ala Mhigan Starlight?
Winter’s Knell is an old Ala Mhigan festival to usher in the winter. It speaks of the Gods of Winter. It probably, just like Ishgard still has some old traditions left, is still something remaining from their Pagan pre-Twelve worshipping days. It has nothing to do with the Ishgardian tale of Temple Knights and orphans, that we know for certain.
So what does Winter’s Knell focus onto? The cycle of life actually! They believe winter and the cold are an essential part of life as well.
Whereas it is seen by outsiders as strange to surround a festival around the cold and death to a degree, in truth Ala Mhigans don’t see it that way. The Ala Mhigans celebrate it in a rather jolly way and even take the time to pray for the well-being over their loved ones. They after all see the winter (and even death) as a necessity of life. Halting that cycle would after all cause more damage then it does good. Even non-Ala Mhigans, such as the botany guild and the conjurers, see the importance of having a winter as well.
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So has Starlight has absolutely nothing to do with Ala Mhigans?
Hard to say! Starlight originates from Ishgard, that is for certain. Winter’s Knell was a strange and unheard of festival to the rest of Eorzea when these quests were introduced, so it’s probably safe to say Winter’s Knell is not celebrated by anyone else but the Ala Mhigans because they simply did not know of it to begin with.
However what is a logical possibility that due to the Ala Mhigans being actively in touch with the rest of Eorzea ‘thanks’ to their refugee status, that some Starlight traditions might have seeped their way into Ala Mhigan culture in the more recent years. But before Garlemald took Gyr Abania over? Doubtful. But cultures and festivals do spread when nations trade and travel between one another, so that is something to keep in mind for certain.
Only thing we can safely say Winter’s Knell has nothing to do with Ishgard’s Temple Knights and orphans story, nor with Nymeia for that matter (in fact, we imagine mentioning Nymeia is about to ruin quite a few (older) Ala Mhigan’s festive spirits in current days: but don’t take that as fact). It is purely a festival to usher in the winter!
Our best guess? The two might have intertwined over time, they might have not. Maybe they did to some degree. Only thing we know right now that Winter’s Knell and Starlight appear to have different origins.
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How is it celebrated?
We don’t know all of it, merely a few aspect of it. There’s is more to it then we know at this current point and time.
There’s a brief mention of praying for loved ones, but they don’t really shed more light onto how it is done.
We also don’t know more on the Gods of Winter, beyond them being Gods of Winter.
But one of the things we do know a bit more in detail involves building a giant snowman named Father Frost! We imagine back in Ala Mhigo it was a lot more impressive. The snowman in 1.0 was big but not extremely huge by any means. But yes, Father Frost is a huge part of the celebration.
More on Father Frost below!
Building Father Frost
So you think Ala Mhigans do this the normal way? Oh no. They hurl snowballs all together at a reasonable sized snowman to make it bigger, children and adults alike, while chanting “Winter is coming†at Father Frost. Yes, you heard that right. You will have your excuse to hurl snowballs at a snowman while shouting Game of Thrones quotes. Insert mandatory Frozen and Game of Thrones jokes here.
It also had a bucket on its head for a hat, but we can safely assume that back in Gyr Abania his head probably got graced with something better than a simple cheap red bucket.
In any case, building Father Frost together is meant to be a jolly occasion for the people involved, and individuals are HIGHLY encourage to hurl snowballs and chant “Winter is coming!†towards the snowman.
They did have some trouble building it back in 1.0 due to the lack of snow. But they used ice shards to ensure the snowman didn’t just vanish instantly and also used them to conjure snowballs out of them.
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The Heart of Winter - Ice Elemental trapped in Stone
Father Frost isn’t completely with an Ala Mhigan relic placed onto its chest, called the Heart of Winter as seen on the screenshot above. The gem is considered to be very precious relic from Ala Mhigo. The Ala Mhigan quest NPC claims it has been around for dynasties. Getting the relic back in the hands of the Ala Mhigans in the Shroud was a troublesome affair. They had to smuggle it out of Garlean occupied Gyr Abania at the cost of many lives.
But that isn’t all! The Ala Mhigan Relic turned out appeared to have an Elemental trapped within in! It did break free. When it was defeated by the Adventurer the Elemental did in turn promise to bring winter again to the Shroud, claiming that the snow and cold has to be a part of harmony the Shroud needs. And worry not, the relic was safely return to the Ala Mhigans albeit without it’s shine.
Also that leaves us to question how did the Ala Mhigans get a stone with an Elemental in it? Do/did they have the knowledge to do such? Could the Ala Mhigans Shamans have something to do with it? Questions, questions (who will probably never have answered)! But back on topic.
Are gifts a part of Winter’s Knell?
If giving presents is a thing what belongs to Winter’s Knell? We really can’t tell for certain either. It seems something more connected to Starlight than Winter’s Knell. At the end of the Questline you do get something gifted, but it isn’t certain whether the gift comes due it being connection to Winter’s Knell, or it just merely being a sign of gratitude.
It is however said they do pray for well-being of their loved ones. Who knows that involves giving them protective talismans or something along the line. And once more, Starlight and Winter’s Knell might have started to mix together at this point. We don’t know what is right or wrong, so roleplay whatever you think what fits with your character!
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But uhm, aren’t they are war with Garlemald? Don’t they have better things to do?
The festival was organised to not only to give the Ala Mhigans some well-deserved joy and take their mind of their troubles for a little while by engaging into a cultural festival from their homelands, but also to smooth things over between non-Ala Mhigans and Ala Mhigans alike!
Next to that it is also of importance to point out at the time of the 1.0 quest, the conjurers of Gridania were getting desperate that the winter would not come, to the point they allowed and helped the Ala Mhigans to organise their festival in the hopes of ushering in winter.
Even at wartimes people still celebrate their festivals and the Ala Mhigans are no exception.
Can a Non-Ala Mhigans can participate as well?
Totally!
However in the quests outsiders do find it rather strange, and no one ever heard of it before. But plenty of folk are happy enough to aid them and partake in the celebrations.
So if you want to just see a heap of Ala Mhigans throwing snowballs at a giant snowman, or want to participate in the madness? They in fact encourage it! The festival was celebrated to usher in the winter, but also to smooth things over with the locals in the Shroud. So yes, outsiders would be welcomed at such an open and public event.
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Last Words
But ultimately we don’t know what everything entails regarding the festival beyond what we got! So please by all means, go wild and enjoy your Ala Mhigan winter festival in the way you think is fitting. And if all else fails? Just blame it on your Ala Mhigan’s clan having their own little rituals and means added to it in the ye olde days.
Have a Merry Starlight Winter’s Knell!
