Crystalhue is a Shelynite holiday celebrated on the winter solstice.
Crystal prisms and glass baubles are hung to spread light and scatter rainbows. As night falls, the community gathers around a bonfire. A child chosen to be the “sibling” passes the Zonzon doll, made from scraps of leather and cloth and sewn with red thread, among neighbors. The townsfolk give it symbolic gifts and whisper apologies to those they’ve wronged during the year or share with the doll happy memories in order to represent Shelyn’s kindness and mercy to her now-lost brother Zon-Kuthon. The “sibling” brings the doll to everyone in town during the festival, making sure everyone has had the chance to pay their dues and make peace. As the celebration winds down, the doll is cast into the wilderness or set afloat to drift down a river in the hope that it will find its way to the Midnight Lord and relate his sister’s kindness, mercy, and goodwill in the face of the dark place he now resides.
First Reference: Chapter 49
Other Notable References: —