Sep 04, 2026
Trivia Time:
A Forefather's Eve is an ancient Slavic ritual. People held it twice a year to comfort wandering souls so they could enter purgatory. Adam Mickiewicz, one of the most well-known Polish poets, wrote The Forefather's Eve Part II which focused on this particular ritual. (There is also a quest in The Witcher 3 named after it.)
Here is the video showing it (it's in Polish but visuals are worth it) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymSUrt1Q8_o
The chant: Darkness around, dullness around. What will it be? What will be now?
is my version of the original chant from Mickiewicz's work. In English it got translated into: Silence around, stillness around, What will it be? What will it be?
In my book I changed the ritual to be held once a year. It reflects current tradition of All Saints Day which is held on the 1st of November. The 31st of October is the Eve of All Saints Day - so basically it was a day when the Guide together with other people helped ghosts so they could join Saints the next one (1st of Nov).
Or something like that.
I changed the Polish names so they could be easier to read.
Tomasz -> Tomas and Jaworzyna -> Jawozyna
