Harvest Ceremony


 * This article describes an event. For information about the location, see Harvest Ceremony (Location).

The Harvest Ceremony is one of the key events in Canthan history. 200 years before the present day&mdash;that is, in 1382 CC (872 AE)&mdash;the 27th Emperor of Cantha was slain by his own bodyguard, Shiro Tagachi, while he was praying for the blessings of the goddess Dwayna at the Ceremony at Kuan Jun Temple.

The Harvest Ceremony incident had several peculiarities leading up to the assassination of the Emperor. By tradition and Imperial decree, the temple was supposed to be emptied in preparation for the Emperor's visit. The Emperor was to enter alone for his prayer. However, on this particular instance, the Emperor ordered the Guard Captain to allow his retinue and bodyguard to accompany him into the temple. The Guard Captain had to relent to the wishes of the Emperor, though he did not do so unhesitatingly.

The bodyguard Shiro Tagachi was not entirely surprised by this change of plans. Years earlier, he had been warned by a Fortune Teller that the Emperor feared Shiro's power and wanted to kill him. Shiro, normally not given to trusting the verity of such predictions, nevertheless took the Fortune Teller seriously as this was not her first prediction to him. On at least two separate incidents earlier, Shiro's fate had been accurately seen by this Fortune Teller.

Shiro himself did not desire to die. The Fortune Teller told him that he would have to make a choice at the Harvest Ceremony &mdash; him or the Emperor. Shiro chose himself and slew the Emperor when he had the chance. This choice cursed him to become an Envoy, for he anyhow did not live long after his betrayal &mdash; he was bested by three legendary Canthan heroes, Vizu, Archemorus and Viktor, who slew him for his treachery using his own blades. Shiro's death wail unleashed the Jade Wind that drastically changed the landscape of Cantha: petrifying the Echovald Forest and turning the Jade Sea into solid jade.

The Kuan Jun Temple itself did not survive the Jade Wind. Right before the Sea solidified around it, it sunk to the bottom in a huge whirlpool that has come to be known as the Unwaking Waters. It is unclear if the Harvest Ceremony in subsequent years moved to a different location, or indeed if it was ever held again at all.