Canthan New Year

Canthan New Year is the celebration of the new year, where the people of Cantha prepare and partake in a great feast to honor the particular celestial animal who will watch over them during the coming year.

The lore indicates that if the celestial animal is satisfied with the meal, it will bestow good luck upon the populace for the coming year.

During the Canthan New Year, many activities take place around Shing Jea Monastery. Please see the Canthan New Year 2007 for details.

The Canthan New Year appears to be the starting point of the Canthan Calendar.



Redecorated towns

 * Lion's Arch
 * Shing Jea Monastery
 * Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

Event-specific locations

 * Rollerbeetle Racing (location)
 * Rollerbeetle Racing (arena)
 * Dragon Arena

Quests
(You must be Level 5 or higher to participate in the quests)

Sunqua Vale
 * Hapless Chong: Just My Luck

Shing Jea Monastery:

Plains of Jarin: or
 * Elder Nofuun: Douse Your Enthusiasm
 * Fehj: A Burning Desire

NPCs
For a listing, see: Category:Canthan New Year NPCs.

Lunar Fortune Giver
Location: Shing Jea Monastery Collecting: 3 Lunar Tokens Item: Lunar Fortune

Lunar Gift Keeper
Location: Shing Jea Monastery, Lion's Arch, Kamadan, Jewel of Istan Collecting: 5 Lunar Tokens Item: Red Gift Bag

Chuntao
Location: Shing Jea Monastery Collecting: 5 Miniature Pigs Item: Miniature Celestial Pig

Rollerbeetle Racing
Accessed by talking to the Rollerbeetle Trainer in Lion's Arch, Shing Jea Monastery, Kamadan, and the Great Temple of Balthazar.

Cost: Free

Prizes
 * First place receives 7 Lunar Tokens, 7 Gamer Points, and 50 Balthazar Faction. First place also receives +50 Balthazar Faction for a "Flawless Victory" and 50 Balthazar Faction for every 5 consecutive wins.
 * Second place receives 5 Lunar Tokens and 5 Gamer Points.
 * Third place receives 3 Lunar Tokens and 3 Gamer Points.
 * Fourth place receives 2 Lunar Tokens and 2 Gamer Points.
 * Remaining Players will receive one Lunar Token and 1 Gamer Point if they reach the end of the track within 30 seconds of 1st Place.

Additionally, the players with the top 100 scores at the end of the Canthan New Year 2007 event received a miniature Greased Lightning.

Rock, Paper, Scissors
Only available in Lion's Arch from Lucky Hochei. A simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Cost: 1 Lunar Token

Prizes
 * Win: 1 Lunar Fortune, 1 Sugary Blue Drink.
 * Tie: 1 Lunar Token.
 * Lose: knocked down.

Items

 * Sugary Blue Drink: Just the thing when you need a quick boost of energy in town.
 * Champagne Poppers: The classic party favor used to ring in the New Year in style.
 * Bottle Rockets: A single-shot firework. Please point away from body.
 * Sparklers: Shoots sparks around your body. Be careful not to stand near flammable objects.
 * Red Gift Bag: Surprises come wrapped in red during the New Year's festival. Open for a festival gift or, possibly, a small fortune.
 * Lunar Fortune: Will you have good luck or bad luck this year? Only your lunar fortune can tell you.
 * Lunar Token: Collect these tokens throughout the festival and trade them in for prizes or to play Rock, Paper, Scissors.
 * Red Bean Cake: Sugar Rush
 * Lion Mask: Automatically added to characters' inventories that are in Shing Jea Monastery at the end of the Celestial Feast. It looks like a traditional eastern lion.  Note: This is not an omission or mistake; the lion mask is the unique headgear for both the 2007 and 2008 events.

Items given at the 2007 event
 * Miniature Pig: A random prize from using Lunar Fortunes, these are gold mini pets of a cute variety. Additionally, players who were in Shing Jea Monastery during one of the Celestial Pig's appearances at a Celestial Feast have a chance of obtaining one if the district they were in completed all 5 dishes.
 * Miniature Greased Lightning: The Prize for the top 100 Rollerbeetle Racers.

Items given at subsequent events
 * Crate of Fireworks: Handed out at the Celestial Feast if all 5 dishes were prepared.
 * Miniature Celestial Pig: Handed out during the 2008 event to those who turned in 5 miniature pigs.
 * Miniature Celestial Rat: A random prize from a Lunar Fortune [Year of the Rat] from the 2008 event.
 * Miniature Celestial Ox: A random prize from a Lunar Fortune [Year of the Ox] from the 2009 event.

The Celestial Feast
The Celestial Feast takes place when the Celestial Animal (pig, rat, etc) arrives in the Shing Jea Monastery. At the start of the festival an announcement is made and an 8-minute countdown timer starts. The chefs will begin requesting required items. As items were provided, the chefs stopped requesting them. At the 1 minute mark, or as soon as all 5 dishes were prepared, depending on how many dishes the district managed to complete, participants received a number of Red Gift Bags and possibly a miniature pet. If the Celestial Animal is unsatisfied with its meal (ie, no dishes finished), it becomes angry. After the feast there is a fireworks display.

Specific to the 2007 Event The Celestial Animal was the Celestial Pig. If no dishes were prepared, all players were turned into warthogs (pigs) for the duration of the event. After the feast, everyone in the district received a Lion Mask and fireworks were displayed while the Celestial Pig and a group of warthogs ran around the outpost.


 * All 5 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 16 Red Gift Bags, 1 Miniature Pig
 * Any 4 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 12 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 3 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 8 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 2 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 6 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 1 dish prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 4 Red Gift Bags
 * No dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 2 Red Gift Bags, everyone briefly becomes a pig.

Specific to the 2008 Event The Celestial Animal was the Celestial Rat. After the feast, everyone in the district received a Lion Mask and fireworks were displayed while the Celestial Rat and a group of rats ran around the outpost.


 * All 5 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 16 Red Gift Bags, 5 Crates of Fireworks
 * Any 4 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 12 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 3 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 8 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 2 dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 6 Red Gift Bags
 * Any 1 dish prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 4 Red Gift Bags
 * No dishes prepared: 1 Lion Mask, 2 Red Gift Bags, everyone briefly becomes a rat.

The Feast

To create dishes to please the great celestial, the Imperial Chefs will be looking for these ingredients:


 * 1) Imperial Chef Yan (Appetizer)
 * 2) * Iridescent Griffon Wings
 * 3) * Tangled Seeds
 * 4) * Fiery Crests
 * 5) * Smoking Remains
 * 6) Imperial Chef Reun (Salad)
 * 7) * Alpine Seeds
 * 8) * Guardian Moss
 * 9) * Celestial Essences
 * 10) * Dragon Roots
 * 11) Imperial Chef Jiong (Soup)
 * 12) * Archaic Kappa Shells
 * 13) * Mantis Pincers
 * 14) * Kraken Eyes
 * 15) * Naga Hides
 * 16) Imperial Chef Chen (Main Course)
 * 17) * Igneous Spider Legs
 * 18) * Ebon Spider Legs
 * 19) * Bonesnap Shells
 * 20) * Azure Crests
 * 21) * Unctuous Remains
 * 22) Imperial Chef Tian (Dessert)
 * 23) * Truffles
 * 24) * Ebon Spider Webs
 * 25) * Half-Eaten Blobs
 * 26) * Azure Remains
 * 27) * Icy Lodestones

NOTE: You will receive 1 Lunar Token for each ingredient that you give to a chef when they ask for it. You can repeatably give the same ingredient for additional Lunar Tokens until the chef asks for the next ingredient. Once a chef moves on to the next ingredient you can no longer give the previous ingredient. Likewise you can not give an ingredient that has not yet been requested. To complete all 5 dishes, all ingredients above must be provided. However, it is not necessary that all ingredients come from one person; different ingredients can be provided by different people.

Celestial Animals
The month when a character is created determines their celestial animal.

Trivia

 * Canthan New Year is heavily inspired by the Chinese New Year. Not only do the dates match, the celestial creatures are also the same as the animals from the Chinese Zodiac.