History

The tradition follows the tradition of sporting, especially combat sports, in the dry basin of the Lake Raro sea when it dried up during the aptly named Dry Age. These sports were intense, with players using magic to increase their speed and strength, and performed for the purpose of trying to shake the ground and help water return to the sea. When this proved unsuccessful over many attempts, the sports were reduced to a singular event where many people walked around the former beaches of the empty basin in long processions, back and forth, until it was reduced even further to many participants walking in a ring made of salt and singing songs to plead for Aÿ's help and return.

After Lake Raro began to refill, sela began to swim in the water while rarites used their long legs to manage at first. When the water began to become too tall for even the tallest of rarites, the introduction of raised shoes began to be used. The height of the shoes continued until they became the zafeo known today.

Execution

A ring of salt is suspended over the water using magic to create a large area for the stilt walkers. Walkers get into position in a circle inside the ring and wait for the musical cue. The first song that comes from the beach sets the beat for the walkers to walk in a circle counter-clockwise around the ring. When the next song plays, the walkers go clockwise along to the new, slower beat.

With each new song, the direction changes. If anyone falls, the songs stop while the walker detaches themselves from their stilts and makes their way back to shore (sela and ildoar can swim, but rarites often require help). The fallen stilts remain where they are and can potentially become obstacles for other walkers when the songs continue and the walking begins again.

After all of the songs have been sung, the salt ring descends into the water where it dissolves, and the stilt walkers return to the beach.

Components and Tools

Zafeo (singular zafe), or Raron stilts, are hand-crafted from wood harvested from dfiioony trees located in the grasslands near the Paban mountains. The wood is especially strong. The trees are very tall, but mostly multiple pieces of the wood are glued together and then twine is wrapped around the joints and imbued with magic to keep them together and still. The stilts are then painted bright colors. Blue and purple are the most common, but occasionally gold or red stilts find their ways into families. Zafeo are often inherited from a previous walker.

Zafeo come in pairs. For Rarites, who walk using their two legs and thick tail, they only use one pair of stilts and it takes exceptional balance to be able to walk on them. Ildoar have the easiest time and use a single pair as well. Sela, because of their large size, use two pairs and attach zafeo to their legs and their hands and walk with the stilts on all fours. This requires exceptional coordination as well.

While the stilts themselves are passed down, the attachments for the feet vary and have to be fitted carefully in order for the walker to be safe.

During the celebration, the height of the water within the ring is marked on the stilts with colorful glue and twine, with the number of times the twine is wrapped around the stilt related to the year. As such, zafeo are covered in knots. The lowest knots from the oldest times tend to have the color of the glue fade away, but the twine remains with the help of the magic.

Participants

Stilt walkers are volunteer based. The zafeo are very tall and can be intimidating to many, and many Rarites fear drowning. In the current age, there have been very few drownings, and none since rescue boats were introduced.

There is no primary walker, but there is a conductor for the songs played at the beach. The conductor must have walked in a previous year's ceremony, as their duty is to set the pace, and they must know the difficulties of walking in order to understand the best pace. Conductors can change from year to year, but good conductors can often perform the ceremony for up to 10 years in a row.

Observance

The Day of Zafeo is observed the day after the largest moon is full before the large unyozeo harvest that happens in autumn. The ceremony is believed to help increase the water levels for the snails and encourage a plentiful harvest.

Originally, before the stilts were introduced, the ceremony happened at night with large lanterns of ru, Raron flameweed, but it became a safety concern to navigate deeper waters in the dark, so the ceremony was switched to happening during the day.