Day of Quiet
The Day of Quiet is a holiday that commemorates the end of the great war that made Nuclearth what it is today. Commemorated every August 3, the Day of Quiet is celebrated in many different ways. All of them, however, do follow to some degree the theme of silence.
Basis
The Day of Quiet was founded in remembrance of the end of the war that decimated the world. The date was chosen as the day of the launch of the Final Missile, a short-range weapon launched at Cuba. Technically, there were a few lesser exchanges for some days thereafter, and some scholars claim that the true day the Day of Quiet should be celebrated on is August 10, or even August 12. However, whether or not it's strictly accurate as a mark of the end of the war, the August 3 day for the Day of Quiet has stuck.
History
The Day of Quiet seems to have originated in Egypt, first apparently celebrated there eighty years after the events it commemorates. From there it spread first to other regions of Africa, and then to Asia and Europe. It seems to have taken nearly a century for it to have established a firm foothold in the Americas, although there were minor commemorations in scattered places for some time before that. By now, however, the Day of Quiet is celebrated almost everywhere in the world, save only a few holdouts like parts of southern Africa, a large section of western South America, most of Atlantis, and much of Oceania.
There have been some previous celebrations of the end of the war, including Survival Day celebrated on August 8 in Australia. However, these holidays seem to have arisen independently, and there is no evidence that the Day of Quiet was derived from them, though some of them did have some influence on regional customs concerning the Day of Quiet.
Regional Commemorations
Though the reason for the holiday remains the same, and the motif of silence is followed, the details of the celebration differ widely regionally.
Africa
In Africa, where the holiday originated, the commemoration takes myriad forms, with different regions celebrating in wildly different ways. Because of its origins in Egypt, however, it's common for the celebration to take some Egyptian themes, involving invocations of ancient Egyptian gods or affecting approximations of ancient Egyptian lifestyles. (It should be noted, however, that the invocation of the gods is purely ceremonial, and does not in general indicate that the celebrants actually believe in those entities, and that the aping of ancient Egyptian society is not intended to reflect any desire to emulate ancient Egypt, but rather perhaps to hold up the silence of the ancient tombs as symbolic of the meaning of the day, or, if anything, to look to ancient Egypt as a cautionary tale to avoid modern postapocalyptic civilization's becoming similarly a thing of the past.)
Another common factor in African celebrations is the use of mock instruments, specially constructed objects that resemble musical instruments but make no actual sound. Many of these mock instruments do nothing at all; others expel candy or other treats, or produce visual displays through fireworks or colorful mechanisms. These mock instruments can be ornate and intricate pieces of work, and are often passed down as family heirlooms. As in Asia, parades are common, though they tend to be smaller here; in Africa, these parades usually include silent bands of people carrying assortments of mock instruments, though they may also incorporate costumed dancers and in the larer cities perhaps the occasional float.
Asia
More so than anywhere else, in Asia the Day of Quiet is a day for great parades. People march or cavort down the streets in diverse costumes, or in nothing at all. Exotic animals borrowed from zoos or from private owners are led in their midst. Complicated parade floats are towed by pack animals or carried by people inside; in more prosperous communities, they may even be powered by gas engines. Often the wealthy take place in the parades, throwing (small amounts of) money or (cheap) goods to the grateful crowd. Of course, in keeping with the nature of the day, these parades take place in silence, or at least in as much silence as is practicable under the circumstances.
Feasts are also common in Asian commemorations of the Day of Quiet; it is traditional in many parts of Asia to prepare special foods for Day of Quiet celebrations not made on any other day of the year. For example, pear dumplings called zhashi are popular on the Day of Quiet in parts of southern China.
Australia
In contrast to the often boisterous nature of life in Australia, observation of the Day of Quiet is in many parts of the continent a subdued and contemplative affair; it has been called the one day when the residents take life seriously. In other parts, however, the Day of Quiet has merged with the older Survival Day and become a raucous celebration characterized by athletic competitions and feats of derring-do (and by a somewhat high rate of accidental deaths). In many places, the Day of Quiet and Survival Day continue to exist, five days apart; in others, Survival Day extends to Survival Week, seven days of festivities with the Day of Quiet as the first day, a solemn contrast to the roistering of the rest of the week.
Central America
In Central America, the Day of Quiet is a time of raucous festivity, with street parades and wild parties. Street parades are common here too, though they are much more chaotic and spontaneous affairs than the elaborate pageants of Asia, more likely to be thrown together at the spur of the moment than to be the product of weeks of preparation. However, the celebrations, while exuberant, are supposed to be carried out as quietly as possible. Some sounds such as footsteps are, of course, inevitable, but noisemakers and any other intentional sounds are prohibited.
Above all, any speech, singing, or other vocal sounds are forbidden, though communication through writing and hand gestures is allowed. Tradition dictates penalties for those who break this interdiction and speak during the Day of Quiet, the details varying by region. In some areas, violators are doused with water; in others their mouths are taped shut; in still others, they are dressed up in ridiculous costumes and mocked.
Europe
European celebrations of the Day of Quiet resemble the African traditions they were inspired by, but tend to be much more formalized. Each "nation" of Europe tends to develop its own customs and regulations concerning the Day of Quiet, the better to distinguish it from its neighbors. As in Africa, celebrations with an ancient Egyptian theme are common. In fact, that may be true in Europe even more so than in Africa, to the extent that in many parts of Europe the holiday is simply called "Egypt Day" and the original connection with the end of the war has been forgotten.
North America
The Day of Quiet in North America is usually a time of somber reflection. Celebrants are expected to dress entirely in black; in a few parts of the continent, they are expected to paint their bodies black and dress in nothing at all. Beyond that, many fraternities have fostered their own methods of celebrating the Day of Quiet, and how a particular community observes the holiday generally depends largely on which fraternities are most powerful there. To some fraternities, such as the Rileys and the Transcendents, the Day of Quiet is a time not of grim meditation, but of gaeity and carousal,and the local practices in those communities where those fraternities are dominant reflect this view.
South America
In most of those parts of South America where the Day of Quiet is commemorated at all, it has been molded into a celebration of appreciation for the protection and beneficence of the local and regional leaders. Obviously, this was an intentional ploy on the part of the people (or mutants) in power, in order to cement their own authority, but the holiday is nevertheless a time for the people to look forward to—the leaders apparently believe that they can best ensure the loyalty of their populace by associating their rule with pleasure and merriment. During the Day of Quiet, many of the authorities give out food and favors and even money to their subjects, their munificence during the holiday helping the masses to forget the despotism of many of those leaders the rest of the year.