Bajiber

Bajiber (pronounced /ˈbædʒɪbɚ/) is the fourth mester in the cubic calendar of Diddu, spanning days 73 to 101. (Some reckonings begin it two or three days earlier, making it 31 or 32 days long instead of the conventional 29.) It is preceded by the mester of Canoan and followed by the mester of Gurunda. The mester of Bajiber is notable mostly for the mist that covers the world for its duration, a mist that not only obscures the sight but dulls the mind as well—but produces a giddy elation to compensate.

Conditions

The silvery mist that blankets all of Diddu during Bajiber reduces visibility to a meter or two, with shadowy forms visible at longer distances in the presence of strong light sources. The mist is cool to the touch, but never freezes (at normal temperatures; experiments have shown that it can freeze, but only at temperatures of about -100° Celsius). It can be moved about by wind and air currents, but since the entire lower atmosphere is filled with the stuff this seldom accomplishes much. The mist does thin at higher altitudes, disappearing entirely about seven hundred meters up.

Its effect on visibility is not the only consequence of the mist, however. The mestral mist of Bajiber also produces an intoxicating effect on those who breathe it, and to a lesser degree on those who absorb it through their skin. The mist's effects are rather like inebriation due to alcohol, but do not lead to hangovers and have not been shown to do any long-term damage to the brain, liver, or other organs. They do share with alcohol, however, their tendency to slow reaction times and impair judgment, even as they instill the affected with a muzzy euphoria. Those affected by the mist are clumsy, impulsive, and prone to make bad choices, so much so that in some (but by no means all) nations, contracts signed during Bajiber are considered automatically invalid.

Even the waters of Diddu are not safe from the mester's effects. Here it takes the form not of mist, but of bubbles, pervading Diddu's seas and oceans—though swiftly running water seems to be free of them, as do a few scattered lakes. Despite their different form, these bubbles have largely the same effects underwater as the mist does above, with roughly the same consequences both for visibility and for intoxication.

Some people are affected more strongly by the mestral mist than others. A few people seem to be nearly immune to its effects, while others turn into staggering drunkards within minutes of the mist's first appearance. This resistance to the mist's effects correlates somewhat with alcohol tolerance, but very imperfectly; there are people who can't hold their alcohol at all who are barely affected by the mist, and vice versa. In any case, those less receptive to the mist are often in demand as guards as for other positions that require patience and attention and other traits the mist impairs. Even those who are naturally vulnerable to the mist, however, may avoid its effects by staying indoors, or by breathing through filters and eschewing contact with the vapor, and may therefore qualify themselves for such positions. Their giving up the hazy bliss the mist promises is compensated by being well paid for their vigilance during this mester when others around them are operating so far under their regular capacities. Simply covering themselves during working hours, however, isn't necessarily an option, since the mist's effects may take some time wear off—the necessary time, again, varying by individual, from as little as an hour to as much as a day or two.

There are some, in fact, who, either to increase their employment prospects during the mester or for philosophical reasons, choose to shield themselves entirely for the duration of the mester, never letting their skin come into contact with the mist nor daring to breathe a particle of it. They achieve this by wrapping their bodies in robes and wearing long boots and gloves, and covering their faces with masks with long snouts that contain filters to keep out the mist droplets. These masks, called callasics, are often made in the shape of animal heads; lizards and pigs are particularly common, but they may take the form of more exotic animals, or of fanciful beasts with no real-world analogues. Callasic-clad maskmen stalking the misty streets are a common sight during Bajiber.

On the other side, there are some people who go out of their way to get as much effect from the mist as possible, spending their time outdoors in the nude to maximally expose their skin to the mist's influence. Such tactics do, indeed, increase the effects of the mist, to the extent that many such "mistbathers" claim to enter higher states of consciousness. Whether these supposed higher states of consciousness really have anything more to them than delusions and hallucination is a question many people consider unresolved.

Given the mist's rapturous effects, and lack of lingering unpleasant side effects, it was inevitable that some would try to find a way to capture and distill the mestral mist and preserve it for use after the mester ended. Eventually, some entrepreneurs did find a way to do just this, gathering mestral mist in specially treated containers, for later distribution as a liquor that has come to be called badgebrew. Although collecting the mist is easy, the magical techniques involved in preventing it from vanishing after the end of Bajiber are not, which leads to badgebrew being an expensive commodity—but one nevertheless found in many upscale bars throughout Diddu.

There is also a second, indirect way of harvesting the mist for later... many plants build up mestral mist in their tissues, and if harvested and preserved these leaves can be chewed or eaten later, giving the consumer an effect much like that of breathing the mist. Such delicacies, usually preserved by candying, are called jibbermeat.

Transitions

The mestral mist begins to rise before the blades of Canoan have vanished, commencing perhaps three days before the end of that mester. This means the last three days of Canoan, sometimes called the Triduum, or the Bloody Tide, are an especially dangerous time to be out and about, combining the dangers of Canoan with the sluggishness and inattention of Bajiber. Because of this, even those who normally delight in the drunkenness of Bajiber tend to take extra care during the Tide; most people remain indoors during this time, and maskmen are more common than ever.

The end of Bajiber is more abrupt, with all Diddu's susceptible inhabitants transmuting to metal within a single day, unambiguously marking the change from Diddu to Gurunda. The time of transformation can be anticipated with a fair amount of precision, so people are able to prepare for it. Although the mestral mist persists for six days within Gurunda, there's no one around to be intoxicated by it except the undead that roam the world during this mester, and it's unclear whether they're even affected by it. Exactly how much of the mist pervades a person's system during the beginning of the transformation influences what metal they will be transmuted into, though the fact that, again, only the undead are around during Gurunda makes it difficult to exploit this fact.

Creatures

By no means are only humans affected by the mestral mist; it seems to have a similar effect on almost all ellogous beings. Even many alogous beasts are affected by it, though this isn't universal. In fact, the mist seems to have some effect even on plants, many of which grow in strange patterns and irregular forms during this mester, though whether this is really a direct effect of the mist or merely that of a secondary mestral rhegus hasn't been definitively established.

Some people gain strange abilities during Bajiber, unattainable during other times of the year. A few individuals have the ability during Bajiber to turn their own bodies into mist, in this form able to fly through the air and penetrate tight spots. People with this power are called bitibores. Others can split off a part of themselves as a separate, childlike entity, called an aleknap. (People with this ability are sometimes called alekenners or alefathers (or alemothers), though these words are relatively little used.)

There are also beings, however, that are apparently active only during this mester. One of the most notorious is the burmer, a tiny elfin being that is often called a spirit of drunkenness. There's evidence for some sort of relationship between burmers and aleknaps, but the details aren't clear. Anticipating the teeming undead of Gurunda, there's even a type of undead being that only comes during Bajiber, the lithgast, perhaps the spirit of someone who died during Bajiber while under the influence of the mestral mist.

Magic

The mester of Bajiber loans itself particularly well to magics of influencing emotion and desire. During Bajiber, potions and other talismans are created that instill bravery, bring about fear, or cause people to fall in love. Magics of sustenance are also empowered during Bajiber, allowing mages to easily arrange to go without eating or drinking. However, for whatever reason divination magic also seems strong during Bajiber, and talismans with powers of augury and magical discernment are also created during this mester. Among the most popular talismans created in Bajiber are enamorate charms, with which the wearer can cause the target of their choice to fall in love with them; weird regalia, which give the wearer enhanced respect in the eyes of their viewers; everbread, a long-lasting magical foodstuff that fills the user far beyond its mass; and kenmirrors, useful instruments of divination.

A mestral mage specializing in the magics of Bajiber is called a madulsa. Some madulsae specialize in magics of emotion, and some specialize in divination, but many are conversant with either.

Holidays

Many Didduans seem to consider the entire mester of Bajiber to be more or less one long holiday, twenty-nine days of temulent rapture. There are, however, a few specific holidays in the mester. The eighth day of Bajiber is Eightsbud, a day of musical revelry which is often used to premiere new compositions. (The fact that the nimptopsical musicians are no doubt not at the top of their form seems to be only a small impediment.) The fourteenth day of Bajiber is celebrated in many cultures as the Home Festival, when scattered families reunite and share an elaborate dinner. Since most members of said scattered families are effectively inebriated at the time, said dinners often end up at the extremes of emotion, either devolving into wild arguments, descending into teary sobfests, or escalating into boisterous carousals.

The twenty-eighth day of the mester—two days before the start of Gurunda—is a holiday called Resolution Day. This is so called not because Didduans make resolutions on this day that they plan to keep in the coming year, but rather because it is the day they try to resolve outstanding issues in their lives and with their acquaintances, knowing they may not have another chance—Gurunda is nigh, and there's always the possibility they may not make it through. So, on Resolution Day, debts are paid, trespasses are forgiven, and disputes are reconciled. That's the theory, at least; in practice, in most areas, Resolution Day devolves into simply a large party, a last merulent hurrah before twenty-seven days of metallic inanimation.

Herbs

As with other mesters, many herbs useful in alchemy and for other magical purposes grow exclusively during Bajiber. Some of the best known include heartsblade, an infusion of which can be used to create a sort of love potion; scareweed, which, as the name implies, evokes fear in those treated with it; and ghastwort, which grants powers of mind-reading. Herbs with more esoteric powers include corrow, which lets the user fluesce into a liquid or gaseous form; and popwort, which can be used to place a person entirely under control of another. Rarer herbs of Bajiber include fedgemoss, which can join creatures henotically together; and wit, useful in the animation of inanimate objects.

Useful in their own right without any preparation are certain edible plants that grow in Bajiber and that have properties of magically enhanced sustenance. The best known of these are the golden orbfruit and the long, reddish, almost jerky-like leaves of the epiphytic stragglehair.