Little Ladies' Day
This springtime festival is said to have its origins in the relatively recent Ul'dahn Legend of the Lost Lady. Over the past three centuries, it has transformed into a celebration where women of all ages, races, creeds, and repute dress up in their finest habiliments for a day on the town, stopping to pose in front of specially erected backdrops while nibbling upon colorful sweets; all the while, being waited on hand and foot by their loyal 'seneschals.'
And who are to serve as these seneschals, you ask? Why, the realm's gallant gents, of course! Yes, Eorzea's menfolk have sworn a solemn oath to show their appreciation for all damselkind by dedicating this delightful day to them.
Duration
The festivities are scheduled to last from the stroke of midnight on Thursday, February 17, until 6:59 a.m. on Thursday, March 3 (PST)
Ring My Bell
These bells need no introduction: they sang for the Starlight Celebration, hummed for Heavensturn, vibrated for Valentione's Day, and now their tintinnabulations shall resound throughout the realm once more for Little Ladies' Day. One need only ring the bells to receive a gift, compliments of the city-states and their benevolent rulers.
Gifts Available:
- Peach Branches
- Powdered Sugar
*Gifts can be received once every eight hours (earth time), starting the first time a bell is rung. Up to six items will be stored for each person in the event that periodical returns to the bell prove difficult.
Bell Locations
- Limsa Lominsa (Upper Decks/Lower Decks)
- Gridania
- Ul'dah (Merchant Strip/Hustings Strip)
Of the Hand
Festive confetti made of peach blossoms, and tasty rice cakes are two items associated with the Little Ladies' Day celebration. The following is a guide on how to craft both:
The Legend of the Lost Lady
Three centuries past, the city-state of Ul'dah was ruled by an iron-fisted sultan by the name of Baldric Thorne—a man feared across the region for his quick temper and his even swifter justice. Perhaps as punishment for his compassionless ways, the Twelve saw fit to bless the sultan with but a single daughter, Edvya, whom the sultan loved more than the sun and the moon. And it was this love that drove Baldric to take measures that would ensure no harm ever befell the princess—including her confinement to the royal palace and the assignment of a retinue of over fifty handmaidens and seneschals.
As the princess grew older, however, a longing to explore the unknown land that lay beyond the palace walls tugged at her soul, until one day, in a devilish display of wit, she switched clothes with a miller girl come to the palace with her mother to deliver flour to the kitchens. Once Edvya had exchanged her beautiful gown and tiara for the soiled rags of a commoner, it proved little trouble to pass unnoticed through her legion of servants and slip out into the city for a day of wicked fun.
It did not take long for the palace to realize something was afoot, and upon discovering that his only daughter was missing, the sultan, overcome with rage, immediately ordered the sultanate's entire standing army to scour the city until they had found the princess. As for the royal impostor, thinking that Edvya may have been kidnapped by the girl's mother, the sultan ordered the miller's house torn apart, her family arrested, tortured, and thrown in the royal oubliette.
As luck would have it, the princess had not wandered far from the palace, and was discovered in a nearby market by her father's men. Once back in the safety of the palace, Edvya revealed the whole ruse to her father, explaining that she had conjured it on her own, and begged that he show mercy to the miller's family.
Upon realizing that the atrocities committed to the miller girl and her family were without warrant, he had the family released from the oubliette and summoned to the royal audience chamber. Here, not only did he personally apologize to the family and order the royal architects to design and build them a new home, but, in a move most unexpected, Baldric himself offered to serve as the daughter's seneschal for a full day, saying that no young woman, regardless of her standing, should be denied the respect due all citizens of the sultanate; that all girls, common or noble, are 'ladies' in their own right.
Rumors of this unforeseen display of humility were quick to spread through Ul'dah and ultimately proved to be extremely well-received amongst the smallfolk, who, until then, had perceived their leader as little more than a heartless despot. So well-received were they, in fact, that the sultan declared one day from each solar year on which he would select, via lots, a common girl from the city and serve as her personal seneschal, as he had done with the miller's daughter.
Banter, on 15 February 2011 - 09:02 AM, said:
BST/WHM
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