Patriots' Night

Patriots' Night is an event held in many schools and institutions of higher learning in Sauveterre late in the summer to commemorate Sauveterre's independence from Irinie. Celebrations are usually held in the late evening or at night, with an array of cultural performances, sketches, speeches and other activities that reflect the heritage of Sauveterre, as well as her history.

The festivities require preparation, though it often depends on the scale of the celebration. Larger-scale celebrations, like those in National Service, elite schools and institutions of higher learning, require more meticulous preparation. A national-level celebration is held in the heart of Lumine every year, and it is the largest ever Patriots' Night celebration.

Story

The National Service Journal

The first known celebration of Patriots' Night takes place towards the end of Aimée Duchemin's National Service stint in Camp Point-Neuf. The event was jointly planned by Aimée herself, Mira Kanang and Sybil Françaix in a bid to unite the trainees in the camp, who had become disillusioned by the calamities that had taken place. The event was planned following the brawls that took place on the sixty-eighth day. Aimée, Sybil and Mira realised that if the campt stayed disunited, they wouldn't be able to resist and put an end to Ankoù's menaces.

Preparations for Patriots' Night were under way before Ankoù killed Tatienne Delacroix. After her funeral, the preparations were stepped up in her honour, as the crew decided that it was not time to cry. This followed a confession from Aimée, who said that Tatienne saw her beating the drum, and she wanted Aimée to play as loudly and as expressively as she could on the real night.

Patriots' Night takes place on the seventy-fifth day of Aimée's stint in the Main Hall. The list of events are as follows:

• Officialisation: The arrival of Major Zulkahar and Major Evayne is announced. The Head Boy, Ariff Naufal, hands him the flag of Sauveterre whilst the trainees stand to greet them.

• Danse profane: Translates literally to "secular dance", it is a typical event opener in Point-Neuf. It features war-like moves and the use of real swords (representations are never accepted). Sylvain Dieudonné and Aimée accompany dancers Charles and Raoul Tregantereg on the drum.

• Prelude: A sequence which involves emceeing (on the part of Aimée and Didier Deschamps), which serves as a prelude to a play of lights and a series of dances by the Iriniais and Sauveterranean trainees. The emceeing is done partly in dialect, and partly in common language. When the audience cries out a rousing Ya laouen!, the white lights are turned off and the celebration begins.

• Iriniais Waltz: A tale of the coexistence, struggle and reconciliation between the Iriniais ethnicities, many of which can be found in Sauveterre - Humans, Dragons, and Cauchemer, especially the Wulf, Tyger, Tyglon, and Lyger. represented through dance in a series of scenes. Laura Grey, Llyr Bleddyn, Llewella Bleddyn, Lugaid de Wardes,m and Erroll de Wardes personally participate in the dance.

• Why Can't We Be Friends: A combination of songs and drama featuring the war between Sauveterre and Irinie, as well as the separatist mindset that emerged among the people of Sauveterre decades before Sauveterre gained independence from Irinie. Monica Menti is noted to have performed in this sketch.

• Nuit de Paix: The climax of the night. A messageboard featuring the trainees' messages of peace is brought and laid at the front of the stage. The candles in the hall are lit, the rest of the lights are turned off, and Aimée sings a song specially written for the night, Nuit de Paix, with several memories of the trainees as a backdrop. Following the song is a candlelit vigil for peace and unity.

Les Histoires Duchemin 3

The entire story of Les Histoires Duchemin 3 takes place during Patriotism Month, and Aimée and her friends take it upon themselves to restore peace before Patriots' Night.

Aimée and her friends make their triumphant return to Lumine, just in time for Patriots' Night, and at the opening of the celebration, Aimée addresses the people of Sauveterre for the very first time, recounting her experience as a citizen, and what it takes to love a nation.

Les Histoires Duchemin 7

The Patriots' Night celebrations are cancelled due to the civil war in Sauveterre, as well as the breakdown of Sauveterre's Cabinet.