Conlan had always heard the longest night described so poeticlly. It seemed impossible for the imagery of the freshly fallen snow, stark against the dark and bare trees to be mentioned without launching into flowery language. Talk of intricate patterns of ice dangling from trees and plants, the symbolism of a fresh blanket of snow, wiping away all the dirt of the past and giving us a blank slate on which to write the rest of our lives, and the stillness of the air, as if the whole world was waiting hung on the lips of every passer by.
It seemed fitting then to Con that on this solemn holiday, that he be in a place where it was too warm for snow, and instead was it was simply pouring rain. Being too warm for snow didn't mean it wasn't frigidly cold, and he huddled under his cloak, sipping the small tankard of ale he'd purchased with a portion of payment for his most recent job. He was in the bannorn, far from home. Still sore from the fight, but at least the rain had washed the blood from his hands, and at least he could claim he was still alive, which wasn't something everyone who fought that morning could say. Even worse, the rain had begun to wash away the dirt on the fresh graves, and there was some fear that the men would have to be re-buried.
The poets saw the world one way, but this was the way the world really was. Everything was wet, and muddy. Where the fancy and noble could only pretend to not be as dirty as everyone else, and what was dead came back to haunt you unless you made sure to bury it deep enough.
The vigil fires were damn near impossible to keep lit, with small tarps erected to keep the rain off them. The tarps had gotten full with water, and men were using that to fill their canteens, some were bathing.
Small moments of comfort in an otherwise cruel world. Some thought the longest night was a time of contemplation, but not Conlan, for him it was just another day, another chance to find new ways to keep going. He raised his mug in a silent toast, to Ordhan, to his long dead parents, and to those who were taking solace where they could.