Happy new year! I hope everyone is having a lovely end of the year, and that whatever holidays you celebrate are treating you well.

On Thrira, the surface of the planet is very hot and windy, so much so, that almost their entire civilization is built into the sides of the canyons, with the only things build above ground being things like a space port, and wind turbines. Or you know, the homes of people wealthy enough to deal with the wind erosion and the heat.

Every year, when the rivers between the canyons are at their highest and fastest water levels, there is a festival celebrating the end of their calendar year. The festival originally celebrated the union between the two gods, Strylios and Engeitia. Strylios is the god who formed the canyons, and Engentia is the goddess that is the oceans and rivers. While religion is mostly performative at this point in their civilization, they still have traditional celebrations!

As a part of the celebrations, there is an event that has contestants riding small, simple boats down the rivers, steering with their tails, while trying to avoid the bursts of powdered paints! Whomever reaches the goal with the driest fur, and least colour, wins! 

Each boater has a life jacket that with automatically inflate on one of two conditions - A sharp impact, or the water sensor triggers. A mere splash won't trigger the water sensor, it's like a small vial, and if it gets filled up (like someone getting dunked!) then it sends the signal to inflate.