The emblems of the conclave
If one day you come in and the ankh in the header is wearing a crown, has dressed up as a ghost or has turned into stained glass, it is not a bug: the conclave celebrates thirty-three days a year and announces its tournaments, and on each occasion the emblem dresses for it. Hover over it and it will tell you what is being celebrated.
If the celebration falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the emblem is up from the Friday, so you do not miss it. The long periods, Christmas and summer, share their days among several drawings. Here they all are, from January to December.
January
1 January
New Year's Day
The first day of the year. May it bring good tables and better prey.
6 January
Three Kings' Day
Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar arrive from the East with presents for everyone. With luck, the crypt you have been chasing for years.
February and March
14 February
Valentine's Day
The day of lovers. Even a vampire has a heart, though it no longer beats.
Saturday to Tuesday before Ash Wednesday
Carnival
The days of costumes and parades before Lent: the only ones of the year when the Masquerade is worn on the outside.
Forty-six days before Easter Sunday
Ash Wednesday
The day Carnival ends: the sardine is buried and the forty days of Lent begin.
17 March
Saint Patrick's Day
The feast of Ireland's patron saint, celebrated by half the world dressed in green with a shamrock on the lapel.
19 March
Father's Day
Saint Joseph's Day, when Spain and Portugal celebrate fathers. To every father in the conclave.
20 March
Spring
The equinox: from here on the days are longer than the nights, which is bad news for some of us.
April
Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday
Holy Week
From Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday: processions, torrijas and a few days off that many spend playing.
22 April
Earth Day
Since 1970, a day to look after the only world we have, by night as well.
23 April
World Book Day and Saint George's Day
The day Cervantes and Shakespeare are remembered and, in Catalonia, Sant Jordi: books and roses. Ours is the Book of Nod.
24 April
VTES returns
On 24 April 2018 Black Chantry announced that VTES was back in print: the game rose from its grave.
25 April
Freedom Day
In 1974 the Carnation Revolution gave Portugal back its freedom, with red carnations in the barrels of the rifles.
May
1 May
Labour Day
International Workers' Day. For one day, the tools get a rest.
First Sunday of May
Mother's Day
Spain and Portugal celebrate it on the first Sunday of May. To every mother in the conclave.
4 May
Star Wars Day
May the Fourth be with you: a pun that made 4 May the day of the saga. The dark side has its perks, though.
26 May
Dracula Day
Bram Stoker's Dracula was published on 26 May 1897: the grandsire of us all.
June
10 June
Portugal Day
The Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, on the anniversary of the poet's death.
26 June
Richard Garfield
Born in 1963, he designed Jyhad, the game that became VTES.
August
All of August, in seven turns
Summer
Half the conclave goes on holiday and the other half hides from the sun.
16 August
VTES's birthday
Jyhad came out on 16 August 1994, the game that would come to be called Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. Happy birthday to all of us who play it.
September and October
Day 256 of the year: 13 September, 12 in a leap year
Programmers' Day
The 256th day of the year, 2⁸, a round number if you count in binary: the day of those who write code.
4 October
Anne Rice
Born in New Orleans in 1941, she wrote Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Chronicles.
12 October
Spain's National Day
Spain's National Day, with a parade in Madrid and a holiday across the country.
21 October
Back to the Future
21 October 2015 is the day Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in Back to the Future Part II.
31 October
Halloween
The eve of All Saints' Day, the night of costumes and trick or treat: the most ours of the whole year.
November
1 and 2 November
All Saints' and All Souls'
All Saints' and All Souls': the days we bring flowers and candles to those who are gone.
8 November
Bram Stoker
Born in Dublin in 1847, he wrote Dracula, the novel that shaped the modern vampire.
December
6 December
Constitution Day
On 6 December 1978 Spain approved its Constitution in a referendum.
22 December
Christmas Lottery
The children of San Ildefonso sing out the prizes of the Spanish Christmas Lottery, and El Gordo spreads luck all over Spain.
24 December
Christmas Eve
The night before Christmas: a long dinner, family and, with luck, a game afterwards.
24 December to 6 January, in five turns
Christmas
The Christmas holidays, from Christmas Eve to Three Kings. May they leave you time for a game.
31 December
New Year's Eve
The last night of the year: twelve grapes, one for each stroke of the Puerta del Sol clock; in Portugal, twelve raisins.
Tournaments
The date depends on the year
Spain's National Championship
Spain's VTES National Championship, the big tournament of the year: whoever wins it is the champion of Spain.
The date depends on the year
Portugal's National Championship
Portugal's VTES National Championship: whoever wins it is the champion of Portugal.
The date depends on the year
Iberian Grand Prix
A Grand Prix of the VEKN circuit played in the peninsula, open to players from Spain, from Portugal and from abroad.
The week of the tournament: in 2026, 2 to 8 November
Festivo dello Estinto
Zaragoza's Sabbat-themed storyline tournament, a friendly, almost family gathering, which reaches its eighth edition in 2026.
Mourning
It will be put up when the time comes
Black ribbon
The black ribbon with which the conclave bids farewell to one of its own.
Published on 09/10/2026. Updated on 09/10/2026