Coming of Age

The Coming of Age (sometimes called "Age of Adulthood") is an internationally recognized age where Serenza of any race are considered adults. Since most of the races of Mencu have similar lifespans, governments and psychologists throughout history have studied the different aging processes of each race to come to the conclusion of when the proper Coming of Age was. Because of the various races and cultures, this age varies between them, although usually falls between 20 and 40.

## Ages by Race

### Kasil

Most Kasil races physically mature in their late teens or early 20s, although there are various levels of mental and emotional stability that do not simmer down until the early 30s. for the Dorenzu and the Zukuren, this age is 25. For the slightly shorter-lived Renkida, it is 21. The latter is seen more as a curiosity, considering the general boldness and audacity of the Renkida, as well as the fact that their lifespans are actually not much different from those of their dwarven and elven brethren. Nevertheless, they recognize this as the legal age of adulthood for the Renkida just as 25 is the recognized ages for the Zukuren and Dorenzu.

Despite claims, Renkida only have shorter average lifespans because less of them live to older ages due to their general bravery (or bravado, or even perhaps stupidity) compared to some of the other, warier races. In terms of old age, their lifespans are roughly the same.

### Vartiz

Since the Vartiz races live slightly longer than the Kasil on average, their coming of age is a little later. For Kuthawa, Komera, and Todawa, this age is 30. The general stability of these three races is not questioned, although they, particularly the Todawa and the Komera, tend to be more conservative with their numbers in this regard. Komera actually tend to emotionally mature around the age of 20, although there are dangerous abilities they possess that often are difficult to keep in check at that age, hence the later age in years for them to come of age.

The Mizulen are slightly more liberal than their eastern brethren regarding the coming of age, with their age of adulthood being 25. Along a similar vein of thought, the Madizi also have their age of adulthood at 25. In contrast, the long-lived Shinzoka do not fully come of age until they reach the age of 35. As a race full of traditionalists and secrets, however, few people are too surprised.

### Other Races

The Arakos are not officially considered adults until the age of 35, although their reasoning for this remains secret. The Wakuda do not formally have any such thing, as they do not track their ages. Most frequently, they just follow the whims of the Arakos or whoever else is skilled enough to assemble them for more than a few minutes at a time.

Serenghe come of age at 35 as well, due to their longer lifespans. They are fierce and volatile, and while they mature physically at the same rate as the other races, their emotional maturity and mental stability does not simmer down until the early 30s in most cases, hence the lateness of their age of adulthood. Jalenga could theoretically morph into adults the day they were born, although record-keepers in the area tracked their ages, and considered Jalenga adults at the age of 20.

### Zaderei & Kumenza

Because Zaderei and Kumenza consist of individuals from all races, these two groups mostly rely on their countries' standards for coming of age rather than a racial one. Artifcial Kumenza generally make this tricky due to technicalities (since a freshly created Kumenza with a 35-year-old Kuelez would techincally still only be a day old even if she appeared to be 35), although the Kumenza safely assume the coming of age for their race to be 25, which is also the general standard in Shahar-Eka.

Zaderei are much more variant, since they are literally members from all races, including Kumenza. As such, they have no real standard for coming of age by race, but their homeland, Krippa, universally sets the age standard at 35 due to Zaderei having slightly more unstable mental, emotional, and even physical makeups compared to their normal counterparts.

## Aging by Country

Because each country of Mencu has a distinct majority of a certain type of race, most of these countries adopt the standards for each race rather than blanketing them with an official statement. An exception is Krippa, which hosts a myriad of Zaderic races, which in turn puts the age standard at 35. The only other nation to share this sentiment is Kroggné, which doe snot recognize individuals as adults until they are 35 years of age, regardless of their race or what their culture signifies is the age of adulthood. Those individuals who are alive during a transition of an Age are considered particularly special by many cultures, including those born on the last day of the past age or the first day of the new age.

### In Kroggné

Due to the complex social structure of Arakan society, age, much like almost every other aspect of an Arakan's life, is a statistic that determines various social roles, and a great deal of evidence points to age playing an important factor on who can be the Archon or Matrona at any given time. It seems to also affect which Arakos are sent out into the field, for most of the Arakos seen on the remainder of Tsominku are all within the "prime" age range of 40-120.

### In Other Countries

On a cultural level outside of Kroggné, age is more of a cue for different rituals, ceremonies, or celebrations, and for when certain festivities during Žaníma can be partaken in or not. It is also an indicator for when someone is marriageable, versus when they are still just a child or an adolescent. After the ages of about 35-40, age matters much less in the grand scheme of things, and regardless of culture (except perhaps among the Arakos), the old phrase "Age is just a number" becomes much more viable.

## Role in the Series

Since most of the major characters in the series are above 35, a character's age plays little role in any of the volumes. However, since each volume takes place several years apart, some characters that appear as children or young adults in earlier volumes like *The Crown of Zivia* and *The Crusade of Zulera* are middle-aged or elderly individuals by the time of *The War of the Heavens*, if they are lucky to survive that long.

Notable individuals whose ages stand as milestones are Szure, who comes of age at the opening of *The Crown of Zivia*; California, who is a teenager during the events of *The Crusade of Zulera*, and Asami, who begins her story shortly after coming of age in the events of *The Shadows of Shinzoka*.

## See Also

* Aging
* Mencuan Year
* Age (Era)