Marking the Milestones

Marking the Milestones is a book uncovered through Study-related Inquiries.

## History

During time spent away from Amber Run, the elf Timbermitt found himself travelling across much of the continent, crossing paths with many - and avoiding crossing paths with many more. Nonetheless, during his journey, he found himself bearing witness to the birthday celebrations of a gaggle of children in a small village, and thus, keen to keep his mind busy and distracted, sought out a text pertaining to the celebratory traditions found across the continent, present and past.

## Reading

### Completed by Timbermitt

On the topic of milestones, those, by definition, most numerously encountered throughout an individual's life as defined by the passage of the weeks and months and years is that of their birthday or nameday. As with other milestones experienced throughout life, such as the coming of age, marriages, the birth of children, triumphs in professional life, and finally that of passing into the guidance of the Daughter of the Veil, the extent and emphasis placed on each varies from place to place, religious beliefs and traditions, and associated wealth and status. That is to say that all celebrations amongst the commonfolk are muted and dull affairs - truly, this could not be further from the truth - but the typical scope and scale is often incomparable to that of a noble, who might be lavished with gifts and host a grand feast, tourney, hunt or some other leisurely show to mark the day. By contrast, commonfolk might still make gifts of specially-prepared food - especially sweet treats - and give gifts such as clothes to replace those outgrown over the last year, and pouches filled with seeds to symbolise growth.

Regardless of the wealth and opulence involved, defining the date of celebration is not as simple as just the actual day of their birth. For nobles and those of notable affulence, it has grown increasingly common for an individual to celebrate as described on the anniversary of their day of birth, and is often engaged as such each and every year from said birth, although this too does vary. While there are amongst the commonfolk that would seek to do the same, whether seeking to emulate the gentry, or for their own individual purposes, it is much more frequently observed for birthdays to be tied directly to the Holy Days of the Principal Sixteen, usually in one of two ways. Prayers of protection, care and love are offered up to near every newborn, though the god to which these are offered may vary from family to family. Notwithstanding those that might pray to all of the Sixteen, usually one of their number is given precedence, and thus to that deity the child is indirectly dedicated. A mother might look to Aita to show unto her babe warmth and affection, to shelter them from that would do them ill. A father might beseech Taranis to burn vigilant overhead as the child rests, guarding them from harm. A priest might call upon Buwello to give the child appetite to grow healthy and happy, an accoucheuse asking Kroai to fill them with strength and vigour. Regardless, the custom would then be for the child to celebrate their birthday on or immediately around the Holy Day associated with the god that guarded their first night's sleep. A variation on this tradition exists in which the newborn is seen to be under the protection of the deity with the next upcoming Holy Day, likened to a shepherd gathering their flock in its lead-up, and thus will come to celebrate during that Holy Day instead. In either case, no distinction is made between this Holy Day and the individual's actual birth date, the Holy Day is subsequently representative of it, which from a scholarly point of view is inclined to cause issues when individuals in reality but a few months old may come to be celebrating the "first birthday" sooner than expected.

Not all races celebrate equally, either. For particularly long-lived races, counting the years often wains in interest rapidly, though this ultimately comes down to the individual in question, whether a dwarven king, elven serf, human merchant or orcish scholar. Most commonly, emphasis on the birthday waxes and wains throughout life, peaking at the coming-of-age (which of course varies from race to race), and significant milestones therein, usually defined as the passage of centuries, or significant fractions therein. This is particularly so the case with Warmstep, a game pervasive throughout all the classes of society, in which the one celebrating steps, paces or leaps repeatedly over a lit candle, until an number of passages have been made to match their age. In some customs, if the candle is extinguished, to journey must be started again or risk a bout of bad luck, but likewise should it burn through before the journey is completed, the same woe may befall the individual. Understandably, many of the longer-lived races shirk this tradition too, and instead may mark the number of years in other ways, such as games where piles of polished stones equal in number to the person's age must be sorted by colour as quickly as possible, arrangements of flowers matching the sum, or any other novel and creative measure of the years.