Ves Coming of Age Ritual

There are two important dates in a young goblin's life. The day his Ves'a is formed and his Kax'Vee chosen, and the day he Comes of Age at fifteen years old. The first is a scary and exhilarating experience for the gobling. The second can be a solemn ceremony in some cases and a raucous party in others. The truth is, it depends on who's performing the ceremony, and who the audience is. Most Tysi La Zahb are performed by the child's Kax'Vee, but in a professional Ves-ka, it can be presided over by any of the young adult's superiors.

The highlight of any Ves Coming of Age Ritual is the "Muk-ah Tal Muk" (lit. Declaration [of] Has Voice), where the gobling is declared, officially an adult. This is usually accompanied by a ritual hazing, the severity of which depends on the particular Ves-ka, and how harsh they typically are. If your Ves-ka is your family, the worst you can probably expect is verbal abuse that is almost comical in the name calling, but if your Ves-ka is a street gang in Holmgang, you might expect a beating. In general, all full adults at the Tysi La Zahb are expected to participate in the hazing.

The most legendary Muk-ah Tal Muk ritual is the one performed on Vesya in The Shadow Brothers sect. though no one outside the Brotherhood knows for certain what that hazing entails. For posterity, I'll detail it here;

First, the Vesya in question is forcibly abducted sometime after dawn by the members of his Ves'a. He is then taken to a secure area where he is met by the Grandfather of Shadows disguised in a Vee's uniform. He is surrounded by his Ves and the Grandfather, all brandishing ritual razors. Ghost then, using an assumed voice, asks probing questions of the youngster about the other members of his Ves'a. If he refuses to answer or lies, the Brother that the youth was questioned about cuts him with the razor. If he does answer with the truth, his Ves'a then remove their masks and turn their backs on the gobling and walk away. At this point, the Brother becomes "Las'Muk" (lit. Voiceless) and though he remains a brother, he is relegated to duties at Shadowkeep such as cooking, cleaning and scribing.
However, if the youth continues to refuse to answer, the Brother is continually cut until he loses consciousness due to pain. Sometimes, especially among venngoblins, the blades of the razor are intoxicated with a pain causing poison (doubles damage but half is nonlethal). If the young Brother actually gets it in his head to fight back, his brothers toss their razors aside and beat him into unconsciousness, while the Grandfather watches. Should he prevail against his brothers, he may then face Ghost. Ghost won't fight him, but rather declare him Kax'Ves, and instruct him to carry his brothers home to lick their wounds. More likely, he gets beaten by his siblings.

When the new Brother is beaten, his siblings then take him, unconscious, to the priestesses to be healed, and once healed, they inform him of the successful test of his loyalty and they will now trust him on missions with them. Until this point, the Ves has been Vesya and was only allowed to train with them, not do missions. The brother is then presented with his full armor and weapons. They then celebrate by going to perform a contract killing which they allow the new Ves to carry out.

Participants

In the case of a private tysi la zahb, members of the gobling's ves-ka, led by his Kax'Vee(s), with all his Raa'toka and Toka in attendance, in addition to his own Ves'a . This tysi la zahb is often a combination of solemn ceremony where parents try to impart some last minute wisdom on their young, and raucous party with all the new adult's friends (most likely his Ves'a) telling stories to the family of the teen's exploits and follies.

In the other case, a professional tysi la zahb, the ceremony takes place and is presided over by the highest ranking person connected to the new adult that cares enough to do the ceremony. All lower ranks and equal ranks are expected to attend but higher ranks do so at their leisure. This type of coming of age ritual is often very solemn in the beginning, with speeches from the youth's Vee and Raa'toka in the organization, and end with a semi-formal feast in honour of the young adult. If the youth has been exceptional in his professional role, the Vee/Raa'toka in charge will often shuffle Ves'a around to insure that the young person is not the Vesya of his Ves'a, either by shuffling a new youth into his Ves'a or by taking the less experienced adult and shuffling him into a Ves'a where he is not the youngest/smallest. It is uncommon for a professional Ves-ka to have more than half a dozen adolescents employed, and they are usually not in the same Ves'a.

Observance

The tysi la zahb is, ideally, performed on the fifteenth anniversary of the young goblin's birth. If circumstance makes that impossible, the ritual is held as near as feasibly possible after that date.

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