Dwarven Name Ceremony Tradition / Ritual in Albion | World Anvil
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Dwarven Name Ceremony

A Dwarf picks their name on the spring equinox after their 30th winter. This is also when they will chose their apprenticeship, and when they are no longer considered a child, though true adulthood will not come until they have mastered their profession and created a great work, which typically comes in their 40s or 50s.
The dwarf will chose their name ahead of time of course, typically with consultation with their family, and will also make sure none of the other dwarves picking their name that year.
The dwarf is of course only chosing their chosen name, which is traditionally something related to what they want to do or what they wish to be. It could also be in honour of a famous or powerful clan member, or an ancestor.

Execution

A dwarf will carve their name onto a gem, which will then be encased in stone with deep dwarven magics. At their naming ceremony, the dwarf will smash the stone, revealing their name, before presenting it to their clanparents. They will then accept it, and install the gem into their great wall of clan members, where it will stay, representing that dwarf, until they die or are expelled. Once installed, they will pronounce the name to the gathered clanmembers, and from then on, that is their name.

Components and tools

The gem, which must be large enough to accept the chosen name, but is typically thumbnail sized. It is typically one of a flavour of semiprecious gems, based largely on a complex culture of profession, class, and other factors. Each clan has a different system, and they can be highly divergent even amongs similar clans, as this is an entirely private ceremony.

Participants

The clanparents and the dwarves being named are the primary participants, being named in order of random draw. Generally the extended family of the dwarves, other important dwarves of the clan, and random othe members of the clan, will be present.

Observance

Very strictly, a dwarf is a child until they have their name.

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