The Knot Day
Children hanging from ropes, singing songs of work, of community. On their hands, hammers, brushes and buckets. Their feet, cold against the wood as they dangle some meters above the ground, taking care of the mistreated and destroyed houses. Such is the usual visage of a Lerit village, on the far-out part of Yekiach.
A bell rings, beckoning the little workers to eat. The elders and the unfit for war, free of fighting for the border of the territory, have prepared the food for the day. The children pick up their well-deserved soup bowls and take them hastily as if they expected to be attacked at any time. The last raid hadn't been kind to the village.
Sitting on the ground and with their legs crossed, they watch two of their peers graduate from their tasks, a young boy and girl, who today become a man and a woman, wielding their first weapon, ready to be trained on the ways of fighting.
History
This ritual originated during the first parts of the rise of the Zephyr Empires when The Chosen of Heryz were terrorizing and dominating Erio and then moved on onto Yekiach, colliding with the peoples of Wyevrak and the then very recent Lerit Clan, starting a cruel campaign where they simply wouldn't be able to control the entirety of the Section.
Since the Chosen used pillaging and siege tactics, it wasn't uncommon for the cities of the Lerit to suffer great damage, that couldn't be fixed by those fighting, since the attacks were constant. This forced them to teach the children to repair everything and how to manage the settlements, while the adults defended the land. The first Knot Day was celebrated on the last day of Creo of 2274 D.R.
The South Frontier of the Lerit territories was especially active as a warzone, which lead the Chosen to focus their advances on that front, creating a volatile climate where the frontier was constantly shifting. This situation persisted until the Chosen managed to overcome the fortresses' located on the Fingers of the Tyrant on the West, granting them the opportunity to take a pincer approach and crush the Lerit from both sides.
Since the Nereidai Treaty on 2886 D.R, the Lerit were able to reclaim their independence from the Chosen, under close supervision from the Coalition. However, shortly after, the Chosen started attacking the old warzone again, leading the Lerit to fall back on a conflict mentality, and reinstating the Knot Day and the role structure for children.
Execution
At midday, just when it's time for the children to stop with the reparations of the morning and eat something to gain back strength, the leader of the village commences a fast ceremony: all those electable for Knot Day are brought upon a stage and given a special ornamental rope, a symbol of the rope usually used by the children to access the exterior parts of the houses. This rope is cut in half and then the child knots it back together, taking their first steps into adulthood.
Once the children pronounce their vows and visions of the future, a chest containing the sacred weapons of the village is brought. Each child then chooses what their duty will be according to the weapon they choose. These vary from town to town but normally represent normal combat, infiltration, caretaking, artillery, and arcane warfare, among many others. They raise the chosen object with both hands as the crowd applauds and repeats their vow.
Observance & Participants
The Knot Day is performed on the last day of each month, where all the children on the frontier who turned 15 during the month receive their armaments and celebrate.
Everyone on the village comes to visit The Knot Day if enemy troops haven't been seen in the proximity. If any particular child has relatives in a nearby settlement that's also in the warzone, it's common for them to also assist the ceremony, even if the parents would normally be fighting.
Aside from all the children, the ceremony is normally lead by the political authorities, be it the mayor, the priest of the local shrine, or the captain of the militia.
Everyone on the village comes to visit The Knot Day if enemy troops haven't been seen in the proximity. If any particular child has relatives in a nearby settlement that's also in the warzone, it's common for them to also assist the ceremony, even if the parents would normally be fighting.
Aside from all the children, the ceremony is normally lead by the political authorities, be it the mayor, the priest of the local shrine, or the captain of the militia.
For my hand now is liberated of the pleasures of hard work, and led into the burdens of conflict. I'll have to stand proud, today and tomorrow, if the Geists will.
The Significance of Objects
The Knot day, as its name implies, is all about the things that tie the child's life to their duties. It's the manifestation of the rope from which they dangle to repair and move. Cutting it and tying a knot represents a change, a new part of life, that leads the children to adulthood and the duties of war.
Such is this importance that often the only art Lerit are capable of doing on their limited time is that of the ropes used on Knot Day, made out of colorful materials and many intricates patterns, which are meant to bring joy to the children in the hard times where most of what they see is destruction.
The weapons themselves are also normally pieces of art, carefully carved and kept on a chest for the rest of the year, as they often are the last or the most important relics of the town.
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