Birthdays in Helemia

Birthdays are an event that are almost always celebrated in Helemia. The main celebrations are food-oriented, but there is also the giving of gifts. Birthdays are traditionally observed yearly on the day of the Angel's birth. Birthdays are normally only delayed when the one having the birthday is ill.

Components

One traditional component of a birthday celebration in Helemia is a celebratory dinner with the common fish Chinook Salmon as part of the main dish. The main dish is normally made up of fish filets that were marinated and heavily seasoned before being seared over an open flame.

The heart of the fish making up the main course is saved and cooked with a large amount of butter. The heart is then presented to the one who is having their birthday to eat at the end of the main course.

Key Roles

The key people involved in birthdays in Helemia are the one who is having the birthday and their Omma. The Omma of the person having the birthday traditionally is to bestow three hand-chosen gifts unto the one having the birthday, while all other participants from the birthday person's friends and family traditionally bestow one hand-chosen gift.

The Omma is most commonly the biological mother of the one having the birthday, but can be unrelated to the one having the birthday. The local priestess of Xytia the Nurturing - Xytia being the Conceptual Deity of parenthood, family, parental love, and familial love - chooses the Omma in the event that the biological mother is unable to attend for any reason.

Execution

At the end of the traditional dinner, the person who is having their birthday is normally given the cooked heart of the Chinook Salmon they ate and directed to eat it. This is to symbolize their bravery in the face of change; the salmon symbolizes change, and the heart symbolizes bravery. This occurs before the dessert, but after the people present at the dinner have finished their meals.

After the eating of the heart, the dessert Besserlam is traditionally eaten.

Primary Related Location

Helemia

Besserlam

Besserlam is a traditional birthday dessert of Helemia. It is made of custard mixed with the native honeyberries that thrive in the high-altitude cold of Helemia.

Chinook Salmon

Chinook Salmon is a common type of fish found in the sea and in the rivers near Helemia. As they are so common, they are not a particularly pricey choice for a birthday meal, but they are the choice of many, due to their association with change.