Stormcrow Customs

All races have many unique customs, peculiarities of their culture, history, and way of life that are specific to them and their sense of racial identity. This article lists some that are unique to the stormcrow race, in no particular order.
For more basic information about this race, see Stormcrows.

Feather Cloaks

Myth claims that the first feather cloaks were woven by Miiganikwe, wife of the Eagle Reaper and mother of the stormcrow race, as a way to tie the two halves of the stormcrow race together. Symbolizing the bond, commitment, and sacrifice of a mated pair, feather cloaks are the most sacred object of stormcrow society and are the hallmark of the race. They're made by the wife of a mated pair after stripping her husband of his plumage during a magical ritual, and become the couple's only access to the great eagle form that the male once inherently possessed. Either husband or wife can don the cloak of feathers to change their shape, but the husband will more often do so due to being inherently more comfortable and accustomed to the form.
While a couple's cloak of feathers can be worn by another stormcrow in order to transform, it's very rare to do so due to the perceived intimacy of the cloak and the marriage bond; it's considered equivalent in intimacy to inviting another into the relationship, and is a level of trust generally shown rarely even to the closest of friends or relatives. Most often it's something done only in desperation, such as wounded parents giving the cloak to a child in order to escape disaster or fly for help. The magic inherent in the cloak's creation means that a cloak stolen by outsiders is of no use; it must be freely given by one of those involved in its creation in order to retain its transformative powers.
Theft or destruction of a cloak of feathers, whether by a spouse or an outsider, is the highest crime of stormcrow society and is punishable by sky dropping.

The Summer Gathering

Taking place in the shard's capital of Síwe, the summer gathering takes place around the summer solstice and is a month-long celebration attended primarily by unmarried men and women from the age of sixteen onwards. Theoretically meant to be a celebration of the land's bounty, it's well-understood that the real reason is for unmarried individuals to mingle and meet prospective mates. For many young stormcrows it's their first time spending any significant time around members of the opposite sex, and there's an expected level of flirting, courtship, and sexual experimentation. Some couples form a sort of informal relationship at the Summer Gathering that they may rekindle year after year, serving as an informal commitment while those involved are still too young to formally marry.
Síwe has a dedicated part of the village which provides housing specifically for this part of the summer where the village's population more than doubles. Partially separated from Síwe's fulltime inhabitants, the part set aside for the Summer Celebration tends to have the air of a month-long festival and frequently plays host to bonfires at night and games and celebration during the day. All the villages of the shard contribute part of their yearly food stores to Síwe to help supply these festivities.

The Sky Year

Generally taking place after a young woman turns eighteen and has had several years to establish connections during the Summer Gathering, the Sky Year is a year spent living in one of the male-dominated aeries of Ishemin Shard. It serves as a time for education, where they learn about their history and culture while acclimating to heights and gaining an understanding of how the men of the race live. It's also a chance to practice their own domestic abilities away from the sheltering or smothering influence of their own childhood household.
Young women on their Sky Year spend a great deal of time with older males who play the role of etiquette instructor and general teacher, but they also spend time with younger males who are simultaneously learning about them. It's officially a time for friendship and learning to spend time with the other gender, while women grow accustomed to the skies by exploring the land from the backs of males in eagle form, but it's also potentially a time to nurture the early starts of what may become lifelong relationships. Many Sky Year arrangements are influenced by connections made during the Summer Gathering, and for those who already feel a mutual attraction the close quarters shared during the Sky Year are a perfect opportunity for romance.
While the Sky Year is formally a female coming-of-age process, the presence of females in the aeries is equally important for young males and gives them a reason to practice taking on a human form in order to be a part of a more domestic way of life than they've experienced to this point. Stormcrow men tend to feel fiercely devoted to and protective of the women of their race, and a female presence in the aerie soothes them on a fundamental level that they rely on more than they know.

Warfare

Despite their general good nature and the cordial relationship they share with members of the other races, the united population of stormcrows are a force to be reckoned with when danger threatens the shard. Married couples act as potent paired fighters, which most often takes the form of the male wearing the cloak of feathers and bearing the female into combat on his back. Stormcrow weather-witches have a legendary affinity for magic involving the weather and the elements, calling violent storms out of a clear blue sky and pummeling the land below with blinding rain, hail, snow, and lightning. They very much live up to the reputation of their Reaper ancestor, and their well-feared capabilities in battle mean that they haven't faced a major incursion in centuries.

Descendants of the Eagle Reaper

According to legend and their own oral histories, the stormcrows are the descendants of a marriage between the Eagle Reaper and a human woman he fell in love with. It's not entirely clear how this could be the case when the general understanding is that Reapers are sterile, but the stories say that the Reaper's wife gave birth to the first four stormcrows in the form of two human daughters and two black eagle sons. They formed the beginnings of the distinct stormcrow village/aerie population divide as it exists today, marrying humans and giving rise to further stormcrow children.