Hanging the Birth-Cloth & Bell Day (Inom's Cradles)

Inom's Cradles have two different ways they celebrate births among their number. When a normal member gives birth, a birth-cloth is strung between the towers. When Mother Tosi gives birth, the temple bells are rung softly all day.

History

Mother Tosi had already intended for Bell Day to be a thing from the moment she was designing her Temple of Fertility. The bells were part of her design from the beginning, though she discovered she had to ring them softer than she'd initially imagined.
Meanwhile, the hanging of the birth-cloth was just a little thing she thought of when one of her at-the-time mostly-really-just-farmhands had given birth for the first time. It was a little way of being eccentric and starting up a ritual that honestly was just kinda awkward for the new mother but accepted as just Tosi being weird. At first, the cloth was hung from the tallest tree and given to the farmhand after a week to use as a washcloth, but when the towers were finished and the births were coming in more and more frequently, the cloths and times moved up to a rope strung between the towers and a month before being taken down. The cloths also got much more colorful, the name of the baby got written on, and were cut more baby's-second-blanket-sized.

Execution

The cloths are attached to the rope between the towers with a hook that goes through a grommet in the cloth. Every new hook pushes previous hooks closer to the center. At the end of Bell Day, the hooks are taken down by someone agile enough to traverse the rope and the cloths are handed to the mothers.
Bell day requires tender, soft bell-ringing to avoid upsetting the various babies throughout the compound.

Components and tools

The hanging of the cloth requires an S-hook and a kid's-blanket-sized cloth with the baby's name stenciled or embroidered on and a grommet in the corner. Said cloth is usually assembled during late pregnancy by the mother.

Participants

The hanging of the cloth and Bell Day, being mostly visual and audio experiences, respectively, are observed by all. They're more indicator than participation-requiring event. The ones who actively set these events up are Dutiful Daughters.

Observance

Whenever most members of Inom's Cradles give birth, a cloth is hung from the rope. Whenever Mother Tosi gives birth, that day is Bell Day.

Primary Related Location

Muffs District