The Walk

History

It is impossible to identify a specific origin of the coming of age ceremony as an innumerable number of groups are speculated to have begun performing similar rituals to "The Walk" during and after The First Coming of the End Times. Additionally, the scarcity of records from that time period and the Age of Man only compounds the ambiguity of the tradition's origins. Regardless of its origins, some version of The Walk can be observed in every cultural group all over Jeharr.

Execution

The exact execution of the walk varies from culture to culture but the basic principles are the same across all of the cultures on Jeharr. On a Mortal's thirteenth birthday (in the case of humans, the age varies based on biology but the age is both fixed and predictable) the Mortal undertakes "The Walk." During The Walk, the child leaves home for anywhere between a half-hour and multiple days. In this time they travel into the wilderness or otherwise away from any potential collateral damage. During this time, if the child has Fahreed's Disease then that will become apparent, usually in violent fashion. The Walk serves a dual purpose by both providing children a chance to take their first steps into independence and to protect the rest of the local population from the development of Fahreed's Disease in case the child has it.

Participants

The usual roles are the child who undertakes The Walk and the child's parents, extended family, or even entire community in some cultures. The child undertakes The Walk for anywhere from minutes to days (depending on how precisely the child's birth information is recorded) and then is celebrated with dance and a feast upon their safe return.