First stag celebration
The first stag is a feast held as an initiation ceremony of a young Serbaoth into the ranks of the hunter's guild. The name stands synonymously for the first large animal a young hunter killed by themselves, which doesn't necessarily have to be a stag, but often is, since deer are very common in the Dragon's Ridge. The animal is skinned, cooked on a spit over open fire and shared with the entire village in a feast. While the meat is roasting, the young hunter is initiated into the hunter's guild by its elders. They are presented with a new bow and quiver of arrows with green fletching. Only after the first stag a hunter is allowed to use the feathers of a Greenling for fletching.
The first stag is a very important day for any new hunter. It doesn't necessarily happen at a certain age, instead, the timing is determined by whether or not the initiate is considered ready to go out hunting on their own yet and whether they do so sucessfully. As a result, while most new hunters are around 16 years old, some are as young as 13 or 14, and others are much older. While the hunters of the Serbaith are male most of the time, female hunters are not as rare as one might expect and regarded just as highly as their male counterparts.
Since the Serbaith live from the hunt to no small percentage, hunters are considered important members of their society. The first stag is an important rite of passage and a celebration hunters remember their whole lives. Young hunters who are not yet officially accepted into the ranks of the hunt look forward to it impatiently from the first small animal they kill.
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