Kaletic Consecration

WARNING! This article does contain sensitive topics concerning transphobia within the world of Prilira. It's contents can and will be changed if my players aren't comfortable with these issues.

And as the gods themselves swore to take up their duties to the world and to one another, shall you too take up the responsibilities and commandments of the god you have chosen, and be consecrated in their eyes?
I shall.

- A section of the Oath one swears when being consecrated

Within the culture of Kaletism, there is one day in a person's life that stands above all others in importance; their day of consecration. On the day of a Kaletic person's thirteenth birthday, they are initiated fully into the religion of Kaletism. During this ceremony they must choose which gender they wish to embody for the rest of their life and the associated god they are to dedicate themselves to. Upon the completion of their consecration, they are considered an adult by the standards of the faith.

History

Kaletic Consecration has existed for as long as the religion has existed, though no one is entirely sure of its origins. It was already an engrained part of the Kaletic peoples when they arrived in Prilira and has remained strong ever since. However, the ceremony has evolved with time. Initially, the rite of consecration would only ever be performed on those who were born into the faith or who were introduced to it during childhood. This eventually changed after a long time after frequent pressure from those who converted to the faith later in life, especially among those who married into it. Converts are now allowed to be consecrated, but only if they are married and their partner consents to be consecrated as well. It should be noted that in these consecrations, one is not allowed to take up the mantle of the Shaper and be recognized as non-binary, regardless of their gender. This has been made a firm rule by leaders in the faith for two main reasons: because those being consecrated have likely already broken the Oath of Chastity and because they have already been through puberty.
Throughout the history of Kaletism within Prilira, the religion has had a complicated history when it comes to transgender individuals. On the one hand, the faith is quite accepting of individuals who identify as non-binary. Their presence has been a well established element of the faith that has been around as long as the religion has. However, whether or not an individual can choose a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth (apart from NB) is a matter of long-standing debate among Kaletic theologians. Whether this has been allowed or not has varied greatly over time, and is still a divided issue to this day. In the modern era, the general trend is that people in urban centers and in the area around Santiala are allowed to choose the gender opposite to the one they were assigned. They are even given hormones and magical aid by the clergy to help them transition. However, in rural areas, most members of the faith are far less accepting of such individuals, with some even being exiled from their communities if they refuse to choose either the gender of their birth or to dedicate themselves to the Shaper. Their claim is that the choice of which deity the person is supposed to serve was decided at birth by the gods, so it is your duty to conform to their will.

Execution

The process of Consecration begins on the 13th birthday of the child being consecrated. They are brought to the house of worship for their local village. There, their friends and family gather as the local leader of the clergy performs a sermon for the gathered individuals. In it, they recount the story of how the gods came to be, the nature of each the gods, and some of the history of Kaletism up until the modern day. As they finish up the sermon, the child is brought before the congregation and anointed with holy water. They are then led to a special area away from everyone else, where the cleric will explain the choice that the child has before them. They must choose one of the gods to dedicate themselves and the gender they will take up for the rest of their life. The child is then given at least an hour to meditate and pray before they make their choice.
If the child chooses the gender they were assigned at birth, the cleric will perform the final step of consecration. In it, the cleric burns incense and prays with the child for a while. The child will then return to the congregation and swear themselves to the service of either the Caretaker or the Guardian. Once they finish swearing that oath, they are presented with their new tri-brace and are considered to be an adult from that day forward. Celebrations are held that night where the newly consecrated person's family and friends will congratulate them. And the process of consecration ends there.
Should they choose a gender and god other than those originally assigned to them, then the process of consecration becomes considerably longer. After informing the child's parents of their choice, the cleric who has been aiding them assigns a new cleric of the child's chosen god to help them in the process of transition. That cleric is considered to be almost like a third parent from that day forward as they aid the child through the rest of their consecration process. From this point forward, the child will be living with the cleric as they are taught everything they need to know about their new god (since parents usually train their children to follow the commandments of the god associated with the gender they were assigned at birth). During this time, they also take herbal hormone supplements and receive regular treatments of divine magic which will cause their body to transition fully into that of their new gender. The process takes about a year to complete. Once their transition is complete, the child returns once again to their local congregation where they will swear their oath and be given a tri-brace. The same sort of celebration is held for the now fully consecrated person (though it should be noted, these parties are typically bigger since the family and friends of the individual are also celebrating their return home).

Components and tools

The items required for this practice vary somewhat depending on whether or not you are undergoing gender transition. The elements that will always be required are holy water, incense, and a space for the child to meditate away from the congregation. These are relatively easy to obtain, though this does depend on the area in which you live. Incense is just normal incense, nothing magical. The holy water needed can be created through use of the Ceremony spell. It should be noted however that if you possess 5 gp worth of holy water, this negates the silver dust material component if you are casting Ceremony as part of the Consecration process.
If the child is transitioning their gender, then the requirements become much greater. You will require the needed amount of herbal hormone supplements to administer to the child as their body transitions. You will also require a cleric capable of casting 2nd level spells. They will be the one who's duty it is to help the child transition and care for them as they are going through the process. From a mechanical perspective, this cleric is casting an augmented version of Prayer of Healing once a month for about a year. This magic, in combination with taking the herbs daily, will cause the child's sex to change.