Vigil of Maturity

Among the inhabitants of Soramizu many cultures have adopted a special event as a coming of age ceremony. This event is the Vigit of Maturity, also known as the Mountain Vigil or the Striped and Stacked. It involves a single night, often done by community where youth are sent up the Sky and Sea Mountain to spend the night. Typically done in spring or fall there are a number of different variations.
After this vigil the women are considered eligible for marriage and the men are considered eligible for a journeymanship related to their job or craft.

Execution

Starting in the late afternoon youth and their families gather for a send off. A meal followed by the starting up climb. Each participant is required to only take a few implements up with them to stay the night, and to prevent cheating participants are given their implements by the adults while only wearing a loincloth and chest wrap. The actual implements change by family tradition or neighborhood, but usually include a blanket, shovel and general tool. Typically girls and boys are sent up on different nights or different areas of the mountain, and the pre send up festivities vary by the sex of the participants. For Humans the typical age is about 15 or 16 for men and 18-19 for women. For elves it is around the 35th year regardless of sex or gender. For those of ambiguous gender there is often a separate area of the mountain designated for their climb and vigil.
For boys the pre-vigil often involves oiled wresting, water jousting or other physical activity. In recent years as the city's affluence has increased some neighborhoods make this into a multi-day event, and the loincloths are of bright fabric with beading and body point. For girls the pre-vigil often includes singing, dancing, and archery.
The common task is to find and raise a small cairn of the red and blue streaked blackstone found on the mountain, then find shelter till the morning. This usually involves the toppling of previous year cairns and building their own, as the stone is not to be removed from the mountain as it is believed cursed. This is prominent in the Tale of Vern .

Primary Related Location

Soramizu