First Blood

The knife glittered in her hand and Ianthe smiled at the wide, stunned expression in Sparrow's eyes. "This knife was my aunt's," she said quietly. "She was killed by her lover for being a blood mage." Sparrow's eyes flicked up to meet hers and Ianthe nodded slowly. "That's why there was a knife for me." "Couldn't someone make a new one?" Sparrow asked in a small voice. She reached out to touch the shining blade with its iridescent waves on the metal. "No one knows how anymore," Ianthe sighed. "The families who knew are all gone now. We have to be careful to keep track of our knives. If we lose them, we won't have them to pass on to the next generation." Sparrow shifted nervously, then looked back into Ianthe's face. "My mother doesn't have a knife. Where will mine come from?" Ianthe grinned. "Maybe you'll get mine." Horror rocked over Sparrow's face and she leaped to hug Ianthe around the neck. "No!! Nothing like that will happen to you. Not ever." Ianthe hugged the little girl and rocked slowly, thinking of her sister and her aunt, her great-uncle and all the other members of her family who had died clutching a blood knife, only to have them gently taken by family afterward. "I hope not," she whispered. "But in the meantime, we'll find something for you. Don't worry."

History

When a Blood Mage reaches maturity, one of the family knives is passed down to him. Usually, the knife belonged to a family member who recently died, often killed for being a blood mage. Blood mages originally forged a new knife for each new mage as they came of age. In some families, it was part of the ceremony to forge their own knives. As the families with the knowledge of forging blood knives died out, the knives became more precious and passed carefully through each family. Now, there are remnants of the old forging ceremonies present in some family traditions, but not every family uses the forging ritual.

Participants

Usually, the participant's mother is present for the First Blood ceremony. If their mother is not available, an aunt, grandmother or other strong female family member will step in. The mother presents her child with a knife from one of their ancestors. In some cases, the knife belongs to the mother's mother or sister.

Observance

On the last day of the month in which the child is declared "mature." This varies by family, sometimes based on menses, sometimes tied to temporal age.

Related Ethnicities