The Seafarer Dwarves

Customs and Traditions

Naming Day

In all Dwarven cultures, a newborn is not immediately named. In fact, the infant will be nameless for its entire first year. On its first birthday, however, at a Naming Day ceremony that involves the entire clan, the infant will be given its name before all Clan members that are availalbe. The Clan Dagger will also be ceremonially presented to the child at this time as well. Among the Seafarers, the hilt of a Clan Dagger is always crafted of either whalebone or, for more affluent families, the tusks of walrus or narwhal.

Sailing Day

Unlike Naming Day, Sailing Day is a milestone unique to the Dwarves of the Seafarer heritage. On this day, which is set as close to a young Dwarf's tenth birthday as possible, the child leaves behind the land-based home of whichever relatives raised him in order to begins a life at sea. Sailing Day marks the end of childhood and the beginning of an apprenticeship during which the young Dwarf learns all the skills of the Seafarer.

On Sailing Day the young Dwarf is accompanied by guardians and close family members to dockside and the ship on which they will serve. Usually, this ship will be mastered by a relative if not a Clan member. The child, using a prescribed formula, calls out to the ship Master requesting working passage to "where'er the winds may take me". After the Master grants permission, the youth boards the ship, taking great care not to look backwards toward the guardians who raised them.

Arriving Day

All Dwarven cultures have a "passage to adulthood" tradition; Arriving Day is that tradition for the Seafarers. It is the last of the three important "birthdays" for a Seafarer Dwarf, While it is not necessary to tie this day to the exact anniversary of the Dwarf's birth, most Seafarers attempt to have it coincide with their twentieth birthday - ten years after their Sailing Day.

Arrival Day is the day when a young Dwarf completes the solo sailing trek undertaken to prove a mastery of the sea. The journey would have begun at least two weeks earlier with little fanfare other than a few well-wishes from the crew of the ship on which the Dwarf has been serving. This journey is expected to involve a difficult course from whatever starting point is convenient to the home port of the Dwarf's family and crew. If the Dwarf completes the journey successfully, a celebration marking that sailor's transition from apprentice to full crewmember takes place. This celebration typically involves a lot of feasting, drinking and singing. Afterward, the Dwarf takes a place as an adult and full crew member.

There is no "not completing the journey" - a Dwarf either completes the voyage or dies trying. The Arrival Day voyage is the only situation in which a Seafarer Dwarf will not give aid to a fellow Seafarer... a young voyager in distress will be abandoned to his own resources.

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