The Drop of Light

The drop of light, also called the drop, is one of the most significant moments in the life of a young Hirvi woman. It is the moment she makes her first trip the serves and will start to help out in the feelds. This is also the moment that marks the start of her adult life.

The Drop

Every Spring equinox the drop of light ritual will take place in all Hirvi communities in Sumentaa. For the women taking part in the ritual this is the moment they will official become an adult and will take their place in society. This is also the first time they will test out there wings in full flight. Before this the use of ones wings is looked down upon as it is said that it's bad for the development of the wings. Young Hirvi will stratch and flap there wing to get formiliar with them and to stranthen the muscles needed for flight, but no actual flying will happen. For people looking at the drop the woman participating in the ritual could be described as looking at a baby birds learning to fly or a baby learning to walk. Participating in the ritual is however seen as a great honour and a crucial step in the life of a woman.

Not only is this ritual a right of pages for Hirvi woman is it also the way in which young womman will take there place as part of the community by helping out in the feelds after they have compleated the ritual. Without working wings they can not fly down to the serves to do there job on the fields, and without people doing that work there is no food or income for the community. Agriculture is the bread and butter of these communities and there livelihood depend on woman working the fields and managing the crops

History

The drop has not always been a part of Hirvi culture. Even tho the ritual has been there for eons at this point early Hirvi society did not have this ritual. It only came to be when the community had reached significant numbers and they did not need the extra hands in the fields the moment a woman became an adult. Over the years the ritual has turned into a celebration of the young women in the community and them taking their place in society.

The first ideations of the ritual were verily simple with the participants coming together at the edge of the evercloud with the comunity elders before one by one jumping off. The edge they jumped off was not a random spot on the cloud, but a place called the .... The designated place where Hirvi woman will drop off the evercloud. In the onder versions of the ritual the woman would return to the Everclouds and get there flight training from there till they were ready to go back doen to the serves and help on the farms. This means that one would not toch there serves till the elders thought they were ready.

Over the decades the ritual has become more and more elaborate with the modern version of it being a complete celebration for the whole community. This change happened slowly. It started with parents wanting to see their daughters participating in the drop, to friends and other community members also wanting to be there to offer their support or to just see the show. Where no one would say there are there just to watch the show and enjoy the feast many people are there for just that if they don't have any loved once participating.

elaberat backed goods knowing that the new harvest would soon arrive so no need to rachion the harvest anymore.

Participants

Not just everyone can participate in the drop of light.

One can only participate if you are a Hirvi woman that has develepte wings. As the ritual esentually drops you of the evercloud to fall to the serves it is basicly a death sentence for anyone that is not capeble of flight.

Women that want to participate in the drop has a couple of criteria to meet before they are allowed to participate. These criteria are there for the woman's safety as well as to make sure there chance of succes is the highest possible. The ritual might be deadly but it is not the coal of the ritual to kill its participant. They want them to survive.

• The participant must be at least 22 years of age.
• The participant must have a set of wings.
• The participant must pass a physical examination of the wings to ensure they have enough strength to carry them in flight.

Execution

Fhisical exame to deturm if you are allowed to partisapate (having to use your wings to lift yourself off the floor without jumping

A participant can not be helped of saved if they participate in the drop. If a participant is not able to figure out how to use there wings before they hit the serves it will unfortunately end in the death of her. The odds of it happening is very slim but it has happend in the past and is a serious risk.

The flight taken during the drop is only a sermonical flight. The participance will spend the next couple of weeks on the serves learning the strengthen there wings and the fine technics of flight. After which they will start working the feeds with when the first heaviest comes.