The Falling and Adorning Ceremony

The Falling and Adorning Ceremony is a ceremony that takes place following a Challenge in Benu Wen.

The pinion feather of the right wing of the losing party is pulled upon cloning (HETE are 'respectful' of this cultural tradition and remove the feather from future cloning templates - though wealthy W'hoorn have been known to pay them off to insert a replacement pinion) or the corpse, if no INR is present.

The winner then has the brush of their tail dipped in the blood of their fallen enemy, which is left until it fades of its own accord. The removed pinion feather of their opponent is then immediately wrapped in a fine layer of ultra-light gold silk in a traditional process known as pingilding, after which is it known as a Pryapt.

It is then given to the champion, to adorn their own wing.

Following this procedure, Benu Wen society will evermore regard the defeated combatant with suspicion and often derision. They will not be allowed to progress in the military, will struggle to find housing much above the ground floor, and are traditionally shunned by their family. People who have lost this pinion feather are known as 'Pinfallen'. It is incredibly rare for a pinfallen W'hoorn to manage to progress while they remain on Benu Wen.

It is, however, a great accolade in Benu Wen to have a Tectrix - which is a collection of Pryapts so long that it forms a golden fringe along the bottom of one or even both of your wings.

Each city tends to have its own special staging area for both challenges and Falling and Adorning Ceremonies on its outskirts. For Vertenalith, it traditionally takes place outside the city, beyond the Siva River basin on the ancient Steps of Aes'tun, but it's not uncommon for them to take place anywhere, so long as the proper ceremonies are adhered to. Ad-hoc ceremonies have even taken place, and many a W'hoorn warrior has a tale of a time they challenged someone in public, and managed to get a back-alley pingilder to perform an unofficial ceremony. However, such ceremonies, without the backing of the government, are not usually seen as official, or lasting, as the losing challenger's feather will inevitably grow back and all will be forgotten in time.