Conferral

The Numio estate was smaller than what Vance expected; a cozy, picturesque manse on the distant outskirts of the Etoile Capital City, near the flatlands. He pulled a lever back and the power-wagon declutched, rolling to a stop in front of the gates, where Rathnait was waiting. Iocathe had already stepped off the wagon and gave her a bear hug.
"Took you two long enough." Rathnait smiled. "I know I'm out in the woods a bit."
"Not a joke at my expense, I hope." Vance hopped down from the driver's seat and gave a short bow. "It's been a while. As ever, this mercenary is at the Master Trader's service."
"For free? My, what great savings. Here, come in and let's get settled. I have the details in my study." The two travellers followed Rathnait into her estate.
Like other homes of nobility, the hall of the manse was overflowing with curios; paintings of boys and girls that had famiilial resemblance to Rathnait, displays of sheet music framed on the walls, small geared contraptions on plinths, long depowered and unusable. The trader opened a door to a small room on the first floor, a dusty study featuring her own portrait, as a teenager, above the fireplace mantle.
"Sorry, I'm not home as often as I'd like. The cleaning staff only comes by once a season." She sat behind a desk and pulled out a large leather-bound tome. "Iocathe, do you recognize this?"
The cartographer gave the book an astonished stare. "That's a copy of the year 700 Grand Atlas...there were only five of those made! How did you get one?"
"My own Conferral in my fourteenth year. It was hoped that I would follow in the footsteps of my mother and be a great naval captain, so this was regifted to me from its original buyer." Rathnait flipped through the atlas with an air of disinterest, its hand-painted maps having faded slightly over the years. "It's useful, of course, but no more than any ordinary set of maps. I confess that my trade maps are of more utility day to day." She shut the book and turned to Iocathe. "But that's where we come in - I'm to participate in a Conferral myself, and I'd like to gift this girl an Atlas of my own for her twelfth birthday. She shows promise in monetary matters, so I'd like to orient this Atlas to trade routes and trade goods."
"Interesting." Iocathe murmured, twisting one of her curls around a finger. "I don't believe there's been a total synthesis of cartography and trade, in terms of map-making. We'd make a map that was only good for a certain amount of time - trade goods can easily shift their locus of production. It would be more of a historical record than a working map set."
"Exactly." Rathnait nodded. "The perfect Conferral gift - pretty, costly, of intellectual interest, and kind of fundamentally useless."
Vance sighed. "Before we go any further, is there anyone I need to poke with a spear? Any fighting that needs to happen to get this map made?"
The trader gave him a bright smile. "Nope!"
The cartographer poked him in the shoulder. "You're here to go pick up treats for us while we work today."
"Unbelievable."

History

In the distant past, the celebration of a birthday was a ritual of community - children surviving from year to year was not a given, unlike in modern Etoile. Archaelogical records of prehistoric 'Conferrals' indicate that they were also way to prepare the children for the future, with the 'gifts' being such objects as training weapons for would-be warriors, and hand tools for would-be crafters. Though celebratory in nature, they served a social dual-purpose.
While birthdays are of course still celebrated today, for the majority of Etoileans, the day is simply a cause for gifting toys to children and eating sweetened baked goods. The ritual ceremony of Conferral is now nearly exclusively in the domain of the nobility, and it has evolved from its ancestral roots. In modern Etoile, the Conferral is a lavish, expensive rite that showcases the wealth of the family in question and the grooming of the child for their future role in society.

Execution

Conferrals as conducted by members of the Foremost families are extravagant affairs, with planning for each year's ritual often conducted several years in advance. The heads of the families will discuss the flow of gifts in advance, in negotiations that resemble nothing so much as wagon-trading - the delivery of gifts for one child one year may beget counter-gifts to another child in the next year, dependent on station, favorability, and the child's potential. The children themselves are not a part of these negotiations at any point; permitting their voice is considered gauche and untoward. Notably, the parents of any given child never themselves give gifts to their children. By tradition, the first Conferral for a child is at the age of six, and the last at the age of eighteen, serving as a debut into society.
On the day of any given child's Conferral, the child's family will host an all-day party on their estate. The child will be presented to the attendees and greet each over the course of the event; the attendees in turn lavish praise on the child and deliver their gifts. Said gifts are nearly always crafted for the child personally, and works of high art are favored - paintings, musical compositions, small sculptures, and Powered curios are common. These pieces are typically rich in symbolism. For example, certain elements in paintings of a child (commonly swans for girls, hawks for boys) could indicate that the giver is interested in arranging a future match between the families. Musical pieces can carry meaning both apparent and subtle; harshly discordant performances can serve as warnings to the child to change their ways, in order to better fit Etoilean nobility and represent a Foremost family. Each gift and giver must be memorized by the child, as at the end of the day, the child thanks each attendee personally for their gifts on the way out, and promises to themselves reciprocate.
The scope of any Conferral is dependent on the importance of the family and the child; firstborn children of the wealthiest families may have twelve Conferrals featuring nearly a hundred gifts each. Thirdborne or later children of lesser families have much smaller and more intimate Conferral rituals. Some families forgo even having the full annual party, merely hosting a Conferral at the sixth and eighteenth birthdays and having simple parties for the rest. This is a cost-savings measure; the more extravagant a Conferral, the higher value of the gifts received, and thus the higher expected value of gifts reciprocated.
Members of the Foremost families generally keep their Conferral gifts throughout their lives, and their households are overflowing with years worth of artwork gifted to generations of the family.

Components and tools

Apart from the gifts themselves, supplied by Conferral guests, each party features a massive feast, typically enough food to feed the guests twice over. By ancient tradition, the Conferral was a celebration of plenty for society. In observation of this, modern Etoilean conferrals are partially open to the public; while not admitted to the main venue, members of the public may enter the premises and be fed by the host.
Otherwise, the requirements are simple; the Conferral requires an estate and significant amounts of money.

Participants

Most important in any conferral ceremony is the child themselves; the child follows an unwritten script over the course of the day. Forgetting or deviating from the script is a major faux pas and grounds for judgment on the child's potential. Their family members are key to planning both the Conferrals of their own children as well as contributing to those of other families.