Dark Elf Birthday Celebrations

Most cultures differ in how they celebrate the passing of the year. Some will celebrate a new year at the turn of the calendar. Some celebrate for the individual each year on the day of their birth. Dark elves are race that celebrate in the latter fashion. Dark elves all believe that ones birthday is a momentous occasion. It marks the day when their Goddess and God, Lunaris and Noctem, would grace them with life.
      Dark elf families will gather all of the immediate family, and any extended family that can be present for the celebration. It will typically start out with the one whose birthday is being celebrated going out to the village moonfruit tree orchard to pick a moonfruit. The moonfruit is a studded purple skinned orb. The fruit is then peeled to show the sweet white flesh underneath. It is soft to the bite, and contains a pit, which after the fruit is consumed, is taken by the celebrant to be planted in the orchard at a later time.
      After this, the family and friends gathers to feast and tell stories of the celebrant. They take turns recanting events from the life of the celebrant that they either witnessed, or were told of by the celebrant in question. The celebrant then gets their turn to talk of their favorite moments in life with each member of their family up until that point in time. Sometimes non-harmful secrets are let out during these celebrations, but they are applauded, not judged, for having brought variety to the celebrants life. Often times gifts will be presented to the celebrant. This is usually the way heirlooms are passed between members of the family, or from one family to the next. Each gift forms a bond between the giver and receiver that goes beyond emotional, but ties ones spirit to the other. In this manner, dark elves can sometimes sense when others in their family are in great peril, or experiencing great relief. Birthdays function to strengthen these bonds, and in this way, help shape dark elf families from generation to generation.