Dwarven Birthdays

Many Dwarves in Yuruk-Tar believe that nothing should be given without being earned. While some people may simply recieve a gift from friends and family for their birthday dwarves must earn their gifts. Throughout the day various challenges are held in between the celebration to challenge the birthday dwarf to see if they have grown weaker or stronger in the past year.

Execution

At the start of the celebrations the birthday dwarf must lift a copper disk fill with stones. The disk is pulled up by a rope connected to a pulley system however it is still quite difficult to lift with the added weight as one stone is added to the disk for each year the birthday dwarf has been alive. For older dwarves this can reach weights up to 1,200lbs. Then only if they can lift this do the festivities continue. From here on out the celebration varies greatly depending mostly on the economic status of the family. For poorer families the dwarf might earn nothing more than a cake with cherries symbolic of how many stones they lifted where as the richest dwarves may give a gemstone to the dwarf for each stone they lifted. If anyone brings the dwarf a gift they only get to keep it if they can beat the gifter in a physical contest of the givers choice including anything from arm wrestling to rock throwing. Festivities will vary greatly depending on the clan from here on out however one tradition is kept strong in most clans. The dwarf must drink one mug of ale (or other alchohol) for every 10 years they've been alive and if they fail to drink that much before the night is over (or they pass out) then every other person attending the party gets a number of drinks equal to the number the dwarf left unfinished and the birthday dwarf has to pay for it.