Gonairan Birthday Bashes

Traditional birthdays within the pirate superfleet of Pieragonair are slightly unusual in nature as they celebrate not the members' birth into the world, but the members' birth as a crew member and new person. It can be a boisterous affair as crew members applaud the celebrant for not getting themselves killed for a whole year and enjoy a year spent together. The actual dates of these birthdays are also unique to the gang as they aren't always decided simply by their initiation to the crew, but may rather be the result of a reassignment. During the date reassignment process some members choose to take on a new name as well, though this is a purely voluntary decision.
To be clear, all crew members must have a reassigned birth date as it is a tradition set by the founding leader in order to maintain camaraderie and community spirit, as well as allowing an avenue of inclusion for those having a harder time settling in. Following leaders kept it up for a variety of reasons. It was in part because they agreed with the reasoning and allowed for them to treat those with unknown names and birth dates or of more dire or private circumstances with discretion. But it was largely because it had gained great favour amongst the crew and they simply couldn't be bothered changing it. This does not mean they have to throw away original birth date, simply that it's considered more of a private affair. Indeed, ones initial birth date is considered incredibly personal and private and asking after it without permission is a markedly rude offense, especially when the inquiring party is neither a child nor close to the member.

Birth Date Reassignment

Birthdays may be re-assigned when a member is trying to restart their life, when they prefer to hold on to their privacy or when their actual birth dates are unknown. Some choose to hold onto their initial birth dates but most choose to let them go, either through personal interest or because it's such a strong part of fleets' culture they opt to respect the tradition or use it to settle themselves in. The process results in many an eye-rolling joke with crew members calling themselves children and quibbling over how young they are. The new date reassignments are chosen through 1 of 3 methods;

1. personal choice
2. date became an official crew member
3. decided through a game

Most birth date reassignments are chosen through the third method.

• First, they decide upon the month with a deck of cards numbered up to 16. The cards are mixed randomly and whichever card they pull out is matched to the corresponding month. Pulling the 16th card warrants a re-round and the deck must be reshuffled.
• Next, they flip a coin to decide whether the day will be an odd or even number. The coins sides may be represented by the crew members choice and isn't restricted by tradition. This part is often replaced by any method with 2 main outcomes, though this does affect statistics.
• Lastly, the exact date is determined through the rolling of a 15 sided die. If a 15 sided die is unavailable a six sided die is often used instead, in which case the first roll determines which third of the remaining days the last roll will be based upon and the last roll decides the day, with 6 being a re-roll.

This process is almost always undertaken when drunk beyond belief.

A Tiered System of Celebration

While birthdays are a treasured and highly anticipated event, the degree to which they're celebrated are dependent upon milestones and may scale up with the celebrants experience. Birthday celebrations within the fleet can be roughly categorised into 6 tiers. In ascending order;

1. Private - Some crew members choose to celebrate their initial birthday which is a private affair outside of tradition and is undertaken as such.
2. Minor - Celebrated annually from initiation and between milestones, they're celebrated with their legion.
3. Medium - Celebrated every decade, excluding higher tiers, together with their squadron.
4. Major - Held every 25 years, excluding higher tiers, they're celebrated with their battalion.
5. Distinct - Held every 50 years, excluding the 'Rare' tier, the entire fleet joins in on the celebration.
6. Rare - In the unlikely event the celebrant makes it to 100 years of service, in addition to a fleet wide celebration the leader of the fleet is required to grant them a stash of specially brewed liqueur and either 10% of the years' earnings or a personal wish of less than or equal value, granted it be within their power, doesn't harm the fleet or its personnel and doesn't breech what is considered human rights within Pieragonair Law.

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