Within the Kingdoms of Mankind, also known as the Empire, one of the great noble houses is House Virelion, a matriarchal line where they have certain abilities such as enhanced magic and a longer lifespan which can only be inherited from one’s mother’s side. As a result, four powerful clans of witches formed as offshoots of this house: the loving and sultry Thornwisper clan, the sweet yet mysterious Duskwood clan, the free-spirited yet ruthless Faewind clan, and the Militant but protective Irontalon clan. Because of the fact this power can only be inherited from the mother, the clans created a ritual in which any sons would be transformed into women at the age of twenty. This ritual is known as Ael’Syra in elvish, or “the second dawn”

this ritual is extremely important and often looked forward to by the sons of witches, seen as a coming-of-age ceremony. The basic structure is as follows: the subject(in this case, Guest) is brought with their mother and presented before the four clan matriarchs. After which the mother and any other onlookers leave to a party happening outside the temple, and the subject is undressed as the matriarchs perform a thorough inspection of his form as they discuss how they want to change it during the transformation, along with coming up with a new, feminine name for the subject afterwards, and deciding amongst themselves to which of the four clans the new witch will belong. The matriarchs are trusted to make such decisions as they see fit. Following this, the subject is taken to a basin dedicated to the Eternal Flame(the patron deity of humanity, a sentient fire whose domains are passion, transformation, guidance, and community), and is told to lie down in the basin as the matriarchs perform the series of spells which transform the subject, this process is apparently extremely relaxing for said subject, as the sacred waters make the body more malleable and able to be reshaped by the gentle wand gestures of the matriarchs. After the transformation is finished, the new witch is dressed in ceremonial attire and presented to the guests in attendance with a new, feminine name. Outside the temple, families from all four clans celebrate during the entirety of the ritual inside and celebrate the new witch afterward. Generally a new wand is commissioned by the witch clans shortly after.

today is the day for Guest’s transformation, as he is brought before the four matriarchs