Silpuksi

Silpuksi is a term used in speculative fiction and worldbuilding to denote a ceremonial pendant and the related rite of passage among the coastal communities of the Lyran archipelago. In its fictional context, the object and the ritual are regarded as central to seafaring identity and community memory.

Etymology and usage of the word come from the imagined Lyran language, where the components are commonly interpreted as meanings related to the sea and a path or way. The term is applied both to the physical item and to the ceremonial proceedings in which it features prominently.

Physically, a silpuksi is a small carved pendant, typically 3–5 cm in length. It is made from materials such as driftwood, horn, bone, or shell, and may be inlaid with shell or stone. Designs favor wave patterns, tides, and stylized trees, and the pendant is usually suspended from a cord of sinew or braided plant fiber. The overall look is understated yet symbolic, intended to evoke balance between land and sea.

In ritual use, novices receive a silpuksi as part of an initiation into seafaring life. They wear it during a night watch or vigil, and the pendant is believed to confer protection and mark the transition from apprentice to full participant in the voyage community. After successful initiation, the silpuksi remains a personal talisman, often retained for life and sometimes passed to kin.

Historically, silpuksi appears in coastal traditions within fictional archives and songs, with scholarly debate about its origins—whether local to seafaring communities or influenced by broader trade networks in the world’s imagined past.