Baskings

The Baskings live in The Burrows beneath The Sung Mountains. They are enormous lizard-like beasts capable of tunneling through stone, where they lay their clutches of eggs. Nesting parents sing to their eggs from near and from far, using the rock to conduct the sound. The Basking tribal song is learned in the egg, sung through the rock and eggshell by the watchful parents. The hatchling Baskings will respond to this melody if heard elsewhere.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Tribe members are recognized by song. Variations in the song may invite suspicious or wary behavior, but some latitude is permitted, wih questioning musical responses, before Baskings will react defensively.

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Learning the tribal song is critical. Those who are not tribe members, defined as those who do not respond with the appropriate song, are considered prey. A hatchling who has not heard enough to be able to sing appropriately may be killed by clutch-mates. Singing the correct melody may stop an attack.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When a young Basking dies, it will be carried on the head or shoulders of a parent. The elder Basking will work a muzzle beneath the body and lift it, rolling it backward to rest on the rear skull, neck, or shoulders. The parent Basking will then carry the dead child for a day or even several days, sharing mourning with others in the tribe. After this period of public grief, the body of the dead child is deposited in a remote tunnel. The corpse is quickly discovered by carnivorous Glowclings, who soon cover the new food source. The glowclings consume not only the corpse, but also the other insects which come to the plentiful bounty, which are easier prey than working into a larger body. So they set up their glowing webs on and within the dead Basking, making the corpse glow with blue-green pricks of light.

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