Centipede Synapse

5th Moon, 504 A.C. --

To your average "Bermer", the "Centipede Synapse" dish is indisputably repulsive, but it's quite the treat among the denizens of The Waste. Many tribes will send their youth to hunt larger game as part of a "coming of age" ceremony and, typically speaking, the bigger the game- the more respect they get. While not the biggest predator, it is certainly the fastest and meanest with mandibles that can slice a leg clean off and paralytic venom that will keep you from crawling away. It is this beast alone that earns the greatest celebration, which goes as follows:

1. Manage to not rupture the venom glands during the fight.
2. After the centipede is slain, the head is severed and its mandibles carved off and carefully slid inside next to the ventral nerve cord.
3. The head is then wrapped in a Strider bladder and left covered in hot rocks to steam.
(Those tribes that have scavenged or looted reflective material will use these to focus the sunlight on the sac to speed up the cooking process.)
4. Once the head has cooked all day, the mandibles are removed and the innards are mixed with grains and coarsely ground fibers to create something akin to what was once called haggis.
5. The Elders will serve the new adult and their family personally at that night's feast, regardless of previous social standings- a high honor for most. (Due to the top plate of the centipede being incredibly tough, it is served upside-down and carved open.)
6. The family is then allowed to dig in however they so choose (be it hands or spoons), with the new adult getting priority.
7. Lastly, the diner's reaction to the venom-imbued meal will determine if the following days are spent sedentary or running absolutely wild.

In one wayward tribesman's recollection, the nervous system has "an earthy aroma, a surprising sweetness, and the grain and flour cuts the sliminess by absorbing said ooze and adding body". I'm not sure if his language has an equivalent or if it was translation error, but apparently the following "trip" over the next few days was "ethereal and almost indescribable".