Cleansing of the Taurmachians (TOW'-er-MOCK-ee-uhns)

In the ancient past, The evil wizard Minos created a monster. This truth is known in nearly all worlds.  But many generations later, a king arose from their number, named Ferdinand, whose hatred for the bloodshed and destruction his kind had visited on the world outweighed his heritage.
Indeed, it was upon the Plain of Megiddon, the ancient battlefields of Grahlym, that, it is said the last Minotaur died, and the first Taurmach lived.  According to the ritual, now practiced universally in the gathering Herds and Stables of Nycos, wherever there are Taurmachians, every calf that chews cud must embrace the monster within, and defeat it, purging the bloodlust and quenching the spirit of Minos.  
Taking several days of fasting and preparation, the yearling, on his Calving day, is subjected to the Labyrinth.  In each community wherein they abide, such a structure is built and devised by the Taurmachian elders, with interchangeable walls, so the experience cannot be cheated by repetition or memorization.  The test of the labyrinth usually lasts the better part of the day, as the older younglings are encouraged to help confuse and confound the subject, so as to drive them to the point of rage.  When the Eldest bull among them deems the subject is ready, a mortal child is ushered into the labyrinth, within sight but beyond the reach of the subject. Usually a volunteer  in the enlightened present, the child used to be captured from the area, which strained relationships considerably, and hindered somewhat the very process of civilization for the Taurmachians. But we digress.
At the point when the child is inserted into the labyrinth, a variety of tools and weapons are offered to the Subject. If the Calf is not ready, he will instinctively take up a weapon, at which point the test is completed, the subject failed and sent back for extended training and disciplinary actions. If, on the other hand, the Yearling is ready and prepared, he will seek among the offerings one of three objects; The Spoon, suggesting a diet of oatmeal and other grain slurries; the Key, suggestive of the escape from the Labyrinth and the ancestral beast-path, or the Muzzle, which represents an awareness that the Taurmachians must be constantly vigilant and willfully choose to deny their urges.  Each of these pathways lead the Taurmach back to the herd, either as a Priest,  an Exile, or a Warden. These titles do not restrict or limit the Taurmach's Way, but it does color their relationships with their own kind.
The Order of the Spoon brings the subject a bowl of Green Grass Shoots, tender and fresh from the fields. Thought to trigger the legendary Fifth Stomach of the Bovinian faithful, this simple and nutritionally sparse food begins the acolyte's pathway to the Enlightenment. The Exiles are led to plates of fatty meats of other livestock, usually fowl and fish, and fed well before their ultimate departure from their home. It is common for Exiles to eventually settle into a community, but it is almost never near their place of birth. The Wardens are led by their peers to the nearest Open Range, whereupon the  new  member of the community eats his last meal as a beast,  dropping to the ground and grazing like the Ancestors. The range is usually adequate for the youth to get his fill, but some communities reward their new wardens with bales of fresh alfalfa, sweet corn, or other delicacies.
So it is, that the safety of the Herd, the purity of the faith, and the will of the individual are all brought into balance.