Vision Throe
Being home to a staggering array of creatures and cultures, Lockhinge city has a policy of being as tolerant as possible toward the rites and customs practiced by its citizens, as long as they fall within the few legal guidelines of the city. Large gatherings are to be done within the confines of a temple or rented community space or out in the open swamp, fires are to be restricted to specified areas and monitored by a city guard, there are to be no sacrifices performed within the city limits, and no practices that disturb or put the population at large in danger.
The Vision Throes of Tortle youth coming of age seriously strain that last guideline.
While most denizens of Greymantle Marsh flee from the water and open air when an instance of Dreaming Fever sweeps through the area, the normally scarce Tortles of the region eagerly rush in. Despite the well-known, inherant dangers, every Tortle youth in Greymantle strives to catch a case of Dreaming Fever before they reach maturity, with the rest of the community doing what they can to help.
Catching Dreaming Fever and riding through the nightmares and convulsions is seen as an important part of a Tortle's forty-year-long youth, giving the normally ponderous creatures an opportunity to be swept violently into the throes of something completely out of their control, surrendering themselves to the depths of their own minds and whatever else gets in while they see themselves as being entirely open. For a Greymantle Tortle, to surrender to Dreaming Fever is to become Unshelled, and each Tortle hopes for an experience that will rattle or enlighten them in a way that they will remember for the rest of their days.
This is easy to accomplish out in the open wetland, and there is enough room for the Tortle community to manage such an event. Within the confines of Lockhinge city, however, a sudden bout of dangerously hallucinating, convulsing, contageous Tortles, while the rest of the city is already trying to manage an outbreak, can quickly become a problem.
Lockhinge does what it can to discourage Vision Throes from occuring in the city, offering symbolic alternatives or encouraging individuals to take their rites outside of the city, but it is a generally accepted fact that the city guard will have to deal with at least a few wildly delirious Tortles and their enthusiastic families every time a case of Dreaming Fever hits the city.
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