Ursucht Tusks

Written by TheTeaWritter

An Ursucht is a large beast resembling a horrid mutation of a bear. They are exclusively found in the mountainous part of the Efrain Forest and are very scarce due to the sacred rituals of the Efrain Dwarves.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Ursucht tusks are around fifteen inches long and unlike other tusks, it is more straight than curved. It also emits a faint moon-like glow at daytime and shines a bright blue at nightfall. Thanks to it being used by Ursuchts to fight others of their same species, they are extremely resilient and hardly break.

Geology & Geography

As its name implies, Ursucht tusks are tusks extracted from the beastly Ursuchts. They inhabit the Efrain Forest and since that is the only place in the forest where they can get the rock they need to survive, they stay there despite their hunting. The tusk is rarely seen elsewhere although it is not impossible since some Efrain Dwarves trade them secretly in dark markets to other regions.

History & Usage

Discovery

A tradition that some would call barbaric began when the dwarves first settled in the Efrain Forest. King Mort had led his tribe there. It was the hard way that he found out the area was inhabited by the rock-eating Ursuchts. One of the monsters laid rampage on the small community there, killing the king. The king's family, angry at the beasts decided to gather a hunting group and search for as many of those beasts as they could find. The next day, they gathered their bodies and carefully removed the tusks. As a sign of supremacy over them, the royal blacksmith forged a crown of tusks for King Mort's successor, his son Daer. Slowly, the hunt became a legend and it opened the path for this tradition to start. The early dwarves began doing it to control Ursucht numbers and territory, but it shaped into being one of the core traditions of these dwarves.

Everyday use

The tusks once gather serve to make the crown of the new leader and heavy armor for the most elite of the dwarf ranks. A throne made of tusks towers above the dwarven city, enduring ages of conflict and peace. Only the male leader of the clan gets the right to the throne and crown.

Cultural Significance and Usage

The Efrain Dwarves made their hunt a traditional and sacred thing. You could either win an Efrain Dwarf's friendship or wrath by presenting them with an Ursucht tusk depending on the circumstances. The dwarves value the tusks immensely and the most honorable dwarves would never trade an Ursucht tusk for anything. Once every ten years, when both moons cross each other, each dwarf clan prepares their armor and weapons to go hunt in parties. Only the most honorable members of the dwarven clans get to be a part of this chase. During the duration of that night, the dwarves hunt and collect Ursucht, claiming their tusks. When dusk breaks, the dwarven commander blows the Ursucht Horn. Every member of the hunting party must get back to their starting position within twenty minutes. If a clan member doesn't show up, the commander ignores this fact and the event continues as normal. If the participant hasn't shown up after the even, the commander and a group of his best soldiers goes looking for him in the forest. If they find a body, they return it to the starting place and the participant's clan gets eliminated. If he shows up before the commander and his men go out to search, their clan is saved. No other clan member or anyone else is allowed to search for him. If the person is not found before that night's dawn, the member is banished and not allowed to incorporate to the community even if he does return. That same night, the Ursucht Tusks are counted. The clan with most tusks is declared the leading clan until the occasion is repeated.

Distribution

Law & Regulation

The ancient dwarven laws prohibit the trading and exportation of this material. Any stranger found killing an Ursucht or in property of one of its tusks is killed immediately. Although some shady dwarves within the community secretly gather to export this substance to other parts since a single tusk is immensely precious to outsiders and are willing to pay huge amounts just to lay their hands on one. Most of the people from outside that buys them include shady collectors, pirates seeking to resell it at even higher prices and inventors trying to study its utility for other stuff.

Type

Biomaterial