Telvan Society has a system of ritual purity. Purity and uncleanliness are the rationales behind the
Telvan Caste System and the restrictions in Telvan society.
Ritual uncleanliness is contracted when one goes outside social norms, such as breaking the caste dress code; having an inappropriate relationship with someone from a different caste, especially if it is with someone of the Pakumbe caste; and breaking a social taboo.
Cleansing Ritual
In order to get rid of the ritual impurity, the person must go through a religious purification ceremony involving washing and ritual seclusion. They are also done before worship, prayer, or when the person is looking for absolution.
Ritual impurity is brought on by many things, however, Minor infractions of the status quo and the caste system are some of the more common. The minor infractions tend to involve someone of a lower caste touching someone of a higher caste or someone performing the wrong greeting or social interaction or wearing the wrong clothes. Ritual impurity can also be brought on by eating unclean food,
The cleansing ritual involves the person cleansing themselves through ritual washing, the burning of incense, and the wearing of fresh clothes. They may also involve a period of isolation while the person is purifying themselves especially if the person had done something unclean.
Permanent Infractions
The Ritual uncleanliness may be deemed permanent and irreversible if the taboo that was broken was bad enough. The situations in which this happens are very few and far between and mostly have to do with inappropriate relationships between people of a different caste, such as an obvious romance, or if a person has repeated minor infractions and they have been reported to the law. Murder and theft of a higher caste, among other crimes are also considered to be permanent infractions.
These infractions are brought to trial where the defendant of the accusation if found guilty they are stripped of their current caste status and put into the Pakumbe Caste. This punishment is often paired with a period of imprisonment as well as the person receiving a scar or tattoo on the face to visually identify them. In cases where a person is a repeat offender and has gone to trial and been punished numerous times, they may be imprisoned for life or even executed.
If someone has committed an offense of this status they will most likely choose to hide it and try to cover it up. People of higher caste status have an easier time covering it up as they have more connections, although if they do ask the wrong person to help them hide it they may get caught and brought to trial anyway. Those of the lower castes have little to no defense against accusations whether they are true or not.
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