Harperion Prayer Staff
Prayer staffs are considered to be intensely personal artifacts. An individual will carve their wishes and desires into the staff over the entirety of their lifetime. Presented to a middling at their coming of age ceremony, the adult will never be without it. Occasionally a parent will carve a blessing for the child into the staff, but no such marking is required. While religious in nature, these can be deadly when used as a weapon in ritualistic combat.
The individual carves the staff with their talons during prayer sessions. Often these images reflect the death of an enemy or other desired successes. Those involved in space exploration will carve images of places they have been or places they wish to go.
Significance
Prayer staffs are considered to be the embodiment of their owner's will and desires. Deeply significant, a Harperion that has lost their staff will refuse to eat and starve to death in a short period of time. The staff is considered to represent the life of the individual.
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Common on Harperion, they are destroyed upon the death of their owner. Not seen apart from a Harperion.
Only one has been verified to exist outside of Harperion. It was found on Earth after the discovery of Podarces. Carving is elaborate such that it is believed to have belonged to one of the founding members of the village. No one knows how it came to survive its owner's death.
Made of dense, sturdy wood, they are straight staffs. Given that the owner will die if the staff breaks, and that they will be heavily carved over the lifetime of the owner, their sturdiness is of prime consideration.[\p]
Occasionally they are ornamented at the ends, sometimes with the addition of bladed ends if the Harperion is in the military. They are often adorned with particularly striking specimens of their owner's plumage.
No special tools required. Initially all prayer staffs are merely a straight length of wood.
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