Ignohla

A Snack that Bonds

In a cliffside high elven camp, deep in the shatterlands, Tsenala thumbed her necklace. A small chipped piece of a tablet with a hole in it, her father had looped a piece of sturdy twine through it to create a makeshift talisman. Her family laughed and celebrated around her, but she wondered if her little trinket deserved such fanfare.
"Hea Dzhini, what is wrong?" Tsenala's father approached her. He was a wizened older elf, fit from years of scaling the cliffs of the shatterlands as a guide. His face held a certain softness to it.
"Hea Hlene. It's nothing."
"Nonsense, you are not enjoying the feast of your discovery! You have discovered your relic!"
Tsenala turned her head down. "A tiny one, full of nothing but words. The other children will make fun of it!"
Her father frowned, before softly clasing her shoulder and taking her talisman in her other hand.
"This tablet carries words of our people, wisdom of the sun elves. Words are our history, the fire that keeps the elvish people connected to our divine fire."
A moment of silence fell between them. Tsenala's father sighed, before reaching into his bag and pulling out a soft, cylinder shaped object wrapped in paper. Unwrapping the shape, he revealed a leaf sandwich wrap filled with meat, vegetables, and an almost gilded dressing. He held out one end of the wrap to Tsenala.
"Tsenala, this is Te Ignohla. Technically we aren't supposed to eat this until the ceremony so your family can jump for joy and make a racket, but I feel as though this is more appropriate."
Tsenala leaned back in suprise. "Hlene-"
"No no, Dzhini, please listen. When we break this and consume the fruit of our travels, it helps make the journey a part of us. It makes what you have gone through real."
Tsenala's father smiled.
"This meal bonds us and these ruins. Would I offer something like this to you as reward for a simple trinket?"
Tsenala looked at the Ignohla, then back to her father. She smiled, and with one quick motion grabbed the other end of the wrap breaking it cleanly in two.

In the long storied history of the High Elvish people, the Relic Quest has remained the primary rite of passage tradition. Although many of its intricacies have evolved over the eras, one thing has remained static throughout the ages: The Ignohla.
The Ignohla is a leaf-wrap sandwich filled with vegetables, meat, and a dressing all made from the life of the Shatterlands. Although its true origin is shrouded in mystery, legend says that the first Ignohla was made by refugees fleeing the fall of the Sunfey empire. Without the plentiful fields and fruit orchards of the empire's old territory, refugees were forced to create food from the land they traveled over. Legend says that this permanently bound the High Elvish people to the Shatterlands, and due to the Ignohla they are permanently connected to their Sunfey ancestors.
In the modern era, Ignohla is eaten at the end of a high elf's Relic Quest, and functions as a way to permanently bound an elf to their relic, their journey, and their people. The Ignohla is generally seen as the final step before adulthood, and its consumption is not taken lightly.

History

The first written recording of the Ignohla was in a tablet recording dated to the early 5th Era. During this time, the Relic Quest was undertaken by a select few people and was seen as a much more exclusive ritual reserved for the leaders of a tribe and their immediate family. As such, the Ignohla was recorded as connecting these leaders spiritually to the ancient Sunfey nobility.
After some refinement, the Relic Quest began to be undertaken by all high elves. The prevailing theory by historians is that the high elvish people at the time wanted to be wholly connected to their ancestral land and people. During this time, the Ignohla was modified to be easier to create and became a food that every high elf was expected to eat.
During the times of strife and rebellion that persisted in the 7th Era, high elvish clans were at times prevented from sending more than one person out on a Relic Quest. Although this was borne out of societal pressures and militaristic danger, the idea of embarking on a "Solo" Relic Quest took on religious importance. As such, the gathering of the Ignohla and the subsequent consumption in private marked not only an elf's connection to the land and people but their own personal overcoming of the struggles that haunt them in their life.
In the modern times of the 9th Era, a return to closer-knit clans and families has returned "group" Relic Quests into the zeitgeist. In traveling, these travel groups now gather Ignohla ingredients as a group, making sure to acquire enough for each quester in the group. These Ignohla are now consumed in a public celebration after the finding of a relic, as it is seen as the best way to bind the elf to their people, land, and clan.

Execution

The general order of tasks in the making and consumption of the Ignohla are as follows:

1. Over the course of the Relic Quest, the ingredients are gathered.
2. When a quester finds their relic, their Ignohla is constructed by the quest leader.
3. After construction, the travel group gathers in the center of their campsite with the leader and quester in the center.
4. The quester and leader grab either end of the Ignohla and snap it in half. 
5. They both consume their pieces, followed by an announcement by the leader of the quester's relic, its importance, and the quester's new connection to the land, their people, and their clan.

Components and tools

The general recipe for the Ignohla is as follows. (Replacements have been made in the ingredient list for making this food outside of the Shatterlands)
Ingredients:

• 1 head of cored iceberg lettuce with outer leaves removed/ 1 large leaf from an Elfear Tree
• 1 tablespoon topping of choice / 1 tablespoon Tinderfruit dressing
• 4 slices of organic meat of choice / 4 slices of Pterosaur or Segrena Bird meat
• 1 slice of cheese of choice / 1 slice of cheese fermented during the relic quest
• 2 slices of tomato
• 1 piece of parchment paper (Reccomended size of 12"-14")

Instructions:

1. Lay out 6-8 pieces of lettuce/leaf base onto your parchment. Try to measure out around 10" of lettuce/leaf. Smaller pieces are ok to use if your larger pieces are breaking!
2. Take your chosen topping and spread it over your lettuce/leaf base, making sure to evenly spread.
3. Starting with your meat, layer your fillings up until they are all stacked and ready.
4. Using the parchment as a guide, slowly and carefully roll your Ignohla, making sure to keep the wrap tight and contained
5. After the roll has been created, take a serrated knife and cut a small scoring cut around the middle of the Ignohla. The paper should be cut, but the lettuce should only have a small score along the edge. 
6. Once you are ready to eat, simply break the Ignohla down the middle and enjoy!

Participants

In the modern-day, the Ignohla is primarily undertaken by Relic Quester and their quest-leader (usually a family member of close friend of their family). This is meant to signify a bond between the Quester and the personification of their relic quest (their quest leader).

by Breanna Huff

Related Ethnicities

• High Elves