The mother's milk Tradition / Ritual in Thar'kor | World Anvil
BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD Like what you see? Become the Master of your own Universe!

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

The mother's milk

Prompt 8: Somewhere in your world describe food that marks a right of passage for culture in your world.   The mother's milk: The Duskshar’ri are nomadic people who roam the northern deserts freely, herding camels and goats. When they welcome a new member into their tribe as either a permanent addition or as a gesture of alliance or friendly trade they celebrate this union with a feast of lamb's meat, bread, sweet and spicy dips and end this with a toast of the mother's milk. This is the true element of the ritual and is seen as a spiritual bonding of the person to their tribe. The milk is made from a combination of camel, goat and human milk fermented into a sour alcoholic drink.   To begin the ritual the new member must praise the desert moon god for the blessing of water and shade, the calm winds and the rain that revitalizes the land, lifting the bowl to the south, east and west in order but never to the north. The newcomer must then swear a bond to the tribe and then drink from the bowl, whilst holding the sword of the greatest warrior in the tribe in their right hand. The bowl is then passed to the elders who complete the praises and then swear a bond to the newcomer and drink from the bowl. The ritual continues to the whole tribe of all persons over 15 years of age and the bowl is kept topped up for this purpose. Once all have drunk from the bowl the bowl is given to the tribe's greatest warrior who then curs his hand and the newcomer's hand so a drop of each of their blood mixes into the bowl. They both swear their bond again and drink from this new mix.   The ritual is a joyous affair but has a serious overtone in the ritual as the Duskshar’ri take this very seriously and treachery will be marked and the betrayers hunted to the ends of the earth. The final oath between the newcomer and the tribal warrior is that I the newcomer brings harm to the tribe they will be killed by the warrior's sword.   Plot Point: To travel to the portals or the Dark Lords temple city the adventurers will need to befriend and be accepted into a tribe of the Duskshar’ri. They can move through the desert avoiding checkpoints and traps that the party could otherwise not escape.

Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!