Cattle Raids
Overview
The culture of the Vestral Downs is both highly rural and quite factional, given the high density of noble houses within the region. This has led to frequent squabbling between neighbors, as one's noble house serves as an important form of identity. Conflict in the nation's most populous region often occurs between cities, towns, and even neighboring farms of differing houses. One of the oldest, and most common, forms of conflict are cattle raids."While fences may make good neighbors, noble houses do not, and their rivalries often promulgate to even the farm level." - Excerpt from Merchants' Roadmap of the Vestral Downs
Mythology
The first cattle raid is said to be the Chestnut Raid, one of the foundational myths of the Vestral Downs. It tells the story of Murrey Four-Strings, the legendary founder of House Moray and the first Fence-Bard, raiding a camp of Anharan Giants and freeing the first Chestnut Crom. Cattle raids dot the foundational myths of almost every noble house within the region, regardless of size. They are also the subject of innumerable local poems and songs, performed by Bard and Fence-Bard alike. Much of the average Fence-Bard's reputation was decided by these early myths, as they are often portrayed as the culprit, wooing away cattle with their instrumental music.Contemporary Raiding
Cattle raids, from a historical perspective, are more the result of cultural and economic factors than mythological ones. Viewed as a rite of passage for the youth of the Vestral Downs, cattle raids serve as a test of mettle for local boys, as well as a way to make a name for themselves. While in the modern Vestral Downs this is often ceremonial and celebratory, throughout the region's history it has been a bloody affair. Besides around the Pledge Days of the area's youth, raids often spike after full-blown conflicts. The economic issues related to the demobilization of soldiers sees groups band together to execute raids for their own benefit, rather than that of a local house. Often this sees the cattle smuggled into forests, where it becomes the issue of Forest Law, or to neighboring regions such as the Westmarches or Vinelands, where it is slaughtered and sold to unsuspected locals.
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