A wood mask, dotted and striped in vibrant flower pigments, in the image of a besakh's eyes, snout, and tusks.
A Natera individual's mask, their barrier between the world and the self, is never to be parted from, unless in the most intimate of situations, grevious injury, or death.
Feed the body to the butcher under the earth, but feed the mask to the termite.
Tinders from a bunen-- a ritual bonfire. Still slightly warm to the touch and prickling with white-hot stars.
There is a reason the steppe festival of rejuvenation is called Sulauk-bunen, a time of joyous dancing and brilliant orange light.
In a proper world, the kindness of death and rebirth would be unconditional. But it is not, and so fibrils of the crystal grow in lungs, and estranged bodies howl their dirges.
A short blade, with finely crafted serrations on both ends of the flat metal. The true work of a master.
The Qubaatayaat of Lake Qitaeb, many ways due yuat, cut their third toe during the ritual to instate them. No matter the sharpness of your blade, one must be reminded that power is always temporary.
A bottle of clear, sweet nekkaibe, foamed and fermented.
The best nekkaibe is said to be made with the waters of the Jemirukke. This bottle could not possibly compare.
The process of nekkaibe brewing is one of love and reverence for Satarakke. The very human act of creation elevates even Gods.
Individual pieces of waterweed, foraged from pond waters as they have for generations. That is: carefully, tenderly.
The tapat'at of Lake Qitaeb due yuat were long ago blessed by their god to become amphibious. Despite this, they retain a very human sense of modesty, and make all their clothing and fabrics of waterweed fiber, water-resistant like no other.
Strips of the bark of the trite tree, preserved in thick, tangy syrup.
Trite wood is often stuck in the mouth and chewed on slowly for a quiet boost of energy.
Chewing too much however is inadvisable, as a too-constant stream of the trite's juices can both numb the senses to its effects and cause indigestion.
A small wooden charm, sculpted in the symbolic visage of the old god Satarakke, intended to be worn on the belt with beadery.
Satarakke, with the waters of the bugetiy'aguto as their flesh and body, would be nothing without their lover Sutomeq.
Anyone, though travellers especially, wear charms to all the gods they wish on the belt as a sort of miniature shrine. To be depicted, cherished, at all, is a form of apotheosis.
A hollow-bodied instrument originating all the way from the Sekhenakhen.
Abisekhet is almost purely of the spoken word. Therefore, musicians and the stories they tell are highly important to the cultivation and nourishing of Abisekhet identity through finely-tuned lyrical and musical skill. When there is not song, there is handywork; rich stories told in patterns on walls and numbers kept stock in knots on twine and rope.