Pocket poppets

During their long journey from the various territories of the Five Empires, The One Hundred Thousand began to make use of small totems, poppets, or other tokens as protective amulets along the march. Thousands have been discovered in vast collections by Amnari Archaeologists, especially around the eastern border of the Amin Duum Exclusion Zone. The most common theory is that they began as protective poppets used when travelling locally between towns in one of the Empires, and that as the different ethnicities and groups of the Hundred Thousand met and interacted, the idea spread and became popular.

Materials and Components

Poppets took various forms, usually comprising some combination of organic and non-organic materials. Combinations and materials depended on the specificities of culture, ethnicity, and other factors. Over the course of the journey, it is believed that some ethnicities influenced others in terms of designing suitable poppets. For example, the historian Tabishka has suggested in her work on poppet collections held in the Amin Duum Taijis Nil Museum that, when the Hundred Thousand arrived in a community and spread the word of the presence of the High Ashad Isha, individuals would suggest making a poppet for protection while travelling if the community did not have an established tradition.
Materials varied depending on the origin of the manufacturing individual, but generally consisted of local earth, sand, seeds, or dried and mashed plant matter, inserted into a fabric outer. This outer was sometimes shaped to resemble a person, but many poppets have been found that consist of nothing more than a handful of sand or soil taken either from a person's house or garden.

Tooling and Manufacture

Poppets were handmade. Surviving examples indicate that they were usually roughly handsewn or crafted where there was more time to make them, or perhaps individuals already had a poppet they used when travelling and had no need to make a new one. Evidence from scratched stone poppets suggest the symbols were carved using other stones, or whatever hard object the maker had to hand at the time. Needles, and in the Eastern Desert, even examples of thread, have been discovered that may have been used. Fabric came from clothing, cast-offs, or rags.
Owing to the range of designs, poppets could be made by a number of means. For those carrying seeds, earth, or other organic matter, the bag was made by folding and sewing a scrap of material, sometimes taken from discarded furnishings around a home. Surviving examples of thread indicate that this tended to be of a more durable nature but often depended on local textile traditions.
Some particular examples suggest they were made rapidly, potentially when fleeing violence. These were made by scratching a symbol relating to their home town's name or sign, their own name, or a family name, onto a small stone and then wrapping it in cloth that was sewn later. Owing to the nature of these, many more have survived than other types, and researchers have urged caution in assuming that this means the stone form was more common than other, less durable, designs.

History

Small protective amulets for travel were a common feature throughout the Five Empires period, although they took a range of different forms, depending on cultural group. Among the Ganjapuri, for example, it was common to carry a folded piece of flat metal, such as gold or silver, often pierced at one end and threaded with string to be worn around the neck or on the non-dominant wrist. The Turati, on the other hand, generally made small bags of flax or sacking, in which they carried earth from their home when they travelled abroad.
Much of the early movement by people who joined the Hundred Thousand was under duress and, by extension, allowed for little or no preparation. It is not known how many of those who eventually arrived at Rooks and Kings Ruins knew that they would be travelling that far. Most evidence points to a "word of mouth" spread between towns and villages that there was an Avatar somewhere in Keshwar who was offering shelter and refuge from the war. Given that almost all of the Hundred Thousand were limited to travelling most of the way on foot, they were limited in what they could carry.
Poppets of various kinds were, therefore, a means of carrying some part of their homeland to their destination. Whether they expected that this would eventually assist in their return is not known, although some graffiti found along major routes used by the Hundred Thousand indicate that they did indeed hope that they would be able to return once The Rending War was over.

Item type

Religious / Ritualistic

Related ethnicities

• The One Hundred Thousand

Weight

Around a gram or less.

Dimensions

Up to 6in tall.

Base Price

Value is entirely personal.

Raw materials & Components

Stone, fabric, flax, thread (leather, flax), earth, plant-matter, sand.

Tools

Hand-made.