Verd'goten
The verd'goten (lit: "test of a warrior" in Khaghat'oa) is a rite of passage for young Khaghate which formally recognizes them as adult members and inducts them into their clan's warrior caste. Khaghate youth train beginning at the age of eight for these trials and consider them one of if not the most important life event in their culture. The rite dates back to the First Intermediate Period or Early Mithril Era and is prescribed in the Ogadinui , the foundational legal and philosophical text of the Khaghate people. The specific trials performed vary from clan to clan but all verd'goten end with the forging of a unique set of heirloom armor for the initiate and the public donning of that armor.
Preparation
Children of the Khaghate usually begin training for their verd'goten at the age of eight. This training is typically overseen by either the father or mother depending on the initiate's gender. If the initiate is one of the aliit be'ade, then their training is overseen by an appointed guardian—usually an unmarried warrior—or by multiple members of the clan in turn. Over the next seven to eight years, the initiate learns various skills considered vital to completing their verd'goten and becoming a verd, or warrior of the clan. This includes horseback riding; hand-to-hand combat (both in the bōkh1 and irregular styles;) archery (both on foot and on horseback2;) melee combat (specifically using a kal3 and a beviin4;) mounted combat (using a kad5, a jad6, and a bevik7;) tracking and orienteering; hunting and trapping; falconry; survival skills; and the basics of metalworking and woodcarving. In addition to physical training, initiates also memorize the entirety of the Ogadinui and the Daikau'nare, as well as their clan's oral history. Instructors often drill young Khaghate on multiple things at once, such as having an initiate recite the Battle with Xiagru while wrestling in full armor.Trial
At around the initiate's fifteenth or sixteenth birthday, their instructor will bring them to their clan's alor and goran, or quartermaster. They will state that the initiate has learned all they can from the instructor and ask that the initiate undergo the verd'goten. If the alor agrees that the time is right, the alor will symbolically strip the initiate of their clan name. Wood and spices are burned in the alor's tent and as the chieftain directs the smoke towards the verd'goten with the aid of a coup staff. This is to remove the spiritual influence of the initiate's ancestor spirits, as their aid cannot be called upon during the trial. With the initiate cleansed, the alor will then tell the initiate what their goten, or test, will entail. The assignment is kept secret on pain of corporal punishment and is to be known only to the alor, the goran, the instructor and the initiate. Additionally, an alor can assign any task they wish, though it is supposed to test the initiate's skill as a warrior, hunter, and member of the Khaghate culture. The trials also vary based on the time of year, the location of the clan, and the needs of the clan at that time. The most common quest is to track, hunt, and kill a dire wolf; the terrestrial apex predator of the Khaghat Steppe. In recent years, this has been broadened to grey wolves as the dire wolf population has slowly declined. Many verd'goten involve tracking, hunting, and killing wild animals though wolves are the most common. More exotic and difficult targets include giant elk, snow leopards, tigers, bears, ankhegs, hippogriffs, worgs, and golden gryphons. Behir are strictly forbidden to hunt for any reason. In the past, particularly in times of great hostility between clans, a verd'goten might involve an initiate stealing livestock from a rival clan or tribe. Others involve tracking and capturing or killing a Samartha centaur tribesman. These most often occurred when during the summer raiding season and if the clan needed a trained verd with an idealistic or reckless drive. Today, such quests are uncommon but not unheard of. Rarely, an alor will task the initiate with a quest that does not involve slaying a beast or striking against a foe. Instead, the initiate might be asked to travel far into the Eagle Mountains to retrieve a rare herb or to take a message from the alor through enemy lines to the Khaghatan. The nature of the verd'goten lends itself to missions that require stealth, guile, and a single, unarmored operative. Such trials are rare and usually given only in times of great struggle, when the needs of the clan are specific yet difficult to obtain. Upon receiving their task, the initiate will set out to see it done. They are prohibited from asking for help from members of their own clan or outsiders and cannot wear any armor besides a black woolen cloak. The initiate is allowed to bring a single weapon with them but it cannot be blessed or magically augmented. Regardless of the nature of their quest, all initiates are also instructed to bring back a sign of their success to be used in the reentry forging rituals. Most often this involves the carcass of the slain prey or captured livestock. After leaving the vheh'yaim8 of the alor, they are forbidden from returning to the clan until they have completed their quest. Sadly, many initiates die or resolve to live in self-imposed exile as a result of failing to complete their verd'goten. Some initiates return months, or even years later where they are welcomed back with open arms and relief. Those killed or missing in the course of their verd'goten are not to be recorded in the oral history of their clan and are supposed to be forgotten by all until they return. Deceased initiates are, however, thought to be able to enter the afterlife, provided they died in keeping with the Daikau'nare.Reentry to Society
When an initiate has returned from their quest, they will present themselves first to the aranate9 of the alor. The aranate will then notify the alor of the initiate's return and send the initiate to the nau'ur10 of the clan's goran, or armorer. As the alor and the initiate's sponsors are preparing for the final ceremony, the initiate and the goran will begin the process of forging or reforging the initiate's new armor. Typically, a set of armor from the initiate's family is selected and either augmented or melted down and reforged to fit the body of the new verd. However, in cases where no armor exists or is available, or if the initiate was a child of the clan, the goran must craft an entirely new set of armor. The materials for this armor are to be provided by the initiate's sponsor before they have presented them to the alor for the verd'goten. While the goran leads the construction of the armor, the initiate must be present and aid in the production. This includes many of the usual smithing processes, as well as the recitation of the armor's history. The Khaghate believe that all objects can obtain a kind of memory as they age. This memory can be imparted to the user of the object if they are attuned to it and even grant the user the abilities of the object's previous owners. This phenomenon, called tome'tayl, can only be lost if the object is destroyed and its heritage lost. As a result, a goran and her assistant must keep the memory of the armor alive as they work by speaking the past aloud as nariilaare11 in time with the hammering and quenching of the metal. Though reforged again and again for centuries, great care is taken to ensure that the same material that originally comprised the armor is used again and again. Traditionally, Khaghate half-plate was made of temōrtra or "sky iron," an extremely rare metal found only in scattered deposits like the Khaghat's Chekeren Crater. Overtime, however, this practice has faded as demand for the material has increased with only the most elite members of the Khaghatan's khesig units allowed to harvest raw temōrtra. This has led to gorane making Khaghate half-plate out of a variety of sacred substances, including mithril, enchanted bone,steel, and other enhanced substances. When the armor has nearly been completed, a new verse is added to the piece's praise song, which tells the story of the initiate's verd'goten. The initiate dons all the armor except their helm or mask and then is taken to where the initiate's sponsors and the clan's alor have gathered the rest of the community. This generally takes place at the present camp of the clan or at the clan's ancestral kurgan. At the ceremony, the initiate is presented to the whole clan as having completed their verd'goten. The goran hands the helmet to the alor, who then gives a short speech on the actions of the initiate and their achievements. To complete the ceremony, the initiate recites the Daikau'nare. With that, the alor places the reforged helm over the verd's head, granting them the rank of verd and welcoming them into the clan as a full adult. Only those closest to the verd will ever see the verd's face again, as it is considered dar'khagha12 to reveal one's face to an outsider.History
While it is unclear when the verd'goten became a standard practice for the Khaghate, many within the culture point to examples in "The Legend of Khaghate the First."" In this genesis myth, the patriarch of the Khaghate people, Khaghatan the First, endures exile in the remote Eagle Mountains and a series of deadly test before returning to his ancestral home to rescue his wife and daughter from a tribe of violent Samarthian centaurs. This period of exile and spiritual awakening is referred to within the ritual itself when the alor first sends the initiate on their quest and then again once they have returned. Overtime, the kinds of trials given by alore have changed depending on the availability of suitable obstacles and the socio-political landscape of the period.
Footnotes
1 Bōkh is a traditional kind of wrestling in Khaghate culture. It is used both as a martial art and as a formal school of dueling to settle disputes between warriors. During the selection of a Khaghatan, bōkh duels are commonly used to determine who is the most skillful warrior among the various clans and great houses. Some versions of the technique incorporate melee weapons like a kal.2 The Khaghate are particularly skilled at mounted combat, included mounted archery. Known as in Khaghat'oa as kata'morish, the practice is considered a vital part of the verd'goten training. It is said that by their twelfth year, nearly all Khaghate youth can turn completely around in the saddle and strike a target 200 yards behind them while riding at a full gallop.
3 A kal is a kind of long knife or dagger a little over a foot long. It is used mostly as a tool for cooking and cutting but all Khaghate warriors are skilled at fighting and killing with them.
4 A beviin is a type Khaghate spear used in melee combat. The term is sometimes also used to refer to javelins or glaives but never refers to mounted lances.
5 A kad is a traditional Khaghate sword or saber designed specifically for use in mounted combat. Though it can be used on foot, its length and slight curve are perfectly engineering to slash down at infantry while riding on horseback.
6 A jad is a lance used in mounted combat. It can also be used to refer to specially made polearms used by centaur warriors common in the Khaghat Steppe.
7 A bevik is a kind of staff or war club used by the Khaghate in battle as well as for religious or ceremonial contexts. It is similar to a coup stick but usually made of wood or metal as opposed to horse bone. It can be wielded by mounted as well as infantry forces but is best suited for crushing plate armor.
8 A vheh'yaim is a portable nomadic structure used by the Khaghate as for living quarters. Similar to a yurt or ger, a vheh'yaim often appears to be a sturdy wood and animal skin structure but can be taken apart and loaded onto carts or wagons in just a few hours.
9 The aranate are the household guard of an alor and the primary shock troop soldiers of any clan's armed forces. In larger clans or houses, they are primarily made up of young, promising verde from neighboring clans to strengthen bonds between communities and give young warriors formal political experience.
10 A nau'ur is the home and workplace of a goran, or armorer. It appears similar to a traditional vheh'yaim in many ways but has a large opening in the roof to allow for ventilation while smithing.
11 Nariilaare, or "deed songs," are the oral histories of a warrior, a clan, or an object in Khaghate society. They are versed poems that are intended to be sung aloud and they have melodies that are intended to complement the rigorous, repetitive actions of a forge. The singing of these nariilaare helps keep the goran and her assistant at a steady, precise pace, and it is thought that in reciting the great deeds of an object's histories allows one to imbue them with the same abilities they had when the ancestors first wielded them.
12 Dar'khagha is the state of being "no longer of the Khaghate." To be formally considered dar'khagha amounts to a social and spiritual exile as individuals with such a labeling are banished from living with the Khaghate, vulnerable to property seizure or death, and also considered ineligible to rejoin their ancestors in the Fields of Maurenchali or the Khaghate's version of the afterlife.
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by Akiman
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