First Hunt

One of the most deeply held traditions in the lands of any Orc tribe, is the First Hunt. Whenever a female orc chooses a male to join her on this hunt and accepts his bounty, they will be considered Garnash - Hunt-Bonded.

The female is the one who initiates the ritual. EIther she forges a specific weapon of her own, if she is so able or she lends a weapon from her family. Several current clans even have ceremonial weapons any female orc can request from the Blue Shaman of the tribe. She will decorate this weapon with a token signifying her identity (usually something hinting at her name) as well as a marker for a specific place. The marker is often woven and contains a stitched map, especially in recent times where location names have become less colorful and descriptive.

She will leave the weapon on the doorstep or window of the male of her choice during the night. Many traditional clans prefer either the night of full moon or the night of the waning quarter moon ( the symbol for Lirin) for this. The chosen will find the weapon in the morning and will know that both an invitation and a challenge to the first hunt has been made. If he for some reason chooses to deny this, he will openly carry the weapon back to the house of the female, returning it for the whole clan to see. If the Orcs do have affection for the female but chose to deny it, they rarely do it covertly. This can, unfortunately, be seen as an insult to the female as well, though.

When accepting the challenge the male has to decipher the location and take only this weapon with him, to meet with the female. They both will hunt together for several days. It is up to the male to determine the prey and what to do with it, which does not necessarily mean killing the prey. Often the female denies the first prey or has a very specific wish. Usually, the male has to prove he understands the wishes of the female by choosing an adequate prey for her. If a female denies a prey, she can choose to end the hunt prematurely and the ritual ends unsuccessfully.

During the hunt, the two orcs meet each other as equals, they share their meals together, work together towards their goal and usually mate together as well. Even if the Garnash does not come together, after all, the latter part is widely accepted and not put with any taboos. Often, if the female would get pregnant after an unsuccessful First Hunt, they embark again on a hunt, testing if they can work out their differences.

When their hunt is successful, they return together to the clan, with their prey. It will culminate in a big celebration of their bond and during the night long festivities, they will together with their family chose a spot to build their hut on. During the next days, most of the clan will help in the construction of the hut - if they did not choose a preexisting one. Here, they will begin their life together, bound by the hunt. The Garnash.