Fipu'oor
Being the main prayer and worship ritual practiced by the extremist group known as The Ichik'ryu, Fipu'oor is the cult's bread and butter. A full half of the donations that sustain the church come from passing the alms plate at fipu'oor. For many of these puritanistic and ascetic lizardfolk, the ceremony and coffee hour afterwards are the grand majority of their social lives.
History
The Fipu'oor is the oldest rite and ceremony in the entire religion. It is rife with hidden meaning and subtle revelations; or, so say the cultists.
Execution
Setting
The cultists will gather together under a grass pavilion built far enough out in the swamp as to avoid detection or suspicion. They will secret themselves away to this place twice monthly, and at every full moon cycle.
Participants
The officiant, adorned in the shed skins of revered elders, will lead the ceremony, while their assistants stand by dressed in simple loincloths.
Introductory Rites
The ceremony will open with the Invocation of the Ancients, a prayer beseaching Kal'Ichik to bless all those assembled and attend the proceedings. The congregation will respond with synchronized hissing, creating a syncopated, resonant hum that will fill the nearby swamp with a sibilant rhythm. As the chant reaches its crescendo, the officiant performs the Ritual of the Blood Moon by taking a small, silver dagger, and making a shallow circular cut on his palm. He will allow a few drops of his blood to fall onto the altar, where it will sizzle and emit a faint red glow, signifying the presence of the divine.
Liturgy
The main body of the worship ceremony begins with a rite called the Dance of Dominance, wherein a group of elite Ichik'ryu warriors perform an aggressive dance around the altar with fluid grace. Chunks of frankincense are lit in large pans for the warriors to undulate near sinuously, scales reflecting back the light of the braziers hypnotically.
When the warriors have danced themselves into exhaustion, the priest steps forward once again and performs the Blessing of the Patriarchs. This is done by calling forth the elder males of the congregation and presenting them with ceremonial necklaces made of bones and precious stones. They each offer a few words of wisdom or guidance, before returning the necklace to a porter and bringing themselves back to their seats.
Next is the Offering of the Bounty, in which baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as hunted meat, both fresh and preserved, are presented at the altar by the acolytes. The priest then blesses the offering, and a percentage is set aside to be burned as tribute to Osses, the goddess of swamps and mires.
Concluding Rites
The Sacred Feast is performed when all of the congregants share the bounty offered as tribute. It is a joyful time for the churchgoers, and the sounds of conversation and the occasional worshipful chant fill the air of the swamp.
As the feast winds down, the priest will step forward once again, leading a Final Chant to thank the gods and honor the ancestors. The congregation will join their voices with his, the sound echoing throughout the swamplands.
End of the Ceremony
The Participants disburse, stealthily returning from whence they came, making sure not to wake or bother their neighbors.
Interesting ritual - i wonder why they sneak around? Is their ritual or religion illegal? It sounds mostly harmless...
While the cult's forward facing activities are innocuous enough, they are a group of religious extremists who worship what most consider to be a false god. Thanks for asking :-)