Strat Hunting

Big game hunting has always been an integral part of Strat culture. It is a major part of their honor code, and also an important food source. Honorable Strat hunts are undertaken with meter-long Strat Blades only; firearms and traps are dishonorable ways to hunt. Pritvy Strat are often much less adherent to the old traditions, but even those Strat typically prefer to hunt with melee weapons. Strat typically bring their prey back to their community whole, and most parts of the creature are generally used. Another honorable role involved in the hunt is the butcher. Strat butchers are also their chefs, and train their whole lives in the dismemberment of animals and the preparation of the meat. Meats are typically cooked with one or more kinds of mushroom.

History

Strat hunting and culinary traditions go farther back than their written history. They were hunting for tens of thousands of years, or more, before joining with the Kopek to unify Kivanc. The traditions, techniques, and even the honor of each successful hunt were passed down through the generations, as were the recipes for cooking what they kill.

Components and tools

Strat hunters carry only blades into the wild. They traditionally wore metal armor, but some wear modern armors, now, particularly on Pritvy. Strat butchers use a variety of skinning and carving blades. They cook most meat on racks over open flames, but some meats simply seasoned and eaten raw. Butchers use mushrooms or other fungi in many recipes. Fungi is harvested in the wild, but it is also farmed around the acidic lakes on Kivanc. Pritvy Strat have adapted this farming technique.

Participants

The elders determine which hunters go out on which days. The hunters gather the animals. The farmers grow the fungus. The butchers carve and cook the meat.

Observance

Hunts and feasts happen every day. Different hunters are allowed to go out on different days to allow a chance for honor for all, and to keep prey populations healthy.

Related Ethnicities

• Strat