The Tsecsars | TRIALS & SYMBOLOGY

[Mescaffier 6197]

Main Lore

 

A depiction of the Mother communing with a Seiðr [‘Shaman’]

Art by Awanqi!

 

Trials & Symbology

 

 

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Foreword

This is an extension of the base culture lore the Tsecsar player base wrote, further defining trials & their culture’s symbology! This will include the three coming-of-age ceremonies, cultural tattoos, and ‘symbols’ of their faith.

In the next Tsecsar DLC for $49.99, learn about their rankings & hierarchy! Eldars, Matrons, Eldar Initiates, etc. will be fully explained. I may or may not just be spitballing ideas.

 

The Trials

 

The Bride’s domain is harsh and unyielding, and to ensure a Tsecsar is capable of braving it, they’re put through three distinctive trials. A member of the family, or an ‘honorable’ member/bastard, once 15 sun-strides [years], may partake to unlock the path of an Eldar - a member of their family, and/or village, that aids their Matron/Patron in decision-making and governance. 

 

Art by Awanqi!

 

 

“A test of control, be it of fear or anger. The Tsecsar will often be dangled over large drops, before bears, submerged just below nose-level in water, for a certain duration to gauge their trust in their kin and their ability to reason.” -- The Tsecsars | BRUTES OF THE NORTH

 

Unlike the Father, a Tsecsar must be capable of controlling their emotions, and remain steadfast even on the steepest of inclines and deepest drops. A Tsecsar would be randomly selected by the Eldar or the Head overseeing their trial to test the hopeful initiate. Nights submerged in cold mudflats and hours dangling just above a deadly drop are but a few of many common tests - however, even though these are meant to be frightening, they’re certainly not meant to risk the death of the testee. 

After twelve hours of endurance: without complaint, nor request to concede, the Overseer will announce that the testee has succeeded in their first trial and allow them a night’s rest in preparation for the next.

 

“Once having passed the first trial, they’ll then have to face ‘The Bride’s Wrath’. The Bride - after losing the Father to his woe, sought to destroy the Mother’s work through plaguing it in an eternal cold. The prospecting Tsecsar must face this wrath, and beat it, by enduring the tundra’s cold for half of a year on their lonesome. Should they return, they’ll then face the third trial.” -- The Tsecsars | BRUTES OF THE NORTH

After their success in their first trial, the testee is then tasked to face what they’d been dangled over and submerged in head-on. With only the furs on their back and a meager few options between a spear, a shield, or a bundle of food, the initiate must venture out within untamed land and manage to thrive within the half-sunstride [half-year] they’re given.

Once found after the timeframe, they’ll be gauged on how their shelter was built (or a lack thereof), their supply, and physical condition. An addition - after finding that this alone had been too simple a task, was to slay a beast and make a pelt of its fur. If maimed and starved by the time they’re found, they’re forced to repeat the Bride’s trial. This often weeds out weaker descendants - some are even found deceased within their encampments. Yet, for someone eager to ascend their society’s hierarchy, this is none more than a dip in the road.

 

“The Mother was proud of her creations, regardless of their flaws and weaknesses. Despite her death, her gaze lingers on upon her children - upon those of the Citadel, especially. The third trial is a test of strength against a fellow Kinsmen, and he who manages to turn the other combatant on his back is deemed triumphant.” -- The Tsecsars | BRUTES OF THE NORTH

At last, a final task. A last challenge, before a Tsecsar may begin their path toward becoming an Eldar. Donning their pelts and wielding an axe customarily gifted by their Trial Overseer, they’re to face another Tsecsar attempting to graduate and brawl until one is turned on their back. Magick & Alchemy is customarily outlawed in this last trial - the Tsecsar must depend on themselves, and themselves alone lest they want to be seen as weak. If there isn’t another testee available, someone who’s graduated the Trials most similar in age to the current testee is selected.

One prevails, and one fails. Upon failure, they must wait until another initiate comes to brawl - and this cycles, for each individual that flunks the combat. Using magick, alchemy, or other ‘trickery’, means an immediate failure for that testee - and an immediate victory for their opponent.

 

Ranking Symbology

Tsecsars are marked by what occupation they take in life; often, those who’ve not undergone trials or do not participate in military decide on their own markings, but those who do seek traditional standards are rewarded with the following ‘tattoos’.

 

[Note! This is my (TreeSmoothie’s) own art. Please do not use these markings on your character or take inspiration without my explicit permission. Thank you!]

 

Named the ‘Matron’s Crown’ for its semblance to a royal circlet, and for its creator, Dame Viktoriya I ‘the Undauntable’. Upon their forehead is scrawled the symbol of Holy providence of the Mother, on their chin, the symbol of an Elk, and around their throat, their House’s motto: “Sic Semper Tyrannis”.

 

 

 

Named the ‘Heir’s Horns’ for its semblance to stubby Oryx horns. Upon their chin is scrawled the symbol of an Elk, and around their throat, their House’s motto: “Sic Semper Tyrannis”. It only misses two features of the Matron’s marking - its crown, and the Mother’s sigil. 

 

 

 

Named the ‘Eldar’s Wreath’ for its to a Polar Grass circlet bestowed to an Eldar upon their ascension to the rank. The sigil on their forehead represents governance and community, while the four around it are meant to depict a crow’s feathers - those of the Mother’s. The loops beneath their eyes and atop their chin represent a Polar Grass weaving; strength and maturity.

 

 

 

Named the ‘Acolyte’s Plumage’ for its semblance to the sprouting feathers of a chick. The four loops are meant to depict a crow’s feathers - those of the Mother’s, and the link upon their chin represents the beginning of an Eldar’s Polar Grass wreath, symbolizing their path onward to ascension. 

Symbology 

Sometimes in the Tsecsar’s script, Icescrawl, letters were too complex to scrawl out in a hurry. Thus, they developed single symbols for certain words that were commonly used, like Mother, Battle, Hunt, et Cetera.

 

Along with this, a regurgitated blurb on Icescrawl, from The Tsecsars | BRUTES OF THE NORTH;

 

 

‘Ice-Scrawl’ was an archaic script developed by Adelheid I, and refurbished by Viktoriya I centuries later. They included complex runes in order to encrypt messages between villages - of assaults on the Fjarriagua North, to the locations of storages and stashes, though did still employ the use of ‘Common-Tongue’ grammar and spelling.

 

Their numbers consisted of;

 

And all other symbols, like question marks and dashes, consisting of only two;

The first, denoting blunt wording, while the second denoted a question or an emotional phrase. It wasn’t exactly well developed, meaning something like the phrase ‘Interesting!’;

Could’ve been misread as a sarcastic [‘Interesting?’] gesture. The lack of commas also made long sentences hard and odd-sounding, so many folk-writers often created their own sigils as a replacement for the lack thereof, dawning the creation of generalized symbols.

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

Just a little addendum to Tsecsar culture; some friends advised me that some bits were a little vague, so I opted to spitball and put some more clarification out on some of the bigger aspects.

 

Written by me [TreeSmoothie!]

[Benjikhei 698]

Woo more Tsecsarian lore DLC

[Roguechaotic 264]

Dang tree our guild lore better be this good when it gets written lol

+1 lovely viking post

[AmericanSimp 512]

10/10 +1

[Franczhiz 4437]

Skjoldic, based +1