Editing Setting:Tabula Gloria/Aeva/The Raptorlords (section)

=A Convoluted Code=
This is only one of many interesting traditions in which the Raptorlords partake. For instance, hair length is of importance in social standing. First of all, a Cairnsman's hair must never be sheared in his lifetime. The hair must never be too short, lest the Cairnsman be morally bankrupt. It can also never be too long, lest he is slow of mind. As such, almost all mature Cairnsmen maintain a specifically coiled braid of hair to maintain the desired length. Also, Carinsmen are encouraged to remain on the battlefield until all the slain fully pass away, for only then is it safe to harvest the enemy's skulls for their Cairn's collection. Continuing in the matters of war, if a Cairnsman is slain in battle, but is revived by an '''Alkyr Sprite''' before his skull is harvested, then he is to be spared and respected, elevated to the status of an '''Alkyr Secondborn''', harboring the Sprite's spirit and wisdom within him.

Regarding the Alkyr Secondborn, they are treated like a different people altogether. These special souls, tinged with a rich golden skin and a special mark emblazoned upon their breast, are regarded to as soothsayers, prophets of a sort. They also serve in a bardic capacity, carrying the Raptorlords' rich oral tradition and their songs into the next generation. They also seem to be exempt not only to the constant war among the Cairns, but also to the basic power structure surrounding the war, often visiting other Cairns to share their stories and songs. Their travels also take them to other lands, the only of their kind not to lash out instinctively at foreigners. They speak of the Raptorlords' traditions, their happenings, and their tales to all who will listen, spreading knowledge of his warring people. An oddity given the single-minded tendency of the Raptorlords to annihilate until only one Cairn remains.

Perhaps their strangest tradition is their respect of winged creatures. Aeva is a land full of crows, ravens, and other intelligent corvids. Killing a bird brings a man a year of bad luck. Consuming a bird however is a grave sin, enough to make a man a pariah and an outcast, no longer accepted by his Cairn or even the more-accepting Secondborn, damned to live in the wilderness forever alone. Each Raptorlord owns several birds in his lifetime, cherishing each one and using them as his eyes in the sky and his constant companion. Each Cairn has their own pedigree of birds to use, training their breed as excellent scouts and treating them almost as spirit guides, trusting them to show the way in dire situations. Surprisingly, in most circumstances, they use them like this, not even in the supposed dire situations. This spiritual union with their corvid allies is what has earned the Raptorlords their namesake.

Many punishments lie in wait for Raptorlords who do not abide by this code. The worst of these are reserved for those who shun the Raptorlords' ways in their entirety. Consuming one of their feathered companions, fighting for someone other than one's own Cairn, and killing one of the exalted Secondborn for the second time are examples of what can get a Raptorlord to be exiled to '''Rift'''. A dark, deep valley colder than the already frigid surface of Aeva, Rift is a place in which a Raptorlord is stripped of his kinship to his Cairn and his identity as one of Aeva's children. Usually, one is simply exiled to Rift to live the rest of their days as a wild man, but for those who truly commit the worst of the worst, they are dragged there kicking and screaming. Tied to a post and left wide open, the birds circling overhead swoop in and eviscerate the man alive, After seven dawns pass, the offender's skull is harvested, smashed at his Cairn, and cast off to sea by his executioner, forever ridding the fellow Raptorlords of his memory.