❝𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐢' 𝐇𝐮𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐡.❞ ―〖Bʀɪᴇғ Iɴsɪɢʜᴛs┊Gʟᴏssᴀʀʏ Iɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇᴅ〗

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〖Begin ― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqh-es7r06Y〗


Flesh fell from the bone like butter from a hot knife. Within the meat wept the half transparent crimson gems of the beast’s blood, having diluted with the fatty juices of the roasting animal. The scent assaulted the frigid night air with salivating promise, causing the Nah’Zugi’s stomachs to rumble, mouths, watering. Like stone to flint, the dancing flames sparked and glistened in the eyes of the surrounding warriors, their hunting party having proven successful. Voiceless song took to the skies while weathered and scarred hands beat upon drums, causing the former solace of the nocturnal world to rise up in tribal tribute.

Battle-hardened bodies moved in jerking, solid motions, displaying power with each stomp to the ground, fists pounding hard against broad, bare chests, muscles bulging. Furs painted in sacred ash and blood hung from the broad shoulders of Nah’Zugi Warriors who now danced in a wide circle around the fires while the woman struck the hide drums. All present at the ceremony wore the same markings upon their faces; a single, thick black band painted horizontally across their eyes, to symbolize that they were witnesses to the Wedding. Only two were donned with different markings – the pair to be mated. Upon their face, two thin black bands were painted vertically, one over each eye to symbolize their ascension form land to sky. The two bands came together at a peek in the upper center of the brow, where the Thrahk, the Spiritual Eye or Third Eye, is located. Two bands, representing two joining together as one.

In many cultures throughout the galaxy, it is the woman who is presented to the man. It is not so among the Nah’Zugi. Among the tribal people of Aundunin, it is the male who is presented to the female. The Nah’Zugi are a dominance hierarchy, lead by dominant Matriarch. While the men are hunters, warriors, providers and protectors, it is the women who lead them, direct them, and have the final say in matters of debate among the tribes. Base agonistic behavior determines smaller matters, but larger lots fall to the feet of the reining Matriarch.

A standard Nah’Zugi wedding lasts up to three months. It is the Nah’Zugi belief that the moons must shine upon the wedding before the marriage can be consummated. Each moon cycle lapses the other over the time of three months, and so from the designated night of the first ceremony, the couple are presented under the Nadi’ Hun – First Light. Thus the First Ceremony is called Nadi’ Hun Rah.

Seated upon the Unn Bah, a throne built from the bones of their ancestors, is the Sah’ek Tah. Platinum blond locks, wild and thick, were pulled back in multiple braids along the sides of her scalp while the crown had been teased and formed into a fierce Mohawk mane. The thick strands of hair at the back of her head had been woven into the ceremonial headpiece that fell down lavishly about her bare shoulders chest. The headdress itself was the entirety of her apparel, the only thing hiding her naked form from view. The headpiece was bone white, and the light, airy fabric that fell down from it, as dark as the black bands over her eyes. The garment signified the ritual of the Moon and Stars; the headpiece constructed to represent the moon’s rays falling upon the Nah’Zugi, and the sparkling and glistening bead work expanding from the headpiece and over the long, flowing materiel, representation of the stars. The dark fabric which wrapped about her frame was a representation of the darkness in which the moon and stars shine. The Sah’ek Tah’s body, from the jawline down, had been painted in the same obsidian paste as the markings over her eyes, made from black ash and sacrificial blood. The paint did not pass her jawline, save for her chin, where it rose up to meet and cover her bottom lip.

Eyes the colour of gold light on water hauntingly gazed out upon the dancers before her as she awaits the Seh’ek. His arrival is announced by the cry of voices, taking up song and drum. The Seh’ek is garbed much the same as the Sah’ek Tah, but his garment leaves his chest entirely exposed, and a thick, white band is painted down from the collarbone to the navel. The symbol of ascension among the Nah’Zugi people. His hands are painted blood red, a sign of servitude to his bride, the Sah’ek Tah, that his hands and his skills and talents are hers.

Dancers and drummers part as the Seh’ek strides towards the Sah’ek Tah. The sound of dance and music rise in pulse but the moment the Seh’ek’s knees meet the earth at the throne of the Unn Bah the music and singing is at once silenced. All that is to be heard is the melodies of the fires that crackle and burn around them. Slowly, the Sah’ek Tah rises standing directly before the Seh’ek. A new rhythm takes to the air, and the drums begin anew, slow, simple, basic thrums, echoing deep into the night.

The Seh’ek proceeds to crown the Sah’ek Tah’s feet in white ash, sacred to the Nah’Zugi people. The crowning is a similitude to the grace of light upon their planet, and that it is to be treated as such. When he is finished, to his feet he rises and stands at the Sah’ek Tah’s side. The former Matriarch then steps forward, and the Sah’ek Tah and the Seh’ek present their right hands. The Matriarch, chanting an ancient mantra under her breath and pricks both their thumbs with a bone needle. As her words continue to flow into the night on scrolls of ceremonial tides, the Sah’ek Tah and Seh’ek turn to face one another. Their thumbs are then pressed to each other’s brows, over the mark of the Thrak – The Third Eye. The blood shines like a ruby jewel upon the joined bands on their brows. The moment it is completed, there is an uproar of cries and cheers from the surrounding Nah’Zugi. The Mark of the Thrahk has been placed, and the celebrations begin.

Dancing resumes, and the drums fill the night while the Sah’ek Tah and the Seh’ek take their seat upon the Unn Bah. A plate is presented to them, and only after they have taken their first bite of the succulent flesh, does the feasting begin.

Savory and sweet, the flesh fell from the bone like butter from a hot knife…

And so begins the reign of the new Sah’ek Tah Monarch, Leader of the Nah’Zugi, presented under the Nadi’Hun moons of Andunin.







░GLOSSARY░

𝐀𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧 - Their Planet’s Name
𝐍𝐚𝐡’𝐙𝐮𝐠𝐢 - The Race / People
𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐢’ 𝐇𝐮𝐧 - First Light -
𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐢’ 𝐇𝐮𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐡 - First Ceremony
𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐤 - Spiritual Eye / Third Eye
𝐒𝐚𝐡’𝐞𝐤 𝐓𝐚𝐡 - Bride / New Matriarch
𝐒𝐞𝐡’𝐞𝐤 - Groom / Mate of the Matriarch
𝐔𝐧𝐧 - Throne
𝐔𝐧𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐡 - Throne of Bones

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