Headbands

Dhe'nar are extremely proud of their headbands, as well they should be. The headband is a symbol of hunting prowess, bravery, but most importantly, a symbol of coming of age.

When a young Dhe'nar reaches an age of adulthood, he or she is sent on a Great Hunt. He is sent from his home without clothes, armor or weapons to bring down a creature of honorable skill and ferocity, or to not return.

The elf chooses his quarry carefully. It must be something suitably difficult to kill...nothing too easy, or he will be considered a coward without honor. But it must not be something too difficult, or he will die. Once the quarry is chosen, the Dhe'nar hunts and kills it with only his natural skills to rely on.

After a successful kill, the Dhe'nar brings back a symbol of the hunt. Most often, it is the hide of the animal killed. However, grass or leaves from the area of the kill, claws, etc. can also make appropriate items. The items are then woven or braided into a headband, displaying for the world to see the creature killed bare-handed.

As an interesting side note, those that live in Eh'lah (soon to be described elsewhere in this collection) have a small twist on the Great Hunt. The creature to be killed must be announced to the assembled peoples of the village. To return with the skin of another creature is to fail, just as surely as not returning at all.