Childhood

At the age of eight, all Dhe’nar children are taught Ko'ar'lai'sha, the art of survival. They are taught to do whatever it takes to live. They are given only live animals to eat and must make their own kills. They are taken into the caves under the mountain and left miles from the temple.

Those who survive, who can kill to live, who can find their way back, are put through the same process over and over until they are 15. These seven years insure that no Dhe'nar is weak, even among the Worker Caste.

It is in the Lo'tha'Sharath (Under caves of Sharath) that these rituals take place. To wander by mistake there is to end up food for a wild Dhe'nar child, with power untrained and appetites unsatisfied.

These years are called The Years of Culling by the Dhe’nar.

Of 20 children who face the Culling, only five actually survive. Of every 20 survivors, one child will be suitable for the Temple Caste, who was not borne to a priestess. Four will be suitable as warriors, and the remaining 15 are suited for the Worker Caste. Of every 100 children who survive the Culling, only one will be suited for the ranks of the warlock caste.

The Years of Culling are, for the most part, supervised by a group from the group’s most likely caste. Occasionally, if a group of births is very small, a tribunal, composed of one member from each caste, will supervise the Culling.

Many children who have sufficient magical abilities to be considered for membership in the Warlock Caste are taken from the Culling, often in the midst of the years during which it takes place. Some potential Warlocks, however, are left to fight their way through the entire seven-year period.

At the age of 15, a Dhe’nar is introduced to the first formalized teaching of his or her caste. He begins, in earnest, the training that directly relates to his caste.