Tulgarian traditions

Tulgar marriage and love

Once two Tulgari have decided to marry there are certain rituals they must perform. For the next three days the suitor must not sleep and leave a gift outside the yurt where the courted live. The suitor will be the one with highest position in the couple to be.

Every morning the gift must be rejected. Once it has been rejected the third gift the suitor must steal the courted out of the yurt, which will typically be guarded by close relatives who will try to capture the suitor. If they do, the suitor is mocked grievously and drenched him in water. In that case they cannot marry yet, but must wait until next season and try again.

If the suitor does make away the household of the courted will be roused and give chase (though never catch up) until they reach a yurt set up by the suitor. There they will be met by the suitors family who will give them gifts and hold a feast. Feats of strength and merrymaking follows.

The virginity of any of the parties in the marriage is uninteresting to Tulgari, though they do not like it when any of the parties bring in children with them, UNLESS this is not the FIRST marriage of both parties. Sex outside of marriage is not much of a bother as long as it does not spawn children.

Either party can issue a divorce without dishonour.

The Tulgari have no word for homosexuality, they consider it entirely normal. They do expect that you will marry and have children. Certain clans have official adoptions, while in other clans those that want, but can’t have children will just show up in the village with a child and say it’s their child, with no one ever asking anything more about it.

Heads up!

The Tulgari consider the head to be the centre of the soul. To take the head of an enemy is to take their power for your own, and this is a great honour! Some hold that one should not take the head of an enemy one does not respect, after all, you don't want their sins/evil/dishonor to flow into you.

Warriors will often bring heads of enemies to their leaders for rewards, or as proof to a court for having slain a wanted outlaw.

Instead of bringing the body of allies, friends or family back home after a battle (or accident even) it is common to separate the head from the body and bring that home.

Traditions

When two Tulgari swear an oath they dig a hole at the spot, cut their palms and let their blood fall in the hole which they then fill.

There is no death penalty within the clan, the most serious punishment any clan member can receive is being outlawed, after which they have one day and one night to get as far away as possible. After that they are free game for any abuse and frequently will have prices on their heads.

The most serious punishment an outlaw or foreigner can receive is called "the flight of 1000 righteous falcons". The victim is hogtied and pulled up to be suspended from a tall pole. Then, every tulgari beneath them loose one arrow at them. The resulting disgusting display is left as a warning for one and all to see.

Tulgari don't like dogs and use birds to herd their sheep and goats.

Tulgari will also hide their horses when Jeremanians are around as they believe them all to be horse-thieves.

The Tulgar mindset

A popular notion among the Tulgari people is that the 'civilized' people, such as the Trimanians, are so afeared of death that they try to live outside the circle of life and death. The Tulgari see no contradiction in worshiping both Svarog and the Black Serpent.

Tulgarians believe in fate and destiny. They will usually not attempt to avoid a prediction made by a darkan. They believe it is better to die according with their destiny than to live outside of the gods plan for them. Those that decide to avoid their fate are believed to be cursed by the gods and are avoided as bringers of bad luck.