Blooding the Soil

Amongst the isolated valleys of the Verelder Folk, where travel is difficult and villages must be self-sufficient, it is essential that crops take in the field and produce a bountiful yield at harvest. To this end, the ritual of Blooding the Soil developed and has continued through the generations.

The ritual begins with the birth of the first lamb in the spring. This is the sign for tilling. When all of the fields have been turned over and all of the stones removed, the first suckling of each kine--sheep, cow, goat, hog--are slaughtered at the first light on the horizon. The blood and inedibles are collected, and the meats butchered for the evening feast.

The meats are slowly roasted and smoked throughout the day with traditional herbs according to local taste and custom.

The inedibles are mixed with fragrant herbs and resins and burned to ash to be used in the ritual. This may or may not be accompanied by prayers or other rituals that are unique to each village.

In the evening, the remaining ashes from the inedibles are mixed with the blood let from the sucklings, all of the eggs laid in the village that day, and fresh water from the stream, lake, or well.

This is divided amongst the village, and each field is given a large bucket.

The village maidens at the end of their schooling (usually around 20 years) gather at the fields. Often the one nearest their house, but it is not unheard of for a young lady to choose the field near the home of a particular suitor.

Clad in white dresses they've been making since they began senior education, they are doused in the bloody mixture. They then wander the field, letting the blooddy-eggy-ashy slurry drip off of them and onto the fields.

Thus, the ritual is threefold: summoning a fertile season, marking graduation into full village life, and preparing the dresses they'll wear if they choose to marry.