Kin

In old tales, long before the Dawn our custom existed. From Mother to Daughter, from Father to Son, from Mentor to Student, we have practiced this. Though it may have started in companionship, it became a thing we did to ease our minds. To smile in trying times, to enjoy the touch of another.

We did this for many reasons, to rid ourselves of lice, ticks and what not. In those days we had no home, long before Bhal, The Great Father carved his way through the darkness to grant us yet another day. We did this to keep the others safe from the things we picked up along the paths in the dark. As with many things, it became our habit to spend this time each day with each other.

After the Father had beat back the dark, it provided us the opportunity to spend the brief moments from warring and fighting he demanded of us, to bond with the Clan. We truly enjoyed the company of each other, we needed it. So this became our way, it became our stones to build with, our customs you find strange.

When the Father stopped speaking to us, he left us to grow strong in our solitude. We felt the need to do more. We enjoyed the idle motion of our hands, the stillness insufferable. To forge our bonds stronger, deeper. I am unsure of when this began, but I know the first marriages that braided their hair found a joy in it that only when you experience the connection can one understand.

The act of Kin is simply two or more goblins sitting together and either playing with each other's hair or braiding it in the cultural braids worn throughout the day. Though in context this quiet moment is changed through the situation at hand; for example the High Priestess of the Clan stopping by a few of the Women to do this is seen only as friendly banter, the Mother speaking with the Family. Catching up so to speak, it is the duty of the Priestess to spend the morning hours assisting the Women of the clan with their braids as a way of solidifying their Family's bonds. Just as the Chief, the Father does so for the men. Though under Yorm, Chief of the Skullbrood Clan, regime this was his moment to spend discussing plans and tactics with the Raiders.

Not to be mistaken with the Tethering ritual found across the continent that occasionally happens during marriage ceremonies, this is a more literal term of the ceremony that is done between goblins in their actual marriages. This is seen by the Family as a bonding of Body and Mind, where the couple will braid their hair together to create a single braid shared between the two.

This is done before they make their vows to each other, and only undone when they find a moment alone together. It would be reprehensible to watch the Couple unbraid their hair, hence this part of their marriage is done in absolute privacy. Giving the couple the time to... unstick themselves in more ways than one.