Fast of the Lost
Just after harvest is not a time when people expect to be hungry and it can be hard to worry about the next year when people are full and content. To counter this, the payment starts with a fast just after harvest.
No eating is allowed between sunrise and sunset, with the start of the fast marked by a gathering of the whole community for a ceremony of rememberance. This commemorates all those lost to famine and serves as a reminder of why the payment is necessary. This ceremony is carried out as far away from the community’s fields as possible, while still being within a reachable distance.
The fast concludes with the first toll.
The First Toll
At the end of the first day of the ritual the community again gathers, this time by their fields. A local leader will offer a short speec which references the recent harvest as a success or failure, highlighting the need for the payment.
If the community is lucky enough to have a
Soilkin there will be a short prayer to the land before the community disperses to their fields. Every member of the community offers a few drops of blood to their fields. An offering is given to each field a person owns or works, or those they get most of their food from. Parents can pay the toll for any children that haven’t received their veil but most stop doing so by the time the children are five or six.
The Second Toll
The day adter the fast and the payment of the first toll, the community begins the second toll. This toll is paid not in blood but in toil. The fields are dug over with whatever composted waste available added in. Those unable to perform the heavy work are tasked with collecting Bluestems or breaking up terrisbark in prepation for the last stage.
Gift to the land
The final stage of the ritual is the gift to the land. While the first two stages of the ritual are regarded as a price that needs to be paid to ensure the land continues to provide, this last stage is seen as giving thanks to the land for what it has provided.
Once the second toll is completed the bluestems and broken up pieces of terrisbark are mixed in small baskets and the community gathers once more for either a speech for one of the local elders or a blessing by a Soilkin if one is in residence. The community is then divided into several groups, with each group having at least one musician, singer, and dancer. Each group moves between a set of fields, performing and ancient song as those who aren’t performing spread the contents of the baskets over the fields.
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