samiholloway's soup

In my book, the desert nomads live on the backs of these big beasts I call 'thanti, and I thought I'd show you a (really) rough idea of what they look like:

This is an indricothere. It's a real creature that lived ages ago, after dinosaurs died off and mammals got huge. They're sort of like rhinos, if rhinos were half elephant and were several times bigger. And I think they're the coolest thing.

And here's the culture and use of these big beasts, as I've extrapolated them into 'thanti:

'Thanti are even bigger still; maybe tall enough to make this comparison-dude about as tall as its knee, and are very strong. In the wild, they don't get as big or lives as long because of the hazards of living in a desert where there are large predators, but the Clans catch them when they're babies (about the size of a pony) as part of an adulthood rite always done by boys and frequently done by girls, and train them to carry first a pack, then a chair with a cover, and eventually a whole household called a 'hro. "Hros are made of carved and decorated wooden beams and boards that all notch together without nails and can be taken apart when someone dies or something happens to their 'thant and they can't carry one anymore. It's not uncommon for a person's 'hro to be made of boards and beams passed down through the Clan from their ancestors, matched with ones they carve themselves as they're raising their 'thanti.

A 'hro is basically a yurt--a wooden floor and wall and roof beams, with cloth sides and a smoke hole at the top. Inside, the floor may have a notch for the 'thant's back-hump, or may be raised and braced on their hips to be even with the hump, depending on the beast and the Clansman who builds it. It's held on with the beast's balance, and an intricate rigging or pads, buffers and ropes, and once the 'thant reaches the size to carry one, it continues to carry it until it dies or it can't anymore. It's considered a terrible crime to overburden your 'thant, or to neglect the rigging so that it squeezes or damages the hide or chafes. It is also a crime to have your cookpot inside your 'hro low enough that it burns your 'thant; they are always raised well above the floor of the 'hro, and the fires kept small, mostly just for keeping things warm, or for making tea or the like; big cooking projects are communal, and take place on the ground when a camp is made.

'Thanti are usually decorated. The Clansmen paint symbols and decorations on their foreheads, their necks and down their legs, and the wealthier or more important families will make great necklaces and anklets for their 'thanti. These are also often handed down, or deconstructed and used in the new decorations made by descendants; very little is not used in any situation.

Every Clansman or Clanswoman is entitled to their own 'thant if they can catch one. A girl who doesn't catch one won't be able to be a hunter or a warrior, but is still an adult once she gets married or earns her skill. A boy who can't catch one is always a boy, and can't marry or fight. This is rare, but boys who stay boys will often become storytellers or child-rearers, a class different from the women who do the same, but considered holy. About tree-fourths of girls don't bother; it's dangerous and they're strong creatures even as babies, and women have other options. When a man and a woman marry, however, the 'hro is considered hers, and a man who doesn't remember that he's training a 'thant and building a 'hro for his future wife, is considered poorly raised. When the man and the woman both have a 'hro of their own, it's customary for the man to move into the woman's, but not uncommon for them to each keep their own household, and just stay near to each other in the line as the Clan travels. It's also not uncommon for a wealthier clan to have more than one 'thant a piece, one to carry the 'hro and smaller ones for supplies, or, in one case, being trained up to be sold to other clans who live where wild 'thanti are becoming rare.