Hunter Nobles
Hunting is celebrated in all aspects of Gulg life, from the brutal children's games to the bloody excesses of the gladiatorial shows. Nobility in Gulg is not tied to ownership of land or lineage, but rather the hunting skills of an individual. The nobles of Gulg are an elite class of hunters who rise from the general populace because of their superior abilities. While hunting accounts for only a small part of the city's production, hunters are esteemed as supporters and protectors of the community. The oba encourages the cult of the hunter by granting a host of privileges to the hunter elite and by honoring them in public games and ceremonies. The queen administers the aspirants to the noble class. This class system is tremendously popular with the people of Gulg for several reasons: the people do not resent the preferential treatment the nobles receive because anyone has the potential to rise to noble status; the life of the hunter elite is rigorous and leaves little time for the idle pleasures which most citizens enjoy; the nobles are often on the front lines of any military conflict in defense of Gulg; and a dagada benefits from the political influence of a resident noble. Dagada members enjoy fresh meat and social status within the city as well as contract slaves and other resources which the nobles have access to.
The Hunter Cult
The hunter cult represents the body of rituals and beliefs which surrounds the daily life of Gulg's hunter noble class. It is a lifestyle steeped in traditions, many of which are secret and known only to initiates. A few of these traditions make up huge public ceremonies promoted by the oba and known to virtually everyone in Gulg. The metaphor of the hunt appears throughout the folklore of the Gulgs. The teachings of the hunter cult require that every hunter strive to eliminate thought in order to hunt by pure instinct, like an animal. The goal of every hunter in the moment of the kill is to act without decision. They place a tremendous amount of value on the aesthetics of a kill. The forest goddess Lalali-Puy lies at the center of the hunter cultist's world. The queen has succeeded over the centuries in creating a noble class that is fanatically loyal and will act unquestioningly in defense of Gulg. Nobles do not value material wealth, and their influence is not passed to their children. They are popular with the masses, but disdain politics and mercantile enterprises. They create none of the problems for the queen that the noble classes of other cities create for their rulers.
Becoming a Hunter Noble
There are several ways in which a Gulg may become a hunter noble. The most common is to be selected after the Forest Walk to train for the hunter's life. In exchange for the quarry which they take, young hunters contract slaves to help in training and tracking. Still, this life does not guarantee a place among the nobles. An aspiring hunter must succeed in the Red Moon Hunt to achieve full acceptance among the nobles. The hundreds who spend years training and fail, however, find that the preparation has made them choice candidates for the army of Gulg. The queen occasionally grants noble status as a reward for extraordinary service. The recipient must be prepared to lead the rigorous life of a Gulg noble.
The Red Moon Hunt
The best known rite of entry into Gulg's hunter noble class is the Red Moon Hunt. This ritual is traditionally held the one night of the year when the moon Urgati (Ral) is alone in the sky. Aspiring nobles meet at the end of the day outside the city in one of the queen's sacred groves. Here Shala, the Hunt Mistress of Gulg, provides simple weapons to a small collection of prisoners and slaves. At moonrise, the fugitives are released into the forest. One thousand heartbeats later the aspiring nobles set off in pursuit of the prisoners. Any candidate who returns before dawn with the head of one or more fugitives will be considered for a place among the nobles. Any fugitive who escapes death is considered free. Sometimes the oba affords such freedom only to those who never return to the city. Other times she insists that the fugitives return at dawn to claim their freedom before banishing them from the city. Prisoners include criminals, enemy troops, and (the majority) those who simply said one wrong thing in the queen's presence. Lalali-Puy flies into terrible rages at anyone who disagrees, makes an inappropriate jest, or does something improper. Because her idea of impropriety varies with circumstances, her attendants live in constant fear. Occasionally, having condemned the malefactor to run on Red Moon Night, she relents and forgives the victim. As a token of her mercy, she merely has his tongue cut out. The aspiring nobles may take any contract slaves or friends who agree to serve them on the hunt. It is considered poor form, however, to defeat prey with overwhelming numbers. Much higher regard is given to those who make a kill with equal or lesser strength of arms. The oba often refuses nobility to those who demonstrate no art in their hunting.
The Hunter's Life
The life of the hunter revolves around the Hunter
Lodge at the center of the hunter dagada. As a rule,
hunter nobles continue to live at the dagada of their
birth. The hunter dagada is home only to the lieutenants
of Shala, the Hunt Mistress of Gulg, and Akili, the
Diviner of the Hunt.
Shala lives in the Sunlight Home and is the primary
liaison between the hunter nobles and the queen, Shala
rules upon all the affairs of the hunter nobles. She has
attained her position through sheer mastery of the art
of the hunt. She has, at times, discarded her weapon in
order to disable prey with her bare hands.
Akili is a powerful templar psionicist. The elderly
woman administers to the spiritual needs of the hunter
nobles. She determines which animals may or may not be
hunted and where hunters may search for prey.
The hunters spend their days stalking the forest and
their evenings engaged in dark rituals meant to empower
them and help them gain mastery over their prey. The
hunter nobles are feared and respected by all Gulgs. It
is not uncommon for a hunter to take a contract slave
on as a servant and hunting partner. These slaves often
become close allies of their masters. Slaves are generally
perceived as animals in Gulg, and a slave is thought to
help a hunter become closer to his or her prey.