It is to the sky they pray, demanding victory and luck for themselves; defeat and misery for their enemies. Praying only while mounted upon his kaiila, and with his weapons at hand, he lifts his head to the sky and prays, not as a slave to a Master, but as a warrior to a great Ubar.
The women of the Tuchuks are forbidden to pray. They patronize the haruspexes, shamans of the Wagon People. A haruspex reads portents and tells the future, as well as providing things such as amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonder-working sleen teeth, the marvelous powdered kailiauk horn, and colored, magical strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn around the neck
The Tuchuks regard names as being precious; they are not to be wasted on those who are not likely to survive. The male child is not given a name at birth. Instead, the male child is known simply as First Son or Second Son until such time that he masters the use of the bow, the quiva and the lance.
To be clad kajir for the slave girls of the Tuchuk, is to wear four articles, two red and two black. First, a red cord, the curla, is tied about the waist; the chatka, a long, narrow strip of black leather fits over the cord in front, passes under, and then again, from the inside, passes over the cord in back and drawn tight; the kalmak is then donned, a short, open, sleeveless vest of black leather; then lastly, the koora, a strip of red leather matching the curla is wound about the head, to hold the hair back for slave women of the Wagon People are not allowed to braid their hair, or otherwise dress their hair in any other way other than the koora. Should a girl be mistrusted by her Master, she may be stripped of all garments, so that she cannot hide a weapon on her person, and also may be belled at her wrists and ankles so that her movements can be easily kept track of.
All women of the Tuchuks, whether slave or Free, wear a thin gold ring in the nose, just as do the bosk. The ring is delicate, and catches the light when the woman moves, adding greatly to her beauty. The Tuchuk nose ring on a slave girl increases her value on the market as well.
The male slaves of the Tuchuks (kajiri) are generally captives from Turia, the great city on the plains. For a male slave to be clad kajir, they wear the kes, a short sleeveless tunic of black leather.
Tuchuk slaves generally wear the Turian collar, which is a round ring that fits very loosely around the neck. When the collar is grasped in a Master's fist, the slave can turn around in it. The collar is engraved with identifying marks, so that the slave can be returned to the proper Master if he or she attempts an escape.
Do not assume that the kajirae of the Tuchuk are shy, shame-faced victims. Tuchuk kajirae are quite the contrary. They walk with the true brazen insolence of the slave girl, the wench who knows that she is owned, whom Men have found beautiful enough, and exciting enough, to collar. The male slaves are generally insolent, animals used to tend to the bosk and maintenance of the wagons, and always kept chained.
The dress of a Tuchuk warrior also differs from others. They carry a small, round, leather shield, glossy black and lacquered. They wear a conical, fur-rimmed iron helmet with a net of colored chains to protect their faces, leaving only holes for the eyes. Around their necks, they wear a soft leather wind scarf, so that when the helmet veil is lifted, they can draw the scarf over the mouth and nose to protect against the dust and wind. They also wear quilted jackets, trimmed with fur and with a fur collar, and under the jacket, a leather jerkin. Their boots are made of hide and also trimmed with fur They wear a wide, five-buckled belt which holds the seven sheaths for the quiva.
In winter, all Tuchuks, whether slave or Free, wear clothing designed to protect them from the bitter cold of the Plains, such as heavy coats, bosk-hide trousers, furred boots, and caps with ear-flaps that tie under the chin. Of course, kajirae, still must wear their hair unbound. This is often the only visible sign of their slave status during the winter months. Some slave girls also wear their Turian collars outside of their coats, beneath the furred collar. The male slaves are shackled at the ankles, with approximately a foot of the chain a visible reminder to all that they are captives.
The bosk is known as the Mother of the Wagon People. Not only does the flesh provide food and the milk provide drink, there is nothing of the bosk that is not used. The hides are used to cover the dome-like wagons. Skins are tanned and sewn providing clothing. The warriors make their shields using the leather of the hump. Thread is made of the sinew and bones and horns are split and tooled into hundreds of types of implements, including awls, punches, spoons, drinking flagons, and weapon tips. The hooves are used to make glue and the oils of the bosk are used to grease the bodies of the Wagon People to protect them against the cold.
The man who kills a bosk foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew. If for ANY reason, a man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young, he is staked out alive in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon People takes its way over him.
