The Spirit Eaters of Darfar In the dark jungles and desert savannahs of Darfar the savage cannibal tribes rule. In the lands around their small villages they hunt, kill and eat their victims. They are consumers of flesh and deadly predators of any they can find. That is greatly all that is known of the jagged-toothed tribes by the majority of Hyboria. To them, all that can be found in Darfar is a painful death at the hands of cannibals. There is more to their ways, however. While the Darfari cannibals do in fact practice cannibalism in the visceral of senses to sate a physical hunger, some know the true strength of eating one’s prey – the Darkarra. The Darkarra, or spirit eaters, are an elite sect within the Darfari tribes that have preserved rare spiritual practices that go back centuries. Many cultures believe that eating an animal takes a portion of its power into them, and the rites of the spirit eaters make this belief a reality. Darkarra (both singular and plural) are a strange combination of religion and spiritualism that revolve around the idea of a soul’s preservation through the creature that kills and eats it. While the beliefs of the savages require a bloody deed
and a grisly ceremony that horrifies more civilised cultures, Darkarra are not necessarily a force for evil. Rather, they tend to be completely instinctual, with religion or codes of honour having very little impact on their lives. Yog worship has grown significantly with the spirit eaters, as many of them have used the slaver raids to indulge their hungers.
Darkarra
Darkarra
Not truly a religion, the Darkarra are practitioners and not true priests. Instead, any knowledgeable Darfari can undertake the elaborate rituals to become a spirit eater. It takes a healthy knowledge of medicine and herbs - not to mention the ability to hunt and kill living prey - to walk the path of the Darkarra. Noble warriors, traditionalists and skilled huntsmen are most commonly found amongst the spirit eaters, but any Darfari that learns the way can find it within himself to become one. It is a dangerous decision, as the consuming of a spirit that is stronger than one’s own can be disorienting, or even disabling, while the Darkarra fights the ‘war of souls’ inside of him. Due to their palpable connection to the spirits of other beings, spirit eaters are even more wary of dark forces that could stain them than other Darfari, so each Darkarra must quickly learn to control their fears if confronted with evil sorcery or demonic influence. Those who do brave the path and undergo the spiritual transformation will mark their outer bodies to reflect their differences inside. Darkarra use citrus and sulphur to bleach their hair an ivory or milky white, and often roll it into braids or dreadlocks that are only trimmed if they become a physical hazard to combat or travel. Scarification, focused around the chest and neck, is very common, as is branding.
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