#singing steppe

[serpentface]

Rock art depicting the primordial battle between the Stellar Lek and the World-Serpent over the (soon to be) Broken Moon (while the Moon-Thieves, the first delkhin, look on). This particular painting is made by the contemporary Cutface Mountain people who base themselves in the hills that border the Singing Steppe in southeastern Cynozepal.

The World-Serpent here has the head of a dog or jackal, a common motif among scavenger-nomad caelin populations (especially of the Singing Steppe and other related southeastern groups) who believe dogs to guide the earthbound dead into the underworld.

Representative depictions are rare in the region's rock art, most of which is abstract patterns and symbols that have both aesthetic, instructive (such as in maps) and magical functions. A mythological scene such as this is typically restricted to shrines commemorating religiously significant parts of the landscape, such as pieces of the broken moon.

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The Stellar Lek are the thousand wives of the Sun-Dragon in Cynozepali dualism. Depending on the source, the Sun-Dragon travels through the underworld, or is eaten by the World-Serpent, or merely orbits the world every night. The Stellar Lek, in the form of the stars, watches over the world and heavens in the darkness of his absence. 

Each star represents a single member of the lek, and significant stars are named and worshipped as minor deities. Constellations are known as "sisters", being closely related members of the lek joined in formation. The mating of the Starry Lek and the Sun Dragon is believed to have created the now extinct dragons (while all other life hatched from matings between the Sun Dragon and World-Serpent).

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The stylistic depictions of caelin and delkhin in this painting closely mirror the basic pictograms that most Cynozepali written languages derive from. 

Some examples:

[serpentface]

A beardog snoozes with a resting infant and lounging child of the Dragonbeak Pass shepherds.

(CW for mentions of dog death)

The cynozepali beardog originates in the cold northwestern Singing Steppe. This breed was originally developed from local landraces for their meat, pelts, and 'wool'. Pelts are luxurious and warm (dogsmane is a valuable commodity) and the meat of a grain-fattened beardog is considered a delicacy, but they are valuable animals and typically harvested only for special occasions. Most are kept for several years, being shorn of their continuously growing hair to produce dogswool textiles.

Beardogs are known for their gentle dispositions and low prey drive, making them excellent babysitters and playmates for young delkhin. Delkhin kids can walk and run soon after hatching, but cling to their mother's fur when traveling distances. Clinging to a dog instead frees the mothers for other tasks, and to focus attention on training the older children in driving goats and horses.

Dogs with good dispositions will assist in the rearing several generations of the lek's children throughout their lifetime, often becoming well loved by the lek (some peoples consider their prize herding and babysitting dogs to be family members). A child's first dogsmane collar is usually taken from one of their dogs upon its passing, worn through cold winters as a reminder of their beloved pet.