Swnndyrrr: The Fox Pendant

[Kostalan Rottsaa]

Central to Swnndyrrr society is the fox pendant, which is given to every male child at birth.

It is representative of one's spirit. It is the grace and cunning of the fox itself, the animal the Swnndyrrr take after. From birth, there is only one reason why a man will part with his pendant.

The purpose of the fox pendant is to be given as a gift. It is a sign of dedication. One parts with their spirit so that it may accompany another. Typically, a man will give it to his partner in marriage, sometimes in lieu of a wedding ring. Some high-profile members of the Swnndyrrr community (ytteirsal and clan leaders, or common Swnndyrrr of high rank outside of the tribes) will give their pendant away to others. Examples of this include Kaiser Reynardine's passing of his pendant to his heir, Kaiser Agni I, and Ionel Constantinescu giving his to the departing Chairman Andelarion of Hurmu.

All Swnndyrrr, including the Free Swnndyrrr Tribes of Shireroth, the Hurmudan Swnndyrrr, and the Swnndyrrr of Dallsyrrtan, recognize the fox pendant. Those not of Swnndyrrr descent who bear the pendant are treated as members of the tribes, and those who bear an ytteirsal's pendant, which is typically carved from a gemstone instead of forged in gold, may all but command the tribes.

[Leo Fenrir]

Is the creation of these pendants streamlined? Or does the design vary from family to family or tribe to tribe? And what is the typical material used and method of carving?

[Aurangzeb Khan]

You wouldn't happen to know anything about a fox which broke into the Throne Room over in Shirekeep seventy-five years ago by any chance? If I recall, it bit my grandfather's finger off. It so happened that gangrene set in, my grandfather went mad, killed my father with the business end of an inappropriate implement normally found in the harem and then killed himself by trying to drink a vat of mulled wine. Which, after a few years of minority, meant I became Khan in turn, skipping a generation. So thanks to the foxes of Swnndyrrr.

[Kostalan Rottsaa]

The design is typically standard to the tribe, with small variants among the different clans. For example, my own pendant (being of the Free Swnndyrrr of Shireroth and clan Talssan) looks like this (except carved from ruby):



While the pendant of Ionel, a member of the Hurmudan Swnndyrrr, had a pendant that looks like this (again, ruby):



There is usually one family in each clan that produces these pendants, forming them from white or yellow gold with masterful skill. Each clan also keeps a ruby pendant in reserve, in case one of their own becomes ytteirsal.

[Kostalan Rottsaa]

You wouldn't happen to know anything about a fox which broke into the Throne Room over in Shirekeep seventy-five years ago by any chance?

Most believe it was Reynardine himself, looking to pass on the pendant to the next in line. Erasmas's refusal and the disappearance of the fox mean that we have no real evidence for or against this theory.