Swearing the Oath Frøya can feel her pulse racing to an all-new level as she enters the sacred room. Today is her birthday; she becomes 9years old today. She has already celebrated her birthday at home. Lots of friends, lots of presents, and the celebrations were just as she had always wanted them to be. But there is one more thing that remains; at 9years old, she knows very well that she is expected to do this. She and her parents have made the short commute to the Sacred Temple, right in the heart of the city. Here, all mammals must go at least once in their life. And they all have the same goal; they must swear the mammalian oath. Although her parents and teachers have talked with her about this on numerous occasions, standing here in the Sacred Halls, did cause her nervousness to spike. What if she misspells the oath? What if she fails to follow procedure? What if the High Priest rejects her for being a Savage? The latter occurs extremely rarely, but it can happen; the High Priest will measure and judge each and every single cub, kit, pup, foal, and any other kind of animal young that is presented to them. How they behave, how they react to the oath, their family history. Have the young ever shown any tendency of being a savage or a wildling? And if you get labelled as a savage, or even worse as a wildling, by the High Priest, that is a label that can be exceedingly difficult to get rid of. Frøya is very aware of this. Her parents have talked to her about this on numerous occasions. As recently as this morning, practicing the swearing-in one last time. But as the doors in front of her opens, and lets her into the Sacred Room, she takes a deep breath, and try to calm herself down. She walks the short distance leading up to the Ring of Mammalian Life in the center; it’s a huge, 3meters tall podium made of wood. It is decorated with images showcasing the stages of life a mammal is expected to go through. From birth, through infancy, cubhood, puberty, adulthood, and the slow maturity towards old age and finally death. To the small otter, it’s a heavy climb; the staircase was not designed for small mammals back in the day, so she has to climb her way up each step. By the time she gets to the top to face the High Priest, she is panting heavily. The High Priest asks her for her name and birth date, which she says with a shaky voice. He looks her up in a book that looks so old, so worn out, and so damaged by water that it is a pure miracle it is kept in one piece. But she knows what it is; it is the city-registry that contains the information kept on all the otters born within the city limits. Each species within the city limit have such a registry in this temple. The High Priest finds her using her birth date, and quickly reads through her history. He cannot find anything noteworthy to pick on, so he closes the book and leaves it to his assistant who starts making the precarious walk down the podium on the other side. <> he asks her. Frøya swallows the lump she had been building up in her throat and nods her head. The High Priest, being a wolf, towers above her, so he goes down on his knee so that he can be on her eye level as he pulls out what appears to be a worn out and ancient horn, taken from an antelope. This is the Sacred Pact. Also known as the Treaty of Khalamar, the Eternal Pact, The Mammalian Treaty, The Treaty of Awakening, and much more. Though it is obviously a replica of the original pact (The original is kept at the World Museum of Mammalian History), it signifies the Treaty of Khalamar, signed more than 2500years ago, that created the first ever society where predators and prey would live together in peace. Frøya has heard about this pact numerous times; nearly every history class he has ever had in school has mentioned it at least once. The Treaty made it possible for modern society to rise and gave rise to many cities around the world. Her hometown being one of them. Frøya takes a deep breath. She has practiced this many times with her parents, and before the High Priest can remind the young otter about what she must do, her right paw touches the horn, and her left paw is moved to her heart. The High Priest has seen many young mammals do this as if they had done it a hundred times before, so pays it no mind. He tells her to repeat after him, which she obediently does. And such, she is finally sworn into the oldest, consecutively used oath in mammalian history, and the undoubtedly most important oath she will ever get to swear; I am a mammal Born to this world With this oath I acknowledge my responsibilities I shall not harm I shall not kill I shall not taint my paws With the blood of a mammal I shall not give rise to hate I shall not give rise to savagery I shall not live like a wildling I shall not give birth to young that will harm I shall defend my fellow mammals I shall not let them be injured I shall not befriend those who injure I shall not tolerate wildlings I shall put an end to wildlings I shall not let them near us I shall fend them off I shall not be one of them I shall despise savagery Savages are my enemy I shall never befriend savages I shall put an end to the savages I shall not give into my instincts I shall live my life in peace I shall honor the mammalian life I shall do my part I shall defend the law I shall upkeep justice I shall do all this To the best of my capabilities I shall honor the Father I shall honor the Mother I shall honor the Sacred Treaty I shall honor the Khalamarian Truce With this oath I leave behind my instincts I shall live my life And let others, live theirs in peace The High Priest asks her to relax, which she does. He reaches for a small bowl that contains red fur-dye. He dips his right paw into the dye and turns to face her again. <> as he speaks, he begins to paint the fur on her face with the red dye. He begins by underlining her eyes, and as she closes them, he swiftly uses the dye to paint the film of fur on her eyelids as well. <> at this he paints a line of red dye, starting from between her eyes, going down her muzzle to her nose. <>; the High Priest draws a line of red dye in her fur, starting from the corner of her lower right jaw, going across the right side of her face and up to her right ear. <>; the High Priest repeats his action, this time on the left side of her face. The High Priest presents her the dye bowl. Frøya knows what she is expected to do, and dips both her paws into the bowl. Red dye drips from her paws to the wooden podium underneath her. The High Priest stands up and begins to walk down the staircase on his side of the podium. Frøya follows him but finds it exceedingly difficult to climb down the steep steps. Being banned from using her front paws for support because of the dye, makes it even more difficult. But after a long, precarious climb down, she finally gets to the floor below. The High Priest opens a door, and lets her in. Yellow walls tower above them; nearly every single square centimeter is covered in thousands upon thousands, if not even tens of thousands, of paw- and hoofprints of all shapes and sizes. The High Priest guides Frøya through the maze of walls and statues, until he finds a space in the seemingly endless flow of paw prints. <> he tells her. Frøya steps forward and wiggles her paws into the small space available to her. The wall is already riddled with paw prints, so she must fit each of her paws in between the prints already made on the wall. She pushes herself as hard as she can against the wall, putting pressure on the dye. She spreads her claws out, to make her a full and complete paw print. Her parents have practiced this with her many times before, so the High Priest needs not give her any instructions. She counts to twenty while keeping pressure on her paws, just as she has been told by her parents to do, before she removes her paws. Her fresh paw prints shine towards her in the light of the candles and torches decorating the wall. There is just one more thing she needs to do. The High Priest’s assistant comes over to them; the poor little bunny can barely even carry the weight of the massive Book of Lutrine, that tracks the city’s otter populace. The High Priest makes no notice of it and opens the book to find Frøya’s page in it again. He gestures for her to come over to him, and she leaves a paw print inside it as well. The High Priest tells her that she is now connected to the Mother and the Father, reminds her to upkeep the Sacred Oath, and after finishing her face paint by adding four final lines of dye to go down her neck, he follows her back the same way they had just walked. As she walks through Sacred Room, she can see three antelopes nervously awaiting their own turn to swear the Mammalian Oath. As she leaves the room, the three of them nervously make their way up the steep staircase leading to the top of the Ring of Mammalian Life. The doors shut behind her with a heavy thump, and she can finally breathe a sigh of relief. She makes her way through the long hall leading from the Sacred Room to the exit. All around her there are cubs of all sizes and species, all nervously waiting their turn to swear the oath. Parents are banned from entering this room, so they are all left to their own until it is their turn to enter the Sacred Room and swear the sacred oath. Frøya reaches for the door leading out of the temple, and with a final look back at the huge stone doors leading to the Sacred Room, she opens the door and leaves the temple behind…