Grim Fang war-dance

The Grim Fang is a traditional Elgan body art pattern and war dance that has maintained a presence in the Eltohan of public memory. Like other Eltohan dances, the duration of the war-dance is variable - it comes down to however long it takes the body art patterns to be washed away by sweat or the rain.

Body Art

The Grim Fang pattern takes the shape of tessellating, sharply bent lines that form a zigzag pattern when viewed in full, which is painted all over the body. Breaks in the repetition are made for injuries, anatomical features and the face, each typically framed in solid streaks intended to resemble dark fangs. The face itself is covered in more delicate linework intended to resemble the coarse scales of the coroxodon. Originally painted in a mixture of coroxodon blood, sticky lyssla pulp and kashir resin, the Grim Fang paint was intended to be more long-lasting than many patterns. In the modern age, more water-soluble mediums are preferred; red-brown powdered kashir tree bark is preferred in almost all civilian performances, though glowing scarlet paints are growing popular among some groups of young people.

Traditional Dress

Traditional dress for the Grim Fang was armor and a long stick or switch. Sometimes, young Pomero vines were wrapped around the body, to provide an additional layer of challenge in protecting the fruits from the rigors of the dance. In modern times, touch-sensitive padding is worn as armor to flash with light and sound when struck just right, and a large variety of novelty weapons for the occasion are sold in [[[Krell]]ian markets, from LED-lit plastic 'kithblades' to inflatable squeaky hammers to low-voltage stun-prods.

Formation and Dance

Elgans would form into at least two lines called 'jaws', with one end of the line standing almost adjacent to the other, and the opposite end standing far enough apart that their weapons cannot quite touch.

As each Elgan in the line stomps in time to the rhythm, one person runs down the middle of the lines, fending off the blows of the other dancers who hop from one foot to the other as they strike the runner and shout. The runner rejoins the dancers at the close end of the line, prompting the dancer at the far end to break off and become the runner for the next round. The runner is encouraged to avoid as many strikes as possible with their agility and whatever protection their own weapon may provide, and a steady procession down the 'jaws' being considered ideal.