Kutsun

Kutsun is a ceremonial term used in a fictional world-building context to describe a communal rite of passage that binds members of a community through memory, speech, and symbol exchange. In the in-world languages, kutsun is described as deriving from roots meaning "to bind" and "circle" or "gathering."

Ritual form: It typically occurs at pivotal life events—adolescence, marriage, or alliance formation—and is conducted by a council of elders. The ceremony combines a public retelling of communal histories, a shared meal, songs or chants, and the presentation of a carved token called the bind. The token is passed from elder to participant and serves as a lasting pledge of belonging and responsibility.

Social function: Kutsun reinforces group identity, legitimizes leadership and kinship ties, and transmits customary laws and memory to younger generations.

Variants and reception: Different communities adapt kutsun to local customs; some incorporate private rites, others public. In-world scholarship treats kutsun as a case study in memory and ritual; it appears in fictional glossaries and archives within the setting.