Blood speaks for Itself

The True awakening ritual was of the rakshasa clan was a mandatory coming of the age ritual that each member had to go through.

The rakshasas were feline humanoid creatures possessing great resemblance to humans in terms of body structure , limbs, face and other sensory organs . Their faces and height also varied similar to the humans of the mortal plane. All rakshasas had sharp angular feline facial structure with small noses, pointed ears ,arched brows and light grey skin. Their facial resemblance to humans has had proved advantageous for rakshasa to infiltrate mortal worlds in mortal planes time and again . But what set apart the rakshasas from the humans were their vertical eye slits granting them the ability to see in the dark and their reversed hands . Their hands, if compared to human hands ,were twisted at 180° near the wrist which caused the palm to face out from the body when hands were at rest and finger joints bending backwards when trying to grab an object .

(Put your hands together as if you are clapping and imagine they are swapped, now, the palms are where the backs of the hands should be, but the thumbs are still in their original location just oriented differently.)

All rakshasas had these general characteristic features from birth. But they possessed the potential to further change their body structure and shape and gain new powers if they were able to complete the true awakening ritual. When any male or female member of the rakshasa clan turned 50 (it was the time ,when they reached adolescence as per their body cycle) they had to undergo the trial, without any exception, as the trial dictated their future roles in their respective clans and overall, in the rakshasa society. The lifespan of a typical rakshasa was 600 years .

Every adolescent Rakshasa, undergoing the ritual , had to enter a dark room where he/ she was first bound in heavy metal chains by the guards and left there for three days . The room was kept empty except for a flagon full of human blood mixed with few drops of primordial blood, which the high priests received in exchange for their offerings to the Black Earth Mother.

On the first day ,each candidate had to mediate and chant the name of the Black Mother ten thousand times without drinking a sip of the blood from the flagon .

On the second day, fazed by the scent of human blood when their hunger would reach its peak, they have to drink all the blood in the flagon and again start the chant .

By the third day, bodies of successful candidates would start to transform amidst tremendous pain and agony .The cells of their body would undergo a complete molecular metamorphosis and their bodies would spasm , twist and turn , as their inner beast bloodlines awake and their body height, structure and shape alters into their true form. This awakening of their beast bloodline was called true awakening. The chains prevented the candidates from attacking oneself during this crazed awakening state where one's bloodlust reached its peak.

Each true form of adolescent rakshasa varied depending upon the different powers they received and their potential . The awakening changed their previous light greyish skin colour into monocoloured skin of varying skin tones permanently and large retractable claws came out from hands and feet . Their canines also increase moderately, sometimes slightly visible even if mouth is closed and some instances were even recorded of successful candidates growing beast tails .

Candidates, with weak constitution, would often lose their lives during the bloodline awakening , being unable to bear the pain . Also, there were candidates who failed to undergo any bloodline awakening. These rakshasas were marked as commoners and were given the option of eternal servitude in noble clans or register themselves as independent workers- for- hire in the rakshasa society. These candidates mostly belonged to family of commoners and rarely from the nobility . Nobles who could not awaken their bloodline had their noble status revoked. The beast bloodline was carried by the male rakshasas only. The noble clans of the Rakshasa society valued their clan- beast bloodline dearly , preventing marriage of their females with any commoner .

The commoner's mostly lacked beast bloodline in their genes but sometimes instances were seen of rakshasa with beast bloodline being born to commoner parents , either due to genetic reasons or due to extramarital affairs with nobles. There was a popular saying among the nobles' houses " Our blood speaks for itself."

Successful Adolescent Rakshasas, who were able to awaken their bestial bloodlines, were then tested for their newly acquired bloodline abilities and were then sent to different sects, based on their abilities, in the training temples during the awakening ceremony "