Spirits of the Selk'nam

Photograph taken by Martín Gusinde in Tierra del Fuego (Chile) in 1920 of the Selk'nam in the Hain ritual

Selk'nam male initiation ceremonies, the passage to adulthood, were called Hain. Young males were called to a dark hut. There they would be attacked by "spirits", who were people dressed as supernatural beings. The children were taught to believe in and fear these spirits at childhood and were threatened by them in case they misbehaved. Their task in this rite of passage was to unmask the spirits; when the boys saw that the spirits were human, they were told a story of world creation related to the sun and moon. In a related story, they were told that in the past women used to be disguised as spirits to control men. When the men discovered the masquerade, they, in turn, would threaten women as spirits. According to the men, the women never learned that the masked males were not truly spirits, but the males found out at the initiation rite.

Before the European encounter, the various rites of the Hain lasted a very long time, perhaps even a year on occasion. It would end with the last fight against the "worst" spirit. Usually, Hains were started when there was enough food (for example a whale was washed onto the coast), a time when all the Selk'nam from all the bands used to gather at one place, in male and female camps. "Spirits" sometimes went to female encampments to scare them, as well as moving around and acting out in ways that related to their characters.

The last Hain was held in one of the missions in the early 20th century and was photographed by missionary Martin Gusinde. It was a shorter and smaller ceremony than they used to hold. The photos show the "spirit" costumes they created and wore.

d100 Curious Treasures

Whenever my players find treasure and I feel it should be at least a little bit interesting, but I didn't have anything specific prepared, I roll on this table. I generally keep it on my dm screen and cross out entries they already rolled. During downtime, I replace the crossed-out items with other wacky ideas. Stuff ranges from mundane items, which players can still use in creative ways, to completely bonkers shit, which can potentially be plot hooks galore or even powerful magic items. I didn't include concrete values, because it will vary system to system, setting to setting, merchant to merchant. Some of this crap is worthless, some of it priceless. 

1. amber-studded, red silk dress embroidered with golden thread
2. jug of exquisite, white, sparkling wine
3. bottle of orange liqueur
4. malachite vase with engravings depicting titans battling giant toads
5. large jade vase decorated with triton erotic scenes
6. tiny, black porcelain bottle of musky perfume
7. small bronze statue of a lioness
8. golden candlestick
9. tiny bag of pearls
10. leopard skin
11. leather pouch filled with small, polished, blue jade beads
12. tin jar filled with green tea leaves
13. small agate box containing a bezoar
14. adamantine longsword with a broken blade
15. porcelain box filled with dried rosemary
16. jug of plum brandy
17. amphora full of olive oil, the intricately decorated container is far more valuable than the contents
18. bag of colorful, glass beads
19. iron lockbox containing powdered snake bones
20. bag of duck or goose feathers
21. 6d6 flacons of snake oil
22. small lockbox containing an assortment of glass eyes
23. long glass pipe
24. a cloak made of bone-white silk
25. 6 wooden stakes in a pewter box
26. d30 gilded arrowheads in a wyvern skin pouch
27. hourglass filled with tiny white spiders
28. wooden statue of a one-eyed owl
29. ancient, elven helmet with mask visor, decorated with horns of a greater yugoloth guardian
30. bag of extra strong pipeweed and a clay pipe
31. sack of turtle eggs
32. 2d6 silver throwing stars
33. enormous, cockatrice feathered headdress
34. huge, steel bear trap
35. bottle of ambergris, sealed with white wax
36. artificial chrysanthemum made of gold foil
37. ebony box filled with golden needles
38. spider silk gloves
39. small, worn book of centaur poetry
40. barrel of varnish
41. large brass key
42. spear with green dragon tooth head
43. small silver knife
44. heavy golden chain
45. a small vial of blue dragon blood
46. large, bronze coinbox with a couple old copper coins inside
47. dragonhide skullcap
48. rich, red velvet cape, embroidered with a symbol of Tiamat
49. cyclops skull
50. basket of hop cones
51. crystal ball filled with mercury
52. jar of mutagenic ooze
53. bejeweled estoc
54. a set of 8 different potions in a cedar wood case
55. small glass vial of clear, odorless, flavorless poison
56. ancient, ceremonial, stone axe
57. massive, golden ring with a hidden compartment, currently filled with black diamond powder
58. sack of beaver tails
59. barrel of salted herring 
60. golden axe
61. small sundial made of solid platinum 
62. amulet of Lolth with etched niello spiders on adamantine plate
63. a shofar made from a minotaur horn
64. sacrificial dagger, blade made of cobalt-colored glass
65. medallion made out of a single ancient gith electrum coin
66. bronze crown decorated with obsidian spearheads
67. mask made out of delicate, silvered chains
68. vargouille skull in a small, worn-out coin pouch
69. demijohn full of human blood 
70. gold dragon scale in a tiny, adamantine lockbox 
71. masterwork sycamore crwth
72. unholy symbol of the demon lord of beastmen carved out of a baby skull
73. spool of thin, copper wire
74. ancient locathah trident carved out of leviathan bone, decorated with aragonites and nacre
75. bronze greaves decorated with a mask of Beltar with opened fangs poised to bite
76. brass scepter crowned with a chalcedony sphere
77. auricupride armband decorated with an aurumvorax ornament
78. large, bronze war horn shaped in an image of a coiled behir
79. flaying knife with red gold inlays shaped like blood drops
80. iron figurine of a six-armed humanoid wearing armor clad with skulls and wielding a weapon in each hand: a spiked flail, a battle axe, a battle pick, a longsword, a mace, and a falchion
81. flint axe blade inscribed with an ancient illithid curse
82. a set of five lead weights of different sizes, shaped like beholders
83. silver carrion crawler-shaped armband
84. smilodon's head helmet made of orichalcum 
85. a shield fashioned out of a trilobite exoskeleton
86. a lantern made of an ancient lich lord's severed head
87. silver bracelets in the form of catoblepas inlaid with turquoise, lapis lazuli, and carnelians
88. amphora of hippocras
89. golden gauntlet in the form of a grasping hand holding a broken coin 
90. skeletal remains of an infant lamia frozen in translucent ichor
91. incense burner in the form of a shedu made of human bone
92. nephrite box containing a mummified head of a slaad
93. ornate shield carved from a head of a galeb duhr 
94. a small vial of unicorn horn powder
95. bottle of vodka
96. crystal necklace containing a single drop of blood of an elder god
97. fossilized petty god heart
98. wooden box containing 12 bottles of spiced black rum
99. small velvet-lined casket with a piece of meteorite inside
100. a small bag full of amber, one chunk has a little sprite frozen in it