Dumuzi

Hunter of the Second Line

Born: Among Nimrod’s hunter people
Home: The Shinar plain
Known for: Swift feet, a quicker tongue, and a place in the interceptor pairing
First recorded in: The Lion of Shinar

The Chronicle

Dumuzi is a hunter of Nimrod’s people, known among the camps as the Reed Hare for his restless nature.

He began his teenage years as a scout, travelling ahead of the party to read track, wind, and disturbed reeds. His work was to find the ground where a herd might be turned and the route an aurochs would take when pressed.

During his twenty-third summer, Dumuzi earned promotion to the interceptor pairing. The hunters in that line wait beyond the drive, where an animal may break from the funnel or turn under pressure. Their work demands fast feet and clear judgement. An interceptor must read the shift in its shoulders, the angle of a bull’s head, and the ground beneath its hooves before the charge takes shape.

Dumuzi is quick with his words and quicker still once the barley beer has passed through the camp. He likes a story, an argument, and an audience of pretty girls, but keeps clear of tribal politics. He likes to play the village drums after a feast, favouring rhythms that irritate the elders and keep the younger ones awake too long.

The larger hunters recover from the beer more easily than he does. By morning, the Reed Hare is often still talking bravely while the rest of him has not yet caught up. He has been known to arrive late to a hunting party, going missing for up to three days after the solstice celebrations.