Just like any culture, the Fellowship has its customs. Below is a dictionary that explains habits one can find in Pahmoten events and camps. Members can feel free to add their own as they are observed.
Terminology[]
Definitions of official terms within the Fellowship
- Loyal - an individual member of Pahmoten who is not part of its chapters or units
- Camp Master - elected head of the Fellowship. Responsible for delegating tasks, acting as point of contact with event organizers, and is usually first to arrive and last to leave. Position currently only used for Ragnarok.
- The Relic - an antique pickaxe haft with symbols of the Fellowship's history burned into it.
Calls and Responses, Cadences[]
An incomplete list of Fellowship calls and responses and marching cadences.
- "Aaaaaahh!" "AAAAAAHHH!"
- Simple but effective manner of getting group's attention in camp. One person makes extended yell at projected, but not full, volume, all within earshot respond in similar volume with extended yell lasting about one and a half seconds. All fall silent and give attention to speaker.
- Origin: Logus of the Forty Year Desert began this practice as described at an undetermined Ragnarok.
- "Boil 'em!" "Mash 'em!" "Stick 'em in a stew!"
- Battlefield cry. Begun by one person, carried by whatever other Pahmoteners are present, and completed in a full-volume yell. References the Fellowship's love of cooking and Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings.
- "Brothers, Sisters, why do we march?" "We march...for the Fallen!"
- Marching cadence for the March of the Fallen (memorial march) held annually at Ragnarok. Begun by march leader (preceded by horn), carried by all others present. Accompanied by intermittent horn and drum at slow and somber rhythm. March of the Fallen is hosted by Pahmoten but open to all.
- "Courage!" "Strength!" K'lar!"
- Rallying cry. Begun by one person, carried by whatever Pahmoteners are present, and completed in a full-volume yell. Reminiscent of the motto of K'lar, the Fellowship originating chapter
- "Going Through the Motions" from the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer musical
- After several events in which the Buffy soundtrack was the only CD in the car player as camp was being broken down at the end of the event, the first song on the soundtrack has become the Fellowship's unofficial "camp clean up" tune. In the absence of the CD, many members will sing in unison.
Slang[]
Commonly used slang terms and what they mean.
- "Getting Java'd." - to set about to accomplish a task, only to discover someone else has taken it upon themselves to do it already without anyone noticing and without expectation of recognition for the service. References former KoJ member Java who selflessly and usually silently went about doing everyone's chores in camp.
- elf ghetto - the assemblage of tents in camp owned by members with elf or half-elf personas. Originally a joke about the coincidental arrangement of tents at an event, the Elf Ghetto has since become a camping tradition, with good-natured jokes about fantastical anti-elf racism.
- "Grab a plate, you're ugly." - expression, one of Pahmoten's taglines, reflecting our love to serve people food, and how sarcastic we are with friends.
- Origin: Ragnarok XXV. Gimble added the "you're ugly" comment after a long conversation regarding how Pahmoteners are sarcastic with those we hold in high regard.
- "Hit him in the Gwaeren" - expression, to hit someone in an area of their body or being where it will hurt the most
- Origin: Pointed Heart practice 2014, when Kaos was fighting Gwaeren, and a bystander made a suggestion for him to gain the upper hand, by using this phrase.
- mer - expression, 1) substitute for Terran curse words, 2) used in place of any non explicative word, depending on the speaker's preference; sound, often used to simulate animal noises; prefix (mer-), makes root word belong to Mer language
- Origin: Ragnarok XXX, Venetor's first attendance, was the Fellowship's first encounter with the Mer language. To keep the camp rated for children, attendees adopted it as a substitute for curse words.
- "Point to the med kit." - phrase targeted toward an individual who is about to perform a stupid and/or dangerous task. Meant to notify them to proceed with caution.
- Origin: Pahmoten camp at Ragnarok XXXI, the year staff instituted keeping a stocked First Aid kit in camp
- porch cookie - explicative, noun, a mild curse
- Origin: Pointed Heart practice 2015. A cookie rock made by Kohaku landed near the porch, and she said aloud after a scenario that she had to retrieve it from under the porch. Knowing the bones and disturbing items found in the same area, it was labeled a porch cookie, which the group agreed sounded like an insult.
- shark bag - explicative, noun, an extremely derogatory curse
- Origin: Pointed Heart practice 2014. The Hearth received two bags of frozen shark steaks from Venetor, and after cooking one, the bag with shark juices remained. Wolfgang called it "shark bag," which Sirilay felt sounded like an insult, and the term stuck.
- swimmer's knee - noun, medical condition referring the severe wear on knees and the knee area of the pants when a fighter has crawled through the water sections on a battlefield for too long
- Origin: Termed coined by Aoshi at Ragnarok XXVIII, when pointing to Java's scraped up knees after one of the water battles.
- "Y'want a bag of soup?" - phrase spawning from another meal of the Fellowship's during which they could not measure appropriately for a smaller amount of eaters. The Fellowship literally went around the rest of Ragnarok asking people to take bags of soup to empty our cooler, sometimes asking the question in the manner of a street dealer selling contraband.