http://www.oocities.org/Area51/Corridor/8990/bat.html

The Bat-Bonded elves

1.The Bat Elf Religion

2.The Tribe

3.The Initiation Ceremonies

As it said in the table of tribes, the Bat-Bonded (or should it be Bear-Bonded) elves have something of a religion. They have a "Priest" who is usually a very strong magic user (it is currently Shadow and after his death will either be Delirium's cub or Little Boy [Snowstorm]) who carries with him or her a knife made of Bearstone, which has bear's blood shaped into it. During the annual bear ritual, the warriors catch one of the great black bears that live around the caves and the priest will come and sacrifice it to the spirits of the elves' ancestors, the High Ones. After the bear is slain, the priest will shape a small drop of the blood into the knife. It is the same knife that has been passed down for generations of the religious leaders. Once the bear is dead, the tribe will feast on it, and have a big "party." The skin of the bear will be given to an elder of the tribe to wear as a cloak. That is the way you can tell if you are speaking to an elder or just another tribesmate.
frost wuz hereIn the tribe of the Bat Bonded, there are, at the moment, not very many elves. There have been few recognitions of late: Delirium's was the most recent, and many were killed by Go- Backs on the last raid. The elves here are:

Darktalon, the chief

Frost, the former Go-Back who is Darktalon's Lifemate

Son (has not earned name yet), their son

Dawn, Dusk and Twilight, triplets whose parents were taken by the Go-Backs

Little Boy (also has not recieved name yet), who is in the same situation as the before-mentioned trio

Two-Blades, who has a Winnowillesque darkness about her

Dreamberry, Who seems to be the only one of the Bat elves (other than Delirium) who is not dark and depressed

Delirium, whose maddened fighting got him his name

Taleweaver, the storyteller

Riversong, Delirium's lifemate

Daughter, Riversong and Delirium's child

Mother, former chieftess of the Bat-Bonded until Darktalon took over

Shadow, the current priest. Very bloodthirsty and cold.

The Initiation Ceremony

Before a Bat-Bonded elf can be considered really part of the tribe and have all rights, like a name other than "son" or "daughter," they must pass an initiation ceremony. It consists of two parts:

The Taming of one one of the giant bats for use in traveling and hunting

Swordfight with the cheif or chieftess (at the moment, it's Darktalon)

The Finding of a name

Part one: The Bat Taming.

To tame one of the giant hunting bats (they're aproximately the size of one of the Great Hawks of Blue Moutntain), an elf must navigate the caves to where the bats live. This in itself is hard, because there are so many caves that it is easy to get lost in them. Many elves die in this. Either that or some are still wandering around in the caves. Once one has found the giant bats, they must select one that they think is good to be their bondbeast. Then comes the hard part. To train one of these nightmare creatures is close to impossible. Usually, it takes showing it that you are dominant and stronger than it. Possibly, one will fight it. If the elf wins, then they have to ride it back to the caves and show the tribe his or her new partner; if not, the elf will usually not return... If while riding it, it throws its rider off, that elf will have a slim to none chance of surviving the giant fall (in the story "Hard Lessons," it makes references to Snowflurry's child First Daughter as meeting her fate this way). If the elf successfully completes this portion of the Rite of Passage, they go onto the next, which makes the bat-taming seem, well, tame.

Part two: the Fight

Once the first part is completed, then comes the fight with the current chief. Even though the elf may even be the chief's child, he or she will have no mercy on them. The goal is to try to wound, or even kill the other. The chief a few centuries ago, Iceshard, was killed in this way to have Mother, who was known as Snowspear them, become chief. Until her son Darktalon (the current chief) terribly wounded her. The initiate is trained by his or her parents in the use of a sword so that they will be prepared for the ordeal later. The only way to stop the fight is either to be the first to cry for the other to stop, or for one of the fighters to either die or be so terribly wounded that it is impossible to continue. If the chief calls out first, they are banished to a cavern deep into the caves. If someone chooses to hunt and visit them, they will most likely live, but otherwise... If the cub cries out first, they are exiled until they can challenge again. They can keep challenging over and over until, either they die in the frozen tundra, or they win the challenge. Once the challenge is won, they go onto the last stage.

Part three: the Name Quest

Once the elf has tamed a bat and fought the chief, then they go out with their partner and simply wander the areas around the mountain. For turns upon turns, they do this, until they find a name suitable for them. Their travelling partner must also say that it is an appropriate name for the elf, and if they turn it down, the search continues. Once both of the elves have it, then the go back to the waiting tribe, and proclaim themselves truly a part of the tribe.