The Pretenders of Nacirema
Within the land between the pines and the Grand River, the Nacirema practice a strange tradition that many gather to several times a year. This cultural phenomena is referred to as Ertaeht and is characterised by two main components: the location of the event and the people involved in the event, whose name roughly translates to “the pretenders.”
To alert other Nacirema, extravagant displays of the work of the pretenders are distributed through a form of telecommunication developed by the Nacirema. The Nacirema then all gather at the gates of the location known as “the dark room.” Before admittance, event goers are required to pay a donation to the pretenders and are given a symbol that allows entrance when presented to the gatekeeper. The location itself is an immense area focused on an arena below. Onlookers then find a location and remain in that place for the next expanse of time, all while entranced by the allure of the pretenders.
The pretenders are a strange and easily identifiable group of people within the community. Oftentimes they are found in large groups and are uncharacteristically loud and often avoided by other members of the community. However, they possess a spiritual power that awakens upon entrance to one of the dark room arenas. When the room becomes dark, they become completely different people with new thoughts, looks, and abilities. You could know one of them your entire life and they would change before you in an instant. Furthermore, the pretenders are capable of depicting vile acts such as murder or are able to perform acts such as sex in front of large gatherings of people with other pretenders they hardly know. What is more terrifying still is that all these acts are coordinated by a respected person among the Nacirema known as the Rotcerid. This member of the community casts a spell upon the selected pretenders and is able to control every movement, sound, and breathe upon their entrance to the dark room. Why they volunteer themselves for such torture is still unknown, yet it is speculated that they receive a sense of pleasure from performing to the will of the Rotcerid. However, everything done is somehow inexplicably reversed when the lights are brought back to the dark room, reviving the dead, and allowing the acts performed to be forgotten by the pretenders.
The pretenders collaborate with magicians known as the Chet to perform their miraculous displays and transformations. While the Rotcerid is able to control the pretenders, they require assistance from fellow magicians to focus their attention elsewhere. For example, one Chet has the power to control a thousand tiny fires in the sky and is responsible for the start and end of the spell. More still are able to create great sounds and project the speech of the pretenders through the use of a large alchemy table and an assortment of portable wands given to those in the arena. Most miraculous of all is the way that other members of the Chet have the ability to transport the pretenders to many locations. As the fires burn out and the pretenders shuffle about, several of the Chet rush about casting their incantations upon the arena, create massive structures from nowhere, and fly in locations from above on occasion. Within a matter of moments the pretenders are in a new location and the Rotcerid’s spell continues.
These rituals are inherently strange for the values they instill in the onlookers. The pretenders promote not being oneself and encourage horrible and devastating acts upon fellow members of their society. Furthermore, the onlookers encourage the pretenders to pursue their craft, allowing many to become wealthy and prominent members of society for their transformation into other persons. Overall, the onlookers in these dark rooms are funding a program to watch people become other people in a strange arena and gain some kind of sick pleasure from it.
