Predation: The natural cycle requiring death to sustain life. Each creature hunts or is hunted, each is driven to kill or survive.

Procreation: The preeminant drive is to survive. Each creature strives to pass on its genes, to preserve the species. They'll live on in future generations, or they'll pass silently into the night -- leaving no sign that they ever had been.

Life consists of these two things for us Yautja, hunting and breeding. The Hunt is sacred, the cornerstone of our race. In fact, the methods of hunting and combat are known as the Path, and it has very specific rules to be followed.

Very similar to a pack mentality, the strongest and most efficient member of the group is the leader. The alpha male controls the actions of the group.

The leader is always first to set foot on the hunting grounds. Also, part of being a leader was not to seem excited by the prospect of a training hunt, or at least show that excitement to others.

A good leader has many students still hunting. The measure of a teacher was the life span of those he taught; the longer they lived, the better the teacher.

Only on the leader's command can the lower classed Yautja, after a training hunt, get their awu'asa (armor). They run into the piles of equipment. There is always enough to suit them all, but they fight for the better trappings; the stronger male would get the prime supplies. That was always the way.

No one would start a fight without the leader to witness it. Neither would they hunt without a leader's supervision. When the Leader enters a room, all heads bow. It is a sign of respect and submission. Challenging a leader in anger is certain death, although a leader does not have to kill one of his own to prove anything.

When a pack challenges one's assumption to the role of leader, the Kainde Amedha Chiva (Hard Meat trial) would prove his worth. There is only so much slack a leader could give one who has broken the rules of the hunt, though, before the rope must be pulled taut. Then, that certain Yautja has to be destroyed. It is the law; a matter of honor. A leader should not make excuses; in hunting, they didn't matter - you died or you didn't.

A leader should handicap himself on a hunt by only using a spear or ki'cti-pa (wristblades). Females smile upon a brave male more often than they did others, and a Yautja did what a Yautja had to do to bolster his line. When the Final Hunt takes place, one should leave behind a legion of younglings.

The first step in becoming a warrior was the agony of the pleating of our locks of tough, wire-like hair - a process that took months of ritual and scalp pain, performed in public sessions. If there was any sign of tears or even the tiniest voicing of pain, then the intricate weavings would be undone, and the candidate had to start from the beginning.

A true warrior never speak of their own battles. We allow others to tell the tale, holding a serious mandible at the embellishments they add in the singing of it.

The wedge of the older, glory-hogging go first in a hunt. We are all equal in honor, we were all esteemed. However us Yautja are much like Earthly predator packs. The members jostled for dominance, and the older, smarter, and more experienced members are generally either given deference or simply plowed past the more awkward young members. The older the Yautja, the less likely they are to use firearms. Any Yautja can shoot something to death, but it takes a real warrior to kill with knives and bare hands. For the same reason, not all us Yautja use our stealth suits. The truly brave, or stupid, hunt the Kainde Amedha with only their bladed gauntlet.

The very last Yautja had the least honorable position in battle, albiet a nessecary one. Good warriors stayed open to new information.

Beings of other races who prove worthy on a hunt may well be accepted into our society. Such adopted beings are Blooded like a normal warrior. Of course, many of us Yautja, especially the young, resent the fact that a non-Yautja runs with us.

During the hunt, we Yautja employ a silent system of hand gestures to communicate with each other. This "sign language" is very simple and only capable of relating simple messages or ideas. The hunter must be sure that their prey is considered game, and lawful to kill. It is dishonorable to hunt something that is not a threat; those who have done no harm should have no harm done to them.

We never hunt a non-fully grown member of an intelligent species, they are harmless. Penalty is combat to the death. When hunting for food, we take only the weak. This is to purify the species' line.

Yautja will generally ignore unarmed Oomans, especially women. If a person is skilled enough to be dangerous without weapons, the Yautja will be more than happy to fight. Of course, we consider a Kainde Amedha dangerous anytime. It is considered a great honor by us Yautja to participate in the hunts, which obtain the Kainde Amedha queen from which we obtain her supply of eggs. To obtain a live queen, the hunting party must venture into an Kainde Amedha cr�che, succeed in defeating all the queen's warrior drones, and then subdue the queen herself. Many of these parties never return unfortunately.

When working discreetly, we tend to take our trophies and dispose of the bodies cleanly. When a hunt needs strategy and tactics, strength did not make up for stupidity. Move well or die; this is the main lesson of the hunt. There is no room for error.

Fight until death or victory. If the hunter is given mercy, they must accept it, or they'll dishonor a greater warrior than themselves if he or she does not. Those who defeat a Yautja in a fair hunt and show mercy are to be considered equals. The Hunter must either kill him or herself and their prey (prefering to die than to live in shame), or treat the prey as an equal. To kill another Yautja intentially, however, is the worst crime. This excludes self-defense and killing a foe in a Jehdin match to settle a dispute.

However, some cowardly Yautja prefer to live in obscurity rather than die. This is considered to be dishonorable and suicide is then "assisted" by an Arbitrator. It is far better to be brave and die than be cowardly and survive by hiding from the enemy.

When coming upon game wounded by another hunter, and the animal is dying without sport, honor must be shown to another's kill. If the game still shows sport, it is to be a joint trophy. A true Yautja does not join another's hunt, or hunt in their territory, without the permission of another Yautja hunter. All trophies taken by this manner are stolen trophies, and shall be dealt with by the rightful owner.

A Yautja's status and pride is measured by the power of the creatures he or she hunts. We claim the skulls of our prey as trophies. We always take a trophy. There is nothing worth more. Such trophies are treated with great honor, and they are polished and displayed at home. The trophy skull of an Ooman is the centerpiece of any collection.

The highest insult in our society is to be killed by another Yautja who then smashes the skull rather than claim it as a trophy. It is a way of saying they were not worthy. This is a tremendous dishonor to the family and leader of the Yautja thus killed. On the converse, it is a great honor to have their skull displayed by the killer, as it shows they considered them a noble conquest.

It is only acceptable to give a trophy to another if done as a sign of utmost respect, or to replace a ritual weapon. During a hunt, the main prize is to be treated honorably.

The Code of Honor is the highest law of the Yautja society. It is taken with the utmost seriousness. To break the code is to stop being Yautja, and becoming that is to be killed with as little consideration and honor as an illness-carrying insect: Dishonored Yautja are destroyed when met.

A Yautja without honor must prove himself in the caste he finds himself in (or herself in rarer cases). They may have weapons and armor but no trophies, having traded them off for newer trinkets. When a certain Predator finds dishonor and his or her caste discovers this, he or she must either face consequences or be outcasted.

When a fellow Predator is placed in the negative, his or her weapons will be removed to off the balance. He or she is never removed from his caste, but is considered a dishonored member of it. Because of the high honor of Honored and Elders, the chance of them being dishonored in this nature is virtually impossible. Usually only Warriors and under find this level of punishment. Eventually, if the dishonor is so great, the warrior must give up all possessions. If this eventually puts him or her back into the positive honor, they may continue in the fight.

Most crimes for Yautja are obvious, and are dealt with by an Arbitrator. False accusations of an Honor Code violation will get a Yautja torn limb from limb when the news of the discretion is made public. However, sometimes when each party is accusing the other, the case is resolved by a wrestling match. Usually this is to block out or off ring, but in the case of one side accussing the other of claiming another's kill, it is to the death. The most common reasons for a match is as follows:

The right to hunt

The right for hunting ground

Settle a petty dispute

Recalim honor

Claiming the kill of another

If a fellow Yautja remains in the negative, he or she is considered less of a person. These dishonored live without quarters in the slums of the ships, forced to live on whatever they can find. Most here do not believe they will ever be strong again. Some try to fight for honor and challenge other Predators for their honor to be acknowledged again. If they continue to loose, their dishonor grows deeper. If their dishonor continues, this Predator is no longer allowed in the Caste. They cannot be reduced to another caste...The Predator is forced to endure discomidation. Stripped of his honor and banished, this Predator is left with his clothes and maybe a side blade on a planet to live the rest of his life without honor. Some of these Predators continue the hunt in their own mind. Some others kill themselves. Others adapt.

These Yautja are not outcastes, just discomidated and not acknowledged. Outcastes are different. If a dishonored Predator who freely accepted his punishment is needed again, there have been reports of an elder making a special case and letting a trained discomidated Yautja on a hunt. They usually have no major weapons and armor. If they survive, they are accepted. This is extremely rare. A hunt occurs on a planet with a dishonored Predator and that Predator saves the life of the leader. That Predator may be brought and accepted back.

The criminals among the Yautja have committed crimes such as murder, dishonorable hunting and failure. Strangely enough, other Predators can recognize Outcasted Predators on sight, as if their face is placed on a bulletin board for all to see. If discovered to have dishonored the caste and the Predator flees rather than accept punishment, there can be no forgiveness. The Predator flees with what he or she can carry--some of them already earned a ship or they might continue their dishonor by stealing one-never to return.

Outcasted Predators that leave this way are never accepted back. Upon seeing them, us Honored Yautja are ordered to eliminate these dishonored fools. Outcasted Predators do not often hunt except for food.

Bad Bloods travel, always alone, from place to place, aimless, without purpose. Some are evil incarnate, hunting and slaying anything alive, even fellow Yautja. This is the unfortunate norm since most dishonor is had not by defeat, but by crimes against the caste. There have been reports of a rare few Yautja that have been outcastes, only to exist as farmers on an abandoned distant world. It does not matter what life they have chosen. Outcastes are outcastes and those who help them are as bad as they are.

Us Yautja are, in many ways, isolationists, which do not accept others into our caste. However, if a member of another species shows to have amazing honor, there have been known to be reports of a mutual respect between species. Most of the time, however, a Yautja considers this an opponent and worthy trophy. This is always the case with hunters in Honored castes or less because they are in the constant search for more honor and will find it anywhere.

However, Elders are more laid back, having earned enough honor for a permanent position. They consider honored fighters of other species as respected as their own kin. Elders have often let warriors of other species live after they have proven themselves honored warriors. This usually only occurs if the subject has killed a Yautja or fought alongside a Yautja in a fight. There is also a common practice in these cases, to maintain honor by exchanging trophies by both sides. This can offer equal or more honor than killing the opponent.

Currently, there has only been one story of a human living in a Yautja community. This came from her fighting alongside an Elder in a hunt. When he died, the human was accepted into the caste because of the obvious endorsement from a late elder. She was given the Mark of Honor, and therefore, became accepted.