The Skird tribe has a simple law: do not cross the facial line. This means that only fellow tribesmen could see each other's faces. When they went outside the tribe, they hid their faces with masks and covered their heads with cloth.

For an outsider, looking at a Skird's unprotected face meant a choice. Either you become part of the tribe or perish. The royal ambassadors tried three times to negotiate a lasting peace with the tribe and make their territory part of Erikuria. And all three times they returned blind—their eyes were burned out, but they were not killed. "You wouldn't have been able to bear the sight of our faces," was the chieftain's response to the last proposal.

When the Skirds were defeated, the turbans and masks were removed from the dead. In Erikuria, they were stored in barns as trophies. They say that those who wore the mask for fun, after a month found a way to escape to the steppe and never returned to the kingdom.