A procession of Jaffa Priests to the Sepulchre on Chulak.
The Kadra'mal was the first great journey of a Goa'uld's life. It was the procession of immature Goa'uld from their place of birth to the Sepulchres on a crèche world, such as Chulak or one of its sister planets. It was one of the more sacred rites of the Jaffa priesthood.
Overview[]
After a Goa'uld queen has a brood, they relinquish the majority of the offspring to the Jaffa priesthood. The sanctified cradle that held the offspring was a small tank made of metal and glass and filled with the waters in which the larvae were birthed.
The procession included eight or more priests. Four that would carry the cradle on poles. Two others that would serve as ceremonial guards, and two female priestesses, one of which would be the High Priestess of one of the cults serving on the world, who would merely escort the cradle to the Chappa'ai and the pass her duty onto the High Priestess at their destination. The second priestess was one that was implanted with larvae from the same queen that spawned the brood being transported and would stay with the cradle during the entire Kadra'mal.
A symbiote being transferred into a tank at the sepulchre on Chulak.
Once the procession would set foot on the crèche world, bells would be sounded by the priesthood to announce the birth of a new god. While the bell tolls, the Kadra'mal would proceed to a sepulchre located apart from the main temple, where the High Priestess would use a large chalice to transfer the larvae from the cradle to join the multitude already in the large incubation tank.
Normally Goa'uld spawned by different queens can coexist without incident, but if one is altered far enough from the common genetic template, the others sense this shift and attack. If Kadra'mal ends with such an attack, the life of the "sibling" priestess is forfeit and she and her symbiote are killed painfully by mingling their blood within the Symbiote pouch. The bodies of both are then sent to the offending queen as a warning, along with Jaffa warriors to guard the Chappa'ai to prevent her escape. The System Lords are informed and further action takes place at their discretion.
If during Kadra'mal, the transported Goa'uld came to harm by any other means the responsibility fell on the High Priestess. The transgressed queen would decide the punishment which varied. Most were condemned to death. If mercy was granted it usually came with strings attached. More than one High Priestess has committed suicide rather than have complied after the queens demands in exchange for leniency were known. (RPG: "Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One")
History[]
In the past, queens would maintain their young in whatever way they or their lords chose. This ended with queen Egeria's rebellion, where she modified her offspring and built an army. After her defeat, Ra took away control of the offspring from the queens and the System Lords supported this. Queens were allowed to have a few larvae to insure they would have servants of their own line, however they had to relinquish the vast majority of their broods to the care of the Jaffa priesthood.
To prevent new breeds of traitorous Goa'uld, Ra's insurance against them were large incubation tanks that were used by all. If the symbiotes were shifted far from the genetic template, the others would sense it and attack the rogue larvae. In this way, an entire sepulchre might be sacrificed but that outcome was viewed as preferable then a new secret army to oppose them.
The decline in the number of Goa'uld young meant the sacred rite was performed less and less. Fearing that this would be seen as evidence in their dwindling power, the priesthood started to insist that the Kardra'mal be performed whenever a Goa'uld larvae needed to be transported from world to world. Besides immediately after birthing, larvae are sometimes transported en masse after a battle in which Jaffa are killed but their symbiotes recovered. Traditionally, this was done by the surviving warriors ad the symbiotes are used to replace losses and swell the ranks of the victorious side. The priesthood claimed this duty and asserted that any re-implantations had to occur under their guidance. Some cults had even gone so far as to perform Kadra'mal when a single Jaffa died, in or out of battle, to reinforce their image as the sole authority in these matters. (RPG: "Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One")