Literally, the Klingon word meaning "the bonding."

In a sometimes violent society such as the Klingon Empire, orphans or those without a family or House are not uncommon.

The R'uustai, a ceremony of adoptive brotherhood, takes place to cement ties between the non-related.

Both participants wear ceremonial vests and each use a candle to light their own set of three large candles apiece as they invoke the memory of their mothers by reciting "SoS jIH batlh SoH" ("Mother[s] I [we] honor you").

According to the tradition, once the ceremony is performed, they are now brothers, and their families are stronger because of the union.