Hi. Ani here. So I’m going to give you something that’s going to change your life—a cheat sheet. Yep. If you’re like me, you need a useful little dictionary—I mean brother—to define some of this wacky ancient lingo for you. And since I’m such a generous guy, I wrote down a bunch of the Tkalis terminology to share with you. Who’s your favorite character now?
Life— a few terms that you might need that describe our world.
Anasazi Xhihalla…the name of the land we live in. It literally means the Ancient Land Shines Ever Brighter. We share the land with other tribes.
Council…a bunch of old Wise guys that meet every few cycles to review and revise the laws of the Tkalis lands and the state of the tribe. They also talk to people from other tribes and negotiate treaties if needed.
Gran Tkalis…The creator of all Tkalis people who lives in the Sun and produces light. He doesn’t have direct control over us mortal people once we’re alive, but offers his home of eternal paradise to us when we die, assuming we’ve led good lives. (Sometimes, I hear, very rarely, the Gran Tkalis exerts an extra effort to influence individual lives. The legends say that in the time of Ykali Xhihalla, the Gran Tkalis took the form of her horse so that he could guide and protect her and give her a mount worthy of her in battle.) Along with the other Great Gods, he weaves the destiny of mortals and protects the Anasazi Xhihalla from any aliens. (I figure he’s too old to be battling aliens, but Kaza says he’s got plenty of youth in him, whatever that means….)
Headman…the head of a city, who overlooks the daily operation of the city. He performs ceremonies and (with the help of the pharin) settles conflict in the city. He and his family receives any people from other cities or tribes and represent the city when traveling. The title of headman can be bestowed upon a man or woman regardless of age, so long as they are master of his or her class. Oftentimes they are also one of the Wise on the Council. The headman has a consultant and friend in each class in the city. He must also have a pharin somewhere in his family to show his relation to Sun Tribe. He can appoint his successor at the approval of his consultants. A Y is added to the beginning of his or her name. (Best heads ever: My PARENTS. Tyeruinga and Yasuvide. :)
Manta…dress. For girls, obviously. The boys only wear breechcloths, or kilts for formal events, like Meets.
Meet…At the end of every week everyone in the city gathers in the central courtyard. The sahrea show off their work and the pharin tell stories and the weonat and hathai classes give reports. The headman conducts any ceremonies at this time. Generally, this is a time for people of different walks of life to gather and exchange news (and sweets!). At the meet, people sit in groups depending on their occupation; apprentices sit on one side and masters another. The headman sits between the masters and retired elders, If necessary, the headman can also call a Meet for emergencies, though this is quite rare (and not cool).
Otowa… city. So Otowa Hopa is the City of Hopa.
Peaceful Nations…the tribes of Anasazi Xhihalla that live and trade in peace with each other.
Sanctum…the ceremonial and prayer houses. The pharin live here as well.
Sun Tribe & Sun Spirits…Assuming they haven’t done something extraordinarily atrocious, when Tkalis people die they join Sun Tribe as a Sun Spirit. The Spirits live with the Gran Tkalis.
Spark…A magical gift. People without Sparks can also use magic, just not as powerful and epic spells.
Tkalis…the united tribe name of the Akali, Ekali, Ikali, Okali, Ukali and Ykali family houses.
Vele Tribe…a nomadic tribe that’s been bothering the Tkalis tribe. (Kaza says their name means “ethereal energy” but I think it should just mean “annoying poo-chasers”)
Wise…also known as the Elderwise, they’re a bunch of old smart guys that populate the Council. There’s usually one or two from each city. (I used to think they were chosen for the length and whiteness of their beards, but Father doesn’t have a beard and he’s the awesomest one on the Council, so…I guess my hypothesis isn’t right.)
Note—Tribe, House and City
There used to be six tribes that made up the Tkalis United Tribe—Akali, Ekali, Ikali, Okali, Ukali and Ykali. Ykali Xhihalla (not related to the Ykali tribe) brought the six together and since then all six tribes identify themselves as a common tribe called Tkalis. The original individual tribes became known as “houses”, though Ykali house no longer exists. A city is usually about a hundred people and consists of people from all of the houses. People now identify with their city before their house, and since many houses intermarried, house doesn’t really matter besides as an interesting pastime. A child can be named after either the father or mother’s house. (So I am Ani, foremost a Tkalis, then a weonat of Hopa, then a member of Akali house. After that it can be noted that I’m technically also part of Ekali because of my mother. Beyond that no normal person really cares.)
Occupational Classes—the four paths that a Tkalis person must choose by the time they are 10 cycles old, though they can start as early as 5 cycles old. They can change their decision once, but it should be within a cycle of starting their last path. Sahrea and hathai are the most common roles for girls and boys respectively since the pharin and weonat classes must choose and accept their apprentices. (I have no clue why Kuresi accepted Kaza if she’s so mean to him…) After becoming a master of a class a person can go on and learn traits from the other classes as well (like my mom! :D)
Sahrea…The sahrea are the city’s weavers and cooks and are all girls. Their colors are red and yellow. Of course, everyone can cook something (aka porridge), but the sahrea are the best at it and make the afternoon and night meals for most of the city. (They also make sweets XD) They also make all clothes and blankets and door-hangings. Sahrea paint or perform the stories of the City so that other cities can see and be jealous of their city. At the weekly Meets some of their artwork is hung around the courtyard, and they will occasionally put on dances for the city. Along with the pharin, they also teach and care for the younger children. They also help the hathai, especially in the harvest times.
Hathai…The farmers, merchants and animal -keepers are all boys. Their colors are green and indigo. They can choose whether to stay in the fields or travel to the other cities trading goods or even work in cycle-long shifts. In addition to maintaining the fields and stores, they study numbers and how to build and repair buildings.
Pharin…The mage-priest-medics of the city are traditionally girls, but after the time of Oru the Disfigured, crippled men are sometimes accepted into the work as well. Their colors are orange and purple. Their most important jobs are to heal and speak to the Spirits of Sun Tribe and keep the City in the good graces of the Gran Tkalis, though they also work in conjunction to the headman to resolve conflicts. Those with magical Sparks can also learn magic to help in various ways (like my uncle Tkaruanhe could shape the sand to help in battle or with construction and my cousin Tkawaqi could make it rain to hamper enemies or water crops in a drought). They study the history and legends of the Tkalis Tribe and those of the other Peaceful Nations. In planting season they help prepare the seeds for planting and may help in the harvest season. Along with the sahrea, they also teach and care for the younger children. Their names begin with a K, though I’m not sure why they get a special distinction.
Weonat…I saved the best for last. The warrior-hunters are traditionally all boys, though in recent years a few girls have learned parts of the weonat way (most noticeably in Otowa Hopa, my MOM :D). Our colors are blue and black. Aside from protecting the city from attacks and hunting game, we also run messages for the headman to other cities. We train fighting with a bow, sword, spear and club. Since we ride, we also learn to care for our horses. We learn to repair equipment and draw maps. In peacetime the masters help out the other classes, especially the hathai, but we have to maintain sharp fighting skills at all times. Most headmen come from the weonat class; this makes sense in a way because the weonat of a city represent the city, much like the headman has to. The really good ones sometimes try to learn combat magic, but it’s a very dangerous art and not encouraged. The losses are greater than any gains we might reap.
So…that’s it for this sheet. If Father doesn’t find out that I’m borrowing his ink then I’ll write up a list of characters for you soon. And a map. I don’t want you getting lost bringing me sweets, do I?
No comments:
Post a Comment