Meli'ikitenya

One who speaks the First Language, called K'wanik'wa, to tell stories, share histories, communicate important messages, or foretell what is to come.

First Language

The First Language is the ancient tongue of the Sewochu people of eastern Taggarus, said to be the actual first language ever developed. Though it has evolved, it retains the fundamental poioumenonic power of the first verbal communication ever created. Its power is the poioumenonic energy generated by the expression of thought and feeling via language; that energy is called ginginyuneti. Both the first vocal and first written language, it is impossibly complex. It is tonal, contextual, and contains myriad tenses and hundreds of characters and grammatical marks. It is said to contain a word or phrase for everything possible, and some posit it is a form of or even the actual Book of Names.

Learning the Language

Only those who grow up learning it truly master the First Language, though anyone can learn it partially. Those who learn it later in life can even use its powers, though vastly reduced and never as their primary form of esoterica. To be a true meli'ikitenya, one must be an elite speaker and writer of the language, someone who knows its nuances and rules, and how to break them.

Speaking the Words

Merely speaking (or writing) the words of the First Language generates some ginginyuneti, but to truly capture that power and wield it, one must use it well, in such a way as to not only communicate something, but to do so in such a way that conveys more than is said. Poetry, subtlety, irony, clarity, wordplay, metaphor, and so on are all potent. Most meli'ikitenya are masters of poetry and figurative language, of theme and narrative. It is imperative that the idea is conveyed.

Power of the Words

The artistry of language is critical to the use of the First Language. Every word has its own unique power, and every word has power related to other words. Sentences, paragraphs, stanzas, verses all have meaning and power. The obscurity of words gives them power, as does their commonality. Some words, however, do not have the power to affect their targets. A common, simple word ("the") has no effect on most mortal beings; a complicated, ancient word conveying meanings long forgotten may affect even the Divine. Even skilled meli'ikitenya will struggle to find the latter words.

Effects

What can be done with the First Language varies by user, but the typical meli'ikitenya can profoundly alter those they speak to. Some common effects include

• Increased understanding: the listener will gain points in a skill or lore based on what they are told.
• Disrupted understanding: the listener will cease understanding something, or everything, temporarily, losing points in a skill or lore.
• Delayed understanding: the listener will come to understand what they were told in a deeper way later.
• Lateral connection: the listener will learn something from what is unsaid by making a lateral logical leap.
• Barrier removed: the listener will understand despite not knowing the language, or the words, or some other barrier.

Limits

The First Language cannot be unspoken. Once said, it is said, and it is so. Lies can be spoken, but lies in the First Language have their own power (disrupted understanding). These effects cannot be undone, even by other uses of the First Language. Furthermore, the listener may interpret differently than the speaker intends, altering the power of the Language upon them - but only the most nimble minds can do this. A lack of ability to comprehend the First Language can also be an impediment. Though the language can break past barriers, some are impenetrable (notably, an inability to understand language at all). An unliving rock will never be affected by the language. Some beings are beyond the reach of the First Language - the Vast, for instance - but most are not if they are alive. It just takes finding the right words, and the right words are sometimes very hard to find,

Other Languages

As the First Language evolved into most other languages, it has something in common with all of them, somewhere, somehow.

Variations

There are many ways to use the First Language within the culture of the Sewochu.

• Atikilitenya: the atikilitenya use their skills with the First Language to break the barrier between mortal and plant, thus using their powers to communicate with and affect plant life.
• Fet'ani Tenagari: the fet'ani tenagari are con artists who use skills such as delayed understanding and disrupted understanding to trick people. They are hated by the meli'ikitenya and others of the Sewochu culture.
• Fishika: the fishika are like the atikilitenya in that they break the barrier between mortal and animal (rather than plant) and speak to them, usually befriending animals and using their skills to help them. They are often veterinarians or grooms.
• Makuannent: leaders of the Sewochu must prove their skills with the First Language and their trustworthiness in its use before being allowed to lead.
• Meramejamiba: the elementals of the arid plateaus wherein the Sewochu live converse with the meramejamiba and bond to them through the First Language, making them protectors of the landscape. Wild dogs often accompany them, and meramejamiba often use the same skills as fishika and atikilitenya with the lifeforms of the plateaus.
• Merimari: among the Sewochu, there are those whose role in the community is to question and investigate. Though crime is rare in many of their communities, it does happen, and the merimari handle this, but mostly, they play the role of questioner in many ways - as leaders of exams, as those who test people for special occasions, as philosophers, and so on.
• Naggade: those among the Sewochu who trade with outsiders, using the First Language in their contracts in order to avoid any misunderstandings.
• Shemane: those who weave words of the First Language into cloth and fabric in order to give understanding and insight to those who wear or use it.
• T'elafi: in modern settings, the t'elafi program computers in the First Language and also hack them.
• T'enik'wayi: the witches of eastern Taggarus know sepcial incantations in the First Language that only women may learn.
• Ts'ehafi: the commonest art and craft of the Sewochu people is that of writing illuminated manuscripts in the First Language.
• Yemiyaregaga: the First Language's ability to convey understanding is invaluable to those who heal hearts and minds.
• Yek'wanik'wa Lik'i: study of the First Language by scholars and scientists leads to the discovery of old words or the invention of new ones with great power.

Similar Occupations

Some other occupations that wield the First Language:

• Azmari: musician and bard
• Kahenat: priests
• Sewa: soldiers sorted by dialect

Societal Role

The Sewochu are an oppressed nation. They are subject to enslavement by the major slaving powers. Their land has been invaded and colonized, economically dominated, and deprived of trade by powerful countries seeking to conquer or steal its resources, and the Sewochu bear the brunt of this violence. They also are subject to cultural suppression that specifically targets the meli'ikitenya. As learning the First Language would require growing up in their culture, most powerful countries refuse to learn it and see it therefore as a threat. Meli'ikitenya are seen as novelties in other areas if they are not openly persecuted.

Among the Sewochu, the meli'ikitenya are the most reverered members of the community.

Skills

The skills of a meli'ikitenya include

• Poetry
• Writing
• Fiction
• History
• Linguistics
• Etymology
• Punnery
• Comedy
• Storytelling
• Music
• Singing
• Songwriting
• Performance
• Acting
• Communications

Stats

Modifiers from base of nation/species:

PRO /
ATH /
STR /
AWA +4
WIL +3
STH /
PRS +6