Truespeaker

A messenger who speaks only the truth, thus generating waarheid, which allows them to sense truths and garner trust.

Truespeaking

The art of truespeaking is more than simply telling the truth. It is a dedication to being truthful. It is avoiding not just lying, but as many forms of deception as possible, and being forthright and earnest in all communication. It means not omitting inconvenient information, not manipulating, not rephrasing, not engaging in spin. It also does not mean "brutal honesty," but rather, compassionate honesty; that is to say, truespeakers do not wield the truth to hurt others when at all possible, nor do they engage in lies to protect others. In order to wield the powers of a truespeaker, one must engage in honest, truthful communication for seven years without fail, repenting for past lies along the way. Once they have achieved seven years of truthfulness, they earn their powers, which grow over time as they retain their truthfulness. Any failure on their part means immediate loss of powers.

Repentence

Repenting for lies in order to make up for past lies or to repair their powers means engaging in the four steps of reparation:

1. Repent: admit to the lies to those to whom you lied or in a public space if the former is not available.
2. Reveal: reveal the truth to those to whom you lied or in a public space if the former is not available.
3. Reconcile: offer service or repayment or other forms of reconciliation with the aggrieved or engage in public service.
4. Restore: restore trust between yourself and the wronged parties if possible, or engage in public service to gain trust of others.

Once these are complete, the truespeaker will have earned or regained their powers. Given that no one will remember every lie they ever told, general repentence is possible through acts of general admission to lies, but the more hurtful lies one has told must be atoned for in as direct and open way as possible.

Witnessing

Becoming a truespeaker requires an act of witnessing. This means speaking a profound, difficult truth in a manner that has consequences. The most common version of this is speaking truth to power - denouncing the lies of a bad ruler, for example - but it can be something personal, religious, or philosophical. Truespeaking is an art practiced entirely on a personal level, so it is different for everyone.

Messaging

Truespeakers work as messengers. They exist across cultural boundaries - they have many names in different cultures - but there is a loose network of them operating around the world. They teach each other how to be truespeakers and instill the values of honesty and truthfulness in each other. They also keep watch on one another. They have a strict code of how much they can charge for their services, which is based on the weight of the truth they must bear and the resources of those they choose to serve. They will not serve those who are deceptive and dishonest - i.e., most governments, for example - and see themselves as servants of the people. To send a message by truespeaker is to ensure its veracity to the best of mortal ability.

Subjective vs. Objective

Truespeakers are not held accountable for speaking lies they do not know to be lies unless they could reasonably have ascertained otherwise and unless they SHOULD reasonably ascertain otherwise. Though it is hard to lie to a truespeaker, ignorance is more difficult to detect. A scientist cannot prove their theories by having a truespeaker speak them; if the truespeaker reasonably believes their theories true, they will be able to speak them. Furthermore, if a truespeaker has no reason to doubt something, they are not required to check on the truth of it. If someone asks them to speak "My brother did not kill his wife," the truespeaker should, if possible, try to verify this before speaking it. But if they are asked to speak "The house key is under the rose bush" and there is no context that makes this controversial, they have no obligation to check. Statements about things that are liable to change quickly are considered true if the truespeaker believes to the best of their ability that it is true - i.e., "the sky is blue" is considered true so long as the truespeaker has not witnessed it change to grey before speaking it, even if they do not check, unless there is context to suggest it unlikely the truespeaker would still believe it, such as nightfall or a loud storm.

True Honesty

Truespeakers do not engage in dishonest honesty. They do not seek loopholes, such as saying something as a question in order to avoid speaking a lie, nor do they omit information or phrase things in a way to twist the truth. They speak the truth as fully and openly as possible. Anything otherwise is a deception unworthy of them.

Trueself

Truespeakers must be their true selves in order to be fully truthful. For this reason, actual truespeakers are very rare, as it is very difficult in many cultures and societites to remain true to oneself. In fact, it can be outright dangerous. Most, of course, do not know their true selves, and therefore, they must seek it. If a truespeaker is on a journey of discovery, this counts as being their true selves, so long as they are honest about it.

Powers

Truespeakers gain several powers once they have attained seven years of true living:

Senses

Truespeakers gain the ability to sense the truth. This does not mean they can sense objective truths about the universe, but rather that they can tell when someone is lying and they can tell when there is something intentionally hidden nearby. Sensing more profound, greater truths or sensing when someone speaks ignorance rather than intentional deception is only possible for the most powerful truespeakers, and even then, it is difficult for them.

Trust

Truespeakers gain a trustworthy air about them that exists independent of their reputation. People trust them instinctively. Breaching this trust is a major violation of their honesty.

Repeating

Repeating is the ability to repeat a truth they have been told verbatim from memory. This is the power they have to speak true messages.

Sending

Truespeakers can, once every seven weeks, send a message of truth by projecting their consciousness and an image of themselves up to seven miles away.

Commanding Truth

A truespeaker can command another to speak the truth once every seven months.

Denouncing

After 14 years of honesty, a truespeaker can reveal a deceiver once every seven years with absolute authority. This means that they can reveal a lie told by someone of note once every seven years and be irrefutably believed.

Revealing

After 49 years of honesty, a truespeaker may speak a truth to someone that they did not know about themselves. They must look them in the eye (or equivalent primary sense), sense a truth the person does not know of themself, then speak it aloud.

Inventory

Though there are no objects required to being a truespeaker, informally, they carry the following as symbols of their craft:

• Lantern: they carry a small lantern whose light represents the truth.
• Quarterstaff: it is a dangerous world in which to be honest, so they carry these to defend themselves.
• Violet cloak: they wear cloaks of violet that represent their honest lives - they are bright and undeniable.

Variations

As being a truespeaker is a cross-cultural occupation, there are many names for them in various languages, but some are variations in how they operate. The variations that exist are

• Advocate: a truespeaker who works as a lawyer, defending the poor and oppressed in unjust courts.
• Datu: a truespeaker who is elected to lead a community is called a datu; this is a tradition in some areas, though they only serve a very short time.
• Forthright: a truespeaker who becomes a celebrity, usually controversially, and who uses media to convey their messages.
• Hojttaler: a truespeaker who works as a teacher, often teaching other truespeakers.
• Iskolar: a truespeaker who works as a scholar.
• Magwawali: a truespeaker who preaches for their Divine.
• Merry Andrew: a truespeaker fool is a very powerful fool, one who speaks truth to power in their own courts.
• Sadarakarta: a truespeaker who works in television.
• Sebekos: a truespeaker whose power of commanding truth allows them to command crocodiles - this is a very rare power that only certain mystics in certain cultures can manage.
• Sugarol: a truespeaker who lives as a gambler, using their powers to prevent cheating; these are very rare and considered outcasts by other truespeakers.
• Trueseeker: a truespeaker who wanders the world and seeks deeper truths or solving mysteries.

Falsespeakers

The most common form of truespeaker is a liar or falsespeaker, a person who is not a truespeaker at all, but rather, a wielder of False Names and bedrog. These liars claim to be truespeakers, copying everything about them, but wielding the powers of deception for their own personal gain. There are many variations on these falsespeakers that can be found on their page.

Similar Occupations

Other users of waarheid include

• Alitheopharm: those who make truth serums and other truth-inducing drugs.
• Bee' Eehozinii: a ranger of the western deserts, friend to rattlesnakes, who finds truth in deep visions.
• Bizaed: an aqyn who speaks and sings of truth.
• Bohoneestqq: a scientist who uses waarheid to reveal truths in experimentation.
• Bueskytte: an archer or rifleman who uses [waarheid to guide their aim.
• Chanter: a polycelestial singer who uses, among other powers, waarheid in their chants and meditation.
• Gitahi: someone who uses waarheid to find and become their true self as a transgender person.
• Kamatuuran: those who use waarheid to create living statues to serve the truth.
• Testifier: a woman who wields waarheid to invoke absolute honesty in defense of herself or other women or children.
• Togmand: an engineer who drives trains through dark or dangerous territory using waarheid to guide them.

Societal Role

Truespeakers are devoted to the people rather than the people in power, and therefore, they are often seen as threats. Because falsespeakers have so often deceived the public, truespeakers are up against a very negative reputation, and most assume them to be charlatans. Actual truespeakers are frowned upon and criminalized while falsespeakers posing as them are embraced by the powers-that-be.

Skills

Some common skills include

• Languages
• Travel skills
• Cold reading
• Research
• Investigation
• Legal knowledge

Stats

Modifiers from base of nation/species

PRO +1
ATH /
STR /
AWA +2
WIL +3
STH -3
PRS +3