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The Dead Letter
Musings on the Xenology of Nations
(Part Three)
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Keepers
With one's own nation, it is hard to know where to begin. Actually you do an excellent job; you do us honor by your mentions of our honored Bes-Kandra and Zadath-Ku.
In this section, it is evident that your bible is a document translated into Middle Keeper, and not originally written in it, because you overuse the terms "dead" and "alive", which are only two of the sixteen categories of existence recognized by all the Keeper languages. Since I cannot think where else to begin to examine my own people, I may as well pause to give you a lesson in Keeper; after all, these categories are central to our way of thinking. So, from most to least prized, here are the categories of existence:
Ancient Keeper |
Middle Keeper |
Meaning |
ThraHull'(h) |
Thurul |
Immutable and utter stillness and unbeing. The mode of existence of the Silent Dark Fathers. |
Thr'NNutsch(e) |
Tarnush |
Not existing, and being undreamed-of. |
Thr'Nnard |
Tanard |
Not existing, and being apprehended only through an emotional state of terror, and only by immortal beings. |
Thr'NNard(i |
Tanardi |
Not existing, and being apprehended only through an emotional state of terror, by both immortal and mortal beings, usually in dreams. The mode of existence of nightmares. |
Thr'Strukk'(h) |
Tasruk |
Existing absolutely alone, in an inaccessible place, apprehended only through dreams, and having the power to kill by an act of will. The mode of being of trzduk and Falashi, the Dream Killers. |
Thr'shann'(h) |
Tashan |
Never having beeen mortal, no longer having a physical form, being perfectly at rest, and being utterly forgotten. This mode is sometimes translated into non-Keeper languages as "God-death." |
Thr'shall'(e) |
Tashal |
Having been mortal, died, been properly buried, having had great honor, having realized Mystery, having merged with the Darkness, and having been utterly forgotten in spite of the best efforts of your civilization. |
Thr'harruk |
Taruk |
Having been mortal, died, been improperly buried, dishonored, outcast, or a slave, but nonetheless having realized Mystery, having merged with the Darkness, and been utterly forgotten. |
Theh'SSola'h |
Thesola |
Having been mortal, died, been properly buried, having realized Mystery, and continuing to act and move in a body, in the mortal world, out of duty. This is the mode of a Greater Lich, such as Zadath-Ku. |
Theh'SSol'hran |
Thesol'n |
Having been mortal, died, been improperly buried or not having realized Mystery, and continuing to act and move in a body, in the mortal world, out of duty. This is the mode of a Lesser Lich, such as Bes-Kandra at the end of her reign. |
Thr'zzan(e) |
Tazan |
The state of a mortal whose bodily systems are failing as a result of starvation, suffocation or loss of fluids, due to having been buried, embalmed, or impaled with ceremonial honors, particularly if unwilling. This is considered to be the ideal state in which to apprehend Mystery, and you will note that the slaves who are honored by being so buried with Kings actually achieve a higher status thereby than the Kings themselves will achieve unless they themselves apprehend Mystery, and only then until they are forgotten (i.e. become Tashal).
Interesting tidbit: Zanaa of Hope, herself, was in such a state in a Keeper Tomb when she had her Great Revelation, and although the case is exceptional in that the Revelation was a Revelation of Clarity, and in that she was rescued, I have nonetheless always felt that in this sense the Visions owe us Keepers a debt -- not that they would admit it. |
Thr'sharaf |
Tasharaf |
Having been mortal, died, been properly buried, having had great honor, having realized Mystery, having merged with the Darkness and being remembered and honored still by your civilization. |
The'SSol'chur |
Thesolur |
Having been mortal, died, and continuing to act and move in a body, in the mortal world, for reasons other than duty. This is the mode of a Vampire, for instance. |
Thr'SSaraf(e) |
Tasaraf |
Having been mortal, died, and either been improperly buried, or not having realized Mystery, and being remembered still. In practice, frankly, the state of most Keeper dead. While remembered, honored and tended, however, there is a chance that these may become Tasharaf, and then Tashal. |
Thr'SSarall(e) |
Tasaral |
Having been mortal, died, not having realized Mystery, and being forgotten. As far as I know, the state of most of the dead of the non-Keeper nations, except where the Keeper Code is in force. According to orthodox Keeper belief, there is no chance for these to progress to other levels, although there are heretical currents which have their doubts. |
Thr'zzash |
Tazash |
Being mortal and alive. The mode of living members of the 12 Nations, most Mages, other sentients, and non-sentient animals and plants. |
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Since coming into contact with other Nations, Keeper languages have shifted, and Middle Keeper, for instance, recognizes two other categories: |
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Middle Keeper |
Meaning |
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Nazash |
Being fundamentally immortal, real, non-alone, and taking action in the world. "Nazash" is used to describe the mode of the various unseen but active immortal beings in which some of the other nations believe, and of beings believed by some to be immortal, for instance a debate rages as to whether the Horror Maloch is Tazash or Nazash. Note that these beings, as they are unable to die and probably unable to realize Mystery at all, are pitied and relegated to the seventeenth status. |
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Nanardi |
Not existing, and being apprehended through means other than terror: the mode of ideas, figments and fancies. |
There are various theological/political disputes raging around these categories:
- such as whether it is possible for a being dying, for instance, in terror on a battlefield, to be in extraordinary circumstances considered Tazan (an opinion naturally favored by the military caste, and despised by the priests and embalmers);
- what to call those beings who would be Taruk, except that they are still remembered, or to put it another way, the improperly buried Tasaraf who realize Mystery (the orthodox consider these a kind of Tasaraf until forgotten, but many in the lower classes hold them to be at least equivalent in honor to the Thesolur, and some radicals have called them Tasharaf, for which crime they are usually executed and buried improperly, giving them a chance to test their theory);
- the bitter priestly debate over whether mortals can realize Mystery while alive, and if so what to call them, about which there are innumerable opinions;
- the historical debate about to what extent Nanardi are a corruption introduced by contact with other nations: some isolationist romantics deduce (absurdly in my view) from the absence of such a concept in Ancient Keeper that our ancestors were pure creatures of Mystery and Will, with no ideas, figments or fancies at all, but only "nightmares, the apprehension of duty, and action."
I fear this romantic tomfoolery is becoming popular here in my lovely Bes-Tharal, which will not help my case if my correspondence with a Djinn is discovered -- Djinni are considered the worst culprits in the introduction of Nanardi, or ideas, into the world and thence the previously pure Keeper brains!
~ Zaduth-Jar, Keeper of the Dead
Continue on to Part 4
Go back to Part 2
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