En-gikilikwanata (EN)

The World Is Vast

The world is vast. People of countless kinds and creeds roam it, the vast majority completely unaware of what does not relate to their own reality. There are those for whom this is more than enough - and can we criticise them?

Knowledge requires resilience. The more we know, the more aware of the world's injustices we become; the more aware, the more indignant - that is, if endowed with what little moral fiber and humanity are necessary not to succumb before the temptation of joining the detestable and tragically numerous list of those who benefit from these selfsame dirty deals - the more indignant, the more inclined to correct these injustices ... Or to be shoreline stones, constantly lashed by the inclement tides of despair until we completely fade out.

Whether out of fear or mere lack of initiative, no one had hitherto made a concise record of the events of civilization: Only fragments often restricted to their authors' cultures and possibly their neighbours - always loaded with subjectivities and embellishments that do memory more harm  than good.

Nobody until Naimutiae.

The natives of the Scorchlands are endowed with a very peculiar gift among all the peoples of Tephys: Ancestral memory. Each new generation carries the knowledge of all the previous ones. For this reason, they are tremendously respected throughout the rest of the world as graced with invaluable wisdom. Any lord worth his salt would easily offer 1/3 of his lands to a Scorchlander if they were to accept a privileged position in their small council ... But that very same wisdom usually prevents them from acquiescing. Scorchlanders tend to see the rest of the world with the condescension of an adult sister towards an infant brother: In a way affectionate, but somewhat detached and tired of the trifle little things that bugger them so - most so mundane they might have gotten over them some 3 or 4 lives ago. For this reason, few deign to even leave their southeastern continent, preferring to spend their existences leading simple lives amongst their tribes. Plus their notions of wealth had long since transcended the attachment to wealth and power.

Even so, the younger brother was ever so blissfully oblivious, so ignorant, that black skin and curly hair were more than enough to exert this puerile fascination over him. Although all Scorchlander tribes shared the same gift, there was a very distinct difference between the sophisticated Ckekafoc and the philosophical Iṣu-ara ruled by their obas, for example - not to mention the clothing, which further marked their differences - but the older sister does not expect the younger brother to be able to see things so much greater than his limited understanding - not until he has matured enough, which should still take a considerable amount of time.

Naimutiae belonged to the Ol-oidim people, a tribe that, although wont to cattling, was far from peaceful: Their warriors were prestigious, and their rite of passage involved hunting a lion to flaunt its mane as adornment. Her father was the laibon, the central figure of the village that performed a shamanic function, but although she had grown up quite familiar with magic, the young woman preferred to entertain people with her tales - some of them woven out of her fertile mind, some others rescued from some ancestor's memory. She skillfully used magic to create dreamy visual effects that enraptured her viewers.

One day, her father expired. Natural causes, as he was in the dusk of his years. His cold body found inert on the floor of his house, a serene expression on his face. There were no tears, although there was a lot of love, for it was common sense to her and hers that death was but a natural and inevitable act in one's journey. The inheritance of his memories felt somewhat strange (It was the same when her grandmother died as well), but in a way it served to warm her woeful heart, bringing along fond memories. Traditionally, as a consequence she should soon be married to a husband chosen by her mother - after all, Ol-oidim marriages were all about business.