Ghabnah and Turachgekhan

The speakers have entirely opposite (but to the voiceless, indistinguishable) plans how to achieve understanding of the world. Wizards believe that the world will make sense only as a whole, while mages seek to understand each detail first, then assemble them all. Both ways have been codified early in history by the greatest thinkers of their time, who are today's idols of their respective beliefs, Ghabnah and Turachgekhan.

Ghabnah, who is thought to have been a beja mage, wrote the first magical tome collecting the spells strung together from the words of power. This First Book of Magic, or Ghabnah's Book, also contains the principles mages should follow. It is constantly being revised and modernized, and there are different interpretations of her thoughts.

"Look at any one thing and find that it is made of parts. Learn their workings - learn every thing's workings, and you may finally understand the world's workings as well."
— Ghabnah

Wizards follow the teachings of Turachgekhan, a rhu'khach sage, who said that the world is wondrous and whole, and can be only understood if one dares to broaden one's mind to encompass it. Today, wizards are acknowledged as skilled holistic thinkers. Each spell is invented at the time it is cast and has widespread effects.

"Look at how marvelous the world is intertwined, and everything inseparable from everything else. We know the Great Spirit is at the foundation of it all, but we only know this, we do not grasp it - and when we finally do, I believe it will be most grand."
— Turachgekhan

Neither Ghabnah nor Turachgekhan said anything about hating on the other half of the human supernaturals. Some very optimistic philosophers even believe in unification of both schools. The fact however remains that in six millenia, no-one has learned both the way of the mages and wizards.


Artists' notes
There had to be idols among the speakers, and the most important idols would of course be the founders of their way of life. There's much to say about speakers, spells, and the philosophies. It's sometimes thought that maybe spells are "poisonous", because it's only after casting their first spell that speakers are set in one way.

Mindsmiths

A mindsmith is someone whose job it is to forge a mind into something less raw. The smiths themselves often laugh at that description, but the name stuck with folks. They are a proper profession - unlike voices, who have a calling - and are taught in small schools. Their methods range from philosophical debate, to torture-like practices best described as brainwashing, to meticulous mental exercises, and each only takes on one pupil at a time. Former voices may take this profession, and all plasmats are seen as mindsmiths.

"It's true that Lady Etto was one of the rebel leaders - she had started the capital's fires. When the mindsmiths returned her some years after her capture, they advised us to not waste her skills. She's been invaluable in the city's protection, and the murder attempts on her become fewer every year."
— Djigferra Solmor, citizen

Mindsmiths are often called upon to educate someone for a difficult position. They are found in royal households, teach diplomats or lunatics, but are also employed to "fix" criminals who seem utterly unwilling to behave. No pupil of theirs ever complained about the treatment, and all agree that it was a strenuous but worthwhile experience. Nobody taught by a mindsmith has not risen to greatness.
Known pupils are the Crowned Aslahenead of Brighthold, or Digaëner from the Summerstar Isles. Among the most famous mindsmiths are the plasmat Kortife of Echamien, and Avaqui Der, who teaches in Gdera.

"I can't complain about the captain's ways, but she sure doesn't seem human - she's nigh-infallible, barely rests, always has an answer, and iron-clad principles. As long as we're on the same side, I feel invincible beside her."
— Quahna, dust sailor

Artists' notes
The danger of brainwashing cannot be overestimated. And it is so easily done. In fantasy however, I can downplay dangers, and reap the benefits of one-on-one teaching with no other goal than perfection of a person. Mindsmiths are the legendary teachers one finds so delightfully often in Asian tales. I don't even want to know what they do with fake mindsmiths, but it can't be good.

Curses

Anyone can speak curses. A curse simply states that something bad should happen to someone and one must really mean it - it can't be done simply by muttering angrily. Curses must contain their solution, although how exactly this works is a matter of great debate among scholars. Speaking a curse pre-emptively - that is, without provocation and without having been wronged before by that person - means trouble to the curser, and something bad will inevitably fall back on him, there is no defense against that.

"Sure, young couples are sweet. But the speakers that moved into Draseem's tower have cursed each other half a dozen times since their arrival, and I do believe the neighbours are losing patience with the floods and fires the two set on each other."
— Zallajin, citizen

Curses cannot be spoken across the threshold into the Area, and therefore, people there are safe; the rare skill of creating curse-carriers can turn someone into a time bomb of sorts to go and meet the target and inflict the curse then.
The potential power of curses is virtually limitless. Entire peoples and countries have been cursed; however, the backlash is proportional and so, it takes someone very special to lay a curse on a tribe. The most famous curser is the Lonely Queen Dil-tona.
When a curse cannot be solved by following the instructions, voices can also help. Most of all curses do not last long.

"My uncle swears father sighed in relief when we broke the curse, some two hundred kilometers away, as if he knew. But he has never slept well again. And my sister hums always the same tune, then abruptly stops when someone approaches. We wonder if the voices might help get them back as they once were."
— Kliamara Talvreen, villager

Known curse in existence are for example Hilnired, who will wander until finding his general, whose resting place nobody knows; or the tribe of the Tsoltreemes, who cannot leave their land until making peace with their neighbours, which they refuse.
Other curses are suspected but could so far not be proven; the Brightholdian men might be cursed, as well as the burrmo princes, or the Kasillian crown.


Artists' notes
Curses are a dangerous device in fantasy. Therefore I tried to make sense of my curses' workings; you can't do it involuntarily, and they can be solved. On the other hand, they can kill you instantly.
Dil-tona will get her own article.

Animals and animal lords

Animals are not mindless beasts. The dwellers of Gdera's Lower forest maybe know this best - their beastly neighbours are smart, some even wise, and have a mind of their own; some are tricky, others helpful, yet others ignore people as long as they can have their way.
The animal lords are not their masters - as many examples have shown, beasts are strong-willed and individualistic. But they all acknowledge the undeniable power of their lords, and follow most commands. Gross mistreatment of a species may result in their tribe declaring war on the violators.

"I will not tolerate you mistreating my kindred so badly. You will release them by dawn. Fail to do so, and I will swear my people to follow and harm you any way they can, for as long as our brethren's suffering lasts. Do not test me."
— Asgaan, queen of the orlas

Bug fairies all know animal speech, and gladly act as translators. As most people don't understand beasts well, fairies help in repelling them from fields and houses, guard flocks, and protect children from being harmed by animals, but also talk beasts into becoming pets, not always to the joy of parents.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Get the fairies here, the naddis are ruining the vegetables. And make sure they don't use them for jousting this time, the poor things didn't give milk for two days after their last brilliant idea."
— Laqihe, farmer

Famous animal lords are the proud lord of the gubras Gahatenge; the mysterious umarva queen; and Eonorora, the sad and gentle lady of the neribrees. Most can take human shape but show features of their kind, like colouring or strength.
Not all lords are known (some even regard a lortsen lord as a ridiculous idea). Neither is it known if there is a hierarchy, or just one lord - or pair thereof - to each species. There seems to be a difference between the Crowned and the Uncrowned Lords, but what it is, remains unclear.


Artists' notes
I very much love stories that tell of the times when people and animals still lived together and humans knew they were just one kind of animal too, and understood the language of animals. So given the opportunity of my own world, I put Kitas in that era.

Sanity

Loss of sanity and various forms of lunacy are common in lands where you might fall into a parallel world at any time, or lose your mind to solitude. The different species are prone to various forms of mental issues. Some views are considered insane as well, like racism. The survivors of spirit attacks, either by the dead or placespirits, are never sane again, but results may vary.

Dwarves cannot endure loneliness and become erratic and obsessive when exposed to solitude; this is normally addressed by making sure dwarves need not be alone.
Elves easily suffer from delusions or paranoia. They often feel like they're missing out on some greater truth they could understand if only they opened up towards... something. It can be difficult to keep track of the longlived elves and their issues to get them help in time. These are but two examples; all species have their peculiarities.

"At first it looked like a simple poisoning, nothing to worry about. Then she started seeing things and talked to the forest. On the fourth day, she bit Relgaan and fled into the canyon; Relgaan has never spoken again."
— Orewasse, traveller

Time and again, people leaving the Area think themselves to be the servants of Starmaker, and of course her favourite. These raving lunatics pursue unfathomable goals, sometimes even violently, and almost always end up in the voices' care.
Goldfairies are hard to understand at the best of times. They all have secret goals and one together, it seems; they can often be found talking to themselves or the furniture, and stop in midsentence when they become aware of company. It requires patience to handle them.

"Sanity is a matter of circumstances. Are the Redforesters insane for living in poison? Is it mad to build on a volcano?"
— Hafana, scholar

Artists' notes
There are plenty of dangers - wild animals, illnesses, curses, volcanoes, elementarians... but I didn't want to leave out insanity. After all, it's a good explanation for some rulers' behaviour. And I like it better than them being eeeeviiiil; since I ruled out the Evil from Genius Loci, I thought it'd be better to blame it on loss of mind when rulers become cruel.

The Broken Jaw Rocks

Deep in the yellow forest lie the Broken Jaw Rocks. They are a large, roughly circularly arranged mass of sharply jagged rocks, in a swamp whose permanent mist enhances the mysterious atmosphere, making the entire region unusually inhospitable for the yellow forest. Many researchers tried to learn what might be inside the rocks, but none have succeeded so far - although some claim it, and others have gone insane, building up a legend of the rocks possibly being cursed, or inhabited by unspeakable things.

"The stone isn't from the region, the mist makes it impossible to peek in, there are inscriptions but only half can be reached. The Broken Jaw Rocks are surely among the most frustrating sites there are."
— Mehanid Kopahr, mage

The mage Ralgonkin Lair and his guide have been lost in the rocks many years ago; recently, Ralgonkin was found some distance away, babbling incoherently, and so far has not been able to explain where he was.
Clues have been found that skirmishes of the war against Sii-uri Darkheart have taken place here, most apparent by the inscriptions on the rocks themselves by those who dared venture close. Gold fairies have hinted at the rocks being encircled by protective marks, although it seems unlikely that a circle of such magnitude would have been forgotten, and evidence has yet to be found.

"Seritamifah, who is a friend to fleeters, asked one to go into the rocks, but he refused. She returned from him puzzled and frightened - apparently he gave a reason, but she never said which."
— Prasimur Ohalmar, traveller

Artists' notes
One of those places that came from a painting. It became more mysterious and finally almost hostile as I watched and built it, until finally, it became a taboo place that only the most daring adventurers will go into. That's okay.

Signs and Marks

"The giant went towards the village and began to drag his feet. We climbed the cliff of Morning Gorge to see, and found he was encircling the entire settlement in signs, herds and all."
— Kell Nor Haseban, villager 

 Marks protect against evil or unwanted supernatural matters. The most common examples are protective circles against dead spirits and marks against placespirits, but they can also influence mana flow and aspectation.
There are two alphabets. The First Signs were discovered in the first age, soon after the Rise of Light, and are lavish, graphical patterns. The second are the Wild Marks, whose discovery is lost in history; they are shapes of primeval strength. Both alphabets work like natural laws, not cultural endeavours, and were not invented, but discovered. Thus, while First Signs have been in use for millenia and are widely understood, every now and then new Wild Marks can still be found.

"When we were small, we once changed the fifth sign of our least favourite aunt's bedroom protection on one of her dreaded visits... she had to be kept in bonds for three weeks after she gravely injured our grandfather, until a collector came to free her from possession. So I had the signs in my own house laid in steel."
— Marligan, farmer

Unfortunately, signs cannot be made permanent. While placeholders help redrawing signs correctly, they are powerless without proper ritual. Placeholders aid against malevolent or accidental changes, and important signs are laid in steel and stone. There are other limitations to signs; they must be made on stable ground and cannot be drawn on carpets or even ships; they aid but don't offer full protection unless in the most extensive versions.
Aside from professional markmakers, speakers, collectors, and voices make heavy use of signs.

Artist's notes
This article was equally difficult to write as the one about speakers, there are so many details to signs and markmaking. Inventing the alphabets graphically took much preparation and for a long time I wasn't sure if they would be put down at all, but I realized that I wanted to describe them better and use them in paintings sooner or later. They might not be final like this, but for now I'm rather happy with their designs. 

Family and relations

• Family is everyone related through blood, and their spouses (grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, siblings, nephews and nieces, children, grandchildren; but not cousins, or the own spouse's siblings). For longlived species, family trees can become insanely large; states with such populations feature laws that put a sensible stop to responsibility for family members.
• Clan is the family plus all additional blood relations, and members of the household; relations by marriage, adopted children, and permanent guests.
• A tribe is all clans related by blood or law, the families and clans of all own clan members and their households.
• The people is all tribes that feel connected by culture, or are considered related by outsiders.

The importance of the communities differs. Settled nomads emphasize family and people, while travelling nomads consider the clan most important. In unsure times and regions every alliance is defended with teeth and claws, in safe times bonds are given up easier.

"I really don't see how I'm obliged to help the thrice-damned Redwater Walkers when we're only related by a distant cousin's adopted daughter's second husband. If we go on like that, I'd be related to half of Lozir, for crying out loud."
— Davoi, clan elder

Adoption

It's unusual to leave orphans on the streets. Most often they will be adopted by parents of their own species, but that's not a law. Garren will also call their beja parents mother and father and not fuss.
Dwarves are relatively quickly in new homes, even if they need a lot of food, as the timespan they can stay alone at young age is less than half a year, and the damage is harder to heal. Raganaj are harder to house; their needs are great, their growth requires new clothes often, and they always bring a pet, even if only in teenage years. Elves are almost never taken up when the adoptive parents' relationship isn't perfectly fine, there's always the hint it might be a bastard, and their many peculiarities make elves hard to live with (elves are more prone to suffer from prejudice anyway than others).
Speaker children are never alone for long; their group will take them in, if no-one else will.

"Sewing new clothes for Samakadi always was like tentmaking, with her being my height at age six, and I haven't been able to carry her after her third birthday. But she is 'our' daughter, and I could not imagine my life without her."
— Ogrinae Kanraha, dwarf

Artists' notes
There are many fine details to living together that are fun to consider when creating a multi-species world. As there are very few cultures with few or only one species, I had to think about how people marry, how they handle children, if there are more halfbloods than truebloods, what society thinks of halfbreeds, and so on. The main thing though is, all parents love their children regardless of how they came by them, and raganaj parents will love their garren children just as much as their own blood, and this simple notion fixes most problems. Adding that racial prejudice is considered a mental illness, halfbloods may not be many (you'll probably marry so you can have children) but aren't outcasts either. Halfbloods will be detailed in their own article.

The calendar

The kitaian calendar relies on multiples of four and five. A week has five days. Four weeks make a month (20 days). Twenty months form a year (400 days). One hundred years are a century; four hundred years a Great Circle, in which the Four come and go. Portions have own names, like a Lesser Quarter (5 months), or a Great Quarter (25 years).

"Sawrana has a theory that Great Quarters also have meaning, and is currently looking for an elven apprentice to live long enough to prove it, in case you're looking for a job."

— Malimai Gjadruun, to his friend

Furthermore, five subsequent years (a Great Fifth) are assigned to the five principles: fire, water, earth and air, life, and spirit.

• In the year of the east, fundaments are made or destroyed; willpower is high, plots go slow, mines produce better material. People are loyal and confident; it's the Year of Crafts.
• The year of the south sees the outbreak of conflicts and new beginnings. People fall in love, start living their dreams; it's not a good year to finish something. This is the Year of the Brave.
• In the year of the north, peace is made; reforms and improvements come easy now. The Year of All is a good year to marry.
• During the year of the west, everything seems possible. Visions are declared, children born; harvests are good and illnesses light. People are in high spirits in the Year of Moving.
• The spirit year sees many supernatural events; speakers and spirits gain more power, but everyone's mind seems at its best. Master works are created, discoveries made, and art and philosophy are at their best. In the Star Year, mental influence is easy.

Artists' notes
I knew that simply keeping our Earth calendar would never do but didn't care about it until recently, and was surprised how nicely it all fitted together with multiples of four and five. There are no holidays yet - they will be largely regional and it makes more sense to invent them when it comes up. Although year's end and beginning are very likely spots, and there are some related to the moons.