Amnar Structure 15: At last, the dragons and dragonlords

This is the latest in a series of posts about Amnar, shedding light on the background to the world. This time, we’re looking at the dragons and dragonlords.

Introduction and history

Dragons (Draegunad), and the larger Dragonlords (Draegunim) are not native to Amnar, and were not in fact discovered until the first explorers from the newly founded mountain city of Nas Isca had been established encountered them. Nas Isca itself was originally intended to be an outpost to watch over the Gap that opened in the skies there, but there was no initial evidence of activity on the other side as there was at the Duum Gate and Nas Trinitari Gate.

At this point, there were only a few Capillites, and it was the original Guardian Defender who was part of the contingent who were suddenly presented with the appearance of a massive flying lizard-like creature coming through what became known as the Iscan Gate. For their part, the dragons had no initial interest in the Amnari, but had ventured through the Gate between the two planets because they had heard reports that intelligent species were establishing a civilisation there.

The dragons and dragonlords also wanted little to do with the Amnari, and it was down to progressive negotiations between the Guardian Defender that led to the appointment of a Capillite Guardian of the Dragon Realm from amongst the Guardian Defender’s team of warriors. The post was ratified by the High Ashad Isha.

The Sabat Draegunim (The Dragon Civilisation)

The dragons, having met with Isha herself, decided that the Amnari were sufficiently intelligent enough to communicate with. It was several generations before they became what I suppose we would consider the jumbo jets of the Amnari world. They considered this a form of service to the Amnari system, although it was entirely voluntary. Their presence in the Amnari world made it possible for the effective running of the educational and healthcare systems, not to mention allowing people from all over the Empire to attend whichever academy they wanted and to travel more freely.

Dragons themselves are not conscious in the same sense as humans, although they can and do happily communicate with Amnari, this is unusual. They live far longer than Amnari, and therefore may well spend time with tens of different dragonmasters and dragonriders in the course of their lives. They also came to serve on the line at Nas Trinitar, since they considered the Amnari civilisation worthy of protection.

Their motivations for flying Amnari about happily, fighting with them and aiding relief efforts during famine periods in places like the Nahabi and the Red Deserts, are not entirely known. Successive Guardians of the Dragon Realm have failed to find clear reasons, but it appears that the dragons simply want to, and find it an entertaining thing to be doing. Very little is known, similarly, about the structure of the Sabat Draegunim, the world of the dragons, since it is almost entirely uninhabitable for Amnari.

Dragonmasters and dragonriders

Both Dragonmasters and Dragonriders train at the Nas Iscan Academy, and are split into two groups. Civilian dragonmasters and riders only work in the main of Amnar, whereas those who have completed undergraduate warrior training at Duum are able to fight on the line at Nas Trinitar. All trainees start with an initial qualification as a dragonrider, able to fly dragons. Those who continue as postgraduates become dragonmasters who work with dragonlords.

The special skills required to build up a relationship with one dragon or dragonlord are developed, along with telepathy (Nas Isca also trains flight telepaths), the unusual forms of communication needed to understand dragon logic and certain aspects of the dragons’ culture. Masters take several years to build up a relationship with their beast, and are considered to be as expert as senior warriors on the line.

Dragonriders and masters both provide services to the civilian Uskele population, including the provision of Desert and Mountain Rescue teams in various states, and will carry individuals to and from the more remote settlements, especially those research stations like Cir Nafairu in the Nas Trinitari mountains, for example. They and their dragons provide the backbone to transport throughout the Empire.

The most senior Dragonmasters are those who serve the Caipashad Capillites, such as Naszha and Sadarin. Otherwise, dragonriders and masters follow a similar path through life as other Ta Dasi, although because of their frequent long-distance flights for those in the civilian corps, it is often difficult for them to maintain strong family ties. The most senior Dragonmasters relate most strongly to the Servants, for the reason that they by law cannot have children.

 

Amnar Structure 14: The Amnari academic education system

This is another in a series I’m writing about the world of Amnar, bearing in mind that many of the topics covered here apply to Amnar but not its former capital, Amin Duum, from 4742 to 4785 SA.

The basic structure of Amnar consists of two levels, the global level of the Empire, and the local, that of the of the individual city states. Education is one of those aspects of Amnar that is for the most part handled at the level of the Empire. Education in Amnar itself has two levels, that of standard education and the Academic System, which provides the Empire with Ta Dasi, Servants and various auxiliary staff.

There are several academies, each based in one of the major city states (the word ‘academy’ is ‘dashkad’ in Amnari):

Dashkad Düma: The Duum Academy, based in the High City of Amin Duum, training warriors of all levels from the age of five. Up to 4742, it also had an attached infirmary, the Dedicated Gap and Academic, which specialised in training line support watchers and specialists in warrior health. This academy was the centre of the academic system up to 4742, and was then abandoned in 4765 at the expulsion of the Amnari from Amin Duum. The academy was then relocated and amalgamated with the NALCA (discussed below).

Dashkad Nazran: The Am Rune Academy, in the state capital of Am Rune in the south, trains Servants and Ta Dasi to become watchers. It also takes adult students wishing to become nurses or infirmary auxiliaries.

Ai Dashkad Urgat: Am Urga’s two academies, unified as one, trains Sifradan, Ta’Sifradan and Zurasim. It also provides a preparatory school for those who will go on to serve at the Nas Ashca.

Ai Dashkad Ulgai: Rad Ulga’s academy, which for the most part trains Seers and auxiliary staff. Some Zurasim are also trained here.

Sudna Dashkad Ruinn: Referred to as a “sub-academy”, because it does not train very young children, the base at Rad Ruinn trains warriors, watchers and auxiliaries who specialise in dealing with the territorial wars across the borders of Amnar in the Red Desert.

Sudna Dashkad Nas Trinitar: Provides graduate training to Ta Dasi and other auxiliary staff in the line at Nas Trinitar. Does not take young children.

Dashkad Iscava: Formerly an extension of Dashkad Düma, the Nas Iscan Academy became independent to train Dragonriders and Dragonmasters in the middle of the First Age, when Caipashad Capillites required a dedicated Dragonmaster on their staff. It now takes children from the age of five, but also specialises in the training of Mountain Rescue, medical triage, and flight telepathy.

Sudna Dashkad Nas Ashca: The Nas Ashca Lower Complex Academy (NALCA) is a graduate training facility at the Nas Ashca, taking graduates of Dashkad Düma, Dashkad Iscava and Dashkad Nazran, for postgraduate specialisation.

Ai Dashkad Nas Ashca: The Nas Ashca Higher Complex Academy (NAHCA) trains those who have graduated as either Ta’Sifradan or Ta Zurasim either become Ai Ta’Sifradan or Ai Ta Zurasim, the most senior academic posts in Amnar.

All of the big academies also provide training for teachers who work in the cities, settlements and establishments of Amnar and train those who do not attend an academy.

Selection for the main academies at Am Rune, Amin Duum, Am Urga and Rad Ulga is based on sponsorship by former graduates. They can be Servants, Ta Dasi or any other occupation, as long as they have graduated from the academy to which they wish to sponsor. There are no entrance examinations, but sponsors take on the onus of recommending children. Sponsorships can also be given by any Capillite.

Sponsors tend to have a strong connection to their charges throughout their academic life and beyond. This is especially true for Servants and Capillites, who can often see them as surrogate children, given that they can have families of their own. It should be noted here that Gadasim cannot sponsor their own children, but have responsibility for locating and communicating with a suitable sponsor.

Sponsorship fosters communication between generations, and also between social groups like the Uskele and the Ta Dasi, who often make an effort to find Uskele children to become future Ta Dasi. Children often correspond regularly with their sponsor, who in turn helps the Gadasim to find them an appropriate starting point for their career, or handle issues such as injury or sickness. Even Servants tend to take a great interest in anybody they have sponsored. The only Servant who does not publicly sponsor students is Arandes Nashima, because of the burden he felt that this would put on the child’s shoulders.

Amnar Structure 13: The life and times of the Uskele

This is partly in response to a reader’s question from yesterday. Who – or what – are the Uskele?

The word Uskele

The word “Uskele” is used to refer to anybody who isn’t a Capillite, Servant, Ta Dasi or any of the other named hierarchies like the Sifradan or Zurasim. Its literal translation is “higher mortal”, which is meant to distinguish creatures with self-awareness (i.e. they have an “I” sense of self) from those that don’t. However, it doesn’t refer to primates. Uskele is used to refer to those who do not become something else in the course of their lives.

The prefix Us means “higher”, “above” or “aware”, and Kele is derived from the verb kel, which means being, or in some cases the state of being alive. It is also a noun which means “being”.

The term uskele generally means anybody, and for most people who use it (the Ta Dasi etc) it can also include the various tribes who aren’t Amnari (Taija, Tingalu, Nimoleh etc). However, some of these tribes regard themselves as distinct from the Amnari uskele, such as the Taija who sometimes refer to themselves in formal language as the Taijil Uskele.

The lives of the Uskele

Everybody in Amnar is born Uskele, even if their parents are members of the Ta Dasi or other social groups. Joining other groups depends on education or selection. In the case of the Ishcai-Nashim (the Servants), the Sifradan and Zurasim, this largely depends on selection or as in the case of young Capillai-nisi, being identified as such by the Samedim-Ishcavei.

Warriors are identified at the age of five or in some cases six, but the Amnari education system prohibits anybody training as a warrior who starts after that age. Watchers, Sifradan and Zurasim can be selected up to the ages of nine or ten. Late entry nurses and auxiliary staff can be selected at any time in their lives when they choose to change career.

It is important to note that entry into the Ishcai-Nashim or Ta Dasi orders is not contingent on belonging to the main Amnari (Adnashi) tribe. Selection representatives from all the main Academies make special journeys out to visit the smaller tribes, including the nomadic Nimoleh and Tingalu in order to give their children an opportunity to train.

For those who do not gain a formal training at one of the Academies, education is managed until the age of twenty, usually organised by the Academy itself, despite not allowing formal admission. Young Uskele will learn a huge variety of skills, from advanced literacy to the survival skills necessary to inhabit a world that is, essentially, wild.

The objective of education for young Uskele is to identify their own skills and strengths to contribute to wider society. Rather than shunting people into whatever career is required, Amnari focus on what the individual strengths of its people can provide. There are a huge range open to Uskele, and this continues into adulthood.

Many Uskele take advantage of the opportunity to provide service in a city’s Holy Complex. As maids, stewards, messengers and junior cooks, young Uskele have the advantage of daily interaction with members of the Ishcai-Nashim and Ta Dasi. This can open up opportunities to retrain as infirmary auxiliary staff at any of the big training infirmaries or even Am Rune Academy itself.

Others become highly skilled artisans, or take the long, winding path into civilian authority – becoming a politician. There is no such thing as ‘political science’ in Amnar, so youngsters with an eye to leadership tend to make their way early into situations close to the Holy Complexes. As all the big city states require vast numbers of staff to support them, not to mention the additional numbers needed to run the Nas Ashca itself, there is no shortage of opportunity.

Many others ignore these routes and become what we might call farmers. Given the unusual state of agriculture in Amnar, which does not favour mono-cropping, hunting and gathering are considered vital to the civilisation’s survival. Indeed, even those who rise to the senior Ta Dasi ranks and Servants themselves consider hunting a central part of their lives. Some polycropping is common in Amnar, and it is considered a highly skilled occupation.

Uskele, like all other Amnari (with the exception of Ishcai-Nashim and Capillites) are considered eligible to become Gadasim. In small settlements and villages, the traditional approach organised between families is preferred, but in bigger cities, this is organised at a higher level. Positioning Ta Dasi who become Gadasim with Uskele families and children is meant to encourage social mobility, to give those who do not usually mix with Ta Dasi the opportunity for their children to attend one of the academies. Of course, having a Ta Dasi Gadasim is no guarantee that the child will eventually attend an Academy.

Amnar Structure 12: The State of the Amnari Empire

It’s been several months since I’ve done this, but it seems appropriate to head back into writing about Amnar background, for those who are interested. And to start with we have a look at the Amnari Empire’s long history, having already covered aspects of its structure.

Foundation

The start of what is called The First Age was marked by the establishment of a union between the seven states that had grown up over the vast stretch of what became known as Amnar. Starting at Duum, the Adnashi-Amnari had spread outwards, augmenting their numbers by peaceful agreements with local tribes and other groups. By the time of the Foundation and Establishment, the landscape of Amnar was characterised by vast swathes of unpopulated territory in between the seven big states of Duum (central north), Nas Isca (north), Nas Trinitar (far west), Am Rune (far southwest), Am Urga (mid north), Rad Ulga (central south), and Rad Ruinn (far southeast).

Each state had developed its own system of governance, but at the Foundation of the Empire all states agreed to be managed by a representative Capillite, acting as a kind of spiritual leader and adviser who then took the issues specific to that area to an overarching council at the Nas Ashca in the newly acquired territory of the Tis Nafir mountains, once the seat of the Empire of Cir Nacayjil.

Over the course of the 5000 years or so of the First Age, there was a gradual democratisation of each of the seven states. As science, political science and artistic development continued, the role of the Capillite in each state diminished to the point of being less a ruler and more of an adviser. The growth of a standard Academic education system that supplied each state with a compliment of warriors and watchers, not to mention all the auxiliary roles that came to be embodied under the title Ta Dasi initially gave the Empire a strong feeling of unity.

The Second Age

As political and economic shifts changed the nature of political heirarchy in each state, it was felt by Isha and her legal mastermind Alix that the states no longer needed such guidance from the Capillites. The New Establishment, which marked the beginning of the Second Age, brought about sweeping changes in law which recognised the respective autonomy of the Empire’s Ta Dasi and Servants (Ishcai-Nashim) and the right of the states to self-determination.

This created a two-tier effect in Amnari politics. Each state now had a civilian authority and leadership that was independent of the larger Empire’s control. The Ta Dasi and Servants still operated in the same way, but now provided representatives to the civilian leadership for the interest of their own people living within the city state. The states used the Capillites as negotiators for support and supplies from the larger Empire, which focused its authority between Duum – then being led by Ashad Amin – and the Nas Ashca, where Isha had her seat as Empress.

The only state that did not develop a form of democratic leadership without the direct leadership of a Capillite was Duum. The biggest state, managing sprawling territories that reached as far west as the Trinitari Sea and to the eastern boundary with Am Urga, then stretching right down into central southern Amnar, had developed very differently, with an executive committee whose members repeatedly insisted on the maintenance of Ashad Amin as their head.

Duum had cultural reasons for refusing to demote their resident Capillite to the role of a mere adviser. During the latter years of the First Age and the early Second Age, Amin had developed a reputation for fair but compelling leadership, taking a strong interest in the affairs of the Uskele he represented. As the city that contained within its boundaries one of the deadliest Gaps, the Duum Gate, and the Academy that not only trained the Empire’s warrior elite but also controlled the entire education system with sub-academies providing expertise in Line Support that the Watchers’ Academy at Am Rune simply couldn’t offer (given that the Am Rune Gate was a dormant Gap by the Second Age), its pride in being the centre of the Empire superceded any democratisation to a fully Uskele leadership.

Amin’s leadership was one based solidly on his charismatic personality and intimate understanding of the complex nature of life in Duum. The city had had its share of suffering from the Duum Gate during its most active periods, and the people who lived there were understandably reluctant to see anybody but a fully qualified warrior hold its most senior post.

Consequently, Ashad Amin’s death left a vast hole in Duum politics. The simmering tensions between Taija and Amnari extremist groups made it difficult to establish a coherent leadership. Although both Lilatysia and Arandes stepped into the breach in some respects, because Arandes was not a political figure with the same power as Amin, his reach was largely limited to the Ta Dasi with whom he worked and any Uskele who happened to cross his path. Without any political responsibility in the same sense as his former master, Arandes had initially little reason for interacting on a daily basis with Uskele outside his remit until the rioting of the 4700s in the South City made his powerful presence more obvious.

Lilatysia, meanwhile, was too divisive a figure to keep the battling tensions of the Taija and extremist Amnari Scorian groups under control. She did not have the authority that Ashad Amin had held, was a member of the committee as ‘the eyes of Isha’ but not its leader. The inheritors of Scorian hated her as much as he had for her refusal to back their fundamentalist views about the nature of Adnashi-Amnari blood and its superiority to the zealous Taija.

Meanwhile, the other states had happily adjusted to self-management, and the Capillites pulled back to take up roles that revolved around providing nodding support. Although they met officially to discuss matters that affected all Amnar, or assisted in trade between the big states, the Ai Ta’Sifradan were the formal eyes and ears of the woman whose role at the heart of the Empire had almost religious significance.

By the time of Duum’s collapse into totalitarian dictatorship under Tiom, the concept of the Amnari Empire had become less about practical politics that could be managed between the various Uskele state executives, but about an almost religious devotion. The concept of Amnar was framed around the provision of Ta Dasi warriors, watchers and auxiliaries, whose devotion was service to an overarching idea of unity, and to the idolising of the woman who had once prevented breakdown into war and ignominy: Isha herself.

Amnar Structure 11: Servant life

This is another post in the series on Amnari background. You can find the others here.

Introduction

The ten Lesser Servants, known as the Ishcai-Nashim, have become in 4785 the most significant and powerful officials of the Amnari Empire. Bound by the Nascir Ishcai-Nashim, the Servants’ Second Indenture, they are tattooed with the sign of their Capillite and dedicate their lives to total Service to Amnar. They are not permitted to marry or to have children.

The basic structure of the Servants system is written out here. Although Servants are responsible to their Capillites, by the start of the Second Age, an internal structure had built up, with the Senior Servant of the Guardian Defender acting as a defacto leader. This paved the way for their gradually becoming an autonomous group that largely managed itself.

This was partly due to the work of the Guardian Defender Ashad Amin, who placed great emphasis on recognising the hard work and dedication of the Servants. In his six thousand years of leadership in Duum, he encouraged all the Servants to consider themselves able to become leaders in their own right, rather than simply waiting for a Capillite to tell them what to do.

It was his Senior, Tishca, who fully embraced this possibility, and the Servants began to organise their own activities and work beyond the rule of the Capillites. They would turn to their masters when required, but the rest of the time they were able to arrange their own rota of duty and work with Ta Dasi leaders.

Choosing and training

Potential Servants are chosen within their first year of life, by the Samedim Ishcavei. They are Zurasim or Seers with the capacity to see the potential of souls to serve the Empire. All Servants are orphans with no direct relations. They have a Gadasim, or Guardian, as do all young Amnari children. The Gadasim is given responsibility for the child for the first five years, and they are raised very much like other children.

At the age of five, they attend a ceremony at the Nas Ashca, where they are signed to the First Indenture. This is a training indenture, and details the type of training and education they will receive. This includes being given a tattoo on their arm that indicates the position for which they are to be prepared.

Each city produces Servants and potentials for a different Capillite:

Amin Duum – Guardian Defender
Nas Trinitar – Guardian of the Higher Mortals
Rad Ruinn – Guardian of the Lesser Mortals
Am Rune – Guardian Watcher
Nas Isca – Guardian of the Dragon Realm

Two candidates for each position are taken out of the city each year. Forty children graduate each year, filling out the ranks of the Ta Dasi if they’re not able to take a position. They will only take a position if the previous incumbent has died, and they are selected by the Capillite responsible.

The watcher Servants train at Am Rune from the age of 5 to 16, when they graduate and transfer to Amin Duum for two years. They finish their training at the Nas Ashca and Nas Trinitar and graduate at 20. On their twenty-first birthday, if they have not been chosen for a position, they are assisted into the role of a Watcher.

Warrior Servants train at Amin Duum from the age of 5 to 18, then at the Nas Ashca until the age of twenty. At 21, they become Duty Warriors if they haven’t become a Servant.

Potential Servants are expected to be amongst the highest achieving graduates each year. Their Gadasim are deeply involved with their lives and their emotional health, given the intensity of both their training and the expectation for their life and work. Most potentials who don’t become Servants have incredibly powerful careers and go on to become Senior Masters or even First Highs in their discipline.

Servant life

There are a variety of things Servants spend their time doing. The core of their work prior to the collapse of Duum was serving on the line at Nas Trinitar and Amin Duum. Both watcher and warrior Servants take part in this.

Aside from this work, the Servants of the Guardian Watcher are also involved in organising and maintaining the infirmaries around the whole of the Empire, working especially in the areas that are especially vulnerable, like the Red Desert and the Nahabi. Servants generally take responsibility for organising relief efforts during famines.

Servants can be asked to do pretty much anything, and they are trained to cope with this. They have built up a culture and a powerful sense of identity, relating to each other as siblings. Since they have no family, they turn to each other, and trust and mutual support is crucial to them. They socialise together, eat together and know they can turn to each other in need.

Cosai describes becoming a Servant:

“I was intensely excited, I remember… And you can’t really describe what it’s like, after twenty years… there you are being this thing that you’ve always dreamed of being…

“And then it came home to me that I was going to be fighting on the line. I think I’d avoided it for a long time because I was nervous fighting. I hadn’t had a great time at Duum learning to fight properly, and going down onto the line the first time… Welll, you go down and do your first tour with Arandes, and by that time he was legendary you know.

“I think I’d heard… I’d heard somewhere that he’d yelled two warriors off the line for fighting with each other. Stripped them of their graduation marks because he said their behaviour showed they didn’t deserve it. So he has this huge reputation, the most amazing warrior ever, the greatest Servant ever, and up until then I hadn’t really spoken to him, I don’t think.

“So I was terrified. I don’t think I’ve been that terrified in my life. We were at Duum then, and I went down to the, the line tower, and he was waiting for me. And I was pretty much shaking like a leaf. Trying to hide it, you know? But there was no way I was going to look like a big tough warrior. No way at all.

“And he just looked at me and said, “What’s up?”

“And I just broke down. There’s something about him, I don’t know, makes you open up. I just said that I was terrified, and that I really didn’t think I could do this, and how I was scared I was going to mess this up and not measure up as a Servant.

“He just looked at me and said – really, this is what he said – “You don’t have to do this. You’re a great watcher, one of the best to come through the Academy. There’s never enough watchers with that kind of skill. I’ll find a way to make it look like you go out and fight, but I bet the others will understand if you can’t do it.”

“I just stared at him – gaped, you know? This is the greatest warrior in Amnar telling me I don’t have to fight on the line, ever. And I don’t know what it was about that conversation but then I just said that I would do it. I would go out on the line and fight. He made it easier, you know?”

Amnar Structure 10: The Order of Dancers

This is another post in a series about the world behind the book, The Awakening. You can find the other posts in this series here.

This is about the Order of Dancers, mentioned in a few of the early chapters of the book, The Awakening. The Head of the Order of Dancers, Yaxha, was a major activist during the evacuation of Duum in 4765.

History

The Amnari have a very long history of performing history, legend and story through the ages. This became formalised during the Establishment Period as the Order of Dancers. They sit outside the conventional orders already described, being somewhere between the Sifradan and the Ta Dasi.

The Order of Dancers’ main role is to perform the Dances of the Ages during festivals, and to provide entertainment and theatre throughout the cities. As one of the most ancient orders, with a very long history, the Order carries a great deal of respect, and the Head of the Order has a great deal of influence. She is directly accountable to the Second Servant of the High Ashad Isha, Talija, who is also known as the Empress of the Fire Spirits.

The Order’s most prominent appearance each year is at the Harvest of the Souls, arguably Amnar’s biggest and most important festival. The dance includes a history of the first ‘Harvest’, when the first children were selected to become the Servants of the Capillites prior to the Establishment of the Empire, but much of it is part of a fertility ritual and celebration intended to bring on the late summer rains that will swell the river after the arid High Summer period.

The Head of the Order

The Order of Dancers’ connection to the Sifradan began with training. The first Dancers were all trained at the Am Urga Academy, but after the ascension of the Ashad Isaka to the formal role of First Sifra, they became a separate group, training in a ’secret’ academy at Rad Ruinn instead. Here, traditions amongst the Sifradan were much earthier, much more sensual than the high-minded northern Sifradan tradition instituted by Isaka.

Despite Isaka’s determination to keep the Dancers out of the formal Sifradan system because of their sexual proclivities, the association with the Empress of the Fire Spirits, Talija herself, gave the Head of the Order a direct line to Isha herself. Isha, who has always maintained a group of Ai Ta’Sifradan trained by herself exclusively, assisted in the training of the Head of the Order herself.

Associations with the D’Nash

One of the advantages of having an Order who were dancers with a secret association to the highest eschelons in Amnari spiritual society was the ability to engage more and more Ta Dasi in the secret D’Nash order during the collapse of the City of Amin Duum. Yaxha, then Head of the Order, was responsible for selecting potential members and providing constant contact with Talija at the Nas Ashca during the struggle.

In many ways, the Order and the D’Nash form a kind of ’secret service’, able to act outside the auspices of either the spiritual or conventional leadership of Amnar. The Head of the Order also has strong connections to the leader of the Servants, which position is usually bestowed upon the Senior Servant of the Guardian Defender.

This became extremely important when the Capillites refused to intervene in the situation in Amin Duum during the years 4742 to 4765. The conventional Ameshi leadership followed the ruling of the Capillites not to take any action to prevent the city from separating itself from the Empire, despite appeals from many of the Ta Dasi that the conditions in the city warranted some kind of forced take-over to prevent the atrocities being committed.

Through the work of the D’Nash, Arandes Nashima (Senior Servant of the Guardian Defender) and the Order of Dancers, a presence in Duum could be established after the forced evacuation of 22-3rd Ashmuta 4765. Although Yaxha herself could not stay in the city, her activities, and those of her subordinates, allowed a continual stream out of Rad Ruinn and other cities of Ta Dasi watchers who could work in Duum and alleviate the suffering there.

I will discuss some of the detail behind the different laws associated with this in another post.

Amnari Structure 9: Servants Halls and Holy Complexes

This is another in a series of posts about the world behind the Amnar books and The Awakening. You can find the other posts here.

Introduction

At the heart of every major Amnari city is what is known as the Holy Complex. In cities with an active and dangerous Gap, such as Amin Duum and Nas Trinitar, the Holy Complex either surrounds (in the case of Duum) or is located directly behind the Gap.

However, Holy Complexes are found everywhere in Amnar, as the quarters of holy orders (the Zurasim and Sifradan), the dormitories and working bases of single Ta Dasi, and temporary rooms for Capillites and Servants, when they require them. Each Holy Complex also features a Taijis Nil and library, where Amnari history and intellectual tradition is kept alive.

Servants Halls

There are two big Servants’ Halls, at Nas Trinitar and Amin Duum. A third at Rad Ruinn is of similar size and tradition, but it has largely fallen out of use since the Red Gap became dormant. Servants’ Halls provide accommodation for the ten Servants of the Caipashad Capillites, and feature ten separate rooms, each with their own bathroom, a massive kitchen (that usually also supplies the rest of the Holy Complex), and banqueting hall.

At Nas Trinitar and Amin Duum, the traditions of Service are held in very high esteem, to the point where Servants are revered even above Capillites for their service on the Gap line. Servants are treated to massive rooms, have all their clothing provided for, and even have a dress maid who attends them before they go out on the line and is responsible for the maintenance of their uniforms.

The Servants’ Hall is managed by a Kuka (pl. Kukadan), who is responsible for the governance of the hall. She ordinarily has a large staff beneath her of cooks, maids and stewards who are responsible for providing meals, cleaning and maintaining rooms. Working in a Servants’ Hall is seen as an opportunity to change direction in life for young Uskele – many who work there get late-start sponsorships to the Am Rune Academy to train as nurses.

The wider Holy Complex

The rest of the Holy Complex is a mixture of provision for Sifradan and Zurasim of various levels, accommodation for single Ta Dasi and for Capillites. There are also many libraries and usually an attached infirmary, which will provide services for at least some of the wider city.

Amnari have a strong intellectual tradition, and have produced a great many books and theses. Holy Complexes are seen as places of great learning, rather than as austere, separate locations, and are very much open to the rest of the population. ‘Holy’ to Amnari means ‘devoted to’, and is part of their wider cultural emphasis on service. All who reside or work within a Holy Complex are considered to be contributing essential service to the wider community.

Amnar Structure 8: Agriculture and food

This is another post about the world behind the story The Awakening. You can find the other posts in this series here.

Food! Amnari agriculture.

Basic overview

Despite the fact that the majority of the Amnari population are currently stable and non-nomadic, the Amnari diet has changed little in hundreds of thousands of years. Much of what is eaten depends on the location, with a hunter’s diet being consumed in the semi-arid and desert locations, while some places, such as Nas Trinitar, have been used for rice production for thousands of years.

Amin Duum’s traditional hunter-gatherer and rice production combination agriculture was drastically altered during the Tiomite period, in the first attempt to mass produce a form of wheat crop on the Amnari Plains. The weak soils of the Plains, unable to sustain such intensive cropping, began to erode very quickly, causing widespread famine for many of the years of the Tiomite regime. This is the only case of radical changes being made to Amnari agricultural systems.

The intensely dry and barren Red Desert supports almost no cropping at all, as much of the territory is bare rock. This area has long been supported by imports of rice from Nas Trinitar and Am Rune, combined with rooftop gardens that grow a mixture of green rice and a huge variety of different fruits. It is common for Amnari states to support each other with exchanges of raw materials for food.

The only fully domesticated animal in Amnar is the horse, although many tribes such as the Plains Nomads and the Nimoleh herd goats or sheep. Chickens can often be found running loose outdoors in orchards.

Rice terraces

Diet

All Amnari children are taught how to survive in their environment, to hunt and find food. It is one of the most basic requirements of life in the Amnari world. They are also taught how to make the most basic hunting tools, although hunters and gatherers themselves make use of far more modern implements for their trade.

Food finding, gathering or hunting is a social activity in Amnar as well, and even the most senior Ta Dasi will spend time with hunters or growing food in the grounds around their homes. Food is therefore not that much of a commodity to Amnari, and they expect to be able to get it virtually for free. Famine periods in the harshest parts of their world are therefore dealt with swiftly, usually by watchers under the auspices of the Guardian Watcher.

The basic diet is therefore largely composed of fruit and meat. The diets of Ta Dasi and Servants tend to be highly monitored from the time they begin training at their academies, so they are very well-fed and grow very tall. Amnar’s low population means there is a plentiful supply of food for everybody, and it is embedded in cultural mores to supply food to anybody in need.

Rice is used to make tzatzi, a form of wide, flat noodle that is mixed with chicken and vegetables into either a thick soup or as a dry dish with sauce. It is also served in grain form, or used to make flat bread. In some parts of the Runic territories and central Amnar, maize and wheat are also grown. The standard method for handling these crops is polycropping, which protects the soil.

Amnari do source coffee and chocolate to drink, and it is usually mixed together with a sort of sugar paste. We would find it very bitter and difficult to drink, but it is a staple of warriors, who like having it for breakfast. Amnari also make alcohol of various forms, especially rice wine, sugar wine, ‘whisky’, and something called ‘grogoshka’, which especially popular amongst male warriors because it is exceptionally potent.

Water is drunk boiled and distilled, from the Amnari plumbing system in cities. In smaller settlements, Amnari collect water and boil it to make it safe to drink. Amnari tend to be very conscious of the need to avoid unnecessary health problems. One of the major results of the fall of Duum was the abandonment of not just the plumbing system but traditional knowledge, leading to massive cholera outbreaks, especially during famine years.

Amnar Structure 7: Some aspects of language

This is another in a series of posts about the Amnari world that lies behind the story in The Awakening. You can find the full list of posts here.

Introduction

Masai tribesmen - inspiration for the Tingalu and the people of Amna Tatu

It’s difficult to talk clearly about Amnari language, because there are a huge number of them, and many ancient languages that have died out. The backbone of Amnari society, the ancient Adnashi people, had their own language and oral tradition, which was a combination of the four lesser tribes that made up their numbers by the time they reached the plains where they established Duum.

The language of the Adnashi evolved eventually into Standard Modern Amnari, which is spoken by the Capillites, Servants, Ta Dasi and anybody else who travels between the largest city states. This is the closest Amnar comes to having an ‘official’ language. It is expected that all academy graduates are able to speak it, and the vast majority of residents in the seven major cities speak it as a matter of course.

Prior to the unification of the seven city states, the languages spoken by the alien Amnari had become mixed up with that of local tribes. Various dialects and alternative variations on the Adnashi languages emerged, which are regarded as languages in their own right, although specific to their own region. There is even a separate Dumite language, which is a combination of a very old form of one of the main Adnashi languages and a tribal language spoken across the Amnari Plain, through Tirthan and out as far as the Nahabi and Tingalu to the west.

Written forms and the Taijis Nil

The written form of Amnari languages only really became significant during the Establishment Period of the Empire. It grew out of the symbols used by trackers to mark territory and locations for followers from the Amnari nomadic period that predated the Empire itself. It includes six central symbols, Ai Am Na Ta Rad Cai, and then a multitude of others that represent core sounds or syllables.

During the Establishment Period, the High Ashad Alix began using the written language of the time to write up a full history of Amnar, including all the cities. This history, including a full account of Amnar’s two legal systems (The Meshcir and the Nascir), was then inscribed into the walls of a massive natural joint in the western wall of the Duum Canyon. This became known as the Taijis Nil.

“Taijis Nil” means literally “written hall”, and is constantly added to over time. This task was taken over by the tribe who became known as the Taijil Uskele or Taija (“writing people”), who originally assisted in the construction and inscription of the hall at Duum. They are a distinct people who survived the collapse of a pre-Amnari civilisation in the east at the city of Cir Nacayjil. It has been argued that their unusual beliefs and separatist attitude contributed to the breakdown of civil order in Amin Duum and its eventual collapse.

The written form of the language appears as symbols, with names encased in boxes. The language can be read or written in any direction, with arrow marks indicating which way a passage should be marked. Single symbols for Servants and Capillites are designed once they attain their position. It is common for Ta Dasi to have similar symbols tattooed into their skin.

Spoken forms and oral tradition

Amnar has a very strong oral tradition, and much of their history has been turned into the form of dances, led by the Order of Dancers (I will deal with this group elsewhere). Modern Amnari is usually defined by the northern and southern accents, which place emphasis on different syllables. In the recording below I have given a few examples of the different ways that Amnari words are pronounced by northerners and southerners.

The standard method of pronunciation is usually northern, given that Amin Duum is at the heart of all things Amnari.

This is a short piece of audio describing Amnari language, including a reading of very old Amnari poetry: Language and Poetry in Amnar

Amnar Structure 6: Amnari Time

This is another post in a potentially infinite series on the Amnari world. You can find the other posts here.

This is all about Amnari time, the Amnari day, months and years.

Days

Amnar has a 25 hour day, although this is approximate (I will discuss this further down). The naming of the hours is complicated, mostly because it is based on the system used to manage the Gap rotas. These were originally designed around quarter-days, using midnight, dawn, midday and dusk as reference points.

The first hour is called Midnight Hour. The following hours are then First After, Second After, etc. until Dawn Hour, when the cycle repeats up to Noon Hour, then Dusk Hour. The final hour is Ritual Hour, named for the hour before midnight when Ai Ta’Sifradan gather for their rituals.

Most Amnari who are not Ta Dasi or Servants have no use for the hours between Midnight, Dawn, Noon and Dusk so they are ignored. A bell system is used in most cities to mark the hours and there are watches.

Time is based on the sunrise at Amin Duum, so Rad Ruinn, the Nas Ashca and anywhere to the east of the city has to be set forward of Duum Time, and anywhere to the west set back. Amin Duum is the equivalent of GMT.

Seasons and Months

The Amnari year has 325 days, although every 13 years an additional 2 days are added to the last month for the equivalent of a ‘leap year’, as the days do not exactly match 325 for each year, nor do the hours exactly match the 25 mentioned above.

There are thirteen months, and the start of the year is the first official day of spring, rather than the middle of winter. Each month is named for its position in the calender: First, Second, Third, etc. The months are listed below:

Ishril, Naim, Trisa, Cosril, Muktil, Qolril, Yamtk, Ashmuta, Muytil, Shamtk, Ishvail, Naimvail and Trasvail.

Seasons vary depending on where you are. For example, Rad Ruinn has almost no variation through the year in weather, and almost no rain. Duum, on the other hand, has five seasons. There are a lot of references in The Awakening to it being cold; this would be relative. Amin Duum being a desert environment, cold for the natives would hardly compare to the cold of winters in locations like Nas Trinitar or Nas Isca.

I will handle major festivals in different locations in a future post.