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The Llegesia are tall humanoids with pale green skin and long manes of green, brown and/or white hair. They have 5 fingers plus an opposable thumb on each hand, 5 toes on each foot, and 2 arms and 2 legs. They have no visible ears, instead using vibratory membranes throughout their body to give them a very fine sence of direction, tone, pitch and distance. They have 4 eyes, 2 daytime eyes which can see a bit below and above the typical range for other races, but not enough to make much difference. The other pair, above their regular eyes, and which must stay closed when the others are opened (and vice versa, though all may be closed at once) see in the infrared range, giving night vision and thermographic sight. They are very agile and are known for their skill with sword, bow, and the Llegesian wyltar, a kind of harp/flute.
The Llegesians are extremely devoted to keeping things as they are, were, and should be. If a definite flaw is shown in a plan, tradition, or otherwise, most Llegesians will have no problem with trying to fix it, but otherwise, they will continue doing the same traditions, exactly how they have been done for years. Their society does accept change, just not drastic change. They still encourage new songs to be sung, new dances to be danced. But new songs must be new; not parodies or variations on existing songs. If based on a factual episiode (as an epic poem might be) they must change nothing of the facts involved.
The Llegesian language changes very little from century to century; they resist the naturalization of foreign words and take old epic poems as their guide in matters of style and vocabulary. [Notes on proto-Llegisia]
Llegesian names are syllable based, with the more powerful and influential citizens having fewer syllables and the people lower in the social rank have more syllables. The elders traditionally have one or two syllables, and the two syllable members have the -Puk ending to their first name. This is a universal sufix which signifies one of great importance, but not of sufficient rank to lose a syllable. Some common occupations and their syllable ranges are listed below, but these are only guidelines.
Restorers, Masters of Lore, Elders 1-2
Priests 1-3
Warriors 2-4
Bards 3
Farmers 4
Beggars 5
Criminals 10 + the -Zhast suffix ("Evil One")
Try out a new crop, yes; but plant your staples as well, and when the new crop fails you will not go hungry. [Yes, "when" not "if".]
Like a gaping hole where a sturdy tree stood is the uncertainty left in place of a broken habit.
The wise words of an aged parent are like a well of pure water to a man about to journey across a desert.
Listen to your father's instruction; if you do not, what was the point
of him listening to his father's instruction?
{a satirical twist on a canonical proverb, perpetrated
by a Toa' or Slithu... :}
The young one hesitates at every decision, and his thoughts are weighed down by everyday cares; but the old one does all by habit, and his thoughts are free to ponder deep matters.
The Llegesia worship and give honor to the eldest of the gods; not for them are the young gods, even the powerful young Lost Gods. Only to Sorameia, the wise old maker of living creatures, and Josamendo, her husband, the maker and mover of rock and water, do the Llegesia give their allegiance. Not to Fkarmlak, the flamboyant young maker of magics, nor even to Yahekamo, the Sun-captain, bright and benevolent though she is; these are yet inexperienced and may yet fail their incautious worshippers.
When yet there was no sun or sky, Josamendo wrought rock and ice into water and earth, and Sorameia made small creatures to dwell in them, which needed no light or heat. This was good, but not yet good enough; so Josamendo heated a great stone till it became flame. He placed it above the earth and water to give light and heat to the next creatures that Sorameia fashioned. This made possible more creatures; but the sun stayed always in the sky, and several creatures that Sorameia tried were unable to live in the constant light and heat. So Josamendo and Sorameia made Yahekamo to steer the sun on a course that would give light and dark alternately. .....
There are several governing bodies in a Llegisia community, each with different responsibilities. The elders judge cases and prescribe justice in routine cases, but if the application of old law and custom is unclear in a particular case, they refer it to the masters of lore. The elders also arrange marriages for those who do not make love-matches, and preside at dedications of buildings, gardens and the like. The masters of lore determine the application of law in unusual cases, and meet once each year to induct new members (by oral examination of candiates in old lore) and formalize customs that have gradually become traditional in recent years. The Restorers carry out the punishments and rewards meted by the elders and masters of lore.
The members of each body wear a simple colored ribbon at all times when they are in public to indicate their office, so that anyone can approach them with a question or request. When actually acting in their official capacity, they wear robes of office embroidered with symbols of the aspects of their office, and carry staves graven with other symbols.
The Masters of Lore
Candidates for the Masters of Lore are tested for orthodoxy, extent of knowledge, and depth and quickness of thought, and, if found suitable (by the existing Masters of Lore), are inducted into that body by public and private ceremonies. The duties of the Masters of Lore are teaching, judging, and legislating on the obscurer and more esoteric points of law and custom.
The Elders
The elders are chosen from among the oldest living persons in the community, and once chosen, continue to serve as long as they can think clearly. Once each year each of the elders is privately tested by the Masters of Lore with riddles, and, if unable to answer them, is allowed to retire quietly. The duties of the elders are teaching history to the young, judging routine disputes and criminal charges, presiding at (and arranging) marriages and like ceremonies, and looking dignified.
The Restorers
These are a class of Llegesia who go about restoring buildings that have burned down, forests that have been destroyed, monuments that have been worn down by wind and rain, and the like. They hone their natural ability with the Dequalant humour to a fine edge, and investigate how things were preparatory to making them that way again. They are also charged with carrying out the sentences meted out by the Masters of Lore and Elders. The Restorers carry a staff of targast wood exactly 5'3" tall as a badge of office; it is inscribed with the Restorer's name, clan, year of birth, and year of taking office. If a Restorer violates his oath (see below), he is regressed to the age he was when he took the oath by someone with the Mretik humour and his staff is ground into sawdust and buried beneath the roots of a targast seedling.
The Oath of the Restorers
As a Restorer, I shall devote all my waking efforts to replacing what is out of place, repairing what is broken, replanting what has been uprooted, rebuilding what has been torn down, and remembering what may otherwise be forgotten. If I should ever engage in gratuitous change or destruction, may Sorameia revoke the life she made for me and Josamendo drown the place of my birth.
Because of their adherence to tradition, nearly all their governments, social systems and cultures are the same from one Caligo to another, though a few new things might have been added and, if something was totally inappropriate to the caligo they inhabited, it would be changed.
The social system of the Llegesia is based upon the preservation of good old things. New things are not accepted wholeheartedly (nor even provisionally by many) till they have proved themselves well. If you have ever heard the note in a human's voice as he says "We've never done it that way before!" you have a faint inkling of the righteous horror that a Llegesia shows when you suggest changing some ancient custom; if there is an accepted and traditional mode of killing you available, he will probably take advantage of it. Young Llegesia are not so averse to additions, though even they recoil in loathing at the suggestion of change.
The Llegesia regard transformations and transmutations as the most immoral of magics, and some of them refuse to travel across the sea simply to avoid having to deal with the Blirthibo, who engage in such magics all their lives.
Most Llegisia marry by about thirty years of age. There are three customary modes of marriage, with different ceremonies and conditions. If the woman initiated the courting, the marriage is held in a grove of old trees; only the couple and their parents are part of the ceremony, and the guests watch from perches in the trees. If the man initiated the courting, the ceremony is held on the shore of a lake, river or sea; the guests watch from anchored boats, while the couple and friends of their own age speak the traditional words. If the man and woman are chosen for one another by the elders because they have tarried too long without choosing a mate, the ceremony is held in the forum-garden of a town, and all the guests participate in the litany. It is usual for marriages to last until death; remarriage is rare, and discouraged except when one is widowed before having any children.
The parents have most responsibility for raising of their children, with a few particular tasks delegated to the elders (such as formal teaching of history) and the Masters of Lore (who teach law), and to a trade-master, if the child proves, after initial training, not to enjoy or be suitable for either parent's trade. Children are considered to be adults when they have been adjudged competent and productive by a trade-master and morally responsible by the elders.
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