August 6th:

Muertes, formerly of Cupertino, and Shei den Artienos join Corax'al out of Vra'Akar itself, and are accepted (without further ceremony) as already Irikhan. As Najwa explains, full membership² is not immediately available:

[Say] Najwa: We wait a few weeks before full swear in.

[Say] Najwa: I know it is annoying :/

[Guild] Najwa [Sek'alar]: You do have the option of forming your own subguild and joining the nation that way :)

I kill Luxor' De Virture (and end up owing him a scroll of identify and a backrub. Well, it's easier to forgive someone after getting revenge):

[Say] Luxor': Boo

[Say] Najwa: Jha, Luxor.

[Group] Vorona: Shall I backstab him?

(As nearly always when the hunting party is lurking, Vorona is stealthed, tracking, and looking for enemy lurkers-- thus ready to surprise anyone who thinks there's one less Irikhan than there is.)

[Group] Shei: Are we going to kill him, or is he a friend?

[Group] Najwa: Wait.

[Say] Luxor': Seems like our guilds are on the same side more often then not.

[Group] Najwa: Hard to say.

[Say] Najwa: That doesn't mean we don't owe you a few deaths, Jhor.

Najwa grins.

[Group] Vorona: Oh, just one little poke?

[Say] Luxor': Should we call a truce??

[Say] Luxor': That is true.

[Say] Najwa: Qhat is in it for us?

Najwa chuckles.

[Say] Luxor': Hmm, Does your guild hunt Forgotten?

[Say] Najwa: Yes.

[Say] Najwa: We just slew a few Pink Pansies as well, Elves.

[Say] Luxor': I just came from their town, they have about 5 people in their town.

[Say] Najwa: And a million guards :)

[Guild] Shizzrakah [Irikhan]: This Luxor' guy has pked me in Kei before.

[Group] Najwa: Fence on track.

[Say] Luxor': Can you both get into a town? Passwall/flight?

[Guild] Najwa [Sek'alar]: Ki, I've killed him for it since.

[Say] Luxor': They do not see me.

[Say] Najwa: Shizzrakah here owes you a death, Luxor.

[Say] Luxor': We can also hit their XP sites.

[Group] Vorona: Ki, and this one sitting in front of me, spreading his shoulderblades.

[Info] Muertes: lol

[Say] Najwa: Perhaps next time.

[Say] Luxor': Or we can fight each other.

[Say] Luxor': I was just kidding.

... We weren't. We gladly let 'Rakah kill him. (With a little help from me. Gods, I love Backstabbing. And giving backrubs. It's all good.)

Scene outside Solaris:

[Say] Fence: nah nah nah nah

You wave to Fence.

Fence waves to you.

Note: I am now faster than some Scouts, finally.

Phos and Mulder of Guardian's Chosen kill Khal'nkur and Piky. We kill them.

(Khal'li³ looting Mulder:)

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Champion's Serpentine Dagger

Najwa cheers to Zuhna Rhu'khan.

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Flawed Friar Hood of the Arcanum

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Lapis Gilded Scepter of Divinity

[Say] Zuhna: Har! Jha, Vorona.

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Gemstone Ring of the Ox

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Illuminated Kenaryn's Symbol of Brilliance

[Group] Khal'nkur Archular takes the Bundled Scrolls of Recall

[Group] [Group Info]: Gold! Each share: 8165 Finder:8165

[Say] Zuhna: Anyonkh need kryz'paper?

[Say] Zuhna: Dek kragha cho!

You tell Schnooky: Tu know... if tu weren't a Jazeel, tu wouldn't have to run when tu saw your kin coming.

(Schnooky is a vha-Irekei in the Jazeel, R1.9 as of last night.)

Our Skathulan⁴ Piky kills a half-breed Nhalaq'oa⁵ named "Roph" who wet-backed over from the Southern Island, still wearing the <Merchants & Trainers> crest.

We meet the Pride of Vashteera: Talysha, Teth, Lenthia, and one other. They are Amazons, who are said to sometimes have Irekeia (female Irekei, though they are no better than vha-Irekei) stolen from the Tribes in infancy among their numbers. It is well that they are swift, for they are doubly not welcome on the vir.

[Group] Zuhna: Teth tahk, qhey jov mean harm.

[Group] Najwa: ... mm'ki

[Group] Zuhna: Dek kham leaving.

[Group] Najwa: kiki

[Group] Vorona: Iri. Give qhem room to run, qhen.

[Group] Najwa: Qhey show up on track again, though...

[Group] Piky: Nha should offer to help them leave...

You tell Talysha: Not here to kidnap our girl babies, are you?

[Tell] Talysha: Oh my, I'm a carebear. I would rather cuddly them and make friends with all I meet.⁶

* * *

[Say] Zuhna: Piky trying to bolt nu head off.

Zuhna hides behind Vorona.

[Say] Khal'nkur: Har har!

[Group] Piky: ::makes a sad face::

[Say] Vorona: Piky, ust nha allou qhe Amazons ghiri tu?

Vorona teases Piky.

Zuhna shakes her fist at Piky and licks her wounds.

[Group] Piky: Jov hide! Nu heal lak!⁷

[Say] Piky: Har har!

* * *

You tell Talysha: Oa man of ours volunteers to please all four of lak, if lak came all the uay here for dek.

* * *

[Group] Vorona: Khal'li, you're brave, ki?

[Group] Vorona: Strong?

[Group] Khal'nkur: Ki...

[Group] Vorona: Lots of stamina?

[Group] Khal'nkur: Ki!

[Group] Vorona: Iri!

[Group] Vorona: Nu told qhe Amazons, if they didn't kum to steal our girl babies, qhat oa of our men volunteered to please all four of them...

[Group] Vorona: ...if they came for that.

[Group] Vorona: So you and Shizzrakah can armwrestle to see uho goes with them, if they come for lak, ki?

[Group] Piky: ::looks at Vorona, looks at Khal'nkur::

[Group] Khal'nkur: Har har... Nu doesn't qhink Piky will like that.

Najwa snickers.

You tell Piky: Well, I was really thinking of giving them Sh'rakah, but didn't want to imply that Khal'li couldn't manage.

You tell Piky: There are only four of them, after all.

[Tell] Piky: Hehe. I'm certain he could manage, though knowing his ego, I'm glad you didn't pass him over, Vorona =D

You tell Najwa: Now, if only a dozen Amazons would appear on track...

[Tell] Najwa: .... ? :)

You tell Najwa: You'd see at least one, possibly two panicked male Irekei.

(They never did answer my last question, though.)

Footnotes:

1. Nation Roleplay Policy

   As a matter of our inclusive Roleplay Policy, we strongly encourage the use of the constructed Irekei language (particularly the Gradisharian original) and the concepts implicit in it; however, we are, when in-character, all assumed to be speaking Irekei to each other all the time unless some indication is made by the character that the character is not. This lack of pressure is, I believe, more sustaining of immersion in-character than is the opposite practice of requiring or emphasizing fluency before one can take part in the Story.
   
   It is harder and less fulfulling to first teach other players the Irekei language and then show them how they can enjoy being one than it is to teach them why they might want to portray one and then get them to learn the language. Once a player wants to be Irekei, learning the lingo is usually a snap. Point-of-view, assumed cultural background, and emotional tone are nevertheless always more important than specific linguistic skills. "It is more important to think like one than to merely sound like one." The best players can manage to sound Irekei even in fluent Common; even better, they can convey failure to understand (or deliberate misunderstanding of) the implicit assumptions in the Common vernacular that are alien to the Irekei mindset.
   
   Also, there is always time for immersion after adoption. Amongst those inside a guild who are willing to 'be the character', there should be no question of pushing aside, postponing, or neglecting character development and the building of cameraderie (I do not mean 'gameplay advancement' or 'rushing through content'-- those things are my own personal least priority) in order to serve the purposes of mere stagecraft. Thus, our enlightened and liberal RP language policy.
   
   Another part of the policy not mentioned previously is that those who do speak fluently in Irekei are encouraged to provide translations of their own or others' speech, in whispers, upon request, to their guildmates who otherwise might not follow the conversation.

2. Player vs. Character Status and Rank

   Guild and Nation responsibilities and privileges for the player are separated as far as reasonably possible from the tribal status of the character. For just one example, my alternate character is a half-Human (but, no, not half-Elf-- figure it out) jov'uus^a whose status is that of a chattel; property. This is Chi'Urvha ov Corax, a slave. She is Secularum's personal property ("finders, keepers") and at the service of the Corax'al family and the tribes in the nation of Vrak'Akar as a whole. While some have treated her with kindness, none do so with leniency, and she has no dignity at all. (Not long ago, one of Vorona's tribesmen reminded her pointedly and for no particular reason that he could send her 'to see the Dragon' with "one hard slap".) Khal might decide at any time to kill her just to test the edge of his knife. (Don't think I don't shudder at the thought. That's part of the 'fun', even though the apprehension's not fun at the time.) Even though technically as her I have the position of a guild leader (of Jov'uus ov Corax'al, the 'brand' which marks our current and potential servants with a crest bearing silver shackles on a red field), as her I am *not* permitting myself (nor would our tribesmen stand for me) to speak in the leader or nation chat channels except in emergencies and then in a suitably respectful and apologetic way. When in-character, which she always is outside of whispers which I try to keep infrequent (were anyone to insist on asking questions only Vorona should answer, I would 'fetch' Vorona), she is not treated as Vorona is treated, and not as I am treated /ooc by my guildmates. And... we like it that way.
   
   At the same time, as her I am capable of performing technical feats of management, running forges and shops with full access, handling money and shuttling it from one structure to another, accepting new guild members (to our jov'uus sub-guild), storing armor and weapons and deeds and contracts, and more. My rank and more importantly responsibilities as a player in the Guild and my alternate character's status (even though I use her to carry out many tasks) are as fully disconnected as possible.

Our Jov'uus Policy

1. Our policy on jov'uus'im (Irekei plural of 'not-Master', using -im because the things being spoken of do not deserve the honorific plural, '-al'.) has grown slowly from 'no, NONE' to 'not many' and has been summed up nicely by Khal (of all people), who once said to our little water-carrier, "Remember-- you do nothing here that couldn't be done better" by one of us. Jov'uus should be few in number, far *out*-numbered by Irikhan, and should not be a guild's major strength or present to use a wide variety of skills with which the creators of Shadowbane have not seen fit to supply the Irekei. Vha'Ught'im ("tame Bulls"; Minotaur) should not tempt the Irekei as they do the Elves, to become weak and decadent in their dependence upon another Race's strength in battle.
   
   If jov'uus'im must be present, they should speak only when spoken to, keep their eyes down, know their places, haul a lot of water, and do the boring, trivial, repetitive tasks that the Irekei do not consider beyond but rather insulting to their own strength. Additionally, they should probably be weak (low-level if possible) and treated as if they were a bit of a chore to keep alive-- which, in the desert, they very well can be. Finally, they should be a challenge of sorts to the people you are roleplaying with: simply, to see if they can act like superiors when there is someone around to be superior to-- who isn't an enemy. (Enemies, as roleplay foils, seldom last long enough for in-depth, much less daily, interactions.)
   
   [One may be surprised at just how difficult it is to get some people to treat a persona with a lack of consideration. I suppose it should be cause for rejoicing and elevate one's opinion of human nature, but it's also annoying when folks bow back at the servants; after all, it "gives them airs".]

3. Nicknames and Titles

   In Shadowbane, all character names are unique on a given player's server. Given the Irekei tribal propensity for giving everyone a nickname, however, many names known to us might possibly be shortened to 'Khal' (flame). In practice, they are not, for we of Vra'Akar have just one Khal: Khal of N'koth^*, known and feared (and sometimes despised, even by his own kind) for killing all fir'khanim he finds on the vir, without mercy (even, and especially-- for as it is said, "Nits make lice"-- the very young). Khal'nkur ("Flame of Fear") we call 'Khal'li', or 'little Khal', despite his stature and status as a (married) Irikhan and co-founder of the city of Arrakis.
   
   However, Khal himself is known to some by another (and controversial) epithet. He is not the leader of our Nation at this time, yet some of us agree and others suspect that he may be the rightful Kry'qhi'khalin, or "Blessed Spawn of the Eternal Sun"-- the one destined to win the Krykhanjallakar, or "Great (and) Holy Blood War", and to unite the Tribes at last to drive all the fir'khan'im out of the Desert, and thereafter wake the Dragon, Nkurukarin. I myself have no doubt that if only I endure long enough I shall see this come to pass with my own eyes.
   
   Sometimes, a nickname can be a gloss on a name chosen with more enthusiasm than knowledge. Such is the case with Vorona's oldest 'son', whose player chose the name "Uberalles Corax". "Corax" is Latin for 'raven', but it has a certain exotic unfamiliarity for most people. Likewise, "Vorona" (Russian for 'crow') is pushing it ("it" being the boundary of 'do you have a suitably RP name, or not?'), but I have pushed back by insisting that the Irekei word for crow is the very same. It's not leet d00dspeak, and most people don't recognise it. But... uberalles is the third word in the German national anthem. Most people probably have heard it. I can hum the tune. Yikes.
   
   Rather than even thinking about nagging this player (who is also behind my other two sons, Sal'uki^a and Hep'kat^b), whose contributions to the Irekei atmosphere of our Nation have been as exemplary as have been his contributions to our Vra'Akar dialect (ghrubbi, ya'rrub), into changing this name-- I simply decided that it was "Ubaral'li", which means, approximately, "Little Hands". (A silly thing for a mother to call a grown son, but nicely reminiscent of "Little Boots", or in Latin, Caligula. Not at all inappropriate for someone's potential heir. I embarrass him with it on all suitable occasions.) I have called him nuh Alli ever since (and actively discouraged others from calling him, or anyone, "Uber").
   
   Shizzrakah, likewise, I am wont to call 'Rakah, because I don't want to, you know... tahk shizz.
   
   In conclusion, let me state for the record that the character of Fesra Mihrjan's brother and faithful guardian, Icek Mihrjan, has a name that is not pronounced "Ice Kay". I believe it's supposed to sound more or less like "Isaac", with a the 'c' in Icek being pronounced much like the 'c' in (Latin) excelsis (which makes that word sound almost like 'eggshellsis'). He is not a d00d, and it is not a d00d's name! In fact, I don't believe I have ever seen his character out-of-character no matter what was going on. If and when I do, I shall probably fall over, IRL.

• N'koth

  The Will of the Terror of Terrors: Nkoth is not just a virakt, a guild belonging to the Irekei nation of Vra'Akar, but a central concept in Irekei culture and religion, denoting the Will of the Dragon, or Nkurukarin. Fatalists, the Irekei often attribute the outcome of events to N'koth. As an exclamation or ejaculation (get that smirk off your face-- 'ejaculation' is what a sudden verbal utterance is sometimes called), "N'koth!" is a way of saying "Let the Dragon's Will be done!"

The Names of My Other Sons

1. Sal'uki

   The second son of the mother of the children of the Khar'uus of Vra'Akar is named Sal'uki, the Irekei word for a noble breed (plural, Sal'ukal) of desert hunting dog, a beast accorded the same status as a falcon: spoken of as if it were a person. In this, Sal'uki Corax is akin (in a way neither would admit) to Roulle the Hound, Scout of the Tribunal, who is also identified with a fine canine hunter as a compliment. The Sal'uki is a 'sight hound' (tracking with sharp eyes, and not by scent) and among the fastest canines on the fragments of Aerynth or on any other world.

2. Hep'kat

   The third son of the mother of the children of the Khar'uus of Vra'Akar is named after the little salamander that lives everywhere water can be found in the desert: down the deepest wells, in the dimmest caves, buried and estivating in the beds of rivers that run for perhaps a single day (following the rare and precious rainfall) in the span of years. Though not precisely a noble animal, the hepkat is considered lucky, clever, and magical, not least because it seems to survive exposure to fire unscathed. [This was the name The Player's first character, a Human Scout, had; he met Secularum and Vorona early in 'life' on the Newbie Isle, and fell in love with the Irekei so hard that shortly after we moved to the desert, he opted to be reborn as one to join us.]

4. Skathulan, Fury of the Desert Storm

5. Nhalaq'oa'im, The Hated Ones

6. Violence, and Sarcasm

   I am mightily disappointed in the Pride of Vashteera. I proffer a conversational gambit in character; I get a snide /ooc remark in return, followed by dead silence. I take this Amazon's response as typical of a certain clique amongst players who I assume were all in the Beta phase of the game, together, and who will roleplay their little hearts out with each other, but not with us. They sometimes pretend they don't say a word back to us because of lore hatreds-- but they banter freely with lore enemies just as dire if those are played by folks from the 'right guilds'. (She spoke readily enough, and surely about 99% /ooc, but still, with our hunting companion Zuhna from Shadowclan.)
   
   I am at a loss to fathom this. We are shunned partly, I know, quite ironically, because we don't unbend from the stance of our racial Lore: we kill the Rainbleeders we find on the desert when we can, and we take advantage of stealth when we have it to do so. There is actually a kind of senseless backlash against parties of Ghirular^a, Assassins, and Black Masks not 'announcing' their presence before they strike. Pfft.
   
   Shadowclan waits, builds large cities, and has non-aggression pacts with fir'ks. Good for them, but it's not us. Unfortunately, we get treated by many other RP/Loreplay guilds as if we were the worst kind of d00ds: ignored. Morloch's Vengeance has been an outstanding exception to this, as have our 'cousins' in the Virakt of the Icy Night; occasionally, also, the Tribunal deigns to play with us like a Big Dog playing with a kitten. Ouch. But it's better than those times when the Temple lackeys from Cinderholm talk about Shadowclan as if there were no other Irekei worth mentioning. Speaking of Shadowclan, their most vocal members can't seem to help taking a lecturing tone with us; they don't shun us, but they seem to believe that through sheer numbers they must have the final say on what Irekei should be like, despite their insistence on ignoring parts of the Lore in favor of their Clan traits that were established when they were Orcs in another game entirely. ((Update: But, they do at times still speak well of us. And there are those from among them that I miss.))
   
   But the deficit, the fault, really lies with the old Beta Roleplayers who have been on the Mourning Server since the beginning or close to it. They act as if 'it all happened' before the Game ever officially started. They shut their eyes to us and our (constant and consistent) characterisation falls mostly on deaf ears, just as if we were spouting "OMGWTFBBQ". Khal is a part of the problem-- not because he doesn't act out his role, but because he does. He fulfills his presentation of an Irekei with Fire, Hatred, and Faith, especially the second; he portrays the kind of man who will dash an enemy's infant child's brains out against the stone trunk of his Tree. He is also part of the potential solution to what's wrong with the game as it is played on Mourning by so many, if only the community would see it.
   
   Alas that when it comes right down to it, "they" don't want "real Irekei" to encounter in the world any more than they want the anti-RP griefers, and they have all the snootiness of 'old families' from Boston, to boot. Fortunately, we don't need to do anything but rationalise for the sake of Our Story So Far that we scare the sweaty fools into terrified silence.

The Irekei Thief Conundrum

1. The Irekei word meaning 'Taker', Ghirular, and corresponding to the class of 'Thief' in the Shadowbane MMORPG reflects a kind of morality forgotten in modern, Western society but that might have been quite well-understood by the 'First Nations', so-called, of the Americas. Amongst truly traditional Irekei there are, of course, few actual Thieves. (One might be found in a Thieves' Guild-- and Veto, I'm looking at you, here-- but would be hard-pressed to prove that he was a true Irikhan.). An Irekei who stole from his own tribe would surely lack at least one of his hands, or be outcast-- a fate, in a world without death, arguably worse than death-- and taking from the jov'uus (non-Irekei) would not be considered stealing by the only people whose opinion counts-- the Irekei!
   
   Taking from another tribe during Khanjallakar (a Blood War) or as a raid prefatory to such a war would be hostile, but expected, and not 'criminal' in the accepted Human sense. (History seems to indicate that one of the first things the Amerindian horsemen of the Great Plains of North America did, upon acquiring horses for the first time, was to start stealing them from each other, almost recreationally.) Revenge and not punishment as if for wrongdoing would be the expected response.
   
   Just another reason to love roleplaying: the opportunity to think in ways one has never thought in before-- in a relatively safe arena of impermanence and manageable consequences.

7. Piky

   (My Piky anecdote. Let me show you it.)