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Although I say that all lands call Trinsic friend, that is not altogether true. The wicked do not love us, nor do the fine people of Ocllo. There they have never heard of Trinsic, as I am sure you have never heard of them. By the way, Kerick, Ocllo is pronounced "Awk-yo," although they insist on spelling it otherwise.
Ocllo is a civilization unto itself, located on an island just south of Magincia. They have no concept of the wheel as we know it, but neither do they seem particularly hindered by their ignorance. They are as organized and literate as one could wish, although I will say I was surprised by how different their city is from anything I have seen elsewhere. They farm right up the sides of the mountains, for they do not have enough flat land to till. They have spent centuries leveling the land in thin strips, like giant stair steps, and their mages spend most of their time either moving water uphill to irrigate the crops, or researching new and better ways to do so. Their magic is different from ours, but nonetheless very powerful. I was astonished to discover that although they are polite, they are a caste society ... and my profession is the very lowest they can conceive! They hold their nobles, of the "anpana" caste, the highest. Below those are the various levels of society, who are always scheming to improve their standing, and below those are the workers. They respect mages, whom they call "cashuals," and also have something called "priests." Priests are a bit peculiar - each follows a divine being and they are each very insistent that other people follow the priest's divine being, too. Apparently more followers equals more social power. The people of Ocllo are kind to the lowly laborers, although they seem to believe they are more property than citizens. Below the lowest worker, my friend, are the fighters. They have no external enemies, you see, so fighters are merely people who like to pick fights. To them, I am a worthless tavern-brawler. It would have been better if I were a woman, I discovered, as woman are automatically granted a higher status than their male counterparts. I cherish the whole experience as an invaluable lesson in humility. They have a legend that, in ages past, out of the great salt lake near their town a great fist burst forth, holding the first people of Ocllo. They were divine females - thus the higher status for women - who founded the entire mountain civilization. They call themselves the "Huansuytin" but as far as I can tell, that just means "people" or "us." They are friendly enough, I suppose, and are skilled in metalwork and sculpture, but I doubt I will return there unless called by need. Your friend, Garreth |
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