[IC/OOC] Ask the Nomad: Q&A with Kiu Ghesik

[Kiu Ghesik]

"Salutations, Caller. My name is Felix Andreyevich Zhavaropov, and I am a writer of cosmic horror and psychological thriller. Well, if you ask anyone else you know from Zitravgrad, I am also a former Minister of Culture and a Revolutionary soldier. But that does not matter much."

"You must have heard the lore of the Divine Providence... I collect eldritch lores and mythologies, and rack my brain day and night trying to organize them. Hence, it comes to my interest that your people worship such being called Sky-Mother. Now, I am not going to proclaim which gods are true or false, since I have seen hints of several."

"It is not uncommon for deities to prefer particular groups of people. So, what is the most profound experience that you yourself have had? In other words, when was the closest you came to seeing or hearing your deity? What was the most prominent sign of their existence that you have personally witnessed? The winds and the clouds can be seen or heard by anyone, Caller, but do you see or hear more than your people do? You are their leader, after all."

"I can see that this lore also keeps the creation of the world and universe vague. Many lores do that -- explaining this topic is too big. Even the lores of the Chronoros or the Divine Providence just brush it off as "it happened". So... what are the roles of other things in the sky? The sun, the moon, the stars? What does your people's lore make of them?"

"That is probably all for now. Thank you very much for your time and help. My job is done here today."

"Ps. I literally do not know how I should treat a certain goddess, whom you know and keep pushing me towards her. If I knew how to treat women, I would have been married."
Felix Andreyevich Zhavaropov
Author and Advisor, Former Minister of Culture

"Oh, I know you! You're the one that Ili- oh, wait, I shouldn't talk about that, I suppose. Well, let it not be said that I'm not one to deal with newcomers. Greetings to you.

As to your first question, well... our faith doesn't really... do that. She is everywhere, and nowhere; I suppose she is embodied in even you and me. In that sense I see her every moment of every day. But I have never seen Her, you understand; the Mother Herself does not appear to mortals and never will. One cannot appear to oneself. But I think I have seen her servants. I... I was eight or so, and we had been forced to move our camp to flee a grass-fire. I looked back at the smoke and I saw something drifting in the burnt parts of the earth that the fire had passed over, like a ghost flitting from here to there. I... it was probably just the breeze kicking up ash, but... it looked like it had a head. I did not tell my father of it at the time, but if it was the Ashen Wind and not just a trick of the eyes then I saw her that day. I am said to be chosen by God among my people, but the only proof we have of that is that I have done well, and I am my father's daughter. He was surely blessed. But I... I do not know. I must have been a curse to him, or else I would be a son. But... I have done all I can, and perhaps God shows me favor. I know not, though, and honestly I would prefer not to talk about it.

So, then, as to the second, the moon and the sun are natural things. They must exist high in the sky, beyond even the tallest mountains, but they cannot be divine; we cannot observe that which happens in the realm of spirit. I have noticed that as I climb higher the sun appears to beat hotter on my brow as well. But they are shepherded by the divine; the Lighting Winds set them in motion about our world and tend to their fires in our lore. The moon they do not care for, I feel, or else they would not let its fire dim; perhaps it is made of many sparks, and they must light each separately. Those sparks, I think, are the stars, and that is why they shimmer; the little sparks thrown off the sun are fixed in the sky and tended to by those spirits just as its own great fire is. Hence why they flicker- as the Winds blow on their flames their brightness waxes and wanes.

And you did not ask me, but... I think you would not treat with her as much as she would treat with you. I- never mind, she probably wouldn't want me to talk about it with you anyways."

---

-She ships it, but she can't talk about it.

Everyone else, I promise I'll pick up the pace soon. Sorry for the delay.

[Zeloria]

"Greetings caller Ari, I have a question about Ghesite warfare. I once saw a documentary about the Mongol Hordes catapulting dead bodies, infected with the plague into enemy castles. It made me wonder if Ghesite armies use dead bodies as biological weapons, or dead bodies as a means to cross moats, or dead bodies as shields, you know what I mean?"

- The Bureaucratic AI

[Remulia]

"Hello, hello, venerable Caller Ari. i have one question: Do you have a crush on my sister, Kamile?. I'm asking this just because i find strange how do you behave when you are near her".
—Kylie.

[Kiu Ghesik]

OOC: Hey my dude. It's been a while.

IC: Greetings to Ari, from your intellectually superior overlord beloved friend Christophe. I always had a question about your "faith", if that's what you call paganism. How did it first come to be? How did humans know that the clouds and winds were the messengers of God? Did the Sky Mother somehow telepathically communicate with them? Do you have any epics or stories of such instances?

"And I always wondered why you worshiped a fellow who let his son die on a stick.

I jest, of course. As to your question, hrm. I'm... not sure. I mean, you'd think there'd be some sort of creation myth or something along those lines, but... I can't say I recall hearing any tellers sing of it. They mostly talk about more contemporary matters. I do remember something along the lines of revelations being given but I think it was largely... inference? I don't really know.

I'll have to ask about, actually; remind me to get back to you on that later."

---

-Imagine living in a society that recorded its doctrine. This post was made by oral tradition gang.

Good morning, Caller. Kamile, Kmer of the Remulians is here with two questions:

1) What have been the challenges you have had to face during your mandate?
2) Why everybody calls you "a cinnamon roll"?
I will wait patiently for your response.

"Challenges? Well, that's easy; the stupid Council won't let me implement any of my own ideas. It's just 'do this', 'raid that', 'make your fucking quota or else we're keeping our warriors home this summer', and I just... agh, it's...

I'm sorry, you don't need to hear that. Anyways, people call me that? I always thought it was Patyu, but... honestly I kind of like it. It's really quite sweet, I think I'll accept that compliment. Thanks, Kamile, always a joy to meet with you.

And don't be a stranger, you're welcome to stop by whenever you want. I've always got some tea on if you'd like it."

---

-I've decided that it refers to both Ari and Patyu, actually.

[Zaviana]

Greetings, Ari. I am Zelanov Isyrik, a reporter, and a science fiction author. Now to to the questions.



-Do you envy others with more devoloped technology?
-Do you believe that god is somewhere?
-What was the worst disasther Kiu has persevered through?

So, those a the questions, i leave you, to answer them.

[Kiu Ghesik]

"Hello there, Caller Ari. Exactly how many fluffy blankets do you have? Just curious. Not that I have my own and am trying to make it seem like I don't have one. Please don't hurt me or take my blanket." -Archibald DeLaffiate

"I've got two. I was given one as a gift, the other I, erm, acquired. Don't worry, I won't take yours. You're too far away from me to make it worth my time.

Besides, I'm wrapped up in them right now and I'm too comfortable to get up right now. Gimme, um... until it stops snowing outside. Which will probably be another month yet. So... you're safe until then, I suppose."

---

-The most wholesome of warlords.

"Caller Ari, can I get a preview of your battle plans for spring? Who's your next target? I swear I won't tell anyone."

"If I'm being honest I don't know yet. It'll probably just be raids of opportunity, I assume; unless something comes up we won't be too antagonistic. I hope. Oh, and- it's not going to be until early summer at the soonest; I'm, um, currently... preoccupied. With personal stuff. I'm sure you've heard about it."

---

-The first rule of nomad club is that we don't talk about nomad club.

[Tsarstvo Alyaski]

"Hello to the nomadic Kiu Ghesik. In our universe, the nomadic tribes often fared poorly against the people who eventually formed permanent cities, civilisations, nations and even Empires. Unfortunately, I must admit that my ancestors had a... Poor history when it came to treatment of nomadic cultures, like the Cossacks, or the Mongolians. The question is not whether you have considered to form a permanent civilisation, that's been asked before I think, and I imagine that you are strongly against such a notion. In whatever case, do you have some sort of plan, some contingency to successfully fend off an encroaching empire, like your universe's equivalent to the Russian Empire, or at least a way to ensure the survival of your culture should the worst occur? I thank you in advance for your response."

Tsarina Ilyina Romanova, the 19th monarch of the Romanov dynasty.

[Brettenwald]

OOC: What musical instruments do the Ghesites play, and what role does music play in Ghesite society?

_{additionally, has Ari seen any mongolian throat singing memes?}

[Wuchu]

---

Kotera
kotera@wuchu.xml

---

Hello, Ari.

First off - what's up sis? How's the steppe treating you? Any good hunts recently?

As for me, it's been a somewhat... hectic time. I've been declared dead, apparently. So, y'know. On the other hand, it's given me the opportunity to travel freely a bit more. Got myself to the other end of the world, in both the physical as well as the more poetic sense of the phrase. Plenty of time to read, too. Unfortunately, my last pen ran out of ink, and my gas mask was stolen a couple of weeks ago when I was asleep. These Australians, I tell you - 500 years pass and they're still the same thieves they were when they arrived.

I've been meaning to ask you about your own travels. As nomadism is sort of your day job, I'm sure you've come up with some clever ways of packing up and settling in. Could you tell me a bit about the way your people organise your camps during expeditions and campaigns?

Hope that I get to write to you a bit more soon.

From Down Under, with love,
Kotie

P.S.: Have you verified your clock? Mine's been stuck at 12 for some time now.

[Kiu Ghesik]

aight! new month, new me, i suppose. so let's get back to answering these.

(Image)

"Please excuse this question, Caller Oloughin's Daughter, but I would wish to learn more about your peoples' artistic culture. Besides clothing, armor, weapons, and jewelry, how do Ghesite peoples express themselves artistically? As your people are nomadic, how do they store their works of art? Are there any particular themes or styles that are particularly important to Ghesite peoples? What sort of pigments and dyes do you use?"
- the Skull King

"You know, it's... it's quite odd for, erm, a skull... king... to ask about art, but I suppose I can respect the curiosity.

Primarily, we sing. The songs... they're beautiful things, really. They're stories unto themselves. Lays. I think... I think I'm happiest when I'm listening to the tellers, actually. They're just... I don't know. They make what they say feel real. We paint our belongings, too, and to some extent, ourselves, though when we do the latter it is most often for war. If you recall my portrait, I'm wearing warpaint there; my face is meant to look like a corpse's, so as to terrify the foe into fleeing. But... that's not art, is it? Most often when we engage in the visual arts it's decoration of our possessions. So, it's expression through what you mentioned, I suppose. And we store them as we store everything else; in our bags and our tents and our sleds. It's most often items of practicality we decorate, after all. Those we can carry with us rather easily.

Themes, well... religious ones, I suppose. Most of our stories are religious. So that would be impermanence, change, but also love, and constancy through that change. And, of course, lays of great deeds and battles and feats of wit and strength, but those are hardly unique to our people. Oh well, it's not like they need to be; as long as they are appreciated by their singers and their listeners, they are beautiful.

Oh, that's... sorry, didn't mean to get sentimental there. Forgive me.

Pigments and dyes, well, that's something that I would say is very complicated and I've spoken enough as is. But to cut a long tale short it would be the same as you would, I would expect; flowers, some mosses, berries, the like. Dyed with immersion or painted with powders. Kind of simple, but difficult, and hardly my area of expertise, I hate to say.

---

-*tuvan intensifies*

[IC] Greetings. If we opened immigration to all comers, would there be a possibility of Ghesians... Ghesikers... (please correct the name help I don't know it) immigrating, and what help would they need to adjust?
(For your reference, El-Sallian tech is in the 1980s heading towards the 1990s. They got far in 25 years.)

-- Minister of Immigration V. H. Stankiewicz

"Ghesik. Children of Ghes. People of Ghes. Ghesites is the translated denonym, I suppose. Anyways, perhaps you would see some; I have no clue how they would get there, but there are always the odd few who would choose to leave their homes. I don't know how much help they would need; I've spent enough time here that I recognize most of your, er, technology, and it was just a matter of exposure, so I suspect with a little coaching they could get along well enough. Our people are resilient, they would survive."

---

-the migration expands

"Greetings caller Ari, I have a question about Ghesite warfare. I once saw a documentary about the Mongol Hordes catapulting dead bodies, infected with the plague into enemy castles. It made me wonder if Ghesite armies use dead bodies as biological weapons, or dead bodies as a means to cross moats, or dead bodies as shields, you know what I mean?"

- The Bureaucratic AI

"Well, yes. Corpses unsettle those not used to battle, and besides, leaving our enemies their comrades' bodies to find certainly terrifies them. If the death of one terrifies ten into fleeing, then the death of one is better than the death of ten, I would say- there's no reason not to use the bodies at the end of the day, in my opinion. Death is an inevitability in war, wouldn't you agree?

Though I still don't know what a Mongol is, I must point out."

---

-"idk who this genghis guy is, but he sounds pretty cool"

(Image)

"Hello, hello, venerable Caller Ari. i have one question: Do you have a crush on my sister, Kamile?. I'm asking this just because i find strange how do you behave when you are near her".
—Kylie.

"I- um... I don't think so... I mean, I think of her like a sister, like... like you do, you know? I mean, I want her to be safe and the like. She's a good friend, of course I want to help her however I can. But I- I mean- I don't know, that's just an odd question to ask, right? Me, Kamile, that's funny."

---

-uwu why would you say that?

and that's me caught up to this page. we now return to our regular posting schedule.

[Nacrad]

"If it, hypothetically, became your knowledge that becoming at least a partially sedentary civilization can greatly increase your national strength, would you be open to settling down? Or would you rather stay true to your ways?"

If a Ghesite found out that there is technology to accurately (?) forecast typhoons and other sorts of macroscopic fun stuff (squall lines, especially), what would their reaction be? Would they regard the civilisation that holds such technology as gods, given their faith?

[Free Stalliongrad]

Greetings to you, Ari Daughter of Oloughin, I am Karolina Spletnova, journalist of The Red Stallion from Stalliongrad. So you ride... horses? It seems like a rather... exploitative thing to me. I hope at least that our comrades of this dimension are treated with due respect. I mean, they have a union representing them or ... oh yeah, they're primitive. T-to horses, I meant... In short, how do you take care of it? What if your trusty mounts were as intelligent as you humans, would you treat them as your equal? With the same rights and duties?

[European Federation Reunified]

Hello, Mrs. Ari. I am Adèle Fournier, President of the Non-Governmental Organization for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I wanted to ask you: have you ever had problems of any kind with foreign companies that have tried to exploit or pollute your territory? What is your "policy" for technologically advanced nations that show themselves hostile towards your people?

[Kiu Ghesik]

Greetings, Ari. I am Zelanov Isyrik, a reporter, and a science fiction author. Now to to the questions.

-Do you envy others with more devoloped technology?
-Do you believe that god is somewhere?
-What was the worst disasther Kiu has persevered through?

So, those a the questions, i leave you, to answer them.

---

"Er... I don't know who you think I know has more advanced technology. If you mean that our foes have more stock of bronze than us, then yes, I do envy them. I've heard of a new metal used for blades, as well; the rocks they use to forge it are rare, and some people say they fell from the sky. I suppose I am envious of those who wield them, but I have not proved worthy to have one bestowed on me, you see. God will see to my survival, if She wishes it.

That, I suppose, should answer your second question. Ejadrir is everywhere, and nowhere- She is certainly not someone we can presently perceive. We never can- we are mortal, you and I, and we cannot see the immortal unless it chooses to show itself to us. But just the same I believe that She exists, She lives beyond this world, and when we die, She reclaims what makes us. That is my faith, and I will stand by it.

Worst disaster? I wouldn't know. The tellers have sung of some terrible brush fires before, ones that crossed the entirety of the Basin, but I've never seen any as big as the ones they sing of, and I have lived through the Thunderhead's worst. I would doubt the existence of what they sing about it. It is like your people's songs- the events did not happen. It is a frivolous song, I think. It is not a divine one. So... I am afraid this must remain unanswered. Ask back, though, and I might get back to you on that. If I still care."

---

-I know I said I wouldn't do this again. I lied.

(Image) "Hello to the nomadic Kiu Ghesik. In our universe, the nomadic tribes often fared poorly against the people who eventually formed permanent cities, civilisations, nations and even Empires. Unfortunately, I must admit that my ancestors had a... Poor history when it came to treatment of nomadic cultures, like the Cossacks, or the Mongolians. The question is not whether you have considered to form a permanent civilisation, that's been asked before I think, and I imagine that you are strongly against such a notion. In whatever case, do you have some sort of plan, some contingency to successfully fend off an encroaching empire, like your universe's equivalent to the Russian Empire, or at least a way to ensure the survival of your culture should the worst occur? I thank you in advance for your response."

Tsarina Ilyina Romanova, the 19th monarch of the Romanov dynasty.

---

"Presumably, we will do as we always have. We will fight them, and they will die by our spears. If need be we shall form greater hosts. The manpower is there, we possess it, and we will not be cowed by those who wish to kill us. Trust me, woman, if it was possible to best us it would've been done. The ash-fields are littered with the corpses of those who have tried, both from within and without. It is not so easy to conquer a people proud in their armies."

---

-C h a u v i n i s m !

OOC: What musical instruments do the Ghesites play, and what role does music play in Ghesite society?

_{additionally, has Ari seen any mongolian throat singing memes?}

---

"Oh, the alligator woman asked this one before! Well, not anymore, but, er, I suppose it's close enough. Anyways, er, I have spoken of this at length before, so... to summarize: we use drums made from hide and fiddles cut from our horses' manes. No, not that kind of fiddle. It's more like a viola than a fiddle, but it's hardly as polished. And we use music for a number of purposes- primarily, though, it serves as a means of passing down myth and tale to our children. It is far more entertaining to communicate information in song than through drab lecture, I think you'll agree, though of course some things must be practiced. And, of course, it's just fun.

And yes, I have. Intriguing style of music. Seems a bit harsher than what I'd expect, but still quite nice to listen to."

---

-*vibin*

more answers soon
out of time for now. f
:/

[Wochaystein]

OOC: What interactions took place between Kiu Ghesik and Haja-Mishu?

[Brettenwald]

OOC: What's the perception of color symbology in Ghesite culture? Are they fairly similar to modern-day conceptions (borrowing from the Western world for examples, black being associated with death and red with love/sex/aggression), or do they have different associations entirely?

[Broader Confederate States]

Caller Ari,
Do the Ghesites generally name their horses?
I was curious. Thank you.
Separatist Outer Ghesik-22:
Is there a Mongol empire in the KG universe?