Zeke - Notes and Story Record
Character History
- I was taught to fly by . . . the undertaker, to pay my respects.
- I left home because I was . . . too restless and too questioning.
- I fly so I can . . . find my destiny and die meaningfully.
Questions
How do your people dress and act to enforce a hierarchy?
Only the priests may perform certain bloodletting ceremonies, so their forearms become covered with knife-scars. We wear sleeveless or short-sleeved garments, and an elder with many scars is accorded great respect. Only scars from ritual bloodletting are so honored; they must be fine and straight and heal cleanly.
Children wear simple one-piece garments, while adults may wear hoods. Elders and priests wear robes with deep hoods, to cover their eyes from the bright world so their thoughts may be dark, and to cover their gifts - what you might call mutations - except during sacred ceremonies.
Who was the first person close to you who you lost to the sea?
My favorite uncle Zebediah. He was young and handsome, a traveler, full of exciting stories of the dry lands and of strange people. He always had time for us young ones. One day, without explanation he leaped from his balloon and plunged into the sea where he just started swimming, out and out far beyond the safe zone, just swimming and swimming. I watched him slip under and not come back up. That was when I learned the Dark Ones are capricious and sometimes cruel.
Why do the patrons of the deep look out for you?
Who can know the minds of the Dark Ones? But they are clearly not displeased with my leaving, else they would have stopped me. I feel like they want me to find something among the inlanders, some terrible knowledge or deep revelation. Once I have accomplished whatever my destiny is, they will take me.
What has to change before you would return home?
Some days home feels like a cage; others, I would give anything to be there again. I would need to feel that I had accomplished whatever the Dark Ones wanted me to out here in the wilds, that I could return home with pride rather than in defeat.
On the Culture and Religion of the Fishers
