Ankoseiwas Thread: The Nine Arts

[Ares Land]

I've missed this thread somehow -- which is a pity. It looks quite interesting. I have to ask though, what exactly is a clonemaster?

[Pedant]

I've missed this thread somehow -- which is a pity. It looks quite interesting. I have to ask though, what exactly is a clonemaster?

Many thanks!

As a brief answer to your question: a clonemaster (ahoyas, hasoya) is a person entrusted with the ancient art of hive-mind cloning. Using a particular set of rituals, the spell-worker can create multiple copies of themselves, which a) are all telepathically linked so they function as one being regardless of distance, and b) can be sent out to a great distance within the archipelago to draft various settlements into larger centralized empires. (Of course, you do have to command enough respect to get those territories in the first place, but that’s not impossible.)
Technically ahoyas refers to clonemasters in all walks of life--among them soldiers, sailors, bards and actors (Akotvyah had copyright laws a lot earlier thanks to this), even scribes--because although the spell is jealously guarded and requires much discipline and self-control the actual process is simple. Priests have been barred from using the process for over a millennium (apparently it “dilutes the message”), but prophets and missionaries have occasionally used it to give them an unfair advantage. (There are stories about a particular holy man, Diba, who, instead of using his power to conquer or covert, set up small food vendors’ carts on every major island in the archipelago and oversaw all of them personally--the food was apparently uniformly awful yet addictive throughout, and the man got a chance to travel the archipelago.) Still, the main usage is for those rulers who have been successful enough to extend their rule beyond their home territory and diligent enough to attempt to oversee it personally. There’s no chance of your faraway subject rebelling and starting their own tyranny; they’re you, after all, and by default have your (original’s) best interests in mind.
More on how the process came about, and how it works, and society’s rules for its use, in later posts.
Any further questions?

[Ryan of Tinellb]

Diba reminds me either of Falafel from Kevin Sorbo's Hercules, or the cabbage merchant from Avatar: the Last Airbender. Mostly the former.

[Pedant]

Diba reminds me either of Falafel from Kevin Sorbo's Hercules, or the cabbage merchant from Avatar: the Last Airbender. Mostly the former.

Oddly enough I've never heard of the former, although I am certainly familiar with the latter. In this case, Most Multitudinous Diba is practically a cut-and-paste (which I'm hoping to upgrade to tribute) of Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler from the Discworld, who too seems to have versions of himself scattered throughout the world without being aware of one another, all serving some fairly dodgy food. Still, a chance to broaden the character a little wouldn't hurt. What's Falafel like?

[Ryan of Tinellb]

Diba reminds me either of Falafel from Kevin Sorbo's Hercules, or the cabbage merchant from Avatar: the Last Airbender. Mostly the former.

Oddly enough I've never heard of the former, although I am certainly familiar with the latter. In this case, Most Multitudinous Diba is practically a cut-and-paste (which I'm hoping to upgrade to tribute) of Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler from the Discworld, who too seems to have versions of himself scattered throughout the world without being aware of one another, all serving some fairly dodgy food. Still, a chance to broaden the character a little wouldn't hurt. What's Falafel like?

Ah, yes. I've only read a couple of Discworld books, thus my lack of recognition.

This particular Hercules is the series from which Xena was spun off. They derive humour from anachronism. Falafel runs the original terrible fast food cart, and like CMOT Dibbler, tries out many different (but all terrible) foods.

[mèþru]

The only thing you might be conceivably missing is that the land-based Akotvyans never really stay in their villages proper during awful weather. Tides are high in this world, so a house by the shore on stilts is absolutely a necessity for coastal living. The folks inhabiting the houses, though, tend to scarper when the weather gets really bad, going up to the hills or into the mangrove forests and praying that the storms don’t destroy too much of their property. (Attempts to fit whole houses into inkenei, by the way, have been largely unsuccessful.)

Quibble:
If the tides are strong enough, they'll break the stilts.

[Pedant]

The only thing you might be conceivably missing is that the land-based Akotvyans never really stay in their villages proper during awful weather. Tides are high in this world, so a house by the shore on stilts is absolutely a necessity for coastal living. The folks inhabiting the houses, though, tend to scarper when the weather gets really bad, going up to the hills or into the mangrove forests and praying that the storms don’t destroy too much of their property. (Attempts to fit whole houses into inkenei, by the way, have been largely unsuccessful.)

Quibble:
If the tides are strong enough, they'll break the stilts.

Reasonable quibble. If the tides are strong enough, the stilts break and the people have to rebuild. It's not a particularly fun part of life, but so long as they are indeed alive it's less of a problem.

[Pedant]

A note on VERBS AND PRONOUNS:

Conjugation
The verb in Ankoseiwas is far, far simpler than its counterpart in most of the other Empath languages, including the Quiramic and Salvian families, and is even (by comparison) simpler than in most other Keeper dialects. Thanks to a variety of sound changes and simplifications over the centuries, the Ankoseiwas verb has dropped from twenty-seven possible forms to eighteen, most of which are easy enough to remember. There are four conjugations, and a number of exceptional forms; fortunately, all one has to do is memorize the four base conjugations and the rest should follow easily.
The primary formation in Ankoseiwas is the past realis perfective, for example kota nao ‘I worshipped’. To this can be added various prefixes and suffixes to form different conjugations.

• Inserting -n- or -m- after the final vowel in the root produces the non-past realis perfective, for example konta nao ‘I worshipped’.
• Inserting -s- after the final vowel in the root produces the irrealis perfective for example kosta nao ‘I may worship’.
• Duplicating the first CV combination in the root produces the imperfective forms, for example kokota nao ‘I was worshipping’, kokonta nao ‘I am worshipping’, kokosta nao ‘I may be worshipping’. Note that this would be the CV combination in the original word, back in Proto-Telepath-Keeper, so there are some exceptions; the word nesa ‘to speak’, for example, has the imperfective form nonesa (nesa<nysɐ<*nuis-a, nonesa<nonysɐ<nu-nuisa).
• Changing the final vowel of the verb changes whether or not the act was seen by the speaker as a good thing or a bad thing. A final -e produces the volitive, as in kokote nao ‘For some time I wanted to worship’, while a final -o produces the metuitive, as in konto nao ‘I have no desire to worship’.

Here is a complete table of the various forms:

Kota “to worship”	Past	Non-Past	Irrealis
Perf.	kota	konta	kosta
Imperf.	kokota	kokonta	kokosta
Perf.Vol.	kote	konte	koste
Imperf.Vol.	kokote	kokonte	kokoste
Perf.Met.	koto	konto	kosto
Imperf.Met.	kokoto	kokonto	kokosto

A few grammatical notes:

• The non-past realis volitional often serves as a future tense, for example bobõye nao ‘I wish to be crossing, I am going to cross’.
• The imperfective is also used for habitual situations, for example tatãya nao 'I swim a lot'.
• The irrealis serves as an imperative, a jussive, or a conditional depending on the situation. It was originally the intentive in Proto-Keeper, having absorbed the function of the original irrealis when its forms became indistinguishable from those of the realis.
• The other conjugations are relatively easy to work out. The First Conjugation discussed above is the default. The Second Conjugation, dealing with roots ending in -n, suffixes -t- and -s- to the non-past and irrealis forms respectively. The Third Conjugation, dealing with roots ending in -s, suffixes -t- and -y-. And the Fourth Conjugation, derived from the dissimulations of the very frequent consonant clusters in Proto-Keeper, nasalizes the root vowel for the non-past forms and infixes -s- between the root vowel and final consonant for the irrealis forms.

Pronouns
Ankoseiwas pronouns have five forms: absolutive, instrumental, ergative, genitive, and construct. The ergative and absolutive should need little explanation, the former referring to the subjects of transitive sentences and the latter to object of transitive and subject of intransitive sentences. The instrumental usually imparts means or manner, the genitive belonging or possession (usually emphatically). The construct form, derived from the genitive, is suffixed directly onto words; it is present, for example, in the word Ankoseiwas ‘our (exclusive) language’, from ankosein ‘language, speech’ + was (first person plural exclusive). (For those who don’t recognize it, ankosein is an irregular I-Class noun.)
Of the ten original pronouns of Proto-Telepath-Keeper, only seven remain--first, second, and third singular, second and third plural, and first plural exclusive and inclusive. Other pronouns have been added over the years to this lot:

• Ikai (declined like an A1-Class noun) is a clone-specific pronoun, from ikayas, kikaya- “one used by another to see”.
• Andei (declined like an I-Class noun) is actually fairly old, dating back to Proto-Keeper (where it was a variant of ɐmdihas “named individual”). Originally an honourific, it has since become somewhat mocking second person pronoun.
• Ika (A1-Class) is an honourific specifically reserved for elders.
• The original third person pronoun, te, is used informally or for unknown (or inanimate) referents. Each of the Five Races, in the meantime, is given its own pronoun: isei (I-Class, from iseyas) for the Keepers themselves, nai (A2-Class, from noyas “truth-teller”) for the Speakers, ite (I-Class, from itelas “swimmer”) for the Divers, oka (A2-Class, from okaya) for the Finders, and ka (A1-Class, from kamas "dirt-person") for the Tiresians. (Because of the bad attitude the last engenders, being something of a slur, it is considered polite to use ika instead when talking to a Tiresian in Ankoseiwas--that is unless you have no qualms about being potentially brained in a ritual duel.)

	Absol.	Instrum.	Ergat.	Genit.	Const.
1s	Na	Nan	Nao	Nas/Nes	-nas
2s	So	San	Sao	Sos/Ses	-sos
3s	Te	Ten	Tai	Tis	-tis
1px	Wa	Wan	Wao	Was/Wes	-was
1pi	Ma	Man	Mao	Mas/Mes	-mas
2p	Yo	Yan	Yao	Yos/Yeis	-yos
3p	Ye	Yen	Yai	Yes	-yes
"Clone"	Ikai	Ika	Ikao	N/A	N/A
"Idiot"	Andei	Ande	Andai	N/A	N/A
"Elder"	Ika	Ika	Ikao	N/A	N/A
"Keeper"	Isei	Ise	Isai	N/A	N/A
"Speaker"	Nai	Ne	Nai	N/A	N/A
"Diver"	Ite	Ite	Itai	N/A	N/A
"Finder"	Oka	Oke	Okai	N/A	N/A
"Tiresian"	Ka	Ka	Kao	N/A	N/A

(NOTE: the construct forms decline as A1, O1, and I-Class nouns respectively. Also, the multiple genitives are the last remainder of the old gender constructions in Proto-Keeper--the first for masculine or neuter referents and the second for feminine ones.)

Vocabulary
Ankosein, kankose- (I) “language” (*ɐknosen)
Ankoseiwas, Ankoseiwa- (A1) “Ankoseiwas language”
Boya, bowoya, bõya, bosya “to cross (over) [something]” (*boʎɐ)
Ekana, kehana, kanta, kansa “to burn [something]" (*egɐnɐ)
Ikayas, kihaya- “eyepiece (in the sense of mouthpiece)” (*igɔʎas)
[*]Iseyas, siheya-[/i] "Keeper"
Itelas, tisela- "Diver" (*itɛʎas)
Kamas, kahama- "Tiresian" (*ɟɐmas)
Kota, kohota, konta, kosta “to worship” (*k’utɐ)
Nesa, nonesa, nesta, nesya “to speak” (*nysɐ)
Noyas, nonoya- "truth-teller, Speaker" (*noʎas)
Okayas, kohaya- "Finder" (*okɔʎas)

[Pedant]

A note on THE NINE ARTS:

The Keepers of Akotvyah, since before their Exodus from the Great Southern Jungle, have long held nine Arts (osoli, sohole-) to be the pinnacle of human development, each formed through some combination of body, heart, and soul, representing the three elements of form, fluid, and fire.

The Nine Arts

	Nayas, nanaya- "Body"	Yonon, yohonei- "Heart"	Ayotas, yahota- "Soul"
Body	Combat	Swimming	Gymnastics
Heart	Carving	Sailing	Writing
Soul	Painting	Singing	Storytelling

1. Combat (pali, paye-) is the purview mainly of men, although there are some dedicated arts specifically for women. The nayaosoli or "body's art", combat on Akotvyah is largely ritualized in civilized society, people only using blunt maces or short knives so that battles more resemble gladiator fights. (There was a time when warriors were collected for sacrifice, but that's been outlawed on every civilized island for centuries.) There are also, of course, the raids from the hills of various less developed peoples (mainly Clownfish People) upon the cities, and here the Akotvyans use bronze and iron swords, longbows, and hardwood maces that can brain a mammoth.
2. Swimming (tali, taye-) is a necessity on the islands, but the people of Akotvyah have turned it into a sport. They recognize six variations for different conditions, not including diving (which is an entirely different category). Among the Divers, who share the Keepers' ideals of Art, there is a contest to see who can swim the furthest with one breath without being eaten. The current record-holder, one Ebyel Unya Kengsolu, managed a distance of 12 kilometres over a period of ninety minutes, earning him the Ankoseiwas moniker makaitelas "dolphin-Diver" and the adulation of the Ahoyas. It is possible he may be cloned.
3. Calisthenics (nali, naye-) is the purification of mind and body, the practice of pure movement. This manifests in many professions: in the acrobats who perform ritual pole-jumping with multicoloured cloaks to represent the heavenly bodies; in the practitioners of yoga (naistin, naiste-) in those skilled in the arts of physical pleasure, always in demand across the archipelago (for making the body stronger is not only a feat for the self, but something to inspire in others); in the sailors climbing up and down the masts of their vessels; in the gymnasts who compete in ritual games every three years among the Seekers to celebrate a victory over the hurricane season; and in many others.
4. Carving (inyaki, inyake-) covers everything from small stones to massive statues; it is the enforcement of one's own ideals upon the physical body of something else. It needs be gentle but firm. Sculpture is the most prominent use--the statues resemble those of the Incas, despite Salvian and Hercuan attempts to introduce a smattering of realism--but just as important to the discipline is the carving of various scripts into the interior of shrines to preserve some element of the ahoyas' rule.
5. Sailing (teisi, teise-) is the discipline of the heart alone, the yoneihosoli "heart's art", and to the Akotvyans the heart is the flow inward and outward, taking in one's surroundings and pushing out one's ideas and using both in one's work. Sailing is the lifeblood of the islands, large as they are. It is through sailing that the great ships (opeilon, poweilei-) travel north and south, to Salvi and Malehi, to bring their precious cargo--though it is through inkenei that one makes certain that one is not robbed. Men and women alike are taught to travel by sea from an early age along the coast; the art is naturally less appreciated inland.
6. Writing (taki, take-) is not merely a matter of knowing how to write, but what script to use and when. Most of the islands use the Malehinese Common Syllabary, but each island has its own variation--muddled further by the fact that each ahoyas tends to bring their own native script to their conquered domains. And many these days learn Salvian or Quiramic Hieroglyphs or the Hercuan Alphabet, in order to trade further afield with Jhagjama and the Quiramic Empire and whichever church of Hercua isn't currently calling them heathen idolaters who must be subjugated for their own good. And that's not even getting into the dialect differences...it should be no surprise, then, that associated with writing is the art of language itself, as well as (to a certain extent) the art of diplomacy.
7. Painting (oti, ote-) requires much understanding of the local materials to be made into inks and canvas, not to mention some knowledge of the style of at least one school. Among the Finders, Seekers, and Clownfish People, tattooing is also considered painting.
8. Singing (komi, kome-), by sheer phonological coincidence, is a homonym for the word for "weaving"--and that's largely how the Akotvyans perceive it, as weaving a garment from good honest raw materials to protect oneself and maybe look good while doing so. Songs in the archipelago tend to be the best way to pass down news and histories to the common folk (who don't know how to work the half-dozen or so scripts used across the islands), but there are also some songs that are clan-specific, or ahoyas-specific, recounting singular deeds that marked a person or event as important.
9. Storytelling (onosi, onose-) is mainly practiced by women, although there are a number of male storytellers across the islands as well, and men may learn the art (though it is considered "unmanly"). This is not the same as recording legends and reading them aloud; this is coming up with silly anecdotes to tell, jokes and japes to entertain children and teach them about life. And yet it is noble; it is the ayotaosoli "soul's art", the purest expression of the ideas that flash into our head--the creation of a new reality. Curiously, the term is also used for investigation; compiling evidence is koma onosis "weaving a story". The spread of a new religion, or the promises of a better future--these too fall under storytelling.

There are four other Arts recognized by the people of Akotvyah, but they are not, as the poets say, "within the threefold balance." The Nine Arts represent a transcendence of both humanity's baser instincts and its divine connection, taking both and making something new from them. Cooking and construction, while without a doubt incredible feats (as anyone can attest who has had a meal on Aheiwa, or seen the Black Temples), are considered merely upgrades of baser animal instincts, the need for food and shelter being paramount to survival. And the use of inkenei or "hammerspace" and the practice of cloning, as well as all other Gifts and magical powers on the islands, are considered to be bestowals from the gods themselves, beyond what humans could physically accomplish on their own. (One might, of course, argue that combat, swimming, and singing are all things that are developments of animal instincts as well. But these three, while possible in the wild, require an instructor to do properly, and are not absolutely necessary for survival in all cases. Cooking and construction are necessities; any elaborations on them only make them more palatable.)
Every well-educated person of the Islands is expected to be proficient in at least three of these arts, all of which open up different career opportunities depending on one's caste and birthplace. Kiponda himself has proven effective in the Arts of Writing, Combat, Storytelling, and Sailing, as well as (naturally) cloning and the use of inkenei.

Vocabulary
Ayotas, yahota- "soul" (*aʎot-as)
Komi, kome- "singing" (*gom-)
Inyaki, inyake "carving" (*iʎt’ɐk-i)
Naistin, naiste- "yoga" (Salvian narviṣḍin, narviṣḍi-)
Nali, naye- "calisthenics"
Nayaosoli, nanayaosole- "body's Art"
Nayas, nanaya- "body" (*nɐʎ-as)
Opeilon, poweilei- "ship" (*upylon)
Osoli, sohole- "Art (in the Classical sense)" (*usoʎʎ-i)
Oti, ote- "painting" (*ut-i)
Pali, paye- "combat, fighting" (*p’ɐʎ-i)
Taki, take- "writing" (Salvian trak-)
Tali, taye- "swimming" (*t’ɐʎ-i)
Teisi, teise- "sailing" (Central Seeker tlēdh "to sail")
Yonon, yohonei- "heart" (*jon-on)

[evmdbm]

I have to say for something created for a 48 hour challenge you've got quite a long way in what 2-3 months!

[Pedant]

I have to say for something created for a 48 hour challenge you've got quite a long way in what 2-3 months!

Proper incentive, my good colleague--and I’m mature enough to admit that the proper incentive was the likelihood that it would actually be seen and commented on. Plus, it’s just kind of a fun challenge. (Grin) Can’t wait for the next one!