Folkwords of the Elfrard Vherokior
The following is a list of terms found in use in some of the less-traveled clans of Molden Heath, which may be expanded in the future. In many cases, these are replaced in common parlance of MSM, or between capsuleers where the use of neural translator modules will render these words unheard. Members of more urbane families might be dumbfounded by an Elfrard native casting these words about casually in the Vherokior tongue.
» blood: (v) The act or process of facing death in combat.
Most Vherokior clans are no longer combative in the strict sense, opting to operate as provisioners of goods and services public or private. However, their place in Matari society was not always one of facilitation, and in ancient days they employed their young as defenders and scouts, picketing along the peripheries of their families' caravans, watchful for raiding parties from rival clans. The term 'blooded' is thought to have originated in those times.
» brave: (n) Young, non-veteran security personnel. Generally, the collected youth of a Clan who have yet to earn a vocation, serving as bodies aboard stations and spaceships.
» catch the wind: (v) The act or feeling of finding purpose; mental or spiritual invigoration.
» everborn: (n/adj) Referring to Matari capsuleers, either as individuals or to the quality of being a capsuleer.
In death, honored Vherokior are said to join the ancestors in guiding and judging the Tribe. Shamans speak that this is the rightful way of passing from life, a way that capsuleers, by existing, challenge fundamentally. For this, they are often regarded with suspicion and fear, and some have difficulty attaining any status within their families and clans, despite the wealth and renown they can bring. While some clans view them as blessed, they acknowledge than such Matari might never join the ancestors.
» foremothers: (n) The departed elders of those Vherokior clans who trace lineage through the mothers of the constituent families.
As many clans are matriarchal, the expression of the will or appeal to the foremothers is common among Vherokior. As the young are raised, their mothers detail the noteworthy acts of wit and bravery that define their heritage, stories which they themselves were taught in their youth. It is common among the more spiritual families to teach their young women the secret names of their foremothers, so that they may be invoked in times of great need.
» ghost wind: (n) The abstract concept of an ever-present potential of death, a force of nature which lies hidden from all but the ancestors, and some spirits.
Vherokior mystics claim that the ghost wind originates from Pator and radiates outward through the rest of the cosmos. Those who died in the early days of space exploration were the first exposed to the raw cold and radiation of the star, and so were said to be the first to truly taste the ghost wind. They are sometimes called faerflor, an old word for Starkmanir shepherds.
» luck: (n) Favor or blessing from the ancestors.
» seyd: (n) One of a class of male-only shamans common to the Vherokior. Seydr oversee two types of rituals, both involving the reparation of wrongdoing.
» spit on the wind: (n/v) An exclamation of frustration or despair; missed opportunity, wasted effort; taking an action resulting in unfavorable circumstances.
In the deep desert, nothing is more precious than water. It preserves life. The various fluids of the body each have their own special significance, both in ritual and language. Blood carries the will of the ancestors, the shedding of tears is considered selfish, and so on. In trade, deals are sealed in saliva. Old customs included the spitting in hand before shaking on a deal, as a sign that each party was willing to make sacrifices in order to preserve the partnership. For the spit to fail in its purpose before it is lost to the winds and sands was considered a sign of disapproval from the ancestors.
» tender: (n) Negotiations which are not yet finalized; unfinished business.
It is not uncommon during overtures between clans, particularly in the formation of service contracts, for many face-to-face meetings to occur over weeks or months. The talks themselves are rather straightforward, but Vherokior matriarchs are well-known for their stamina when deliberating over the value their reputations afford.
» truck: (n/v) The act of conducting business, or the business itself. Also, the satellite activities performed in the pursuit of commerce.
» truckwend: (n) A solitary journey, sometimes voluntary, sometimes punitive, wherein a Vherokior must operate without the support of family or clan, relying solely on their own courage and savvy.
Vherokior oral tradition tells of braves whose wanderlust was so persistent that they could no longer be bound to their families' caravans. In order to learn their value in the world, they were given what they could carry, and set out under the open desert sky. Whether enduring the heat of Pator overhead or resting under the dazzling blanket of stars, they were guided by self-determination and became characterized by their resourcefulness. Some would one day return to their families wiser, but others chose to remain on their 'truckwend', their journey of reckoning, until they were seen no more.
» upcast: (adj) Those Matari who achieve Tribal sponsorship to attempt capsuleer qualification.
Another relatively recent term. Families who consign their precious young to the stars often do so with no shortage of melancholy.
» waster: (n) A spirit said to inhabit a body of a Vherokior lost in the Greater Sobaki Desert. Stories claim that they vary in their temperament, though their appearance is generally told to be that of a body baked and parched to desiccation.
In the days of the old caravans, children would often ask about the world beyond the dunes, and why the paths they tread were chosen. Some Elders, to keep the young from thinking too much on life outside the family, would spin yarns about the wayfaring youth who were lost in straying too far from their people. They would be beset by spirits, doomed to walk the sands of the deep desert until they became dust.
» wind-wasted: (adj) Having the characteristics of a person or thing left to prolonged exposure to the desert environs. Can apply to appearance, health, or demeanor.