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Class: Sociology, Report
Wc: 1,604

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Aut: Kaniovac ‘Andyda
Dt: 989 A.T.
Ogn: N/A

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• Quarryn

v. I, Essence

I must begin with the admission that I am from an area of Parallelium whose geography was likely designed by Quarrnyl rather than Porrair. For those who are not from the area, there are a number of planet-stars that inhabit the fringes between Matriarch Grove and Parallelium adorned with cities of metallic buildings outside lush forests rather than volcanoes. These planet-stars were part of an opportunity in Parallelium that few are afforded. Because I am not a pori, growing up on one of these planet-stars meant that I did not have to begin my compulsory education at the same age as those around me, and I could spend some formative early years exploring one of these rare ecosystems. I drew on this knowledge when conducting the research summarized in this text along with several conversations with actual quarryn.

To understand quarryn, you must understand essence or at least understand how quarryn think of essence and what it means to their society as a whole and to an individual. Essence is one of two foundational elements of the quarryn “system”, for lack of a better word. While there are many texts on the various belief systems and organized religions across Omneutta, this is not one of them. How quarryn interact with essence is not worship but a series of behaviors that are sometimes varied depending on circumstance but should generally be seen as orthopraxy. Though I will not be able to give detailed information on what these behaviors entail as I have not learned to interact with essence, I can describe the structure of how quarryns think about and interact with essence as a whole.

From what is known to me, there is only one element of faith that is required and by the time a quarryn becomes accustomed to interacting with essence this belief is understood as fact. To quarryn every thing in Omneutta contains essence, not just what is generally understood or believed to be a ‘living creature’. Not all quarryn will develop ability and knowledge to sense essence in all things, as this is the first step towards mastery of the “system”. There is no consensus as to what percentage of all quarryn will learn how to interact with essence by adulthood however through interviews and my own experience it does seem like the majority will have a rudimentary level of experience.

The most helpful explanation as an outsider I can offer is an oversimplification of essence. If you imagine a vase filled with water, this is what everything in Omneutta is: filled with essence. A quarryn capable of removing essence can tilt the vase and pour some of the water into their own container, or carry the essence somehow in their bodies for later use. The partial removal of essence is called a practice and it is crucial to not take too much essence. It seems as though essence can self-regenerate over time, but quarryn speed this regeneration up through several different kinds of rituals, which can be performed by a single or multiple quarryn. The quarryn performing the ritual do not necessarily give back essence they have stored, though some rituals are for the combination of essences.

v. II, Trees

Though the rest of Omneutta seems to think of the healing application of quarryn’s essence usage, most quarryn do not engage with essence in that manner. In terms of numbers, I believe the majority of quarryn in Omneutta live in Matriarch Grove and are the majority there. In Matriarch Grove, most quarryn do not need to heal or diagnose other omneuttians of diseases or injuries but will instead use their knowledge in more domestic applications. The most common usage of essence by my understanding is the number of rituals that are for growing the quarryns tree-architecture.

It is not accurate to say quarryn build anything, as they do not cut down any trees for lumber, shape stones to build, or forge metal. However, their large tree-structures are grown to met specific and individualized requirements. In the view of outsiders or non-quarryn, their homes might all look the same, their city-centres might indistinguishable, and their places of business might appear interchangeable but in actuality each tree-structure is grown to meet an individualized need.

A tree-structure will fit perfectly within its surroundings: its roots will not disturb existing pathways, its branches will not push aside or against other tree-structures, and if it is grown with leaves, its canopy will not block sunlight necessary to other plants. All of these concerns are external; the tree will also be perfect in its interior with no need for shelving, stairs, or other elements of furniture to be brought in and affixed to the tree by force or magic.

It is not just the situation of each tree’s growing that is unique, but the trees themselves. Since trees—even tree-structures—are living beings with their own essence and what the quarryn call personalities. The majority of trees in Matriarch Grover are not architecture, but still are still integral to the growth of the trees that are coaxed into buildings with the essence given from surrounding trees. Quarryn say that while the trees are raised with largely the same rituals with the same steps, the individual personalities of each tree require modifications to both steps and the essences prescribed to each ritual.

v. III, Drawing and Giving

I will not be able to explain in great detail any of the rituals or practices in the process of growing trees, but I can explain in generalities. To help understand I will start with two definitions. Practices are used to draw essence from objects, animals, plants, and minerals. In contrast, rituals are used to give essence to an object, animal, plant, or mineral. In the interim, essence is usually stored within a quarryn’s own essence – inside their body. Sometimes, with advanced quarryn this is not the case, and I can briefly discuss this later.

If you remember the vase metaphor on essence from earlier in this text, you might be thinking to yourself one of two questions: ‘does the quarryn remove some of their own essence to make room for others?’ or ‘how does a quarryn fit external essences within their own full essence?’ but both of these questions unfortunately miss the reality of the process. To finish the vase metaphor, you can imagine that the vase can be emptied, partially or fully, but it can never overflow. However, if a vase is full of water and you pour half as much of a drink in the vase, the vase is now only two-thirds water. Too much more and you can no longer call it a vase full of water, and the same can be said of essence, as they do eventually mix.

The most basic practice to draw essence involves kneeling in front of the subject you wish to coax essence from and slowly draw several circles around oneself with your arms along the ground. It is easiest to do this in dirt where you can see the circle you draw, though quarryn cannot see in the way other sentient species can. There is more than just drawing the circle, but I have not been educated on specifics. At some point, you “know” the circle is right—as you’ve been redrawing it over and over—and you begin to lean forward, drawing lines intersecting the circle from as far forward as you can reach to just inside the circle. This invites the essence to flow. This practice is best performed with a stationary subject. If you’re looking to draw essence from an animal, it is recommended that you either perform the practice while the animal is sleeping or become proficient at making animals feel calm in your presence. Essence withdrawal does not induce a physical sensation, though withdrawing too much essence can make a subject fatigued.

Rituals are used to give essence that a quarryn has collected. Rituals can be grouped into two groups: time or place rituals. Time of day rituals are predominantly used for large communal instances usually in the form of large tree-architecture that will be open to a whole community of quarryn though that is not always the case. I have observed the course of a river being changed over the course of several days in a series of rituals conducted repeatedly at the same times each day.

Rituals to give essence are seen as an essential part of growth across Matriarch Grove and by quarryn who live elsewhere as crucial all around Omneutta. Essences are combined more often than not, that is to say that multiple kinds of essences are added into a single entity the majority of the time. In most rituals I have seen, multiple quarryn can participate to provide multiple essences, though it seems if a quarryn is advanced enough, they can combine multiple essences themselves. This essential giving and combination of essence is perhaps why the flora and fauna of Matriarch Grove are so unique, but this is at the moment an unconfirmed hypothesis.

Some quarryn I have seen are more advanced in their understand of essence are able to store essence externally. I have seen pouches and vials that hold essence in solid and liquid forms respectively, allowing them to be mixed physically before being given to a subject. I suspect certain rituals call for this, or that they are experimenting with new rituals and techniques, though it is possible that essences are traded between quarryn as some kind of currency. There are many more questions about essence than I have answers, but quarryn do not freely discuss this subject, it must be seen or taught to be known.