Algiephav

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Class: Philosophy/Religion
Wc: 1,958

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Aut: Unnamed Iekkod
Dt: Early A.T.
Ogn: Sellsword

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• Efteta

As a kosveg of the Grenavoc Tributary, you enter into a service that will at first burden but eventually release you. We who work in service of the Kocpog’s vision of the bones do so ultimately for The Unending Gaze, The Gatekeeper Davoto. All avoc are born welcome into Davoto’s sight. There are those across Pale Shores – and far beyond the sands – who wish to lead avoc astray into an unfulfilled life, a life that leads to Vodoma. We seek to be the light for all avoc, a path to Padiera or Kkindoma for other omneuttians.

This text welcomes you into the flow of our Tributary and prepares you for a life where you may help others leave the sands of uncertainty into a life worth living. We hold that each of his first seven children bear equal weight upon our shoulders, watching and guiding our lives. We may learn from them and look upon them in the Fieft should we be so guided.

In this text you will learn not only what is expected of you on each of the eight days, but what incantations and rituals can be used to ask for the power of Davoto to favour you or aid you in a task by many proper invocations. You would do well to keep this text close long after you have committed each to memory.

It is common to begin each day with gratitude for not dying a natural death between the previous day and today. Though passing in sleep is peaceful, we are thankful for each day before our time comes. Over time you may learn more, but this is an earnest recitation to offer as you begin your time in your algiephav:

Blessed be the sight of Davoto,
for my soul and body are one on this new day.
Through challenge those who look
will find his wisdom and strength.
To day we train the body,
to night we train the mind.
This new day we seek to steer our souls 
onto the right route.

In the algiephav you will find that days can pass without note, but once you are moored to a local tributary there are tasks to be done each day in order to make the week whole. While in training you will follow tasks and weekly and daily plans laid out by your Iekkod or if applicable Maeng, and this following calendar will be mixed in with those plans:

Astepa is a day of rest for those in the tributary. The doors will be open for bones to come and seek Davoto’s thoughts on their own. You may mingle with them if you so choose, and give them council on their troubles and thoughts but there is no expectation to do so. You must regain your strength for the week ahead.

Ruepa is a day of learning, preparing for the morning and evening pools of the following day. You should spend most of your day alone or under the direction of a Iekkod going over your words and notes so that you will not stumble when speaking. On each Ruepa trace your words carefully and study until tomorrow’s words cannot be forgotten. Invoke Le if you find it necessary as you learn the week’s words.

Dauepa is a day of work in the tributary. There are morning and evening pools for worship, where the local avoc will come to hear the words of the Dav read by the Iekkod. Each week of reaffirmation to our dedication of the Unending Gaze’s path will reinvigorate his ability and desire to guide us. This will prepare the avoc for the week ahead so all in the building will join to confirm their dedication and direction. You will be briefed on the dedication each week, here is one such example:

Unending is the vision of our Gatekeeper.
I speak these words in his name:
Strengthen my sight for I am weak,
Through your guidance I will find what I seek.
May he watch over another eight days more.

Keuepa is a day of work, sometimes the busiest day of the week. With the worship of the previous day across Pale Shores, Davoto’s power will be maximized to be channeled through us into artifacts. Many of the prestigious avoc throughout the community will come to the tributary to have their artifacts (amulets, bracelets, rings, shrines, and the like) blessed or reinvigorated. These avoc are among the class of shipwrights, sailor’s water weavers, the warriors and protectors, and of course the head of each clan.

Porepa is a lesser day of rest, and necessary after the two prior days. The tributary moves slowly on this day, and its members tend to themselves. As always, the doors are open for those who seek council. On porepa, any member of the tributary is expected to listen to an avoc in need. Rest your eyes on this day, for they are needed to see the Vision.

Qurepa is a day of learning and quiet is expected within the tributary. Ample time should be spent on not only the Dav, but also written texts at the discretion of your Iekkod. One must spend qurepa learning and thinking, so that they may ask meaningful questions on the morrow.

Hauepa is a day of teaching and while the doors of the tributary are open, Kosveg and Iekkod alike will be busy with seminar throughout the day. Many tributaries begin the day with a class for the Kosveg taught by the lowest Iekkod, who in turn learn from those above. There are also tributary-wide classes taught by the those who have seen the deepest meanings. Kosveg are expected to end the day recounting their lessons with their peers, so that the vision is shared by all.

Taruepa is a day of learning and of joy. Many local ceremonies are often held on this day including adulthood ceremonies, burials, and marriages. It is in this day of balance that many will go forth from the tributary and learn from the locals – what has become of their week, their work, their lives. We cannot help them on the right path if we are not familiar with their lives.

An invocation of power is not some thing to do lightly, and the proper considerations must be made. This does not guarantee the favour you seek, but it is imperative to ask correctly. There are variations to each ritual and invocations for more reasons than covered here, but these will allow a Kosveg to see what lay ahead.

The Tributary does not normally consecrate births, as the newborn cannot make decisions of its own. However, In the rare event that you are present for the birth of an avoc and at the mother’s request, say the following while pouring the water from the mother onto the new-born:

Lady Sca and holy Sight,
place these new bones on path to light.
From this water a new life grows
until the time Davoto knows.
We look into the new-born eyes,
and in this day we realize,
a new life has just begun,
all the years yet to come.
Lady Sca and holy Sight,
place these new bones on path to light.

The vemikos ceremony is the most frequent occurrence of any ceremonies in the Tributary, especially as a community grows. Though there are alternatives to mark an avoc’s coming of age around Pale Shores, the vemikos ceremony is a timeless tradition in which a member of the tributary – perhaps you, new Kosveg – will alternate between pouring fresh and sea water into a container that the new adult is holding until it overflows, at which point they will pour it upon themselves. There are special lines for each part of this ceremony:

Blessed are these bones,
in the name of Davoto,
from the shores for you to see,
these bone unto the sea.

These four lines begin the ceremony and are crucial to having a connection and audience with Davoto for the rest of the ceremony. While you pour water from the rivers and seas, speak the following lines, repeating as necessary:

Water from the mountain peaks
blessed are the bones they meet.

Water from beyond the shores 
Davoto keep these bones aboard.

Once the water overflows and the avoc is prepared to pour the water on themselves, close the ceremony with the following:

Blessed are these bones,
in the name of Davoto.
He calls out to you and I,
to bolster both our mind and might,
by watchful sight be blessed
and by watchful sight grow.
With these waves washed over
do your elders flow slower.

Another smaller but well known ceremony is a sailor’s blessing. Of course, any blessing a sailor would seek would come from Davoto through Ja, also known as Riverblood. The simplest form of seeking Ja’s favour is similar to the vemikos ceremony – and for good reason. The passing of age or time is quite similar to the flow of water and so sailors invoke Ja in the same manner as we complete the vemikos ceremony. As one should always have fresh water when sailing, all one needs to do is pour fresh water into sea water and speak the following:

While the Gaze leads not astray,
with his protection journey underway.
I make these waves in her name.
May she flow the waters where I aim.

A union of two avoc was not an official sanctioning in the first few generations, but is a more modern practice. Though monogamous partnerships have long been cultural tradition, the Tributary has been sanctioning them with ceremony now through an old invocation of Sca since the union takes two existing avoc and creates a new union.

While the gathered avoc eat food and musically trained avoc produce the characteristic swaying tones of Sca’s invocation, hold the two avoc to be joined in front of you. Make sure they keep their hands in the proper position and speak the following:

Gather here before the loving gaze
sanction the bond of these two bones.
We acknowledge now the oaths and vows
of those gathered here today.
For these words become truths
real as the water Davoto flowed into our bones.
Respect now and for long these oaths and vows
of two bones made into one.
Sca showed that through care and devotion
something new can emerge,
these oaths and vows,
now in her name,
now in her gaze.

The burial is the oldest ceremony of the avoc, created long ago in the solution of Lo with the work of Lu and Sca. There are many ways to prepare the body, and the stake that anchors it that exist outside the Tributary and are often local preferences. However, the incantation itself remains true, calling upon the work of Lu to ensure their body remains intact for as long as possible, ensuring the soul has enough time to make it to the deserved destination. If you are present as the family or gravekeeper is preparing the body offer these words:

From when soul animates
Bones carried on through waves
Until a life complete
Dust we become at last
Hold tight in gravefast
Frozen the soul may be
Stones carry your legacy

If you are present at the burial itself, whether or not you were present as the body was prepared, speak these words as the stake is being driven in:

Sundered, soul has left
We lay bones today
Washed away in waves
New bones or life beyond
Staked here for rest and end
Soul return may stake defend

Do not forget, new kosveg that these are but a few of the things you should know. Commit them to your mind, and keep this text close.