the calendar Without
The calendar used Without by Dazed and Adroit contains twelve 30-day months, called “times” in calendar usage, and a harvest festival. In leap years, the festival is six days; other years, five days. Most years, the festival occurs between Hottest and Fall; in warmer years, it occurs between Fall and Shivers. As listed, times roughly correspond to months in the Gregorian calendar, beginning with January:
Written usage → Spoken usage (long) → Spoken usage (short)
Freeze → the time of freezing → freezing
Coldest → the coldest time → [in the time] coldest
Cold → the cold time → [in the time] cold
Cool → the cool time → [in the time] cool
Warmth → the warm time → in the warmth
Heat → the hot time → in the heat
Hottest → the hottest time → at the hottest
Festival → (no long spoken usage) → at the festival
Fall → the time of falling → in the falling
Shivers → the shivering time → shivering
Fires → the time of fires → at fires
Prayers → the time of prayers → at prayers
Colder → the colder time → [in the time] colder
Written, a time takes its proper name, e.g. “last Fires.” Spoken of by itself, a time takes long usage, e.g. “it was the time of fires.” If paired with a day, a time takes short usage, e.g. “it was the fourth thought freezing.” If a time or a day in a prior year is being specified, usage may be modified, e.g. “it was the last shivering time” or “it was the last labor at the next-to-last fires.” In the cases of Coldest, Cold, Cool, and Colder, if the day of a time in a previous year is specified, the words “in the time” are added and suitably modified, e.g. “the third touching in the last time coldest.”
Times are divided into five 6-day weeks called “cycles.” (Without, a “cycle” does not denote what it denotes Within – see the glossary.) Ordinal numbers specify a time’s cycles: first, second, third, fourth, and last. Days are named for activities in which, by prescription, all Dazed participate. Adroit still use the names, but few do the activities.
The days of a cycle are named:
First usage → Second usage
Sing → the song
Study → the study
Work → the labor
Speak → the speech
Touch → the touching
Think → the thought
A day’s first usage is reserved for writing or when spoken without reference to a cycle or a time, e.g. “it’s Sing today.” In all other spoken contexts, the complete usage is the [first, second, third, fourth, last] [second usage of day] [short usage of time], with the time dropped when not needed and words added to the usage of the time as appropriate, for instance to specify the year. To avoid confusion, when referring to a day in the prior cycle, the word “prior,” not “last,” is added to the second usage. The preposition “on” often precedes a day’s usage, e.g. “on the prior study” or “on the first song.”
The thought at the festival, occurring only in leap years, is considered a special day. On this day, no work is done and no words are said. Adroitnesses meet but not to speak or touch, and solitary Dazed and Adroit spend the day in silence with a friend.
Dazed and Adroit do not agree on which time of the year is the first, and there is no commonly accepted numbering of years. They keep personal tallies, starting with the day they came Without, which include their number of years in usages for times.
Written: [1st, 2nd, etc.] [written usage of month] [1st, 2nd, etc.] [first usage of day]
For example: 7th Shivers 1st Sing
Spoken: the [first, etc.] [second usage of day] [short usage of time, with “my”]
For example:
the last speech my fourth shivering
the second song at my last prayers
the first thought in my second time coldest
Specifying a festival day, personal usage is my [ordinal year] [second usage of day] at the festival, e.g. “my twelfth song at the festival.” The exception is reference to the leap day. In this special case, Dazed and Adroit number only leap years, not all years. For example, for a Dazed who came Without during the year following a leap day, “my first thought at the festival” would occur the day after “my fourth touching at the festival.”
Far society and names
The name of a Far is a carefully constructed description of his or her place in Far society. Since the ordering of elements in a name reflects Far ethics and tribal structure, understanding the construction of names requires understanding the ethical and social system. Ethically, two closely related concepts are central: belonging and equality.
Say, “place,” refers to the idea of belonging to one’s family and tribe. Far believe they belong to one another in a nexus of equal, mutual relationships, like a commune. Most valuable property is shared in common; personal property consists only of items for personal use. A Far belongs first to their family, secondly to their tribe.
Far disdain hierarchy. Closely related to their ethic of ownership is the core value im, “equality,” which stresses freely given mutual aid. Im also describes the Far custom of sitting or standing in equilateral arrangements – for instance, four people would form a square, five a pentagon. Many Far gathering together form a large circle. The custom suggests that each person in a group has an equal voice in the discussion, an equal right to help decide matters. A person’s recognized needs may affect their im. For instance, a family or tribe sitting at a fire let elders sit closer because they need warmth. Within the family or tribe, Far consider each other’s physical needs before their social importance.
A tribe facing the hardships and dangers of life in the Waste must have a leader, of course, and this is the nah, “decider.” Though the nah’s decisions have the same force as tribal law, the nah is no tyrant. Each tribe also has at least one jah, “disputer,” whose role is to question the nah’s decisions and, if decisions serve the nah’s interests over the tribe’s interests, the nah’s authority. Wise nah respect the im of jah and seek to show the tribe that their decisions are disinterested. If the nah cannot convince the tribe of their disinterest, they are likely to be replaced by a jah and may suffer other consequences.
Beneath the nah and jah exists a loose configuration of positions, each with rights and responsibilities. The most important is that of ri, a “wise” person. Formally serving as a tribe’s shaman and historian, the ri also advises the nah on application of tribal law. Nah may nominate but do not appoint their ri. The tribe selects the ri by a popular vote. All adults and every child old enough to speak may vote for the ri.
Sah, “warriors,” protect the tribe. Aside from the nah, sah are the only Far in the tribe permitted to carry deadly weapons such as swords and daggers. Under tribal law, only a sah may mete out a death sentence. Capital punishment is rare, always involving deeply dishonorable conduct that disrespects a person’s im, such as murder or rape, or that violates the rules of im-hel-qah, the Far’s ritual combat.
Nahli and jahli are dependents on the nah and jah, respectively, often spoken of as “above their shield.” A jah may claim jahli only with the nah’s permission. Nahli-qah, “blood nahli,” is a nahli being groomed to succeed the nah as leader of the tribe. There may be only one nahli-qah. He or she may have special privileges, such as command of sah, but is also expected to show exemplary conduct, demonstrating great hel, “honor.” Since jah may become nah, they often have jahli-qah, but this is not a formal position.
Aside from capital punishment, the worst consequence to befall Far is becoming uhn-say, “without place.” Such a person is cast out by the tribe and may not receive any form of aid. A pattern of theft or deceit is a reason a Far may become uhn-say; another is a sah’s cowardice or cardinal failure to protect the tribe. (Such sah commonly become sah-uhn-say, vagabond mercenaries.) A nah may not unilaterally make anyone uhn-say. Because casting-out is final and could mean the person’s death by starvation, the nah, the ri, and all the tribe’s jah must agree to it.
Far names incorporate two types of elements: proper names and modifiers. The proper names appear in this order: family, tribe, person. This ordering reflects the order of one’s loyalties and duties. Placement of modifiers shows the relationships between proper names, “bridging” them according to Far ethics. Different modifiers never appear next to each other, and typically later placement – closer to the personal name – indicates greater importance. Often, the words nahli-qah and jahli-qah are divided: nahli or jahli appears between the family and tribe, qah between the tribe and person.
Consider a simple name: Wahn-aht-nefri. She appears in Aht lore, the story “The Boy Who Fell in Love with Night,” as Wahn-jahli-aht-qah-nefri. When Nefri and Nuah are betrothed, Nefri’s name becomes Wahn-qah-halim-aht-qah-uhta-nefri until they are married. Here, the double appearance of qah shows that her betrothal relates not only the Wahn and Halim families but also the Aht and Uhta tribes. Because by custom the Aht are matriarchal, her name reverts to Wahn-jahli-aht-qah-nefri when she marries.
When introducing themselves, by custom the Far recite all their names, starting with the first name they were given and ending with their current name. This recitation, which can become quite long and labyrinthine, tells the story of the person’s life.
Introducing herself to Quibble, the sah Lurah recites this list of names:
Halim-qahlif-lurah
Halim-qahlif-qeht-lurah
Halim-qahlif-sah-lurah
Halim-qah-nufra-qahlif-sah-lurah
Nufra-qahlif-sah-lurah
Nufra-sah-qahlif-nahli-qah-lurah
Sah-uhn-say-lurah
Nahli-aht-sah-lurah
The recitation gives a complicated personal history, most easily understood if we first know two facts about the Qahlif, Lurah’s birth tribe: by long custom, this Southern tribe is matriarchal, but its sah are mostly men. Lurah was born to the Halim family, the same family into which Nefri married (her husband Nuah was adopted by the Halim). In childhood, Lurah was someone’s qeht, or spiritual companion. She considered this an honor, so she changed her name. Gaining full im as a teenager, she trained to become a sah and, against custom, she earned that position with the Qahlif. Then she married into the Nufra family. By custom, since the Qahlif are matriarchal, she should have reverted to her prior name at marriage, and her husband would have taken her family name. Her family name becomes Nufra, however, and this tells us that her birth family disowned her, probably because they disapproved of the union. From these details – qeht, sah, the adoption of the family name Nufra – we learn that Lurah is highly unconventional and individualistic in character. It seems to serve her well, though. The next transformation saw her become the nahli-qah of the Qahlif, next in line to be nah, though she remained sah as well. The unusual dual position required some innovation, since name modifiers are not placed alongside one another. Notice that Lurah chooses to place sah between her family and tribal names, nahli-qah as a single word between her tribal and personal names. She took the position of nahli-qah as her first duty to the tribe, bridging her and the tribe. At this point, she likely commanded a contingent of the Qahlif’s sah. Then we witness a spectacular fall from grace: losing everything, Lurah became uhn-say. Family and tribe cast her out. She became a mercenary. Typically, the stigma of being uhn-say means sah-uhn-say do not incorporate the word in their names. But Lurah did. True to her eccentric character, she does not elide her disgrace in her recitation. Now, however, things are turning around for her: she has been made nahli, brought above the shield of the Aht-nah, and again retained as a sah. However, she still lacks a family.
Among Far names, there are two common anomalous cases: deities and orphans. Far call their gods Far-nah, “deciders for the people”; this precedes their proper names, which are actually common nouns denoting forces, phenomena, objects, or animals. For instance, in the case of Far-nah-qesh, the word qesh means “sandstorm.” This deity is a wind goddess, represented in hieroglyphs as a buzzard and appearing in many stories as a buzzard who transforms into a woman. Far deities have special followings, or cults, which deal most closely with the forces they represent. Far-nah-qesh has a cult among the Qahlif, the Southern Far tribe who inhabit the harshest desert.
Orphans’ names are also short, containing tribe, the word nahli, and the personal name – for instance, Uhta-nahli-nuah, the protagonist of the story “The Boy Who Fell in Love with Night.” Lacking family, orphans are dependants of the nah, above his or her shield. Within a tribe, they wander from family to family, exchanging work for welfare, and are considered everyone’s responsibility. Unless an orphan proves useful in some way, such as by becoming a sah, the nah will seek to unload the orphan by arranging a marriage for them, as in the story about Nuah. This is difficult, as these children offer families no gain in social standing or material wealth. Northern Far tribes, such as the Uhta, even forbid orphans to marry except into another tribe – this law, meant to help the tribe dispense with its orphans, in practice keeps them in dependence and a state of near-slavery. Orphans never lack food, clothing, or shelter when needed, but they live on the margins of Far society, one step from becoming uhn-say.