Sesshayr (State religion) Sesshayr: State religion of the Eslyat minor race of
the Vanguard Reaches, responsible for taking the Eslyat out
of their technological "dark ages." The religion's founder,
Sansdantka, preached that any gap can be crossed if the
aspirant is willing to work to build the bridge. Gaps, in the
broad sense, are between people, islands, or even worlds.
The analogy was particularly relevant on the Elliador
homeworld as the land mass is an archipelago.
Sansdantka also preached that bridges were two-way, so
that before building a bridge to a new land, one must solve
his problems lest they travel across the bridge. Sesshayr
stresses proper management of resources (physical, economic,
and emotional) to make the present habitat as pleasant as
possible. It is a major injustice to do damage to the
environment, to defraud or steal, or to sow the seeds of
dissent. Free speech is encouraged, at least on the surface,
for lively discussion. In practice, Sesshayr is highly
inflexible and all-pervading in Eslyat society.
As a state religion, Sesshayr assumes the form of an
omnipresent government throughout the Eslyat theocracy.
Worlds are Orthodox or Heretical based on their assimilation
of Eslyat religious beliefs. Heretical worlds are dangerous
to travellers, more in the spiritual or ideological sense
than the physical. Criminals who murder or steal are also
Heretical and their imprisonment is for their rehabilitation.
There are many Eslyat prison worlds.
The Eslyat life is a gregarious one, with much time in
socializing groups, using the well-developed art of
conversation. Design of homes, cities and starships always
includes extra areas for congregating, while actual living
quarters are comparatively small and communal quarters are
common.
The Eslyat require more "personal space" than most human
races due to their large tails and tendency to gesture
demonstratively with their hands and bodies while talking.
Designs of buildings and spacecraft take this space
requirement into consideration. Some Eslyat have developed
severe depression when isolated from other members of their
race. As their religion and society create a high level of
interdependence, Eslyat function poorly when separated from
the support of others.
Eslyat diplomats have always dealt with Vilani envoys as
inferiors, as they believe their society to be superior to
any other they have met. They particularly devalue Imperial
society because of its infighting civil wars, rampant
senseless crime and lack of respect for other individuals.
The official Eslyat view is that Vilani society is backward
and barbaric, and should be dealt with only as a hostile
influence to be kept at bay.
(reproduced by permission of the author, Chuck Kallenbach II)
Vrynsyss (Language) Vrynsyss: Language of the Eslyat minor race of the
Vanguard Reaches. Vrynsyss was originally the ceremonial
tongue of Sesshayr, the state religion, designed by the
prophet Sansdantka. Few non-Eslyat are skilled in this
unusual language and its shades of meaning. Vrynsyss, while
simple to speak and write, is intricate in its grammatical
characteristics. The changing of one or two letters in a
verb changes meaning drastically. Verbs conjugate with the
use of endings and have no intrinsic person, number or
gender. For example, "fenser" (walk, walks, will walk),
"fenshyf" (do, [does, will,] not walk), "fenssendy" (walk
[imperative]), "fenslule" (I will walk or let us walk), or
"fenskyes" (walk, has [have] walked). Such grammatical
features as subject and object are expressed as case
distinctions with particles added to the ends of words. For
example, "ceskessi" (a man), "ceskessa" (of a man),
"ceskesso" (from a man). Most of these endings are irregular
in form and must be learned by rote memorization. Personal
pronouns have a complex and intricate system, depending upon
the social relationship of the addresser and addressee,
including sex and age of the speaker.
(reproduced by permission of the author, Chuck Kallenbach II)
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