Occlo
The former Occlo, nowadays often called Haven, lies hidden deep within the mountains on the south-eastern portion of the Continent of the Dark Unknown. The knowledge of the population of what lies behind the mountains is very limited if not non-existent, and so to them, everything in the region is part of Huansuytin, the World. The people tend to dress in blues and forest greens and browns, perhaps a reflection of what colors do not exist in the dreary world around them.
Occlo has not invented the wheel, and technology and science certainly is not one of Occlo’s strong sides. Magic, though, is practiced and highly appreciated. This of course does not mean that the inhabitants of Occlo are dumb – not at all. They are extremely organized and literate, and learned to live in a more or less hostile environment. Occlo does not have many raw resources but stone and some metals, and over the years the people of Occlo became skilled in training working animals, building irrigations, stoneworking and alike.
Magic is a very valuable part of the society, and therefore mages are valuable members of the society. In the stratified culture of the Ocllo, they have a position of some power as a caste of their own.
The workers of Occlo build terraces along the mountains upon which they cultivate their crops: potatoes and grain do well enough up there, as well as other staples. The lack of availability of fresh water, tough, is a huge problem. It happens often that a mage spends the whole day building an irrigation to create the possibility to water the foodstuff. Maybe this is one of the reasons why mages are highly appreciated in Occlo and why they are always treated with respect and as valuable members of the society.
The people of Occlo are master stoneworkers and metalworkers, and they are expert weapon smiths, although they do not have any neighbours to fight. In their distant past, before the many tribes and races of the mountains have been unified, they must have fought many and bloody wars. Also, the great and mysterious upwelling of seawater in the great Salt Lake dragged in many fish and creatures of the ocean, and thanks to their reed-lashed boats the people of Occlo have also become expert fisherman over the years.
Occlo is a caste-society. The social standing within the society is determined by firstly the family and secondly the profession. Therefore the highest members of the society are the royal families, the members of the anpana. Below them, the priestly castes (many, constantly shifting in rank as various religions gain or lose favor) and the casual tend to the general populace. The family structure is such that the families try to achieve a higher ranked position by intermarriage. The population of Occlo is a multiracial culture, and therefore formal weddings have turned out to be very important. The purpose of those formal marriages is merely to cement the ties of alliance. The families of the anpana likewise have ranks within them, with the head female of the family taking a seat upon the council and the head of the council ranking above everyone.
The citizens have virtually no contact to the outer world, and only very few of the people of Occlo feel the urge to leave their town. According to legend, the Great Salt Lake, which Occlo’s livelihood is dependant on, has been created when a huge fist suddenly burst out from underneath the mountains. This fist let in the water of the sea, and flooded in the villages and lives of the Ocllo people. But carried first were a few divine beings, and the anpana are said to be their direct descendants. The anpana came to bring civilization, wealth and mercy to Huansuytin, and so under the rein and guiding hand of the anpana the society of Occlo developed.
Women are always higher ranked than men, because the first beings in the fist have all been females, although it has long been forgotten which race they belonged to. Therefore, a woman with talents in magery will most likely be kidnapped into the sanctuary of the casual for the monastic training that the Ocllo offer their mages. This training is half indoctrination as well, and it is certainly one of the reasons why the caste-structure of Occlo still exists in its very strict form today.
Craftsmen are highly appreciated in Occlo, although they are more seen as a valuable possession than as people of their own right. Warriors, in the meantime, are generally seen as useless, expendable dirt. The reason for this might be that Occlo does not have any neighbours, or any enemies the town would have to be defended against. Therefore warriors are not very useful for the town of Occlo. Attempts to break the cast system are treated with horror by the majority of the population, and often cruelly punished. Breaking the cast system therefore is a huge taboo which no citizen of Occlo would try to commit without a really forcing reason.
The Ocllo are foremost, then comes family, then comes one’s caste. This is the energy behind all of the convoluted Ocllo politics. The maneuvering over council seats and marriages and who gets to administer what rod of land can get quite complex. Loyalty is thus a prime ethical trait, ranked above kindness.
The people of Occlo lack the materials for artwork, but their sculpture is awesome and their metalwork is excellent. Everything Occlo has must be built of the shades of stones found in the mountains, and so the people have found a way to bleach and redden the gray stone, and they have a highly prized vein of white stone they use as well. Much of their work relies on the squared corner, with pillars a common trait. Most outsiders would find their style to be confining and claustrophobic, although once inside, the habitations are as colourful as the Ocllo can make them. Blue and greens are predominant, mostly in weavings.
The Stranger, by Yaoviel Ligirien, Journeyman Fisher
A fresh breeze descends from the mountains when I rush into the direction of the noise. I know that something must have happened, because usually Occlo is a very quiet town and especially at that time the people are either working on the terraces or mining stone and metal, or like me, are on their way to the Great Salt Lake to fish.
I reach the marketplace and a crowd of screaming, shouting, excited people welcomes me. I spot a friend of mine, and when I ask him what had happened he just points into a certain direction and says: “Look!” His eyes are breathless and when I let my eyes wander in the according direction I quickly realize why.
There, in the middle of the crowd, surrounded yet alone, stands a woman. Her face is scarred and she has a very dominant jawline, her lips are blurred into an insecure smile. I am sure that she did not expect such a welcome, and I am also sure that she did not earn this treatment. For a moment I stare at her and quickly come to the conclusion that she must be a warrior – from all possible professions she must be a warrior! At least, she is a woman, I think and hope that this fighter is not planning to stay in Occlo – for her own sake.
The woman is wearing a shining breastplate and I notice that she must have taken a lot of time and care to keep it in this perfect state. Her hair is brown and dirty and reminds of a shrub and it could certainly use some water and soap. She is not even attractive, I think and pity her a bit.
On her right side the woman wear a sheath with some kind of sword in it, and I am sure that she also knows how to yield it. And suddenly a thought comes to my mind: There is no need to pity her. This woman is stronger than me, much stronger, and she even dared to come to Occlo which is only scarcely visited by travellers. This woman has seen the world, and suddenly I am aware that every single of her scars can tell me a story. Suddenly the familiar stone buildings of Occlo seem to smother me, I feel caged and cannot breath and out of reminiscence I all of a sudden remember the long suppressed and unpleasing thought: I want to see the world! I want to travel and I want to be free! And if I want to marry I want to marry someone I love, and not the boy of the best family my parents can find for me! And then, suddenly, I come to a resolution: I will go with this woman, if she is willing to take me with her.
I start working my way through the crowd, using my elbows to create a small path between the shouting, red bodies of the people. I hear a man shout: “The Anpana, bring her to the Anpana!” and many other voices immediately mix with the male voice. I know that my time is ticking, and I hurry up and then, great are the Gods, I am standing next to her.
I am surprised to hear my voice, clear and strict, resounding from the mountains and for a very strange reason silencing the crowd. “She is just a traveller, the Anpana have better things to do than talking to mere warriors from somewhere. She is alone, she will do us no harm – and if there is only a small bit of honour in one of us we should offer her food, a bath and a drink! Go, people, and do your work! I will care for this woman.”
I am even more surprised to see that my words had exactly the result I wished and hoped for. Some of the people are grumbling, and some obviously disagree, but slowly they all leave and get back to their work, but I stay, stay there with the stranger and smile. “My name is Yaoviel,” I say to the scarred woman. “Welcome to Occlo! Come with me, M’lady, and tell me something about the world!”
