Storyteller

This is a Summer Camp 2026 article! These articles are incomplete and/or actively under construction because I prefer to submit them at 300 words regardless of completeness. You're welcome to enjoy it is as it is, of course (and thank you!), but if you're interested in updates, give Babikiye a follow!


Of all the occupations in the world, none is more demonstrative of what it means to be a sophont than that of a Storyteller. Storytellers take on many different forms, from orator to author to painter. A parent telling their child a bedtime story is a storyteller. A dancer conveying complex thoughts with the twist of their arms. The list of storytelling mediums goes on and on and on. At the heart of all of these mediums lies a central purpose: to connect with one another and to make sense of the world together.  

Current Focus/Story Relevance Notes

Samir admired the storytellers in his life from the moment he was born. Storytellers come in many different varieties, but as a child, he only knew of two options: oral storytelling and authorship.   The Mapek Fas have a strong oral storytelling tradition and its storytellers (of which there are only ever three at a time, an elder and two acolytes) have memorized stories which are believed to date back thousands of years. Samir was not one of the storytellers, but his painful yet cloistered position in society gave him ample time to sit with, listen to, and even question the storytellers compared to the average Mapek.   Heyir taught Samir how to read and write after his escape from the Mapek. Although he was safer and more free than ever before in his life, he still led a sequestered existence under Heyir's roof. He found respite in books, the more fantastical the better. When Heyir noticed this, they gifted him with all the stationery his little heart desired. Eventually, he met the author of many of his favorite stories, Ezeki. Though they didn't get much time together, it opened his eyes to the possibility that he, too, could become a storyteller.   Samir struggled to adapt to Kivria. He never lost his love of storytelling, but it fell to the wayside compared to the pressures of survival. At Oz's side, he grew up into an admirable chef and general people-wrangler. After Haven's establishment, Samir decompressed enough to revive his old passions.   When Samir encountered limited encouragement, he ran away to Yor Lektem to pursue an education. While there, he fell in love with theater. In time, Samir became one of the most beloved playwrights of the era. After a series of escalating encounters with the local government, Samir returned to Haven. He continues to practice his craft, but on a smaller scale. Every so often, one of his works breaks containment.


Cover image: by Salah Ait Mokhtar

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