Namebefore Rank/Title in Challenge World | World Anvil
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Namebefore

[Prompt: The title & responsibilities of an important person in your world]   On many islands, skitters' names reflect notable events going on around them at the time they were born... or important events to come.   In the latter case, there is one skitter whose job is to see ahead, and give names fitting those events.  
Whatever es name was, it is lost now. It has been given, exchanged for the title of Namebefore. The title is all e needs; for one whose job is to see and christen, a label anchoring self to self only gets in the way. You have to dissolve the self, and become only part of Her. And for that, You cannot be. A name you cannot have. Is it ironic, or poetic?   It doesn't matter. What is, is, and e is Namebefore. Es life is sacred and solitary, though dissolving into the world means your in-essence is never alone. Es duties are simple and repetitive; many would consider them tedious. Perfect cleanliness; perfect discipline. Nothing out of place, and not a thing that isn't necessary to survive or divine.   Every morning, e wakes precisely when es body has enough energy to carry em up. E journeys to the brook, taking measured pawsteps and noting the level of the light. A brief bath, a detailed grooming. Then the journey back, matching previous pawsteps exactly. Each moment holds full attention of the present, the environment. If some life form or mineral has caught attention, e carries it home. If a guiding urge strikes, e follows it exactly. To see ahead, one must cultivate purest discipline, and listen always. One cannot discriminate. Namebefore must follow every whispered urge, or lose es ability.   After any tasks are completed, e is free to spend the middle of the day how e pleases, as long as it doesn't violate es other duties.   At eve, repeat, and sleep.   A few times a season, someone, usually of noble blood (along with a witness), will approach the cave. These skitters want a name, and they are the reason e does all of this, the reason e lives.   On those occasions, Namebefore will take to es seeing-place, where are stored myriad tools of divination. E will spend time alone, making every effort to listen to the world's whispers from day seasons ahead. While the process goes on, the visiting skitters must live in the cave and take on its maintenance, however long it takes.   If and when an image of the hopeful skitter's future comes to Namebefore, e emerges from the seeing-place, and tells the skitter what e observed. E may have advice for the skitter. Then, e grants the student their name, and sends them on their way.   Duties are fulfilled. Namebefore collapses, es deferred exhaustion crashing in on them all at once, and sleeps.

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