The first standardized and widely used sign language in Veiama emerged at the Räänkia School approximately 150 years ago. Scattered communities of deaf people in other parts of the world have their own isolated languages or home signs, but Räänkian Sign Language, or RSL, is the first to be documented, taught in a formal educational setting, and spread beyond its original community.
The Räänkia School
The story of the Räänkian School begins with Jua Kifinha, a
Keitist druid who had lost her hearing after an illness at the age of 35, after completing her studies. She was the leader of an independent circle on Räänkia Island. known as the Circle of the Falling Leaf. After she lost her hearing, she formulated a sign language with the other members of the circle to facilitate communication. This is the basis of TSL.
Räänkian Sign Language
Jua took on a deaf apprentice, a boy who was deaf from birth. Her fellows in the order believed the boy could not be taught, and he especially could not be taught the musical knowledge that is essential to being a druid. But, Jua taught the boy their sign language and she instructed him on using rhythms, beats, and vibrations rather than any of the traditional magical instruments. In time, he was accepted as a member of the circle.
It became known that the Circle of the Falling Leaf was the one place in all of Veiama that a deaf person could become a druid. Over the next few decades, as the members of the order gradually aged and were replaced, more and more deaf people became druids on Räänkia Island. By the year 575, all nine members of the circle were deaf. Although Jua had since passed away, her legacy remained strong.
The hearing community in the village of Räänkia were by now also fluent in the sign language used by the order so that they could easily communicate with their local druids, and serve as interpreters for visitors seeking aid. The language used on the island was known as Räänkian Sign Language.
The School
In 578, a deaf child from a noble family was sent to Räänkia. Her family paid for her to be housed with the mayor, and to receive private tutoring from the local school teacher. The young lady flourished in the community and it gave the teacher the idea that all deaf children could benefit from an education in Räänkian Sign Language.
Working together with the circle, they established the Räänkian School on the outskirts of the village. The school, funded by the circle and a small tuition manageable by the upper middle class or higher, boarded deaf and hard of hearing students from across the southern coast. They learned history, language, religion, and mathematics, all taught in Räänkian Sign Language.
Graduates from the school went on to compile the first lexicons and written works on the language.
RSL After the Forest
The Räänkian School remained open for about 100 years. It was forced to close when the mainland was overrun by the Forest, and inhabitants fled inland to Lake Olla with the rest of Kaleina.
The Circle of the Falling Leaf re-established themselves on a small island in Lake Olla, which they named New Räänkia. Many hearing villagers settled there as well, and there was an attempt to re-establish the community. There were, however, no resources to rebuild the school.
They still took in deaf or hard of hearing children, but now children came as foster children rather than students. Families who didn't know what to do with their deaf child sent them away to be raised by a foster family on the island, where they became fishermen rather than scholars. Wealthy families no longer wanted to send their deaf or hard-of-hearing children to Räänkia, and instead looked for residents of the island seeking work in larger towns to serve as interpreters for private tutors who themselves could not sign.
