WooHooMan
Auror
During this recent summer, I was given the incredible opportunity to visit an elusive people who call themselves the “Turehu”.
I want to say that the month when this all started was maybe early summer or late spring. A friend of mine lived in a large house in an isolated community. I was attending some small get-together. I want to say there were eight people at its busiest. By nightfall, there were five of us left and we had moved to my friend’s sun room, which had a wall missing so we were basically on a patio. Three of us were in the side yard, out of sight and out of ear-range from myself and my friend Dave. We were discussing something completely trivial when our friend Taylor came rushing in, pale and shaking and told us to come to the side yard.
We were there immediately and found our friends Joe and Mike. Joe was sitting with his knee on a strange person wrapped in a sheet. As it turns out, they used the sheet as a makeshift net to trap this intruder.
I’m having a very hard time deciding how to describe the intruder. Stark-white skin, short with a tick build, white hair and blank eyes. She also had long, pointed ears that stuck out roughly five inches from her head. None of this really illustrates the other-worldliness of this person. She had an aura to her. Perhaps the circumstances of capturing an intruder shocked us so deeply that anything out of the ordinary would have seemed totally alien to us.
She was cognitive and spoke in what, at first seemed to be musical tones. Eventually, as we tried to communicate, her vocalization became more akin to language. Joe released her, apologizing for wrestling with and then sitting on her. She didn’t seem to be terribly upset by it. In any case, it didn’t hurt her even slightly.
Her name was L̸͏́i̕͞y̸͢-̶̨̡l̸͘͡a̸̢̛͘'̵̷͡͡c̶̶̨͞͡. For our own sake, we took to calling her “Lilak” which sounded very similar – at least, it did to us. How we pronounced her name did not seem to matter much to her.
What she was: in this region of the world I live in, we call them “Moon-Eyed People”. In other regions, they are “Light Elves”. Lilak explained that they are the “Turehu”.
Over the next few months (five months if I’m counting correctly), we – myself in particular – interacted with and got to know the Turehu a little better. I have compiled a few notes relating to different aspects of the people. I hope to put this all in a book one day but for now, this document will do.
- LANGUAGE
As early as my first encounter with these people, I found myself deeply interested in their language. No, that’s not right. I found myself interested in our language.
To elaborate through example: one of the first things Lilka the Elf told me was
“L̷̢͈̺̻̪͛̌̓́ͦͦ̈́̀͠aͬ͋̑̅̏̏̏͏̪̲͉͇̩͝͝x̴́̓͛̔͌͋̓̑̓ͨ͆ͯͧ̿̈ ͕̦̳̜̬̹̙͎̯̭̕͜ ̷̧̦̝̻̭͔͇̱͕̳̗̘͈̱̙̦͈̯̗͂̍̃̌̃ͨ̓ͪͭ̔̾̒ͭ͟͡i̶̭̱͒ͪ͋̓̂̍͊ͤͭ̕͜ ̰͕̳̣̼͔̗̜̗͎ͅf̨̗̦̫͓̪̻͈̺̱̟̬ͯ̇̐̾ͭ̑͗ͮͭ̿ͧ͊̑̎́͜͟ỳ̒́̅̄ͥͤ̈́ ̸̡̧͇͈̘̗̦̐̇͂͆̊̈́͊͐͌ͫ̀͟ò͌ͥ̏ͫͣͭͥ͏͏̸̡̡̤͕͇̼oͯ͌ͥ͆̿̆̐͂̅ͣͨ ̵̶̢̯̦̲̞̼̞̦̘̙͐̀̈̈͟͞m̴̢͈̦̼͎̙̟̱̜̞̖̱̟͑̔ͪ̑̔͋̅̚͟͟â̎ͥ͊͗ͮ ̴̨͕̼͕͚̝̫̱̰̟̘̰̞̱͉ͩ̄ͫͬ̉̐̿͑ͭͧ͊ͬͪ͡͝ͅy̷̞̯̥̦̠̫ͩ͗͑̇͆̅ͪ͛̐̚ ͚͓̤̬̯̙̥̳̤̪ͅ.̢̧͉̤̜͙̜̬͉̬̣̻̤͓̦̪̺̮̣͚̃ͫ͋̍̾ͦͤ͝ ̶̪̦̯͔̥̫̲͎̹͂͐̈́̽ͨ͑ͪ̊͑ͥ͜Ą̴̯̺͓̮͇͖ͥ́ͭ̍̈́̈̌̉̏̿́̕͝h̍ͥ͊ͬ͂̓ ͤ̈́͠͏̙̤̪͖̜m̶̱͕̪͚͇͚̲̘̠͈̫̘͎̱̱ͦͥͨ́̊ͫ̒̈̅͒͗ͨ̿̿ͦ͢ ̢̧͇̣̭̯̙͓̗̥ͬ͊̑ͧ̇͆́́́j̨̨̅ͮͩ̇̅̊ͦ͑ͤ͝҉̜̜̬̦̜̭̯̗̘̜̙u͆̐ͫ̃͐ ̵̢̘̻̗͓̫̯̫̺̖̹̽̅̃̀̏͛͡͞s̴̩̪̹͍̬̿̊ͣ̑̚͜ ̷̙͇͍̗ͭͦ̊͂̔͒̾̃ͦ̆͊ͨ͐ͧ̐̒ͮ̔̚o̸̒̋̍ͤ̚͏͏̯̖͚̞͘oͣ͒̏̓̓͆̃͛̾̕҉ ̶̟̝͔̘̳̬̬̫͉̬͢͠bͥͫͯ͟͏̭̭̗̬̼͓͙̻̩̞͚̣͓̩̥͡oͭ̈́̄ͦͧͭ̓̀҉̵̵̨͚̳ ͎̯s̉͐͒ͧ̐ͧͣͦ̆̀͡͏̖̲̻͕̤̞͍̜̻͟ͅh̷̨̢͇̦̲̬̹ͫ̃ͤ̀ͫ͊̾ͩ͂̎̅ͧ̚͘͘ ͔̲̯̘̫͔̩͕̞̮̼̣̙͍ǘ̴̴̢͙̟̹̠̣̯̫͚͈̮̩̯̹͓̱͇̬̺ͬ̊̇̏́͛ͥ͌͗̒́̚͞ .̵͑͆̂͏͈̝͖̮̯̪̜̩̬̥̮”.
If this phrase is spoken without the Elf accent, it becomes: “Lax ifyoomay. Ahm jus ooboshu.”
“Ifyoomay” is literally “if you may”. The phrase is spoken at the end of a command as a substitute for “please”. “Ooboshu” is an Elf form of the verb “visit” regardless of tense.
If you remove these colloquialisms, the phrase becomes “Relax, please. I’m just visiting”.
They speak my language but they speak on a slant. This explains why they seem to have so little trouble understanding me. Maybe they are more use to my human accent than I am to their Elf accent.
More importantly, I discovered that, once they speak slowly and clearly in a forced human accent, they became perfectly intelligible to me.
- ENTYMOLOGY
I tried to examine the name “Turehu”. I found that in their language, “Ehu” means “people” though it seems to only refer to Elves. “Tu” means the Sky while the “r” acts as an apostrophe “s”.
So Turehu means “The Sky’s People”. When I queried as to the origins of the Turehu, they explained that they migrated from the clouds themselves. This is a myth, clearly. However, they seem to regard it as a legend.
However, the Light Elf language isn’t so simple. The word “Tur” can also mean “bright, light, pale, sunlight or light blue”. “Ture” means “lawful”. Which means that it’s possible that Turehu is some kind of portmanteau of “lawful people”.
While discussing this topic with an Elf named Tharanak (a friend of Lilak’s, I’ll discuss individual Elves later), he inquired as to the etymology of “human”. I didn’t know. I told him that it was a contraction of “homo sapiens”. I know that this name means “the wise people”. This answer seemed to please him.
And so, the Lawful People and the Wise People understood each other.
- RELIGION
I use the term religion loosely. Despite being given a lecture on their “god(s)” and philosophy, I’ve learned very little about their religious customs or techniques of worship. Perhaps their religion lacks worship? I can’t say.
The primary deity (another term I use loosely) is named Mam or Maam (pronounced like “ma’am”, amusingly). She (it?) is represented as - or perhaps is – a snake, coiled at the center of all space with all things radiating from her, with stars and worlds embedded in her scales. Character-wise, Mam is seen as inactive, even sleeping.
Interestingly, I looked-up “mam” in the dictionary. Among my ancestors, it was a colloquialism meaning “mother”. I can’t say if this is an etymological link between us and the Light Elves or pure coincidence. I’m leaning towards the later.
Oire is the second deity and his persona is easier to call a “deity”. He (it?) is active and a creator, wise and righteous.
Generally, when a dualism exist, the gods tend to be portrayed as competitive or complementary forces. You’d expect a great god of order and goodness battling a great god of chaos and evil. Or you expect some logical or compassionate Goddess sharing godhood with an emotional or logical God.
The nature of Mam and Oire is different. My guide Tharanak described the two as such: “Oire belongs to Mam as the rays belong to the sun”. When I questioned for a more direct explanation: “Mam is the dreamer, the world is her dream and Oire is her dreamself”.
This is the world view of the Turehu. It is the pathos to everything. They are dreams: ever-changing and ruled through drama rather than science or logic. Their philosophical foundation is some kind of inverse-solipsism. Should Mam wake-up, we all go out – bang! – like a candle.
This is all I’ll write for right now.
Is there any aspects of these elves that you think I should write about?
Also, dropping the pretense that I actually did encounter these elves in some kind of weird C.S. Lewisian adventure, would you say that this quasi-narrative approach is an effect way to write about a setting or should I keep it analytical? Or should I just make it into a full-ledge narrative like a short story?
I want to say that the month when this all started was maybe early summer or late spring. A friend of mine lived in a large house in an isolated community. I was attending some small get-together. I want to say there were eight people at its busiest. By nightfall, there were five of us left and we had moved to my friend’s sun room, which had a wall missing so we were basically on a patio. Three of us were in the side yard, out of sight and out of ear-range from myself and my friend Dave. We were discussing something completely trivial when our friend Taylor came rushing in, pale and shaking and told us to come to the side yard.
We were there immediately and found our friends Joe and Mike. Joe was sitting with his knee on a strange person wrapped in a sheet. As it turns out, they used the sheet as a makeshift net to trap this intruder.
I’m having a very hard time deciding how to describe the intruder. Stark-white skin, short with a tick build, white hair and blank eyes. She also had long, pointed ears that stuck out roughly five inches from her head. None of this really illustrates the other-worldliness of this person. She had an aura to her. Perhaps the circumstances of capturing an intruder shocked us so deeply that anything out of the ordinary would have seemed totally alien to us.
She was cognitive and spoke in what, at first seemed to be musical tones. Eventually, as we tried to communicate, her vocalization became more akin to language. Joe released her, apologizing for wrestling with and then sitting on her. She didn’t seem to be terribly upset by it. In any case, it didn’t hurt her even slightly.
Her name was L̸͏́i̕͞y̸͢-̶̨̡l̸͘͡a̸̢̛͘'̵̷͡͡c̶̶̨͞͡. For our own sake, we took to calling her “Lilak” which sounded very similar – at least, it did to us. How we pronounced her name did not seem to matter much to her.
What she was: in this region of the world I live in, we call them “Moon-Eyed People”. In other regions, they are “Light Elves”. Lilak explained that they are the “Turehu”.
Over the next few months (five months if I’m counting correctly), we – myself in particular – interacted with and got to know the Turehu a little better. I have compiled a few notes relating to different aspects of the people. I hope to put this all in a book one day but for now, this document will do.
- LANGUAGE
As early as my first encounter with these people, I found myself deeply interested in their language. No, that’s not right. I found myself interested in our language.
To elaborate through example: one of the first things Lilka the Elf told me was
“L̷̢͈̺̻̪͛̌̓́ͦͦ̈́̀͠aͬ͋̑̅̏̏̏͏̪̲͉͇̩͝͝x̴́̓͛̔͌͋̓̑̓ͨ͆ͯͧ̿̈ ͕̦̳̜̬̹̙͎̯̭̕͜ ̷̧̦̝̻̭͔͇̱͕̳̗̘͈̱̙̦͈̯̗͂̍̃̌̃ͨ̓ͪͭ̔̾̒ͭ͟͡i̶̭̱͒ͪ͋̓̂̍͊ͤͭ̕͜ ̰͕̳̣̼͔̗̜̗͎ͅf̨̗̦̫͓̪̻͈̺̱̟̬ͯ̇̐̾ͭ̑͗ͮͭ̿ͧ͊̑̎́͜͟ỳ̒́̅̄ͥͤ̈́ ̸̡̧͇͈̘̗̦̐̇͂͆̊̈́͊͐͌ͫ̀͟ò͌ͥ̏ͫͣͭͥ͏͏̸̡̡̤͕͇̼oͯ͌ͥ͆̿̆̐͂̅ͣͨ ̵̶̢̯̦̲̞̼̞̦̘̙͐̀̈̈͟͞m̴̢͈̦̼͎̙̟̱̜̞̖̱̟͑̔ͪ̑̔͋̅̚͟͟â̎ͥ͊͗ͮ ̴̨͕̼͕͚̝̫̱̰̟̘̰̞̱͉ͩ̄ͫͬ̉̐̿͑ͭͧ͊ͬͪ͡͝ͅy̷̞̯̥̦̠̫ͩ͗͑̇͆̅ͪ͛̐̚ ͚͓̤̬̯̙̥̳̤̪ͅ.̢̧͉̤̜͙̜̬͉̬̣̻̤͓̦̪̺̮̣͚̃ͫ͋̍̾ͦͤ͝ ̶̪̦̯͔̥̫̲͎̹͂͐̈́̽ͨ͑ͪ̊͑ͥ͜Ą̴̯̺͓̮͇͖ͥ́ͭ̍̈́̈̌̉̏̿́̕͝h̍ͥ͊ͬ͂̓ ͤ̈́͠͏̙̤̪͖̜m̶̱͕̪͚͇͚̲̘̠͈̫̘͎̱̱ͦͥͨ́̊ͫ̒̈̅͒͗ͨ̿̿ͦ͢ ̢̧͇̣̭̯̙͓̗̥ͬ͊̑ͧ̇͆́́́j̨̨̅ͮͩ̇̅̊ͦ͑ͤ͝҉̜̜̬̦̜̭̯̗̘̜̙u͆̐ͫ̃͐ ̵̢̘̻̗͓̫̯̫̺̖̹̽̅̃̀̏͛͡͞s̴̩̪̹͍̬̿̊ͣ̑̚͜ ̷̙͇͍̗ͭͦ̊͂̔͒̾̃ͦ̆͊ͨ͐ͧ̐̒ͮ̔̚o̸̒̋̍ͤ̚͏͏̯̖͚̞͘oͣ͒̏̓̓͆̃͛̾̕҉ ̶̟̝͔̘̳̬̬̫͉̬͢͠bͥͫͯ͟͏̭̭̗̬̼͓͙̻̩̞͚̣͓̩̥͡oͭ̈́̄ͦͧͭ̓̀҉̵̵̨͚̳ ͎̯s̉͐͒ͧ̐ͧͣͦ̆̀͡͏̖̲̻͕̤̞͍̜̻͟ͅh̷̨̢͇̦̲̬̹ͫ̃ͤ̀ͫ͊̾ͩ͂̎̅ͧ̚͘͘ ͔̲̯̘̫͔̩͕̞̮̼̣̙͍ǘ̴̴̢͙̟̹̠̣̯̫͚͈̮̩̯̹͓̱͇̬̺ͬ̊̇̏́͛ͥ͌͗̒́̚͞ .̵͑͆̂͏͈̝͖̮̯̪̜̩̬̥̮”.
If this phrase is spoken without the Elf accent, it becomes: “Lax ifyoomay. Ahm jus ooboshu.”
“Ifyoomay” is literally “if you may”. The phrase is spoken at the end of a command as a substitute for “please”. “Ooboshu” is an Elf form of the verb “visit” regardless of tense.
If you remove these colloquialisms, the phrase becomes “Relax, please. I’m just visiting”.
They speak my language but they speak on a slant. This explains why they seem to have so little trouble understanding me. Maybe they are more use to my human accent than I am to their Elf accent.
More importantly, I discovered that, once they speak slowly and clearly in a forced human accent, they became perfectly intelligible to me.
- ENTYMOLOGY
I tried to examine the name “Turehu”. I found that in their language, “Ehu” means “people” though it seems to only refer to Elves. “Tu” means the Sky while the “r” acts as an apostrophe “s”.
So Turehu means “The Sky’s People”. When I queried as to the origins of the Turehu, they explained that they migrated from the clouds themselves. This is a myth, clearly. However, they seem to regard it as a legend.
However, the Light Elf language isn’t so simple. The word “Tur” can also mean “bright, light, pale, sunlight or light blue”. “Ture” means “lawful”. Which means that it’s possible that Turehu is some kind of portmanteau of “lawful people”.
While discussing this topic with an Elf named Tharanak (a friend of Lilak’s, I’ll discuss individual Elves later), he inquired as to the etymology of “human”. I didn’t know. I told him that it was a contraction of “homo sapiens”. I know that this name means “the wise people”. This answer seemed to please him.
And so, the Lawful People and the Wise People understood each other.
- RELIGION
I use the term religion loosely. Despite being given a lecture on their “god(s)” and philosophy, I’ve learned very little about their religious customs or techniques of worship. Perhaps their religion lacks worship? I can’t say.
The primary deity (another term I use loosely) is named Mam or Maam (pronounced like “ma’am”, amusingly). She (it?) is represented as - or perhaps is – a snake, coiled at the center of all space with all things radiating from her, with stars and worlds embedded in her scales. Character-wise, Mam is seen as inactive, even sleeping.
Interestingly, I looked-up “mam” in the dictionary. Among my ancestors, it was a colloquialism meaning “mother”. I can’t say if this is an etymological link between us and the Light Elves or pure coincidence. I’m leaning towards the later.
Oire is the second deity and his persona is easier to call a “deity”. He (it?) is active and a creator, wise and righteous.
Generally, when a dualism exist, the gods tend to be portrayed as competitive or complementary forces. You’d expect a great god of order and goodness battling a great god of chaos and evil. Or you expect some logical or compassionate Goddess sharing godhood with an emotional or logical God.
The nature of Mam and Oire is different. My guide Tharanak described the two as such: “Oire belongs to Mam as the rays belong to the sun”. When I questioned for a more direct explanation: “Mam is the dreamer, the world is her dream and Oire is her dreamself”.
This is the world view of the Turehu. It is the pathos to everything. They are dreams: ever-changing and ruled through drama rather than science or logic. Their philosophical foundation is some kind of inverse-solipsism. Should Mam wake-up, we all go out – bang! – like a candle.
This is all I’ll write for right now.
Is there any aspects of these elves that you think I should write about?
Also, dropping the pretense that I actually did encounter these elves in some kind of weird C.S. Lewisian adventure, would you say that this quasi-narrative approach is an effect way to write about a setting or should I keep it analytical? Or should I just make it into a full-ledge narrative like a short story?
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Sage
