The Viera are natural born warriors; be they of Golmore or Salika descent, this much is evident of both clan's of forest dwellers. We have yet to find anymore information on the Fey Viera and have made no progress in persuading the Golmore Viera to enlighten us on their people; though we have found the Salika Viera to be more than cooperative- having even taught several of my scholars how to defend themselves as they do with surprising ease and success. As a result of this lack of information, this chapter of the codex will be devoted solely to the study of the Salika Viera's social structure, their methods of combat, magicks, and their exceptional prowess in medicine.
Life in Xerys Village
The Salika Viera spend the first thirteen years of their lives as children, playing around the village without a care or worry in the world, though upon their fourteenth year they begin to train with each of the three professions: Wood-Warders, Salve-Makers, and Spell-Weavers- a profession unique to the Salika Viera. After one year of this preliminary training, the Master's of each profession convene to decide what would be best for the student- though this seems to be simply an advisory, for the pupil may choose which they believe would be best after taking their teacher's words into consideration. Typically the student stays in that profession for the remainder of her life, though there are occasions where they change their mind or are unable to continue with their previous occupation so transfers do happen on rare occasions. After they have gained enough skill and experience, they may undertake a trial- which we were not privy to being introduced to- for the title of Master of their profession. Master's are seen as teachers and are shown great respect among the people of the village- though they are not the highest rank in the village hierarchy, the highest rank below the village Shaman is that of Grand-Master which is often the oldest and most experienced of each profession and is hand picked to be the advisors of the Shaman. Speaking of the Shaman, she is the equivalent of the matriarch or Queen of the village. At the time of this codex being written, the Shaman's name is Ks'ata: a tall and proud looking Viera who specialized in Spell-Weaving during her early years. As Shaman, it is her duty to protect the village in any way the Wood-Warders are unable and to lead her people in times of great need. We compare her to a Queen because the role of Shaman appears to be that of a blood-line; her eldest daughter, who was unavailable for comments, was to be the next Shaman- but it appears that the role is to pass to Ks'ata's other daughter Ni'ari. The Shaman and her children are shown great respect, though as a result of their noble birth more is expected of the children- the eldest to be a greater leader than their mother, and any other children to be Grand-Master's of their profession; as such we were not surprised to find that the Grand-Master Salve-Maker, Jy'ana, was Ks'ata's younger sister- though no such relation exists between the other two Grand-Masters.
A final note on the Grand-Masters: Their title among the villagers is simply "Grand-Master", the longer title only seems to be used for introductions to those who are unfamiliar with the ways of the Salika Viera.
The Studies of The Spell-Weavers
The Spell-Weaver is a profession that is seemingly unique to Xerys Village. They are Viera who possess a incredible amount of natural skill with magicks and the creation of new spells, and can be identified by the silver trimmed chokers they wear adorned with a small piece of magick amplifying magicite; the color of the choker band denotes the skill of the wearer: blue for unranked mages, purple for skilled, red for Master, and black for the Grand-Master. Each Spell-Weaver also keeps a book in which she keeps a list of spells created by her alone as well as her notes on projects and the like; though sadly after much attempts at persuasion, none of the Spell-Weavers would allow us more information on the subject. It appears that the Spell-Weavers are the creators of the paling that protects Xerys Village as well as the originators of the paling that hides Eruyt Village- further cementing the idea that the villages were at one time one and the same- though the ancient name of this apparently massive Viera City has been lost to time. The Spell-Weavers also act as Village archivists and genealogists, tracing blood-lines and parentage over generations; it is unknown if the Golmore Viera also have a group who do this, but it is speculated that this may be a job of their Salve-Makers. Master Spell-Weaver Ti'are was fairly suspicious of our investigation and was less than happy when her latest student, the Shaman's daughter Ni'ari, seemed to spew information in a childlike manner; truly she was a more than adequate guide to the village after word of the incident spread to her mother.
A final note concerning Spell-Weavers: every Spell-Weaver is apparently teamed with a Wood-Warder as something of a precautionary measure against the monsters that are so often weak against magicks but quick to disrupt the casting of spells.
The Arts of The Salve-Makers
The Salve-Makers are the healers of the village; when some becomes ill or injured, they are who the patient is brought to. It is not uncommon to hear tales of travelers being brought to these women after being wounded in the dangerous Salikawood. The Viera of Salkiawood, unlike their Golmore cousins, are not hostile to travelers and will allow them to stay in the village for a short time; hence why we were permitted to conduct our research without fear of being shunned or run out of the village with bruises and arrows protruding from our posteriors. The Salve-Makers are often the more demure and kind of the village denizens, trading the harsh warrior life of Wood-Warders and Spell-Weavers for the simple life of healers; they can be identified by the circlets they wear upon their brows: simple silver for unranked Salve-Makers, more ornate ones for Viera of higher skill, a magicite gem is added for Masters, while the circlet becomes gold with a magicite gem for Grand-Master. The Salika Viera take great pride in their salves and potions, some of which we have seen mend the most grievous of wounds with naught a scar to show for it! Though these medicines are designed for the surprisingly sturdy bodies of Viera rather than the often fragile ones of Humes- though we have heard they are moderately effective on Bangaa, with considerably slower effect on Seeq and Moogles. There is even one potion they have created that is said to heal old wounds as well, ones that have scarred over and healed improperly- though it does not restore lost limbs, but we have never seen it used to confirm this potion as fact rather than the boasting of Master Salve-Maker Or'yna.
The Tactics of The Wood-Warders
This section is truly the pride of our research into the ways of the Salika Viera! Of all three professions, this is the one they seemed most forthright about and held little back. The Wood-Warders of this village, like their Golmore cousins, wear black armor; though this is not an indicator of their skill level- instead they can be identified by their ceremonial swords, used only when praying for victor in battle or when pledging loyalty to a new Shaman. The simple black swords are a sign of the new trainees, a jewel on the pommel of the hilt symbolizes a skilled warrior, a black blade with silver trim is that of a Master, and the black blade with gold trim is the sword of a Grand-Master. The Salika Viera, to those who know of their existence, are specialists in martial arts techniques- using their very bodies as the deadliest weapons in their arsenal. They are trained from the moment they join the ranks of the Wood-Warders for the strength of their leg muscles- their devastating kicks being far more powerful than their punches. Many of us quaked in fear as we witnessed Grand-Master Wood-Warder Ei'ora punch a crack into one large boulder- but split another just like it in half with a single downward kick! They would not comment on the names of their techniques or the exact process of the training all Wood-Warders endure, but we surmise that the training is harsh and ill advised for the practice of Humes and other races. Besides their skill with martial arts, the Salika Viera are also skilled in the use of pole-arm weaponry; particularly the use of long and quarter staffs. We watched many a training bout and were impressed to see the students trading blows as well as practicing the caution of defensive action- A Master presided over ever match, though they often swapped out Masters between matches, would often explain the tactics they taught the younger generation:
"Knowing when to defend is important, simply attacking will not ensure victory; one must balance the two in order to survive a prolonged battle." Was the first lesson the students were taught. For the slim and swift Viera, guarding if often not enough either when facing an opponent that outweighs them; as such the are also taught effective ways to avoid attacks putting their powerful legs into motion as they perform flips and the like to avoid injury. When a student moves up in rank to the status of a skilled Wood-Warder, they must survive a fight with their designated Master while still inflicting a certain amount of hits; we were shocked to see the seriousness of these fights, were the teacher would not hold anything back… and we witnessed at least two occasions in which the students were cut down, their lives ended far too prematurely at the hands of the Master who taught them. This particular Master, Fa'liia, is a tall and cruel woman- a stark contrast around the kinder and more forgiving members of the village. We avoided her as much as we could while not showing we were terrified of her; as showing fear to her was like throwing logs into a fire- only the other Masters who had earned her respect and those above her could put her in her place when she berated the students with such harshness.
A Matter of Names
At times, the pronunciation of Salika names may seem difficult to understand with your eyes, but with your ears to guide you it becomes far simpler. Here is a list of names we have mentioned so far and how to pronounce them. Keep in mind, that the apostrophe signifies a pause in the pronunciation.
Ks'ata: Key. Sata
Ni'ari: Knee. Are-ee
Jy'ana: Gee. Ah-nah
Ti'are: Tea. Are-eh
Or'yna: Or. E-na
Ei'ora: E. Or-ah
Fa'liia: Fa. Lee-ah
These names do not seem to denote relations or common professions, they may have at one time held meaning in the distant past- but such knowledge is lost even to the Salika Viera themselves.
Chapter "Outro"
It is highly uncommon that I do something like this for a scientific research document, but since I expect people to delve into the Salikawood in search of these commonly kind folk- as a result i have written this list of warnings.
DO NOT drink anything given to you by Master Salve-Maker Or'yna... she is a bit of a perv and a complete flirt, women are safe but men should take caution.
DO NOT harrass Master Spell-Weaver Ti'are, as she will give you quite the "hot foot" to hurry you our of her way.
DO NOT challenge Master Wood-Warder Fa'liia, unless you have a death wish. In fact, STAY OUT OF HER WAY ENTIRELY!