Hierophant: Gentas of Newhome

(Note: Be sure to read the preceding article introducing Newhome as a planet before reading this. It will make more sense.)

Life is truly incredible.

Consider its diversity of form on Earth alone, from amoebas to pine trees, stickbugs to octopuses, rafflesias to snow leopards; while they all awaken to life, consume, reproduce, and die, any other similarities are not guaranteed.

Some beings, however, are able to perceive the universe with enough complexity of thought that they are able to represent ideas symbolically even when the corresponding idea is not present. These beings can create codes... often through movements, sounds, or images... with which they can refer to things both within and outside of themselves. In the middle of the night, a wolf cannot communicate the idea of the sun to another wolf, but a human can, by speaking the word assigned to it in a particular language, presenting a picture of it, pantomiming it, etc. While humans are the only species which is universally known and agreed upon to have this ability on Earth (at least, according to themselves), there are many such beings on Newhome. The Tapa call such beings "gentas" (singular "genta").

This is due to the fact that the Melt has separated Newhome's islands and subcontinents (cylands, as they are called) for hundreds of millions of years, allowing time for advanced and complex forms of consciousness to develop in very diverse environments. While they hold different opinions regarding who is the cleverest, wisest, or most knowledgable among the gentas, they recognize that those who are able to express a non-present concept are capable of understanding codified communication, and therefore can be interacted with in a different fashion than with those who cannot.

Although a human might assume that such beings would do the things that humans associate with their own self-perceived superiority... use verbal language, wear clothing, colonize other biomes, etc... this is not the case. Gentas come in all shapes and sizes (within reason... few beings smaller than 10 kg in mass have a neural system capable of creating such a complex inward lexicon and the ability to separate from said lexicon such that they can use such concepts out of context, though I know of at least one major exception to that rule, and some species get around that in interesting ways). They also have grossly divergent perspectives on existence and what is good and desirable versus what is bad or not desirable.

I am still discovering new gentas on Newhome, but I thought that my Earth-bound audience might enjoy learning about just a few of these fascinating species on Newhome.

The Tapa. The Tapa are the masters of the lush and abundant cyland called Tapalo. With the adults weighing in at several thousand kilograms in mass, these huge, round beings are great in many ways indeed. Tapa are deeply empathic, and love music and good food. Their greatest ability, however, is their sense of smell, which reveals the world around them in incredible detail. Though their most common professions are agricultural, they make wonderful doctors, chemists, chefs, merchants, and mediators, and their services in these areas are much sought after by other gentas.

The Luxa. Possessing encyclopedic minds and eidetic memories, these horned beings are concerned (some might say obsessed) with the search for ultimacy. They believe that the entire universe is a code which no one being can crack, but as a species, over the vastness of Time, the Last Truth may be revealed. They create huge repositories of knowledge and voraciously gather information for their Grand Archive. I have met both kind and cruel Luxa, but all of them possess intellectual abilities matched only by the most brilliant academicians of Earth. Their powerful dogmas simultaneously motivate and hinder their search for Truth, and they tend to excel in all fields requiring a great depth of knowledge.

The Milli'li. Intense, energetic, and gorgeously beautiful, these tree-dwelling serpentine beings are lovers of the universe in every sense. Like the Draak-Kin, they are not inherently social and have absolutely no concept of family or partnership - each Milli's tree is very much its castle - but they maintain peace and harmony on their rather unique island through an advanced system of mutual aid and physical pleasure. Though some other gentas struggle with some of their aspects, particularly their libidos (the Milli'li mate as often and enthusiastically as the Tapa eat, which is really saying something), their wisdom is surprisingly keen, they are both fast and flexible, they can switch sexes at will, and they make wonderful friends for those who can bear the intensity of their thoughts and desires.

The Kaga. Inhabitants of an arid yet surprisingly diverse cyland, the Kaga are long-limbed and agile. Though they run on all fours for maximum speed, they are quite comfortable standing upright, and I recall my first visual impression of them brought to mind a combination of an ethiopian wolf, a kangaroo, and a Tolkiensian elf. While not as strong as a Tapa or as intellectual as a Luxa, their society, which is both martial and spiritual in equal measure, has succeeded in overcoming incredible challenges, and they repeatedly prove those who underestimate them wrong. Weaving, dancing, music (especially percussion) and use of bladed weapons and tools (uncommon on Newhome) are deeply woven into their tribal lifestyles.

The OLO. Entirely nonphysical but profoundly impactful in their way, the OLO have no bodies at all and cannot affect the tangible world in any way. Though they cannot be touched, these beings can look, sound, and even smell like anything they wish, and their powers over ambient things like heat and gravity make them seem all-powerful to other beings despite their true and heartfelt desire to help others. They do, however, deviate wildly on their personal definitions of the word "help". While rarer than other gentas (and often invisible), the more I learn about them, the more I both love and fear them.

And of course, there are the Draak-Kin.

There are many, many more to introduce, and in the fullness of time I expect to hold lectures on each (known) genta of Newhome, but for now this should give you a small taste of the kinds of beings I have been privileged to meet in my early explorations. It's truly a daunting task set before me... imagine having to inform an alien species on every human nation or culture on Earth!... and much of it is probably better revealed through art than words, but for now, I shall conclude the lecture. I'm busily compiling a great deal of art and information about the Tapa, the first of the genta I will focus on, and next month will see a treasure trove of knowledge about these gigantic balls of meat, might, mercy and mirth.

As this week's bonus art, I have attached a high-definition version of the very first work of Newhome-related art created by Dreaming Door, a devotion ceremony performed by a diverse group of gentas to a Draak-Kin Hierophant. I was only going off of Darktooth's description of the event and so the species represented there are rather different from their correct morphologies, which I now have a much better understanding of, having seen them (even the sea is the wrong color, and the sky is off) but it still represents the beginning of a great journey. I hope you will continue it with us!

-L

(P.S. I have also attached an accurate depiction of a Tapa, so you can envision at least one of the species mentioned above. The picture doesn't do the size justice, in the same way that showing someone a picture of a whale pales in comparison to swimming alongside one, and this one was raised in captivity and so lacks the belly tattoos and garlands sported by nearly every Tapa born on Tapalo, but the morphology is correct, and fairly close to an average Tapa, though slightly on the thin side.)