Literacy and Education

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    • It's actually amazing how the percentage of literacy versus illiteracy can vary between different historical cultures on Earth at varying periods in history. The reasons for that variance are sometimes apparent (based on various cultural paradigms as well as legal and class-based mandates), and at other times they seem to be oddly random or mysterious... Though we do intend to explore this in a bit more detail in the World Guide, there are some clues concerning these question generally stated in the Basic Compendium (pg. 167 under the description for the Language skill):

      "Whether a character has literacy in a language is
      completely up to the player and the GM. If it makes
      sense that a character would be literate, then he’s
      assumed to be able to read and write the languages
      he knows. If not, then the character is illiterate.
      If a character starts out the game being illiterate
      and then later, after the game has begun, wants to
      learn to read and write, the GM should decide on
      a reasonable time frame for that to happen and
      have the character slowly learn to read and write. It
      doesn’t cost any Character Points since it’s mainly a
      roleplaying thing anyway. But for general reference,
      most Holy, High, and Trade Caste individuals will
      know how to read and write. Low Caste members
      and Outcastes (except for certain Dishonored) will
      usually be illiterate."

      The interesting thing to note here, concerning folks like priests, monks, etcetera, is that not all members of the Holy Caste actually "need" to know how to read and write to perform their duties concerning knowing and understanding various holy texts. Many of these have been very painstakingly learned over time not by reading, but by oral traditions carefully repeated and passed down from master to student... In most Vedic traditions on Earth (especially the more ancient ones, from which we draw inspiration) this carefully-repeated process results in learning each holy work in exacting detail, being spoken, chanted, sung, and dutifully memorized such that the retained accuracy over time is often astounding compared to written preservation, which can sometimes suffer from interpretive change... No such "interpretation" is allowed when following oral traditions, because the spoken versions of each line of prose might be learned based on sound alone, piece by piece, until perfection is achieved, and all this long before the real "meaning" of those phrases are fully explained by the masters teaching those words... The only issue with such oral traditions is the fear that the rigorous learning process might be abandoned, with fewer students learning the holy works every year, which could eventually lead to them being forgotten, either in part or in whole... It is because of this concern that past scholars began to take upon themselves the laborious task of actually writing down the holy works, sometimes causing anger among those who believed that oral traditions were still the best way to preserve the works.

      For the sake of the fiction of Shard, assume the process is similar, but since the Holy Caste is comprised of more functionary positions than merely priests (including doctors, teachers, architects, judges, librarians, etcetera) the need for literacy is great, and so saying that "most" Holy Caste members can read and write is accurate... Again, it's totally up to the player and the GM to work out why any particular character or NPC may or may not be literate, for the sake of that particular game's story-line...

      As far as mathematics goes, they are seen as practically a holy "art" in Dárdünah, and were one of the disciplines passed to the jánah by the Devah (when they still walked the world) during the Age of Splendor... Later, after the terrible upheaval, War of the Devah ended, and the arts of architecture
      and mathematics flourished once again. As a result, much like literacy, mathematics were practiced by many members of the Trade Caste or higher, and continue to be practiced by them to this day... Mathematics in Shard are sometimes referred to as "holy" because it is believed that such knowledge (of the mathematical laws) defines the nature of the universe itself, and thus the will of the Great Mother and Father. It is for this reason that the Klin were known to have been mystic architects, with the symbols of holy mathematics woven into the ancient glyphs that give power to their rituals, and carefully-conceived equations worked into the architectural wonders of their edifices. Sorcerers, in general, have mathematics as a skill, as do architects, engineers, navigators, and even crystal crafters.

      There will certainly be more about this in the World Guide as well! ^^
    • Scott Jones wrote:



      The interesting thing to note here, concerning folks like priests, monks, etcetera, is that not all members of the Holy Caste actually "need" to know how to read and write to perform their duties concerning knowing and understanding various holy texts. Many of these have been very painstakingly learned over time not by reading, but by oral traditions carefully repeated and passed down from master to student... In most Vedic traditions on Earth (especially the more ancient ones, from which we draw inspiration) this carefully-repeated process results in learning each holy work in exacting detail, being spoken, chanted, sung, and dutifully memorized such that the retained accuracy over time is often astounding compared to written preservation, which can sometimes suffer from interpretive change... No such "interpretation" is allowed when following oral traditions, because the spoken versions of each line of prose might be learned based on sound alone, piece by piece, until perfection is achieved, and all this long before the real "meaning" of those phrases are fully explained by the masters teaching those words...
      Does this mean that there are priests in Shard that can recite the holy texts but have no idea what those texts say because the young priest/monk doesn't yet speak the high, formal language spoken in the Age of Splendor?

      What is the view of the Mangai in regards to those of lower caste having access to translations of holy texts?

      Also is it likely that scholars and priests from areas with different local languages might still communicate in the old high tongue of the Age of Splendor? This would be akin to priests in Medieval Europe communicating in Latin when one speaks French and the other speaks Spanish.
    • Goth-Emu-Fool wrote:

      Does this mean that there are priests in Shard that can recite the holy texts but have no idea what those texts say because the young priest/monk doesn't yet speak the high, formal language spoken in the Age of Splendor?
      Not exactly... Though all current languages on Dárdünah are based on a single ancient root language called Janahvac (also known as "the Speech of the People", as described on page 321 of the Basic Compendium under the section "Jenu-based Dialects", which I'm assuming you're referring to, which supposedly came from the Great Mother and Father, given to the janah through the Devah during the Age of Splendor, as you mention)...in prehistoric days, due to racial tensions, separations, and varied physiology, this language split into three different dialects; one each for Vajrah, Sarpah, and Paksin, most likely during the middle of The Thousand Years of Darkness and the great War of the Devah. As separate nations eventually arose during The Time of Enlightenment, the mingling of peoples and cultures led to the formation of individual languages for each nation. This is when the current holy "works" were originally created as oral traditions to maintain the memory of the Devah. Though no longer in use (kind of like Latin, but even more "lost"), those three different venerable dialects had a great influence on the sound of the current languages of Dárdünah, of course. Anyone with a keen ear can easily determine whether they are hearing a language from a primarily Sarpah, Vajrah, or Paksin nation.

      So when it comes to the methods of oral traditions when memorizing the various holy books (but especially the Partakám, the holiest text of the
      Mahist faith), the versions memorized are those versions kept by the traditions of the various countries and their cultures of that time... Before that, common holy works hadn't been formed yet because the Devah still walked the face of Dárdünah, and their word WAS the holy word. Though there are surely many clues to those three different dialects, and therefor hints to Janahvac itself, none of those languages are spoken or used in the way that Latin is used on our world today, even for the sake of the sciences, religion, and other ancient texts...

      Instead, what makes students of these oral traditions not understand what it is they are saying is much more like how it is for those who attempted to memorize the Vedas in ancient days... The literal sounds of each line were spoken or sung, sometimes only a few words or phrases at a time, and were repeated over and over again by the students like a powerful mantra. Only when the teachers felt their students had mastered the proper cadence and timing of the sounds were they allowed to move forward learning other parts of that same section... Little time, at first, was spent actually teaching "comprehension" of what all of those sounds meant together, as part of some greater Vedic lesson. Certainly they could piece together these words and phrases into entire paragraphs and later full sections of these holy writings, and perhaps discuss among themselves what lessons were being taught by these passages, but this was not necessarily encouraged by the masters during the earlier years of their priesthood, because the emphasis was on pure and perfect memorization, not the philosophies themselves.

      Later in their studies they would have eventually had focus placed upon the meanings and lessons of what they had learned, but only after they could recite each section perfectly. Until then, they were not encouraged to attempt to spread these lessons, since "interpretation" of the holy words was frowned upon, and, instead, the clear meaning of (and philosophy behind) these writings was in the purview of older, established priests who spoke before their congregations.


      Goth-Emu-Fool wrote:

      Also is it likely that scholars and priests from areas with different local languages might still communicate in the old high tongue of the Age of Splendor? This would be akin to priests in Medieval Europe communicating in Latin when one speaks French and the other speaks Spanish.
      Sadly, no. As mentioned above, it is merely the sounds and vocal qualities of the three different venerable dialects that influenced all the modern tongues of Dárdünah, and the ancient "mother tongue" of Janahvac has been lost entirely as a spoken language (even to scholars and priests).


      Goth-Emu-Fool wrote:

      What is the view of the Mangai in regards to those of lower caste having access to translations of holy texts?
      That's a great question! The Mangai are largely unconcerned with most jánah having written translations of the various holy texts, especially since the texts are often cited in written form for the sake of the laws upheld by the Sunborn (noble caste), whose duties are considered an important part of the holy laws of the Devah, though they are not clerical in nature (and thus not assumed to have been given the obligations and duties associated with oral traditions). And, in the end, even "mis-translation" by the Sunborn is not as much of a concern when generally most important criminals will be brought before a holy-caste judge of some kind, where the word of the Devah will be spoken true. If anything, most mangai would merely question why any of the illiterate lower caste would even want or need a written copy of any of the holy books (most wouldn't)... Those that do keep such things might treat them as relics to pray to, without even being able to understand what was written within, and though the mangai would consider this useless and quaint (since such illiterate low caste individuals should be able to get what they need from the mouths of their local mangai), they wouldn't necessarily have any problem with such peasants owning such a thing... Outcastes owning such works might be an entirely different matter among the mangai, only because their touch would be considered profane, and to the Sunborn, an outcaste who can read and write, with a holy text used to incite upheaval among other outcaste, might even be considered dangerous.