Osiari

An Osiari (plural Osiari) is a practitioner of Osia: a person trained to perceive the spirits present in all things in Adaris, to understand them, and to ask things of them. Osiari are often called upon to mediate between spirits and people.

Each Osiari follows one or more paths of Osia, the traditions devoted to the spirits of a particular Primordial Spirit or Ascendant Spirit. Practitioners of a given path are known as its disciples or followers, as in "a disciple of the Path of Metihi".

Becoming an Osiari

Humans have no innate Osia and become Osiari only through training. Many of the native peoples of Dalel are attuned from birth to the Osia of the spirit that created them, and practice it as a matter of course.

Training usually takes place at a house: for an Ascendant Spirit, the house where the spirit itself lives, such as the House of Mavai; for the Primordial paths, one of the orders or schools found in many places. Houses choose their students, and entry often involves a period of selection. Instruction is mainly through meditation and exposure to the spirits of the path, and proceeds through the stages of Attunement: learning to see spirits, then to hear them, and finally to ask things of them.

Ranks

Osiari are ranked in four grades. The names are Tivayi words and mean what they describe. Rank is granted by the house where the Osiari trained and belongs to a single path: an Osiari may be a Hilakkasle in one path and a Hikkasi in another.

Hikkasi (Student)

A Hikkasi is a student in training who has learned to perceive spirits.

Yarraittu (Disciple)

A Yarraittu practices independently and can command Nascent Spirits.

Hilakkasle (Teacher/Master)

A Hilakkasle can negotiate with Mature Spirits and may accept students.

Andirakasle (Grand Master)

An Andirakasle is a grand master. They are rare, and are often the heads of houses or schools.

Role in society

Osiari serve in many roles, depending on their path and region. Some examples:

The Guzirias of Lavierin follow the Path of Yairan and can alter terrain in battle.
The oracles of the Berturracioi are Osiari who commune with Nāaon and receive guidance in visions.
Oinien engineers on the Path of Kiyañ shape caves and maintain the Deep Roads.
The disciples of Mavai, recognizable by their masks, work with mystery and uncertainty.

How Osiari are regarded varies by region, but they are generally respected.