Qestir RPpers: how do you handle communication?

[Sounsyy]

Here's what I was able to find.

 

The tribe is famed for its dislike of speech─they believe that all words are merely lies. The Qestiri way is to show your intentions through your actions. Nothing else shall suffice for them.

The Qestir believe all words are merely lies. That is why they do not speak. It is also why I am forced to deal with so many troubled travelers' date=' unable to understand Reunion's ways. I do not enjoy the role, but there are few others here willing to [b']explain things orally[/b].

The Qestir refuse to speak. They think all words to be lies. If you wish to earn their trust then simply follow this principle. It should be clear what you need to do.

I am quite impressed you understood that you were needed here. Working out exactly what the Qestir are trying to communicate is never easy. They believe all words to be lies and as such never open their mouths. However' date=' they are both loyal and hoenst - that is why so many are more than happy to do business with them.[/quote']

Q: What would happen to a Qestir tribe member that chose to speak? Would they be punished in some way?

 

A: For those who don't know, the Qestir refuse to speak, they don't say anything. There are a couple reasons: They can't speak because they've never learned to speak. Their children are raised basically in silence and it's not until they're six, seven, eight, nine, ten years old when they finally actually hear language when they leave the tribe and maybe visit Reunion or maybe someone comes to their tribe to speak and trade with them. This is the first time that they actually hear speech. These children are being raised without hearing any vowels, any consonants, nothing at all. So they don't know how to speak. Even if they wanted to, it would come out in a [groaning noise] type of sounds.

 

That said, even if one tried really hard to speak, would they be punished in some way? They wouldn't be punished, per say, but the Qestir don't speak for a specific reason. That reason being that they believe all spoken word to be lies. If they did speak in the presence of the tribe, the rest of the tribe would think this guy's a liar. He'd be ostracized a liar, everything he said would be lies and you'd never believe him anymore. They wouldn't be kicked out, per say, but they would be liars.

 

It's kind of hard to say one way or the other. But from all of the quotes I pulled from Reunion quests, they focus heavily upon word of mouth. No one outright states that the written word is viable or not. Though I feel like it wouldn't be that easy. Perhaps the written word is useless to people who 1) can't read or 2) can't read the xaela or qestiri written word. Or perhaps written words aren't lies, but they're not truths either and there's little stock in them when it is the action and intention with which things are done or given that speak loudest. Which might explain this:

 

You are handed a vellum covered with Qestiri markings. Cotota points in the direction Gascot headed. It seems she would have you present the vellum to him.

 

On the one hand, it could just be a gigantic seal of approval. But markings is plural and the vellum is covered in them. Could it be an ancient written language? The "marks" of each Qestiri family in Reunion? Idk.

 

(Quick edit: I can't tell if that's a written word at the bottom of the Qestiri banner surrounding Reunion or a design. It's symmetrical-ish, but not exactly mirrored. So it could still be a written word?)

 

What I do know is that Kilieit's right about being able to make vocal sounds, just not words. I would love for a Qestir to just start screaming at the top of their lungs. It'd actually be pretty terrifying I think coming from someone who almost never makes a sound. But below, a Qestir laughs. Is the laugh a lie because they opened their mouth? Idk.

 

When I danced in front of a Qestir earlier' date=' several gathered to watch. You should have seen them, Sounsyy! They were beckoning for others to come look, pointing fingers, [b']laughing[/b]─they loved my performance!

[Ellmida]

The man was barely tolerable  and generally only willing to listen until his life was in danger. You don't really believe anyone would be patient enough to help him draft a proposal do you, much less that he would pay attention to it.

 

By the way I found the part of the MSQ I was referring to in a season for War., it's a cutscene so you should be able to go back and view it. The specific words come down to "All words are lies, they do not speak"

 

This could mean two different things however, to the more extreme of no language exists to something as simple as 'to speak is to lie'

 

I believe the latter due in part that language is such a broad encompassing thing where it seems near to unrealistic to assume that this tribe does not at least have some form of communication. I would not expect them to have something as complex as Latin or Japanese but I would assume there may be at least a nuanced language structure that just doesn't use vocalizations as a method of conveying intent.

 

There are really good arguments for either of these ideas and I'm hoping there will be more information coming down the pipe about this in the future.

[Goodfellow]

Just a note on the potential for Qestir signing.  Sign languages are full languages with their own independent lexicon, syntax, etc.  Signed words aren't just signed representations of English or Eorzean words or whatever; they're words.  So if "speech is a lie," I would assume that signed speech would be equally a lie.  The written word is a bit fuzzier, but there are written systems out there that represent things other than language.  + and - are words, but they're also mathematical functions that we can represent purely symbolically without reference to language, for example.  I'd imagine Qestir symbols would tend towards the latter.

 

My two gil having not actually gotten to Reunion.

 

This is all really fun discussion, but it raises another practical question for other Qestir players: how do you present your name?  Outside of writing, which the folks here have reasonably mixed feelings about, how does your character meet people and introduce themselves?  Would names not be "words" as such and so fair game for speaking or do you just wander through life referred to by nicknames applied to you by perplexed Eorzeans?

[shotgunbadger]

I imagine that culturally names would be almost meaningless to a Qestir because, yea there's almost no way to easily share it with others. You're known for what you do. If someone needs a beast killed the tribe points to you because you did it, if they need something made they point to you because you've shown talent there, I'd figure it leads to a pretty competitive nature in a lot of them, if the only way you can be remembered is by acting and all.

 

As for the great writing debate, as a brand new Qestir player I play it out as a just as controversial thing for the tribe as it is OOC. Some more liberal types may be down with it, some more conservative types may hate it, it's a personal boundary thing I'd reckon. For mine she avoids writing, but if it's an absolute emergency she considers it basically an acceptable cheat for a greater good.

[Shoshopu]

I've mostly seen it in emoted actions, which is a lot how the NPCs do it too.

 

I would assume that written words would likely be treated similarly to spoken words and be considered lies, although I've seen the chalkboard/notepad method as well.

 

The Qestir do seem to have their own written language as shown in one of the Reunion sidequest lines. Traders are given a "piece of vellum with Qestiri markings" to show that they're allowed to trade in Reunion. Whether this shows that the Qestir allow for written words, or if it's simply an exception to accommodate foreign traders is up for interpretation.

 

Oddly enough, I read into that as being more as having, like... a wax seal of approval. There isn't actually Qestir language in long-form there, just them putting their stamp of approval on someone being there. More like a signature more than anything else, if that makes sense.

 

This is how Fyrilsunn and I interpreted it as well. He has a Qestir alt, and I'm sure if he wasn't out of town he'd have posted in this thread already. I'll let him know about it so he can put in his two cents for his own character.

 

To me, since it says "Qestir markings" and not "Qestir writing" or "in Qestir", it's probably just a symbol, sigil or stamp or something. Literally just a symbol to accommodate the situation and nothing more.