Ullatrashi

""Ullatrash isn't slow, Ullatrash is... smoo-o-oth."" -Arzuli's opinion again

"People of the sun".

A strange word, a fuse of two languages of the world, that gave these entities a name.

"Ulla" - "sun" in tangan, Yaraga language. The only word that never knew a change. "Rasha" - an old word in horfa, that Arzuli used to call themselves, "sand being", who dwell in sands. A living one.

Rasha Ulla. In days of yore, it would've been "ulla ta rasha" - people of the sun.

Thus came the name for these beings, who were here long before Arzuli, as there are tales written and spoken in their lore of these strange entities. Even before there were words to write and follow.

Strange totems

Ullatrash looks like a carved wooden totem. Dare and touch is - and you shall feel warm wood, much like the core of a bramble branch.

But is bends and flows, it never creeks, it only looks and feels like wood... or not. So many minds shattered against these mysteries with no revelation ever found.

Gaze upon their heads - a carven mask of gilded wood, etched with patterns and curves so intricate only nature could've mastered. But their lips bend and move, should these totems wish to smile.

Further down, their bodies twist and curl into shapes of branches, twigs and bones, patterns dull away and wood grows darker. Some shapes are much like trees, others remind a silhouette of a skeleton.

Yet even further down, their bodies are less and less firm - and thy arm shall submerge in mist, that feels like wet cobweb. Be it swoke or water went still, it won't stay in a vial, should one try to gather is - for it is part of an Ullatrash. And it is hard to tell, where one... ends. No one can lift it from the ground, can't grasp its "smoke" and fill a cup with it - it only dances and curls faster when a totem is less quiet in its mind. And it flows along, when one desires to move.

But some things are known to living ones.

Ullatrashi do not walk. Not like those, who have legs to walk with, anyway.
Odd totem leans forward - and begins to "float" within it's "mist". Slowly, steadily...

But should one wish to gain some pace - it will turn into a flake of light. An amber will be born somewhere "within" its body - and Ullatrash shall shatter into shreds of twilight, as evening gloom, repelled by bonfire - and only a frozen shard of light shall remain in one's place, like a stilled lightning in midflight. Ullatrash can be faster than wind itself, can cross a chasm as wide as a small river, flash into the window of a lighthouse.

And there, bright as lightning once again for just a moment, one will emerge from within the surrounding shades once more.

And along with that, living ones discovered a wonder, that strange totems keep within - "somewhere" within - a tiny sun of their own.
At times, one can find an Ullatrash, gazing into a sphere the size of a small melow, that hangs on a thin stem, like a curious fruit of sorts.

Not a single being ever managed to get or conquer that relic, yet its light is most cherished by Yaraga, who say to feel the very sun in it.

...and that is it for what they know of Ullatrash. They never hide, never run, never scorn their neighbors - but they never tell stories of their existence. And further it all goes - less alive these totems seem to others. As if they just are, like trees, like mountains, like grass...

It is such a necessity - to live, to be part of the world?

Neighbors

Despite their mysterious nature, which seems impossible to comprehend, Ulaltrashi exist very closely to Arzuli and later-to-come Yaraga.

Especially - to little ones.

Oh, there is no better mentor and keeper for those tiny ones, who know no rest in their urge to know the world.
Ullatrash memory keeps everything, their minds - patterns, etched into stone, that never age. What one sees - one keeps forever...
...and they, who know no years, see a lot.

It is such a heartwarming scene to see - a flock of children, nesting around an Ullatrash to listen to stories of the world with no end. Their patience - pillars of the mountains, their gentle voices - hearts of ancient oaks. And their love for those alive, even though a mistery to them, is eternal.

It is why many of these Ullatrashi mentors have ribbons on their branches, spun from parents' clothes - it gives comfort to children, while they are lost within stories told by gentle totems.

There are no families among Ullatrashi. Same as among trees, stones, mountains...
One is not "he" or "she". These beings are wonders of the world - should there be a form of family or whatever else akin - they are not meant for others to understand.

And no names they have. Except for those cases when an Ullatrash asks someone, who is dear to them, to give them a name. A memento to keep and share.

Yet there is a way these beings share their feelings towards others.

The most precious wine Yaraga have is called "Ullatrashi's Kiss" for a reason.
One might lower it's head, reach towards someone - and lean to their lips with a gentle kiss.
And that kiss steals one's voice. Dare to try and speak - and words shall clench thy throat with tears. Tiny dark spots fade in on lips, and eyes change their colour after a deep ocean fish.

Those, who happened to know totem's kiss, speak of a gentle melodic humm, that comes from somewhere far-far away, as if from beyond the horizon. As if "skies are sighing"

And after that, things return to where they were. Eyes have their colours back, spots on lips fade away, strange humming song echoes on more... and words return again.

If wonderous idols have a way to share what they feel - it is how it happens...

Eyes

One of their secrets is their eyes, even though Ullatrashi have no need to "see".

Even though they have no arms to touch, or anything else for that matter, they can still shape the world to their liking. Be it their minds, their eyes, their will... Calligraphers and Singers wasted so many efforts in attempts to find resemblances between this wonder and Voice of the World or Echo.

Should an Ullatrash decide and wish for a flash to rise above the floow - it shall ascend and float above stones.

Empy or full - though one can't lift water itself, nor can one grasp dust, a pile of leaves or, say, a handful of pebbles - a bucked, a rock. Even a whole Arsul.

And should Ullatrash open their eyes - deep dark wells of abyss, with a distant glimmer somewhere in there, as if a tiny start lives inside - they can rip out whole chunks of cold firm soil from the ground. Living ones know not where the boundaries of Ullatrashi's might and power lay, but there are no reckless enough to get on their worst side. Even among Seven Families.

And even Aylery, should they see the light of those misterious totems, choose to flee and say away.