Ghu

Ghu is the Paban word for the "way," a guiding principle for Veinlords that helps them govern their actions and balance their powers with the responsibilities of manifesting a river.

origin

When Nopa Ngute became the first Veinlord, they believed themselves to be the only one. The spirit of the river inside them granted them the ability to perform necromancy, and Nopa was afraid of this power. They imagined ways in which someone could feel it was acceptable to kill knowing that the victim could be brought back later.
How much later? When did it stop working? What if someone became comfortable killing only to find out that their power had limitations and they were just a murderer?
And what if that someone was them?
The anxiety closed Nopa off from anything other than the whirring and grinding of their own thoughts. Then, the river interrupted Nopa and spoke with exceptional clarity: "listen to me. I will show you the way."

recording

The river taught Nopa, and they learned the principles, but for many years they accepted the training without documenting what they had learned. It wasn't until the inevitability of someone else being inhabited by a river spirit became undeniable that Nopa decided to actually write down the lessons.
The initial "ghu" was described by Nopa in a series of three short pamphlets. When Nopa died, it was expanded upon by later Veinlords, who were able to build upon the knowledge of others to discover better ways to work with the rivers and their magic. The totality of the "ghu" documents at present consist of 7 pamphlets, with an additional 2 disputed.

impact

The ghu serves as a moral and social template for being controlled by a river spirit. Over the hundreds of years since the first Veinlords, all rules and rituals relating to Paban and Kaloran interactions with river spirits derive from the original pamphlets or their later additions.
A major rift between the Paban and Kaloran peoples emerge after the work of Paban Veinlord Ngah̨a Kufabi was rejected from being accepted as official ghu doctrine. The Kaloran people objected to a proposed reordering of river dominance hierarchy as written about in the 5th pamphlet. Ngah̨a claimed that the Muhe river explained that there had been a shift behind the scenes amongst the rivers themselves, but other rivers were quiet about the subject, casting significant doubt.
In response, Kaloran Veinlord Tepha Ghavafe wrote a pamphlet to expand on the ways in which ghu could be accepted as canon, conveniently excluding Ngah̨a's work in their new definition.
The matter of the official ghu doctrine comes up regularly in gatherings of Veinlords, but little progress has been made, and the subject is often tabled. Some have secretly made plans for their successors to take up the cause more passionately, on both sides.

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authors

• Nopa Ngute