Øydís Naess

Øydís Naess (a.k.a. The Sage of the Lake)

The 'Sage of the Lake' earned their nickname following their survival for an extended period in hostile lands after their village was attacked by monsters. They came to be famous all over the Northern Safe Zone and beyond for their insights into survival and the purpose of civilisation, in an age where that degree of abstract thought was uncommon. Their later work was less well received, and ultimately they died alone and unlamented.
Øydís had historically struggled to find a scholarly topic to engage their faculties fully; they had written monographs about topics as disparate as elemental magic, metallurgy and botany but never settled into any particular field. Based at the Fortress of Brukketskog Canton, adjacent to the great lake of the north, they turned their restless mind to any subject that their daimyō could find them books on. From an early age it had been anticipated that Øydís would achieve great things, but their inability to engage deeply with a topic seemed to indicate that promise would never be fulfilled.
Øydís asked for and was given permission to travel back to their home village, where their parents still lived, on the shores of the lake at the edge of the canton. While they were staying there, the village was razed by a raiding party of oni. Øydís feld to an island in the lake, there they were safe, but everyone else was killed - including Øydís' extended family. The snows prevented a relief force from reaching the village for nearly five months, and when they arrived they found Øydís alive in a small camp on the island.
When the leader of the relief force was rowed out to the island and asked if the sage needed any help, Øydís' famous response was:
"I have everything I need here, save for ink and paper."
The scholar continued to live there for the next year and a half, during which they wrote their masterwork, 'Survival as the Goal'. Scribes back at the Fortress pored over each chapter as they received it and made edited copies to be sent back for approval. From the first chapters, everyone involved in its production was well aware that it would become a unparalleled philosophical work.
It is difficult to summarise such a large and complex manuscript, but the thrust of the argument is that if a community is truly serious about surviving in a hostile world, then it must put that goal above any personal desires. A hierarchy should only exist as much as is necessary to organise the communal effort to endure and prosper. This was radical thinking in a time when daimyō (and, in the southern lands, barons) held all the power in their territory. What was even more ground-breaking was the second half of the book, which considered a world after survival had been assured. It described how to dismantle the apparatus of survival once it was no longer needed, and posited that the highest form of community was one that allowed all its citizens to prosper in knowledge and art unencumbered by work or other duties. Work was not an innate good, it only had value inasmuch as it allowed people survival, leisure and fulfilment.
The Sage of the Lake never left the island.
Their subsequent work was equally radical, but far less well received. They fixated on monsters, and the premise that since eradicating all monsters was impossible, it was necessary to reach a peaceful accommodation with them beyond keeping their spawn points in regularly scoured dungeons. This was met with outrage and anger, and the Sage of the Lake had their reputation forever tarnished.

Mental characteristics

Gender Identity

Neuter. She or they/her or them

Employment

Scholar Sage

Species

Copper-Blooded

Life

342 BJ 254 BJ 88 years old

Gender

Neuter