The Xiran Tablets

"The Xiran Tablets may seem like simple letters to friends of Katanya Xira, but they provide an insight into the character of the great explorer, the places she visited, and in many ways, what it means to be an Avadian wayfarer."
-a natural philosopher commenting on the Xiran Tablets in their research

The Xiran Tablets are a collection of three clay tablets written by Avadian explorer Katanya Xira. They are written in the form of letters to correspondents in the Avadian Sovereignty. They are currently kept in the Admiralty Headquarters at Port Avadia.

Purpose

The Xiran Tablets were written as correspondence from Katanya Xira to specific people. The first letter is addressed to her father, Sevtos of Pera, and was written during the foundation of the colony of Maganti. The second letter is addressed to her friend and trading partner, Klaron of Avadia, and was written during her time in the Free City of Kas.
The third and final letter was written at the end of her life in the Ranata Isles, and is intended as a combination of a description of the Ranata and final words of advice for the Avadian people. The third letter was not intended for immediate publication, and was left with the Ranata people for centuries before a Ranata Traveler delivered it to the City-State of Barkos, who arranged for its delivery to Port Avadia.

Document Structure

Publication Status

The Xiran Tablets are kept in the headquarters of the Avadian Admiralty and cannot be removed from there, but any Sovereignty citizen may request a copy to be made and granted to them, free of charge.

Historical Details

Background

The Xiran Tablets provide a voice to the thoughts, opinions and wishes of the Avadian Sovereignty's greatest folk hero. In addition to laying out who Katanya was, her personality, and the details of some of her journeys, it is also a treatise on a wish for ethical exploration and co-operation of peoples.

Legacy

The Xiran Tablets are studied extensively by aspiring ship captains, as Xira remains to this day a model Avadian wayfarer. While many follow her words to the letter, there are some more unscrupulous or ambitious peoples who twist or manipulate her words, particularly her opinions on respecting the autonomy of other peoples. Nevertheless, it is considered one of the most important and valuable documents in Avadian history.

Read the Document

The Xiran Tablets

Letter 1: Written in Maganti, to Sevtos of Pera, 452 DoM
To my Father,
I hope this letter finds you well- if a little late. It's been a struggle to find any ship captains willing to go to Isla Pera, so this letter will be going by way of Entalles first, then hopefully there'll be another ship that can get to Pera from there.
It's been about nine months since I led the colony flotilla back to Calina, and we are now developing a solid foothold on the continent. I have mixed feelings about that, and I much prefer the act of exploring and journeying to actually co-ordinating and building a colony - and babysitting squabbling merchants and workers - but it is what it is.
Maganti - that is what we are naming this settlement - is a wondrous place. We have established our outpost at the foot of a small mountain covered in greenery, at the foot of a bay with turquoise waters unlike any in the Archipelago. I understand this may be my own pride at what I have discovered talking, but this is place is truly a paradise. I wish Mother was here to see it.
I've received reports of sighting of the local peoples- we have taken to calling them Calinani. I have instructed that our first contact be cautious and left to the hands of the locals to carry out. I do not believe we have encroached on any lands belonging to them, and so far they have shown no aggression, but until there is a formalised relationship between us I've ordered all parties to remain within ten kilometres of the settlement. Ideally I would like this outpost to co-exist with the locals, although I worry that with more traders and colonists, that will be challenged by the greed of others. But I will do my best to avoid that.
I must finish this letter; the supply ship taking this letter back to Entalles leaves in the next two hours and I have meetings with the other Captains and Chief Scouts of the assembled vessels for the rest of the day. Give my best to the people back home.
I remain your daughter,
-Katanya of Pera

Letter 2: Written in the Free City of Kas, 444 DoM, to Klaron of Avadia
Klaron, my friend,
I hope all is well back in Port Avadia and that business is booming for you. I can't believe Phira is about to go on her first apprenticeship voyage! At the rate she's growing up, I'll probably bump into her ship on the way back home!
I am thirty-one years old today and I must say, Kas may be one of the best backdrops for a celebration such as this. My good friend Enkin, one of the local spice merchants, threw a party for me at one of the smoke palaces. I woke up today with a dry throat and a thumping headache - blame it on the lilac wine that flows like water through this city - but by Maura, does this place know how to party. Of course, it wasn't all pleasure - I was apprehended by several ambitious merchants who wanted to look at exporting their silks and pigments into the Calinan, and I of course had to do my duty as a faithful citizen of the Sovereignty. But by and large it was wonderful.
I do feel better about my work here in Kas than I did in Maganti. In terms of natural beauty, Maganti was far greater, but I still worry that the rapid expansion of the settlement may come at the detriment of its neighbours, and I don't like the idea of being responsible for that. Whereas with Kas, I'm visiting a civilisation that has already well and truly given itself to interacting with all of those around them, and who actively seek connections to the Sovereignty. Of course, I have never been one to settle, and I imagine even a wondrous city as this will one day begin to stale, and then I will be away again. But for now, Kas is a wondrous place. The great bazaars, the broad gardens, the domed buildings and the minarets spires towers are truly majestic. I wish you were here to see it.
This letter will be going by land through southern Arikanda, so there is a decent chance I might actually beat it home, and if we do, I look forward to telling you all about it in person.
-Kat

Letter 3: Written in the Ranata Isles, to the Avadian Assembly, 391 DoM
To the united Assemblies of the Avadian Sovereignty,
I expect that this will be the last letter that I send to you, as we are well and truly beyond reach of the world as the Avadians know it. We are now beyond Kas and the shores of the Sapphire Sea, on a chain of islands belonging to a people known as the Ranata. They are very different to Arikandans, and even to the people of Kas - they don't have a need for great sprawling cities and political maneuvering, instead living in villages and bands. I envy them to an extent - a life where only the basic essentials are needed gives one a lot more time for adventure and discovery.
Before coming here, I didn't put much faith in the idea of magic or mysteries. I never saw it- not really, anyway. The Ranata have changed my perspective on this. I have seen the shamen - priests of a sort, although they would reject that claim - bring plants to life with what seems to be their own willpower. I still believe in our gods, but I have never seen them influence the world directly the way the Ranata's gods - or spirits, as they say - do. It is a wonderful thing to learn on the twilight of my own life. Even after all the wonders I have seen, riches I have amassed and passed, and adventures I have been on, this world continues to amaze me.
Tomorrow, we will be leaving the Ranata Isles and sailing further into the Sapphire Sea. We do not know what is beyond - although from what I understand, the coastline of Sembar continues vastly from Kas, so if we survive, we might find other lands, maybe even new empires. But I will not be the one to bring the news of these to the Sovereignty. That, I leave to newer generations.
This letter may not be found for centuries to come; I leave it in the hands of the Ranata as to whether they reveal themselves to the world or not. What I do ask is that if you do find them, you respect their autonomy and do not drag them into schemes to get rich at their expense. I don't believe they'll actually allow you to anyway - they are fiercely insular and like outsiders a lot less than the Calinani. Even our presence is closely watched and monitored, although there is a mutual respect between us.
My final wish is that the Sovereignty remains true to the Avadian spirit of adventure, but never forgets our humanity. We are adventurers, not conquerers. We are merchants, not overlords. Travel to new lands and meet new peoples, but always respect their independence and autonomy. They are our partners, not our subjects. I do not want my legacy to be one of conquest and subjugation, and if you love me, you will not allow it to be that. The Sovereignty can be either a force of great benefit and service to humanity, or it can be a ruthless scourge. I pray to Avadi that we always choose the former.
I bid you all farewell and good fortune in the years to come.
-Katanya of Pera

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Type

Text, Letter

Medium

Clay

Location

Port Avadia

Authors

• Katanya Xira