Droll-Tellers

Droll telling is a subculture of people who collect, exchange and spread traditional Varsii tales of history, folk lore and fantasy. There is a marked difference between the way the Varsii view droll tellers, versus how droll tellers are viewed in other Saeric countries.

Varsii-Perception

Saeric Perceptions

• Protectors and purveyors of history, knowledge and warnings.
• Brave fighters, fearless travellers, master storytellers, wise teachers and expert craftsmen.
• They are highly regarded within communities, and their appearance is huge cause for celebration.
• Their colourful tatter jackets, made from colourful rags, are a symbol of life and bravery.
• The carved beads strung onto these jackets are hand-made by the droll tellers themselves. Each one contains a tale or a truth. Droll tellers will always collect stories from the communities they visit, but they will never part with their beads, unless it is during a formal exchange with another droll teller.
• Droll tellers are born into their power, and the skill is passed down through bloodlines. It is said that if a woman catches her wrist in a droll teller's tatters, she will bear a droll teller's baby. If the tatters include a string of beads, that child will also be a droll teller.

• Incredibly irritating, pestering fools.
• Vagabond who leeches off society, spreading superstition and falsehoods.
• They use fear, theft, performance and manipulation to gain favour in communities.
• They are generally considered to be flamboyant thieves, drunkards and gamblers, and are associated with various criminal movements such as The Vigilants.
• Their costumes are ridiculous, garish and monstrous. The beads are just there to make sounds.

Woodcut of a Varsii droll teller by Brinsmead via Bing AI

A droll teller's rag coat by Brinsmead via Bing AI