Yoki-haijo

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Yoki-haijo
por Aliya Chen
Capacidades	Atraer y vincular haijo
Racional	Sí
Mundo de origen	Komashi
Universo	Cosmere

Yoki-haijo, un término que significa "'chica que daba órdenes a los espíritus primordiales'", son personas altamente Investidas de Komashi que son capaces de invocar espíritus, usando el arte de apilar piedras, y vincularlos en herramientas útiles. También se las llama elegidas.

Convirtiéndose en yoki-haijo

Considerando el significado del nombre, solo se conocen mujeres que sean yoki-haijos. Estas mujeres se convierten en yoki-haijo al nacer-- la suposición es que son escogidas por los haijo. La seleción no es al azar, ni tampoco está influenciada por la genética. Su naturaleza se indica con un presagio, como una estrella fugaz, marcando el cielo en el momento de su nacimiento. Muy pocas mujeres son seleccionadas para convertirse en yoki-haijo-- nunca hay más de dieciséis a la vez, con no más de una elegida por año. En el momento que la máquina padre fue activada, solo existían catorce yoki-haijo. Ninguna más nació después de la activación de la máquina padre. Después de la destrucción de la máquina, Yumi es la única que aún vive.

Aunque las yoki-haijo que eran parte del movimiento reformista insistían en retirarse a los setenta años, y en algunos casos presuntamente han sido forzadas a servir en captividad, las yoki-haijo conservan su naturaleza hasta el final de sus días.

Habilidades

En algún momento, ya sea antes de su nacimiento o después, las yoki-haijo son Investidas de manera única. Esta Investidura les permite invocar haijo y enlazarlos a herramientas útiles. Este proceso gasta un poco de su propia Investidura, aunque con el tiempo y descanso la recuperan. Los haijo también son capaces de oír los pensamientos de las yoki-haijo.

Las yoki-haijo son capaces de hacer otras cosas mágicas a parte de vincular haijo. También pueden consumir o afectar Investidura pura. Diseño observa que Yumi está Investida a un nivel similar a un Elantrino, aunque las yoki-haijo que murieron por la máquina padre ganaron más Investidura de lo normal después de los milenios.

Guardianes

A las yoki-haijo se les asignaba un kihomaban, o guardián, para actuar como protector y mecenas. Tradicionalmente, se apartaba de sus familias a las chicas que se convertían en yoki-haijo desde bebés, y sus guardianes son sus segundos padres a efectos prácticos, aunque las que forman parte del movimiento reformista mantienen contacto y visitan a sus familiar unas cuantas semanas al año. El kihomaban también es responsable del entrenamiento de la chica, tanto en los rituales y costumbres que debe seguir, como en la habilidad necesaria para llevar a cabo sus obligaciones. Por ejemplo, les enseñan a leer para que puedan leer las oraciones requeridas. Cuando empiezan a entrenar a apilar piedras, pueden llegar a pasar varios meses solo estudiando las piedras y evaluando su forma, peso y centro de gravedad. La siguiente fase del entrenamiento sería crear apilamientos bajos con bases estables.

Los guardianes tienen superiores a los que deben informar, y pueden ser apartados del trabajo. Estos mismos superiores pueden declarar a una yoki-haijo no apta para sus deberes y tomar acciones contra ella, aunque esto no es probable que pasara para las que formaban parte del movimiento reformista.

Duties and Rituals

Generally speaking, yoki-hijo travel around Torio by wagon, visiting a new town each day and moving at night. Their ultimate purpose is to summon the local hijo and bind them into devices that the villagers need for survival.

Traditionally, yoki-hijo are responsible for fulfilling countless duties and rituals on a daily basis. Nearly every part of their lives has some ritualized aspect. In addition to their warden, the yoki-hijo are assigned attendants who assist with these rituals. The attendants are responsible for feeding, washing, undressing and dressing their yoki-hijo, among other things. Reformed yoki-hijo do perform some of these activities for themselves, however, and may take days off for rest or other personal reasons. As with the yoki-hijo, wardens and attendants have certain customs and rituals that they perform, such as the wearing of a specific clothing each day.

Personal Care

A yoki-hijo's day begins with ritual eating, bathing, and dressing. The attendants enter the woman's room when she awakens and set up a table for breakfast, then proceed to feed the woman themselves.

After breakfast, the yoki-hijo proceeds to the town's cold spring, which is reserved for the Chosen while she is in town, or to the town's bath house if they do not have a spring. On the way, the attendants use enormous fans to block the villagers' view of the yoki-hijo. The attendants undress the woman as well as themselves, then bathe their yoki-hijo using seven different soaps. The soaps themselves are placed on a floating plate, and while some are for cleansing--such as a red, exfoliating powder--many of them are actually perfume creams and moisturizers. Each washing is followed by a rinse, following the pattern of the artist's sequence of progress: they begin with one wash and rinse with the first soap, and end with thirteen washes and rinses with the seventh. After this, the yoki-hijo takes a final rinse, remaining 144 seconds underwater before resurfacing.

With the washing complete, the attendants leave to dress themselves and prepare the yoki-hijo's clothing, giving the woman some time alone. When she exits the spring, the attendants clothe her in the designated ritual tobok.

At the end of the day, attendants again help her to undress and clothe her in a thin nightgown underdress as well as a bulky, formal sleeping gown. The attendants also place a circle of flower petals around her at night, along with a ring of seeds for good luck.

Prayer and Meditation

After the morning rituals are performed, the yoki-hijo traditionally moves on to the town's shrine, again obscured from view by fronds. Here she prays several ritual prayers. There are thirteen in total, though only six are considered strictly necessary and these require half an hour to say. After prayers, the yoki-hijo takes time to clear her mind and meditate. This whole process typically takes around one hour. The woman's warden approaches when the time for meditation is over, and while they might elect to continue on sooner, they typically wait for the local steamwell to erupt first.

Stacking Stones

With prayers and meditations complete, the yoki-hijo leaves the shrine and heads toward the place of ritual, called the kimomakkin in the Torish language, where the hijo are summoned. Most villages only have one, and the area is sometimes fenced around. She makes this journey uncovered so that villagers may see her. The locals gather rocks over time, placing them in the place of ritual for a yoki-hijo to use when she visits the town. As the Chosen enters the place of ritual, villagers gather and spirit scribes sing songs and play music that involves chanting, drums, and flutes. The stone at the place of ritual is hotter than usual, so the yoki-hijo puts on kneepads to make her work easier.

The yoki-hijo works for several hours, stacking stones in complex arrangements that draw the interest of the nearby spirits. Typically in one session they will build several dozen stacks, each one comprised of thirty or more stones. In some cases, shorter but more complex stacks may be used. Most yoki-hijo summon six to ten spirits on average. During her lifetime, Yumi was able to summon twelve spirits per session on average, and once managed twenty spirits. As the hijo are drawn to her, the Chosen feels a tugging sensation.

After finishing her stacks, the yoki-hijo directs her attention to binding the spirits. She must be careful to proceed to this step before falling unconscious from exhaustion. The local spirit scribes develop an ordered list of supplicants with the greatest need, who are directed to approach the yoki-hijo one at a time to make their request. The yoki-hijo uses the summoned spirits to fulfill these, turning to each one and sharing the request while forming an impression in her mind. If the impression is not clear, the spirit may become confused or frightened and leave. After each available spirit has been bound, the yoki-hijo's duties are completed, and her attendants return her to their wagon.

Culture

In Torish culture, yoki-hijo are very highly respected, with few having greater authority. Their position is seen as one of service to the people--they are served so that they may serve others. It is considered rude to contradict a yoki-hijo, even to give a compliment. While the various rituals and expectations placed upon them (thought to be decreed by the spirits) have traditionally limited their personal freedoms, those who are part of the reform movement exercise greater autonomy. This movement began several hundred years prior to the activation of the machine, and nearly all of the yoki-hijo--twelve--subscribed to it at that time, with only Yumi and one other remaining orthodox.

Some stories tell of yoki-hijo falling in love, though it is unknown if even reformed yoki-hijo develop romantic relationships.

Known Yoki-hijo

Para más información, ver :Category: Yoki-hijo.

• Yumi
• Samjae
• Dwookim
• Unnamed Yoki-hijo in the shroud

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