Speakers

The Speakers are groups of nomad scholars who maintain oral stories and traditions. They are persecuted by the Church, who see them as sorcerers and responsible of Dracula's wrath. Trevor Belmont helped them hide before the Church's agents came to execute them.
The group of Speakers traveling through Gresit is composed of twelve members, including their leader, the Elder, his granddaughter and their most powerful member, Sypha Belnades, and Arn, who acts like the group's second-in-command.
Tera was a member of a Speaker group that eventually settled in Russia before being captured and slaughtered by Erzsebet Báthory and her forces.
==Organization characteristics==
The Speakers are highly educated groups that memorize oral histories and events in Wallachia. There are many Speaker trains that are spread out across the nation. The Speakers are nomadic, so that they may witness history everywhere and exchange knowledge with other Speaker tribes, as well as enthusiastically share their knowledge with citizens. While traveling, they will take precautions to protect tribal members, such as all Speakers having similar haircuts and wearing the same robes to protect their female members. In general, their clothing is similar to that of monks: they wear long robes with hoods and open-toed sandals, even in winter.This was commented on by Trevor Belmont in "Bless Your Dead Little Hearts", when he said that Sypha had cold feet).
Additionally, the Speakers respect the nature of magic and even have practitioners as members - Sypha Belnades being a notable example. Befittingly, they study magic and would never use it in the service of demons or evil, or to acquire power. They are also aware that some of the histories and legends they have learned are, in fact, genuine prophecies of the future.
Along with keeping the history of Wallachia, the Speakers are altruistic idealists. It seems to be universally accepted by all of them that Speakers must always help those in need, no matter the danger it poses to them. If those in need are suffering a full-blown community crisis, the Speakers will temporarily settle in the region and stay until the need has passed. Their aid will often take the form of medical assistance, sharing resources, and being of use however they can. Beyond merely offering aid, they are dedicated to upholding decency in Wallachia. The Speakers in Gresit do not merely offer aid but seek a long-term resolution to Dracula's genocide by searching for those who could defeat him. They are also willing to die if it would show one person that the very soul of the people of Wallachia was at risk of being tainted.
Interestingly, although they strongly believe in improving the lives of their fellow people, according to Sypha, the Speakers consider themselves to be the "enemy of God", and the reason they live cooperatively is to protect each other from His wrath. They do, however, revere Jesus Christ and his unconditional love. Speakers are almost completely pacifistic, even in the face of death. While all of them believe in non-violence, individual Speakers may hold their own interpretation of the virtue. The Speaker Elder accepts that violence can be used for good, although he would never commit violence himself and calls it "unnecessary". Other Speakers believe that violence is never justified and dislike those who would commit it. Sypha Belnades won't hurt humans and only uses her magic defensively around them, but will kill demons, vampires, and other monsters in defense of humans and her friends.
Though generally non-violent, Speakers are very defensive toward their practice of orally reciting history. They despise the idea of writing history on paper, explained in the words of the Elder: "History is a living thing, paper is dead." Sypha further claims that Speakers do this to protect stories so that God "cannot strike them down in jealousy", but also claims she is coming to the conclusion that her people "are idiots" for not also writing their memory stores down. Trevor Belmont's father once got into a fist-fight with a Speaker after attempting to convince them to record their knowledge on paper. When Trevor told the tale to the Speakers in Gresit, they were at first surprised but then completely understood the situation after the context was explained.
The Speakers and Belmonts have historically been on good terms, being that both groups are generational organizations that are dedicated to aiding Wallachia. This is still true as of 1476.
By the time of the French Revolution, the Belmont Family has somewhat intermingled with the Speakers. This is due to its current descendants being descendants from Sypha Belnades, who had a child with Trevor Belmont, resulting in their descendants having access to magic, as shown with Julia Belmont and her son Richter Belmont, who in turn have shown to maintain contact with some of their Speaker relatives, as shown with Julia's friendship with Tera, and her adopting Richter after Julia's death.
==Gallery==
SpeakersNetflix.png|The Speakers with Trevor and the Elder.
Speakers - 01.png
==Trivia==
*The Speakers of Gresit being comprised of twelve members and choosing to live a simple life without any luxuries is possibly a reference to the apostles.
*The Speakers are reminiscent of the Cathars, a real world neo-Gnostic group that developed in the Middle Ages in protest to the Catholic Church. Like them, the Speakers are nomadic and have no material possessions, and believe that the Judaeo-Christian God is a tyrant.
**They are also similar to the Jews (especially due to their reverence for knowledge and their tradition of oral history) and, to a lesser extent, to the Romani.
**The Speakers could also be similar to the Jewish Tannaim,Tannaim at Wikipedia.Who Were the Tannaim and Amoraim? at My Jewish Learning. whose role was to memorize, and rehearsed opinions and statements of their teachers.
*According to Alejandra Reynoso, voice actress of Sypha Belnades, the Speakers originate from the Iberian Peninsula and have traveled all over Europe picking up stories, languages and knowledge to be added to their memory stores. Their first language would be Spanish.@AleReyn0s0 (Alejandra Reynoso) at X (February 16, 2020).
==References==
es:Oradores
pt-br:Oradores
Category:Castlevania (Animated Series) Organizations