Curse of Names

## Overview

The Curse of Names is the colloquial term used for the dangerous secondary effect from the Soaring of Akkaz. It is best described as a misfortune amplifier to one who ignores the name gifted to them by Akkaz. It caused a contained genocide in the early days of the Human Era when it was not yet properly understood. The Lorekeeper spent an extensive amount of time working on identifying the limitations of the curse, and helped spread awareness through law to keep the Human race from killing itself.

The Curse of Names is partially why Humans are culturally pressured to learn one-another's names, in order to avoid building the Curse on any given life.

## History

When the Soaring of Akkaz occurred, it was quickly observed that all births were much less tranquil, with all newborns being brought into Soly in a panic, and nearly inconsolable for much longer than in prior years. In the early days of the Human Era, parents were still naming their children, and calling them by these given names without knowing about the Curse. After about 8 years, large swaths of children began dying in strange ways which seemed unnatural. This prompted The Lorekeeper to investigate, and get The Library involved.

It was quickly discovered that all children who had died from that generation were those who had accepted the name their parents had given them. Those who had insisted on being named what they remembered from their interrogation with Akkaz were largely all still alive. This discovery prompted all schools to issue a planar holliday known as "Truename Vigilance". When all children revealed the names gifted to them by Akkaz, and had been renamed accordingly, the death rate sharply declined. It didn't fall completely though, as many stubborn parents refused to believe the findings or change their traditions.

As the death rate began to drop and more children of the early Human Era finally began to reach maturity, another small spike in deaths occurred. This was caused by the families of children using a false name for their infants before they could speak their true name. Laws were quickly enacted throughout Soly, stating that no Human was to name their child for their inarticulate first years. Instead, the laws guided parents to refer to their child in simple references, such as "my child" or "his daughter" or "the newborn". This caused a rather fierce protest against these laws, calling it inhumane, refusing to abandon tradition, and even questioning The Library's findings on the matter, despite being relatively transparent about it at the time. These protests quietly softened over the following decade as a growing number of children were dying before adulthood, weighted down by years of the mounting Curse at the start of their lives.

The Librarian's experiments with the Curse didn't end there, however. Many gruesome, and cruel tests were conducted on innocent children in the name of greater understanding. As more knowledge was gained about the Curse, the more awareness was brought to it, and the regulations around a Human's names were loosened and tightened accordingly. The Lorekeeper refers to these two decades in The Library as such:

> *"Of my many regrets, perhaps the loudest of which are my curiosities about The Curse of Names. They drove me to do many terrible things to many small flickers of life, most of which I am not properly sure were required. Most of which - I regret to say - would have likely lived happy lives with their true name. I will never forget the way we coerced two children to refer to each other by their own names... and how quickly their lives ended by the first Lyn-O spotted in Sawlyu in a century.*
> *Drag spoke "Grisly" a total of 10,098 times. Grisly spoke "Drag" a total of 11,151 times, not counting the countless instances us Librarians intentionally misled them and compounded with malicious indifference. All of the comfort and luxury we provided them was a ruse to see how quickly they would die... were they thankful for the chocolates and honeyrolls as the fangs severed their spines? Their screams answered that horrid question for me."*
>
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## Observations

* Before birth, each Human's soul is isolated and interrogated by Akkaz, wherein he can see major events in their life before they even happen, and names them accordingly. This causes all subsequent births to be traumatizing for the infant, so much so that each Human can remember the event with some degree of clarity. As the named Humans age, they do so with the knowledge that they were given a name before birth, and this memory persists even into the elderly ages when all other memories blur.
* When spoken about, conversing, or even signing with a name not given to them by Akkaz, the Human's life grows closer and closer to an unfortunate end. This applies to given nicknames as well, beyond the scope of descriptive ("Mimi" being a false name, whereas "Little One" is vague enough to dodge the strict ruling). An illustration of this phenomena is with the Foreckaw named "Giida", who was named "Brag" by Akkaz. Giida spoke his own name many times, as well as other Foreckaw speaking his name, and the threat of his life ending mounted higher and higher with each instance, until it was fulfilled when Maevrix killed him. The false name itself isn't what kills, but rather the false name builds a higher chance for misfortune to befall upon they who ignore Akkaz's gifted name.
* The Human in question does not need to be present for a misnaming to build the Curse of Names on their life.
* Swapping the names of two Humans one knows will amplify the Curse of Names on both parties. For example, referring to "Wonder" as "Vacant", even accidentally or in jest, would amplify the Curse a small amount on both individuals as long as the speaker is familiar with both of them.
* It is possible for a Human to be misnamed thousands of times with no misfortune befalling on them, especially on highborn who are exceptional in ways of perception and physical skill to avoid (or even conquer) the misfortune brought by the Curse.
* The Lorekeeper's estimate based on deep studies conducted by The Library is that each instance of "misnaming" any one person amplifies the chance of misfortune befalling them by 0.0025%. Over the course of a lifetime building this Curse with a false name, the odds quickly become unfavorable.
* There was a serious concern over malicious Humans using the Curse of Names when it went public to smite others over petty, personal matters. However, it would appear that intentionally misnaming someone out of malice has no effect on building the Curse. The fact that it must be done out of laziness, naivete, or even accident allowed The Lorekeeper to publicize the machinations of the Curse.
* It is speculated that Akkaz willed the Curse of Names into being as either atonement, or revenge, or a means to establish control. The Curse encourages Humans to share their names, as opposed to guarding them like the Pulsekaw.