Pochizinia
The term Pochizinia (High Secote: Pokazanija, 'instructive tales') refers to a number of influential Outer Joriscian literary works characterised by a content made up of various more or less independent narratives, or a collection of fables, or 'instructions' (Pokazanǐ). While many of these fables have an explicitly moralising or religious character, which provided the model for the later Vesnite Pietograph genre, they largely predate Vaestism itself and are derived from a mixture of Chotarian and Secote sources. In the most famous version, the extensively rewritten and Vaesticised Neritsovid High Secote text, all of the stories are cast in the conventional krotǔjǔ ('mild' or 'weak') metric style; translations vary in their use of meter.
The oldest version of the Pochizinia dates from the early 13th century, and is written not in High Secote but in a Secotised register of Lacrean written with the Messenian script. Prepared for Boromir II Boromirovid (1209–1222), the great Pseudolacrean dynast of Tizāvar, it was authored by Ctigost the Scribe, although Ctigost himself claimed to have recorded and collated most of the stories from elderly informants. Many of the individual fables begin, in Ctigost's version, with framing narratives introducing these venerable storytellers. The first High Secote version was produced by an anonymous poet at the court of Mstislav the Superb (1362–1411), the southern Tirfatsevid Emperor. The most famous classical Pochizinia, however, is the Neritsovid text referred to as the Enlightened Pochizinia, commissioned by Sobiebor II (1516–1541) and authored by his courtier, the venerable Houveprourkah shel Imit. Shel Imit's work, as well as adding entirely new stories, recast the majority of the characters as Vesnites and added a distinctly Vesnite hierological theme to the work as a whole. It is Shel Imit's work, which was the first to enjoy large high-quality print runs, that is best known in Outer Joriscia today and serves as the source for most contemporary reimaginings and references.
Characters
The Pochizinia makes use of a wide range of more or less stereotyped recurring characters, much referenced in other works and in popular culture: their names have in many cases passed into everyday or poetic language as evocative sobriquets, and the characters themselves appear in much other literature (many Vaestic commentaries use them as characters in instructive parables, for example). This list of characters includes:
King Mistivey
King Mistivey (High Secote: Mistivoj Vladyka) is an exemplar of monarchy by the standards of the Secote Empire, and in the various stories featuring him is attributed the many qualities considered good in a ruler. The most common stories featuring him show him as an extremely wise and occasionally cunning but also personally strong ruler with considerable military ability both in grand strategy and, perhaps more importantly, in personal combat, in one famous story challenging the general of a much greater army to personal combat and winning. The character is almost certainly named after Mistivey, the first Secote Emperor, who was revered most highly as part of the Secote imperial cult; the stories about him, however, are largely the result of syncretism with Messenian and native Outer Joriscian stories of great, heroic kings (for example Dūlbat, one of the great leaders of the Chotarian Empire). In later stories dating from the Vaestic era, Mistivey is depicted as a righteous pagan who in many ways represents the archetype of good Vaestic government despite not being enlightened as to the reality of Vaestism.
Ban Dini
Ban Dini (Lord Day or Lord Daylight) is a Secote nobleman featured in many stories of the Pochizinia. In most tales the young Dini, normally described as a high noble of intelligent and friendly disposition, is appointed the ruler of a remote region by his monarch (usually the Secote Emperor). In this capacity, Ban Dini soon proves incompetent and indecisive, 'overthinking' decisions and frequently sending riders back to the Emperor to ask for instructions and advice concerning trivial matters. Tales usually end with the Ban being removed from office by the Emperor and humiliated in some way. It is presumed that the character was initially included to provide a form of comic relief. Later stories from the Vaestic era often depict Ban Dini as a kunentsy and use him as a prototypical example of a ruler who forfeits his position for lack of Knowledge. It is unclear whether the character is based on a real historical figure.
The Foolish Heretic
The Foolish Heretic (High Secote: Bezumĭnŭ Elenterĭskŭ) is a recurring figure in many stories; often depicted as a charismatic outcast who travels from village to village, taking pride in his willing lack of Knowledge despite the constant misfortune that comes upon him as a direct result of his ignorance. The heretic is fond of misleading the vulnerable into forgoing the acquisition of Knowledge in favor of distracting banalities and meaningless work, espousing that a life free of Knowledge is a blissful one. The heretic is eventually banished from the community after an elder with great Knowledge exposes the flaws in the heretic's lifestyle and warns the community that the same misfortune that befalls the heretic will befall anyone who willfully rejects Knowledge. The oblivious purpose of such a character is to warn against the dangers of straying away from Knowledge. While this character was added later into the Pochzinia's canon as a purely Vaestic figure, it was inspired by a much earlier character of a similar nature whose stories usually served as an instructive warning not to trust seductive charismatics over the wisdom of one's elders and the religious establishment.
Prince Naum
A figure in various Vesnite folk stories, Prince Naum - given various titles in various different versions of the Pochizinia - is the ruler of an idealised Vesnite polity named Isnovo which supposedly existed during the Wars of Heresy. Naum is in many ways similar to Mistivey in his role as the exemplar of good, pious, knowledgeable government, and the characters often appear in similar stories. However, unlike Mistivey Naum is a Vesnite and his polity small and beset by enemies on all sides; the issues of government he faces are therefore considerably more quotidian or a serious threat to the existence of his kingdom. Naum first appears in copies of the Pochizinia from the early Neritsovid period, although he is cited as a proverbial figure before this date and seems to have been reasonably well-established. He is possibly very loosely based on a historical figure Naumu, a local warlord in modern Lacre during the Wars of Heresy, though the historical veracity of these references, or indeed whether they refer to a single person, has also been called into question.