The Sharak love independence and freedom, seeing rigid rules and laws as oppression and containment. Populated by Myths of the wild and many pre-civilisation figures, they are entrusted by the Compact to act as its critics, limiting the law with appeals to context and circumstance. They push the limits of those laws, testing their use and durability.
They are some of the Compact’s most bellicose warriors and defenders, seeing the Zeitgeists in particular as an unacceptable threat to the freedom all Myths should treasure. Some of the Sharak express sympathy for the Alexandrians, seeing them as wayward and taking things too far rather than as an outright threat to the Compact.
Symbols: Spear, antlers, storms, fire, sky, wings and birds, horses.
Aspects: Freedom, independence, taboo, invention, hunters.
Duty: To call out hypocrisy, test the limits of the Compact, call Myths to war.
Factions: The Titans, The Unseelie Court, The Merry Men, The Wild Hunt, Cihuateteo, The Night Riders.
Luminaries: Echidna, Coyote, Pan.
Role in Myth Society
In each Myth community the Sharak will appoint a Fool, whose job it is to speak truth to power and act as critic to the leadership of the community. The Fool is barred from any form of decision making, including voting, and is instead tasked to play devil’s advocate in all things.
The Sharak will also appoint a Horn Blower, whose job it is to call Myths to war in extreme circumstances. This might be to combat Zeitgeists who threaten them, or to mobilise against the Alexandrians if a mass response is needed. This calling to arms is known as a Wild Hunt.
Approach to Narratives
The Sharak view Narratives as a child might view a colouring book. Something to be followed in the abstract, but with the details theirs to play around with. This lends a certain creativity to adventures with one of the Sharak, who will often swap the roles and elements of a story in unexpected ways without changing its overall structure.
Ever pushing the boundaries of what they can get away with does mean that sometimes they will bend a Narrative too far and face the backlash. When this happens the Sharak is liable to do everything they can to rectify the situation and restore the Narrative to its original state, hoping that by resetting their changes there will be no lasting damage and that other stories will continue as intended.
Though quicker to forgive than their more rigid counterparts in the Dayiani, when someone breaks a Narrative or ignores the Compact with intent, the Sharak will act with extreme prejudice and their punishments are likely to be final.
Relationship with the Zeitgeists
The Sharak hold a particular enmity towards the Zeitgeists, seeing their actions as breaking the Compact in spirit if not in word. This has led to Sharak Keepers holding a veritable treasure trove of knowledge on the Zeitgeists and their Avatars, information they are happy to share. They will readily lend their aid, at least indirectly, to those who intend to challenge a Zeitgeist, however small the act of resistance may be.
Relationship with the Dayiani
The Sharak and the Dayiani form the elder sibling pair of the Courts. Their relationship is tense but necessary. The Dayiani respect the Sharak’s role even as they find them frustrating, and always leave a seat open for them by the hearth. When the two Courts do agree on something, the weight of their combined voices tends to bring the others into alignment.
