Hakaan

Hakaan are widely known for an open manner and an ease with strangers, which makes their departures stand out all the more. When a hakaan sets out on a long journey, the act is commonly read as an omen. This belief is old and persistent, rooted in stories the hakaan themselves continue to tell.

Hakaan tradition holds that their people descend from ancient giants who walked the world before the Age of Song. These ancestors are said to have bargained with Cyrvis, the trickster god, trading a portion of their strength for foresight. What they received was limited and severe. A hakaan may glimpse only their own death, and the vision is never calm, minor, or distant from upheaval.

Such visions are known as Doomsight. They occur infrequently and always with consequence, tied to moments of disruption, collapse, or decisive change. A hakaan who receives Doomsight is bound by custom to follow its path. To turn away is understood as an act that invites lasting harm upon family, kin, and name. This obligation is taught early and reinforced through shared memory and cautionary tale.

For most of their lives, hakaan remain settled among the wider peoples of the Vale. They work trades, keep households, and take part in civic life without distinction. Travel becomes inevitable only when Doomsight asserts itself, drawing the individual away from familiar ground.

As a result, the hakaan most often encountered on the road are those moving toward a known end. Their presence signals that larger currents have begun to shift. Even so, hakaan on such journeys remain generous in spirit, steady in companionship, and ready to meet what waits ahead with humour, resolve, and open hands.