The Qestir

- Believe that any spoken word, is a lie.

- Use vellum sheets with sigils/characters as marketing licenses in Reunion

- Have spoken names


How do they feel about the veracity of the written word?

How are they given names, since in general, they will not speak?

Well, literally any written symbol meant to signify a concept or convey an idea counts as written word so clearly they don't feel as strongly about that if they have licenses.

Qestir likely means silence or something along those lines in Auri Language so that's where they got their clan name probs.
The issue of given names is certainly a bit hard to figure out. It could be that they pick their own names by just like... pointing at a thing and then themselves? I dunno if I was a voluntary mute that's what I'd do. Could be they're written down. Another possibility is they're given names by that bloke who speaks for them in Renunion or some similar figure.

Those questions bugged me a lot when I met them in Renunion. Spoken words I can understand but writing, would it still be a lie? As Yuriane mentioned, I guess naming they would just point at objects. One thing I want to know is...when they are children what happens? Children always make noise. Do they eventually go silent as they grow up, understanding their parents culture?

Given the specificity of some of the Xaela tribe beliefs...I actually wouldn't put it past the Qestir to truly believe that it's just the spoken word that is the issue, and that it in written form (in whatever form is acceptable to them) is not an issue.

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Originally Posted by SicariusSeven

Do they eventually go silent as they grow up, understanding their parents culture?

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It may again be a matter of specificity - sounds like grunts or babbles or crying may not be considered words and are thus acceptable, given the intentional nature of putting meaning into spoken words.

We can also see examples in the real world of what happens when someone grows up without being around those that can speak - they may be able to learn the words and understand them in terms of hearing them, but they actually display a great deal of trouble learning to actually speak them. I'd imagine that by the time they encounter those that can speak, they are past the point in their physical and cognitive development where vocal language development occurs, and so not speaking is actually second nature to them.

I have thoughts along the lines of "The spoken word is ephemeral; once spoken, it is lost, and only memory remains" - "Unreliable Witness(es)"; but written communication is (theoretically) fixed at the moment it is made; lasting, review-able.

So lacking forgery/forgers, written words are more likely to be "Truth", for a given value of Truth. Maybe.

And you could give someone a name, by writing it out for them. If the language was purely phonetic -

Think about the challenge... of role-playing as a Qestir!

I feel some of the replies are slightly missing the point, which, curiously enough, rather much reinforces the Qestir's view that "all words are lies".

To be more exact: "This tribe refuses to speak, believing that all words are lies, and that a man's actions are the purest form of communication."

In effect, for the Qestir, actions speak louder than words, a sentiment that would resonate with some Japanese, especially older ones, who are reluctant to openly say things like "I love you", because such words have less weight than actual, physical demonstrations of deep, abiding love.

That being the case, while written contracts and documents are more trustworthy than verbal agreements, I won't be surprised if the Qestir in general regard even such communication as less than truthful.

After all, what good is a contract, if the other party chooses to renege on it? It's the actions that count, and not mere promises, as far as the Qestir are concerned.

^The use of written word is probably there just for practical purposes, a "necessary evil". Can't really be running a trade post if you have no record keeping. Just like there's that one guy at Reunion who does speak so newcomers aren't just completely lost.
Still, I do wonder how the Questir communicate some things of specificity between themselves. Like how do they say "go milk the Dzo" in a way that is not mixed with "go fetch water" or "go kill a mammoth" or something. If they start using any sign language with discernible words in it, that's a problem too, right?

I've remained with the impression that, while Qestir tradition dictates silence, on certain occasions both written and spoken words are used as a "necessary evil", albeit as sparingly as possible. For example, teaching spoken and written language to very young children, so they can deal with outsiders. That's why Qestir are able to understand us so well. Also when they are extremely agitated and frustrated with an outsider they may drop a word to make themselves clear. There is a Qestir in the "Who Needs Words" quest whose text reads: "Khaishan is so worried he is on the verge of saying something".

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Originally Posted by Vayanne

teaching spoken and written language to very young children

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Fernehalwes addressed this at the most recent PAX lore Q&A panel:

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Originally Posted by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox

Q: What would happen to a Qestir tribe member that chose to speak? Would they be punished in some way?

A: Ok so for those who don't know the Qestir in the little lore blurb it's that they refuse to speak, they don't say anything, so in game they always have the 'dot dot dot' when someone tries to talk with them or they try to talk to you. There are a couple reasons, they cant speak because they've never learned to speak. Their children are raised basically in silence. And it's not even until they are 6,7,8,9,10 years old when they finally actually hear language when they leave the tribe and visit Reunion or maybe someone comes to their tribe to speak and trade with them. This is the first time they actually hear speech so think about it. These children are being raised without hearing any vowels, any consonants, nothing at all. So they don't know how to speak. So even if they wanted to it would mostly come out in [groaning] sounds. That said, even if one tried really hard, and tried to speak would they be punished? They wouldn't be punished, per say, but the against the Qestir don't speak for a specific reason, that specific reason is that they believe all spoken word to be lies. So if they did speak in the presence of their tribe, basically the rest of the tribe would think "Ok, this guy is a liar." He would be ostracized as a liar, everything he said would be lies and you'd never believe him anymore. And so they wouldn't be kicked out, per say, but they would be, yeah, liars.

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Transcript here. Twitch archive of the panel here.

Another venue the Qestir keep neutral: Bardam's Mettle. If you look on the cannon walls between the first and second bosses, you'll see the Qestir's (and only the Qestir's) standard everywhere. No wonder the WoL and Co. only get ambushed after they've run it.