xbr'raal names

[Cleretic]

I want to be naming a Turali Xbr'aal PC and have wondered this about naming. This is super useful information, thank you!


Maybe we'll get some official lore in an EE4 or a posting about overall Turali naming patterns (I'm curious about the northern Xbr'aal like those who work on the railroad, where their names aren't Xbr'aal patterned...)

Something I've seen people put forward (I'm not sure exactly what evidence they had, but it does pass the 'sounds plausible' test) is that the tribes in Tural are more communal than they are species-based; if you live in Iq'braax then you are xbr'aal, even if you happen to be a hyur.

There's few-to-no examples of non-species-based community ownership, but that could easily explain someone like Nikowitwe. She's Tonawatwan by birth and culture, so she has a Tonawatwan name, even if she's a hrothgar. It could plausibly also cover Koana, but I don't think we know enough about Hhetsaro names to say that 'Koana' is or isn't one. The Xbr'aal are, at least, refreshingly idiosyncratic; even if you don't particularly know what their names mean, you can tell it's them.

[Iscah]

It could plausibly also cover Koana, but I don't think we know enough about Hhetsaro names to say that 'Koana' is or isn't one.

I think you're being too eager to apply an unproven idea to a character who has no reason for us to assume is part of it. We don't know for certain why Wawlika and Nitowikwe have Tonawawtan names and they're not a big enough sample size to say that it's because there are Xbr'aal mixed in with the Tonawawta population. There are no others in the towns, and the one other Xbr'aal we encounter in Xak Tural (Br'uk Vaw from the Serpentlord FATE chain) has a standard Xbr'aal name.

Logically it's clear that Koana isn't using either of his adopted families' naming conventions (found by a Pelu and then adopted by Mamool Ja) or any of the other distinct Turali name groups, leaving the only options to be the Xak Turali cluster of names and there's no reason for him to have been given a Shetona or Tonawawta name.

[Cleretic]

I think you're being too eager to apply an unproven idea to a character who has no reason for us to assume is part of it. We don't know for certain why Wawlika and Nitowikwe have Tonawawtan names and they're not a big enough sample size to say that it's because there are Xbr'aal mixed in with the Tonawawta population. There are no others in the towns, and the one other Xbr'aal we encounter in Xak Tural (Br'uk Vaw from the Serpentlord FATE chain) has a standard Xbr'aal name.

Agreed on all counts. I think we're just looking at Wawlika and Nitowikwe and recognizing those definitely aren't Xbr'aal names, and trying to square that circle. And Koana's just a big ol' mystery, for exactly the reason you say; he doesn't fit any of the really overt naming schemes in Tural. I'd love to know what his name means or where it's from, but all we have is a pile of 'well it's not THAT'.