Myriad Worlds: The Circumvexing Hill

Of all the known residences of Insect-folk, the Circumvexing Hill is perhaps the most notorious, and certainly the most confusing to outsiders. Hidden within its choking depths and dizzying heights, the Circumvexing Hill is known both for its complex and downright obtuse hierarchy, and its overly intricate design.

Perhaps the most interesting and enigmatic aspect of the Circumvexing Hill is its connection between prestige and location. Some may find this awkward or clumsy to maneuver, but rest assured that the Insect-folk of the Circumvexing Hill find the more common practice of wearing one’s honors, such as on a uniform, sash, head, or belt, no less confusing.

This is also not to say that ones location exclusively dictates ones honors, much as taking off a crown does not make you not a monarch.

Alongside this toposarchy, a complex web of duties and hierarchies all intertwine with each other, such that two individuals might vacillate between authority and submission multiple times over the course of a single conversation.

To learn more about this strange assortment, I sought aid from a local expat who had experienced the process first-hand.

My interviewee (whom I shall call Race, to allow xem xer privacy) was hatched on the seventh teir of the third rotunda in the nor-eastern spire. This, xey told me, marked xem as an Sixth-Sun Reclinist, and xey were therefore expected to become a Third-Furx after growing and learning more about the nor-eastern spire and its political standing. This confused me a great deal, and so they explained further:

“The Furx, (xey said) are something like your soft-skin grocers. The word Furx is possibly closest to Miller in your language; as much as they rule the mill, a Furx has purview over the Ur. The responsibilities of the Furx hinge entirely on ensuring that ones subordinates — a strange word; our word is closer, perhaps, to ‘children’ — recieve the nutrition, information, and materials to fully complete their own duties. There are, of course, multiple kinds of nutrition, materials, and information; the Third-Furx mostly focus on ‘higher’ kinds of supplies, such as gossip, luxuries of the thorax, and equipment for the making of cloth.”

I asked if the Third-Furx were higher or lower on the hierarchical structure than, say, a Second-Furx.

“In matters of their responsibilities, (xey answered) there are non higher. It is a strange behavior I have noticed among you soft-skins, that being placed higher on one strata results in being placed higher on all strata, while in other cases you do not. Perhaps the most normal behavior I have ever seen from your kind is in the kitchen.”

The kitchen? I asked Race to explain.

“I was once honored (xey said) with an invitation to the Effervescent Palace of Baths and Bubbles to attend the Donna-Princess’s debut ball. I requested leave to explore the grounds and provide service where I could. I was refused the right to serve, but allowed a tour under the watchful eye of their guardsmin, to ensure I did not disrupt their carefuly ordered behavior. I was not offended, because I understand the importance of a smoothly run proceedure.”

“In the kitchen, I witnessed a tall Aeolam pointing and shouting, commanding their subordinates as clearly as any Furx. I was witness, too, to a well-dressed servitor entering the room and giving commands to the Aeolam, who ranted and shouted back in turn, demanding the servitor leave before they ruined that evening’s meal.”

“It was not until much later that I saw this same Aeolam, who had been a monster of fire and steel in the face of disrespect in their domain, bowing their head in humble supplication while the well-dressed servitor spoke to them in a hallway outside. This, more than anything, felt like home. For what could a hand-servant know of cooking? What does a carpenter know of child-rearing? In your place, with your responsibilities, there you are a Queen unparalleled, and all must bow to you.”

“But your Queens and Kings are bowed to in the kitchen, in the halls, in the fields, and in the nurseries. Is there any place that a Monarch is not given power and duty? It is not the same with us. We are all Monarchs in our proper places.”

I found this idea fascinating, and resolved myself to inquire further, but not before I learned what Race’s designation of Sixth-Sun Reclinist meant. Xey explained that it was a label somewhat similar to how one might adopt the label of patriot, while being bestowed a lineage and heritage. As birth — and the resulting geneological lines — occurs differently among the Insect-Folk, ancestry is bestowed more often through location and circumstances of birth, rather than to whom one is born.

Race is a Sixth-Sun because of the date and hour of xer hatching, making xem family with all other Sixth-Sun insect-folk of the Circumvexing Hill. Xey is a Reclinist because the minders of xer hatching were Reclinists themselves, and their pheromones directly influenced xer growth. A resident of the Circumvexing Hill might have three or even four “families” at their birth, and gain more during their lives.

When I asked what it was like for Race to be outside the Hill, in places without direct connection to Race’s standing, position, and family, xey said the following:

“It is very much like losing yourself. I know who and what I am, but to look around and see nothing that agrees with me is tiring. To maintain my sense of self is a daily struggle, and there are days when I find myself wondering if I truly am an honored noble of the Circumvexing Hill. I wonder if it is all merely a dream shaped from wandering through these strange and confusing worlds that make little sense to me. I long for the day when I return to my proper place and once more become myself, but my Queen has given me a command, and would I not be even less of a noble of the Circumvexing Hill if I were to shirk such duty?”