Delen
Delen (a.k.a. the Thinker)
Delen the Thinker was a Stenza philosopher who lived during the -4000s, chiefly known for his lengthy meditations on the behavior and psychology of pups. He is said to have devised the idea that objects can be subdivided until a single indivisible unit can be reached by observing how groups of pups "move as a great drop of liquid across the ice, many bodies and minds united in singular purpose."
Mental characteristics
Personal history
At the time of Delen's birth, the Low Pass Stenza maintained a wealth of both general lore and childlore, much of it centered around Migration. Delen himself spent his adolescence legend tripping and passing on to the younger children stories he himself had learned, and this process of passing down stories and practices sparked an interest he would pursue for the rest of his life.
Upon surviving a challenge in the Frozen Wastes, thereby becoming an adult, he started to travel and to reflect on his childhood experiences and the process of learning and passing on legends. Though culturally barred from engaging in childlore himself, he began to suspect that many of the processes at play applied to wider clan lore as well. He began to observe the way the children of his region and around the rest of the Ice Flats interact with the stories of elders, Khe'drakha performers, and others, and compare that with his own experiences.
(As a game to entertain a group of pups in his care, he explained to them his theory about the ability to subdivide objects into their smallest constituent parts. This reportedly kept them busy dividing and recombining into groups of various sizes for several hours.)
During his travels, children of various clans warmed up to him, and gradually began to approach him and try their hand at storytelling themselves. He welcomed their efforts, discussing with them on their level about the way they saw the world (inasmuch as the children were allowed to tell him due to the aforementioned cultural barring of adults from childlore, which varied based on ethnicity and region). By the year -4392 he began to articulate his thoughts and findings to others, ultimately culminating some decades later in his best-known quote, describing culture acquisition as an ongoing and adaptive process to which children relate themselves in an active manner, and articulating the responsibilities of adults in this regard to ensure that they learn well what to do and what not to do.
His work continued until his death in -4324, after which his ideas continued to be spread across the Ice Flats and refined by other philosophers and scientists. He gained a reputation in more modern times as the "father of folkloristics", on top of his work on the nature of matter (the influence of which rippled outward so far it is thought he would be surprised by it, should he ever have the means of finding out). His theory on the way children engage with culture became the foundation for how folklore is studied and students are taught, bolstered by his Low Pass Stenza descent and their reputation for their hospitable, peacemaking tendencies.
Social
Speech
Where a pup must be kept alive, a child must be taught.
Culture is not innate, it is learned from the moment of birth until the last draw of breath. It changes, layer upon layer like the ice under your feet, generation after generation, because the children you speak to will inevitably build on and alter what they have heard. And so it falls to us to inspire them, with stories of our deeds and occasionally of our failings. Failings are just as important, mind you, but great deeds are motivating in nature. The child watching you with wide eyes craves someone to aspire to be. Tell them of a good role model.
The quotes from him on the side are really cool. :)
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