“For those of you who haven’t been paying attention—and for those of whom I know did not attend our very first class—and yes, you know I know who you are; keep smiling like you know I won’t punish you for it—the simplest definition of a sutak from the point of view of your average garule is one who is born outside of any given garuli clan’s definition of societal rules. They are, for all intents and purposes, deformed. Ugly. Misshapen. Wrong,” Professor Sul stated simply as he, a sutak himself, stood in a stance that oozed a power and charisma as if to contradict every word he said. He opened his mouth to continue, but his eyes flickered again to where Dassah was hiding in the leaves.
This time, he made it much more evident that he knew she was there. With his muzzle, he motioned for her to sit in the amphitheater with the other students. Though she felt her face flushing, she walked out from her hiding place and stepped down into the first available aisle. A few of the students nodded to her as she took a seat.
After she settled her bag under her feet, he went on. “But,” he started again. “As Miss Bell pointed out, this definition fails to consider anything but the most basic of things—and even, as we will go into a bit later—the history of their own people. For now,” he pointed to the chart behind him. “Let’s talk about basic sutak classifications. Volunteers? How about Miss Grimnar?”
A dark-furred earar girl lifted her head up from her lap as he called on her. “Um,” she said. Dassah was sure she hadn’t been paying attention, a thought that was reinforced by the garule professor nudging his head in the direction of the chart behind him. “Ah—So, though sutak is a general term, modern study places them into several distinct classes, though clans often do not differentiate along such lines.
“First, there is the Pukau Sutak. A Pukau Sutak is a sutak who exhibits the wrong physical traits for their assigned gender. Pukau Sutak are then divided into Kkloi-Pukau Sutak, or females who possess mostly male traits, while Kyorn-Pukau Sutak are males who exhibit majority female traits.
“Then there are the Reopi Sutak and the Gi Sutak,” continued the girl as if she were reading from a textbook. “Gi Sutak are simply half-breeds. These only began appearing after the valkyrians developed the technology that allowed interspecies breeding between the garuli and other species. Reopi Sutak are a much more controversial subject as they are merely individuals whose personalities don’t match societal expectations of their roles within their clan.
“Sutak are generally treated as lepers and are often shipped off to sutak tribes at young ages, where they live or die, depending on their luck. While there are certain exceptions based on family choices, in general, once discovered, all sutak are treated as blemishes on garuli honor and can never be an acceptable presence in public society.”
Sul scratched the back of his neck. “Impressive,” he told her with a light chuckle. “Try to make it sound a little less like you memorized the textbook on your next exam.” The class chuckled as Miss Grimnar scowled at him.
A boy in the front raised his hand and before he was called on, asked, “Could you give us an actual example of those classifications?”
“Well,” Sul went, considering. “We’ve gone over the very specific expectations of a typical garuli society,” he said. “If you are a female, you are a warrior. You are a hunter and a leader. If you are a male, you remain at home while the females are hunting. You tend to the nests and care for the children. Both are expected to look and act a certain way without question. The more you match these expectations of the clans, the more desirable you are as a ‘person.’ The less you fit in, the more of an outcast you are until they can no longer consider you a valid ‘person’ and thereby expel you from the clan.”
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The garule professor walked in front of his desk and leaned against it. “So, let’s say that you, Mr. Ko, are a male in a typical garuli clan. Resources are average; your clan can support a population of about one hundred to two hundred individuals, including, say, fifty to seventy warriors and their mates, several litters of dependants from newborns to the age of thirteen, and a handful of elders, matriarchs, and wise men who are no longer a part of the production chain. That said, your clan is fairly well off and could probably support more if they wanted to, perhaps even absorb another clan.
“Now, Mr. Ko, born into this clan, you are raised from young to cook, clean, and care for the children, mend, and do whatever domestic chores you are expected to be adept at as a respectable male of age. However, maybe you aren’t great at these things. Can you work with leather, Mr Ko? Weave? Cook?”
“I make a mean pot of mac and cheese,” the young man said with a smirk.
Sul shrugged to the chuckling in the crowd. “I’m sure your family is very proud. But, in my culture, failing at any one of these things is a mark against you as a proper garuli. For each one you cannot do, your status becomes lower. Failing at several of them might see you put into the lowest class of citizen. Last in line for food, water, and shelter. You would live a life of poverty. If the clan couldn’t gather enough food in the winter or during migration, you would starve. If you needed aid, you would be the last to receive it. The likelihood of you getting a mate is dismal outside of your own caste. Consider, at this point, you aren’t even a sutak.”
The class was quiet as Sul continued: “Now let’s change the scenario. Let’s say that you succeed at all that you are meant to as a male, but you tell your parents or littermates that you want to be a warrior,” he said. “How many of you had dreams as a child? How many of you really followed through on those dreams? How many of you laugh at them now? And yet, for a garuli child, if even a hint of those words makes it to the clan elders, you are instantly thrown into that same state of poverty as the one who couldn’t do anything for what is most likely the rest of your life. You are marked as a Reopi Sutak. There is still hope for you, hope that you will reform yourself—but even if you do, you must climb back up the status ladder bit by bit. And even if you do that, chances are, you will still never be accepted by the clan. You will never hold a place of honor. You will no longer be able to voice an opinion on clan matters. You will never be allowed to mate. You are no longer considered a full person. Because of words you may have said as a curious child, you are forever a sutak.”
Dassah couldn’t help but gape at him as he spoke, and the other students in the room seemed equally uncomfortable.
“What about you?” an androgynous tiyvars student dared to ask. “You are a Kyorn-Pukau Sutak, right?”
Sul crossed his arms and answered, “Yes. And no. When it comes to the Pukau, things get more complicated because the garuli aren’t terribly scientific, to put it nicely. Culturally, Pukau are the worst of all sutak. If they are discovered when they are young, they are often brought into the woods and left to die—preferably before the rest of the clan finds out. In rare cases, like mine, the family will conceal it until they no longer can and then have the individual leave for the family's sake. Though this practice is frowned on by the elders, I think it’s fairly safe to say that these parents don’t actually want to kill their children—but letting them live or stay means death for the rest of them.”
Dassah choked with the realization of what he was saying. The implications were about the words she had said in ignorance. She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want to know that this man whom she had hated for causing her so much superficial grief and pain, had gone through such painful experiences that she couldn’t even begin to imagine. To be thrown away by one's parents? Dassah looked at her hands, clasped tightly together in her lap, wishing, somehow, she could reclaim her innocence of the subject.
“Tradition aside, the garuli definition of Pukau Sutaks is historically—and scientifically—inaccurate,” Sathuren was going on, apparently unperturbed by the gravity of what he had just said. “In actuality, the rather simple fact is that the garuli biologically have more than two genders. This includes types of hermaphrodites that change their genders based on internal or external triggers.
“These genders were widely recognized by ancient society, where they were actually revered in a similar manner to the way Matriarchs and the Undying are today. For the very reason that Miss When brought up earlier, in the ancient culture, the sutaks were people who embodied the land and the spirits in a single vessel. The term ‘sutak’ originated from that ancient culture and were celebrated for this conceptual union,” he paused and raised his hand. “And before you ask, because I know at least one of you is going to, I was, in fact, born as a female.”
“When did you change into a male?” someone asked with a laugh.
“I had just turned thirteen,” Sav answered in a resonant tone.
There was some chuckling as Sav went onto the next slide. Even Dassah herself wanted to laugh a little—but as he began to speak again, her mind traveled.