Water-Carrier
A Tryker occupation
Water-carrier as an occupation has existed for a long time, but has had very different meanings over the course of history. Today it is a Tryker occupation, but in prehistoric times you wouldn't have found any water-carriers amongst the Tryker. The lakelands of Trykoth had plenty of water everywhere, so nobody would've been able to make a living off selling it. Wytt-selleen, "water-sharing", was even an ancient Tryker term meaning pointless activity.
No, the first water-carriers were Fyros. The prehistoric Fyros tribes were desert nomads, always travelling between oases, and so water was a scarce and thus valuable commodity for them. A Fyros water-carrier's duty was both to carry the people to water (guide the tribe to oases), and to carry water for the people (the water reserves for on the road as the tribe moved on again). All the nomadic Fyros tribes depended on their water-carriers for their survival, and so the position was one of great esteem.
The water-carrier occupation underwent it's first mutation as the Fyros went from being nomadic tribes to building cities around the oases. In the following era, water-carriers were the Fyros who ferried water from the oasis cities through the often perilous desert to the outlying camps and outposts. It was a more dangerous and less prestigious job than what water-carrier had originally meant.
Water-Carrier in it's modern form arose out of the alliance that the Fyros, once they were united into the Fyros Empire, struck up with the Tryker Federation. The Tryker would supply the Fyros with water in return for Fyros protection against the Matis. This worked so well for the Fyros that their population soon outgrew what the oases could support, and the Fyros Empire became completely dependant on Tryker water. The occupation of water-carrier was gradually taken up by less and less Fyros, and by more and more Tryker.
The job of these Tryker water-carriers was primarily to take water-convoys from the lakelands to the desert, along the famous North-South water route through Matis lands. But this only lasted until the two nations completed an aqueduct along the route through which the water could be pumped directly from the lakes to the desert. The water-carriers were then forced to find a new source of business, and turned to providing luxury water for the wealthier Fyros.
Thus the occupation came to be increasingly about finding the right kinds of specialised water: Spring water, dew water, rain water, well water... The Water Company became one of the most powerful entities in the politics of Old Trykoth. They had a representative in Taliari meetings, and there are even records of them petitioning full entry into the Taliari. But their rise to power was cut short by the Great Swarming.
Though the knowledge of the water-carrier occupation survived the Great Swarming, the water-carriers' operations were heavily dependant on their infrastructure, which was all destroyed by the Kitin and left behind by the survivors. Building it all up again from scratch in the New Lands proved to be very costly and time-consuming. Springs had to be mapped, water-towers had to be build, wells had to be dug, quality samples had to be taken and analysed, and dozens of quality controllers and water operators had to be recruited and trained.
It further delayed the rebuilding that the Fyros didn't have as much need for water anymore as they did in the Old Lands. The Burning Desert they now inhabited had enough oases to supply what was left of the Fyros population with water. So re-establishing the Water Company was not much of a priority for the Tryker in the first few decades after they settled in Aeden Aqueous.
Only after the guard-posts were build in the outlying lakeland regions in 2546, could the Water Company finally set up their operations there. And only when the Burning Desert was hit by a drought in 2551 did sufficient demand for their services arise that they dared to take the final leap and re-open their occupation. They're now massively in debts due to having to lend the dapper to build all their new infrastructure, and hoping to turn a profit again soon.
A Tryker occupation
Water-carrier as an occupation has existed for a long time, but has had very different meanings over the course of history. Today it is a Tryker occupation, but in prehistoric times you wouldn't have found any water-carriers amongst the Tryker. The lakelands of Trykoth had plenty of water everywhere, so nobody would've been able to make a living off selling it. Wytt-selleen, "water-sharing", was even an ancient Tryker term meaning pointless activity.
No, the first water-carriers were Fyros. The prehistoric Fyros tribes were desert nomads, always travelling between oases, and so water was a scarce and thus valuable commodity for them. A Fyros water-carrier's duty was both to carry the people to water (guide the tribe to oases), and to carry water for the people (the water reserves for on the road as the tribe moved on again). All the nomadic Fyros tribes depended on their water-carriers for their survival, and so the position was one of great esteem.
The water-carrier occupation underwent it's first mutation as the Fyros went from being nomadic tribes to building cities around the oases. In the following era, water-carriers were the Fyros who ferried water from the oasis cities through the often perilous desert to the outlying camps and outposts. It was a more dangerous and less prestigious job than what water-carrier had originally meant.
Water-Carrier in it's modern form arose out of the alliance that the Fyros, once they were united into the Fyros Empire, struck up with the Tryker Federation. The Tryker would supply the Fyros with water in return for Fyros protection against the Matis. This worked so well for the Fyros that their population soon outgrew what the oases could support, and the Fyros Empire became completely dependant on Tryker water. The occupation of water-carrier was gradually taken up by less and less Fyros, and by more and more Tryker.
The job of these Tryker water-carriers was primarily to take water-convoys from the lakelands to the desert, along the famous North-South water route through Matis lands. But this only lasted until the two nations completed an aqueduct along the route through which the water could be pumped directly from the lakes to the desert. The water-carriers were then forced to find a new source of business, and turned to providing luxury water for the wealthier Fyros.
Thus the occupation came to be increasingly about finding the right kinds of specialised water: Spring water, dew water, rain water, well water... The Water Company became one of the most powerful entities in the politics of Old Trykoth. They had a representative in Taliari meetings, and there are even records of them petitioning full entry into the Taliari. But their rise to power was cut short by the Great Swarming.
Though the knowledge of the water-carrier occupation survived the Great Swarming, the water-carriers' operations were heavily dependant on their infrastructure, which was all destroyed by the Kitin and left behind by the survivors. Building it all up again from scratch in the New Lands proved to be very costly and time-consuming. Springs had to be mapped, water-towers had to be build, wells had to be dug, quality samples had to be taken and analysed, and dozens of quality controllers and water operators had to be recruited and trained.
It further delayed the rebuilding that the Fyros didn't have as much need for water anymore as they did in the Old Lands. The Burning Desert they now inhabited had enough oases to supply what was left of the Fyros population with water. So re-establishing the Water Company was not much of a priority for the Tryker in the first few decades after they settled in Aeden Aqueous.
Only after the guard-posts were build in the outlying lakeland regions in 2546, could the Water Company finally set up their operations there. And only when the Burning Desert was hit by a drought in 2551 did sufficient demand for their services arise that they dared to take the final leap and re-open their occupation. They're now massively in debts due to having to lend the dapper to build all their new infrastructure, and hoping to turn a profit again soon.