The People of A'râf

The name given to those living in the settlements on the ledges of the Mountain of Being. The people’s name for the mountain — the Mountain of A’râf — comes from the name of those ledges: urf.

Who they are

They come from all four nations and have fitted fully into none. The scribe counts three conditions:

• those worn from within by the quarrel of two elements,
• those who settle into no mould at all by the balance of four,
• those who merely could not meet the expectation of their own people.

They have one thing in common: belonging nowhere entirely. The scribe writes that this is not a condition that later mends. — A Treatise Upon Devran, leaf 12b

The scribe’s judgement

Writing of this people, the man takes a side openly:

If no door will admit a person, the fault should be sought in the doors before it is sought in the person. Those who climbed the mountain were not cast out; no door was ever enough for them.

— A Treatise Upon Devran, leaf 12b

What I do not know

How many they are, how they live, how one comes to climb — none of it is in the source I hold. Not having passed the gate, I could not see for myself.