Manawa Waata
Appearance and Equipment
* Long black hair pulled into a topknot and secured with a ornate wooden comb, bright green eyes, brown skin, 6'8", muscular and stocky build. Tribal tattooes denoting his status adorn his face and his forearms.
* Usually clad in a piupiu (kilt), shawl, and sash, all made from flax, fur, and/or cloth. Wears leather moccasins. Wears a pounamu (greenstone) amulet which marks him as a waihilo, a magic user.
* Armed with a maripi (a large sharktooth knife).
Skills and Abilities
Tokamaka: In the dialect of the Māo'ilani, Tokamaka means literally "rock caster," and an apt name for Manawa's magic it is. Though he has yet to master its full potential, common manifestations of it include: forming rock armor on his body, coalescing soil temporarily into stone, commanding stone to break, and of course launching stone projectiles. Overuse of Tokamaka will result in the onset of hypothermic symptoms, as Manawa's body and temperature slows to become more and more like stone, leading eventually to petrified death.
Tribal Warrior: Manawa fought in many battles for the Māo'ilani, and so has a good deal of martial experience in one-handed, shieldless combat. He has impressive strength, but he is still human; a formidable orc can overpower him, let alone someone/something with supernatural strength.
Chieftain: As Chieftain of the Māom people, the core of the greater confederation that is the Māo'ilani Tribe, Manawa's natural sense of leadership was fostered. When he was discovered to be a waihilo, he also received a moderate amount of training from the tribe's shamans in the ways of communing with spirits, interpreting mystical signs, and minor apothecary and herbalist skills to support his vision quests.
Personality and Characteristics
Major
* Genial, affable, despite the severe features of his face and his imposing stature. Often this is surprising for those just meeting him--much to his chagrin.
* Boisterous, confident, larger than life. Assured, but with a thirst for knowledge of the strange and foreign.
* From a warrior society (and from his own failing with his brother), he is untroubled by the moral and philosophical concerns of war. Uncompromising with foes.
* Respectful of traditions, of family-oriented values and loyalties, and of the gods of other lands and peoples.
* Highly disdainful of cowards, and perceived acts of cowardice.
* Has a conscientiousness that can lead to stubbornness. When he believes that he is right, it will take a lot to convince him otherwise.
* Sticks up for the weak/defenseless, even to his own detriment.
Minor
+ Culture shock: not used to seeing female warriors upon arriving on the Mainland continents.
+ Takes excellent, religious care of his hair, and holds his hairstyle to be sacred.
+ Fascinated by the tales of storytellers. Has a tendency to believe good orators without question.
+ Unsubtle. Not one for things requiring stealth or secrecy.
+ Fond of things which remind him of his island home: seafood, small boats, bonfires, etc.
+ Wary of those with fire magic, since, to his people, it is believed that it comes from Rātangu, the trickster Atua.
+ Often uses some words from his native language even while speaking Common:
** Paompa: Esteemed friend, regarded as a brother or sister.
** Aino'ilani: Friends that are essentially family.
** Waihilo: Magic user, gifted.
** Lakine: Hello
** Mahalo: Thanks, thank you.
** Atua: God or Goddess.
Biography and Lore
Give thanks to Toparutangi, whose colossal strength holds up the sky!
Give thanks to Arakaia, whose sweeping breath gives life to the sea!
Give thanks to Paoro, whose stalwart heart beats in the soil!
For Manawa, eldest son of High Chieftain Waata, was born to be a warrior! A warrior among warriors, as he was blessed with impressive size and astounding strength. And for the Māom people, for the Māo'ilani tribe as a whole, he would go forth into battle with the might of Toparutangi on his side.
But it was not always like this, for a man is first a boy, and a boy must become a man. Waata cultivated that warrior's spirit in both his sons, Manawa and Tangaroa, for many days and many nights when they were children. And he was pleased to see that they had taken a great liking to one another. Inseparable, were they. They sailed and fished together, explored the wilds together, trained together, and got into trouble together. They even wished to embark on the Sacred Voyage together.
And of course, once they came of age at fifteen, both boys went into their first battle together. Alas, for this was not a triumphant moment for Manawa. All his strength and all his size helped him none for the initial shock and horror of a pitched battle. Hesitation gripped him as he looked down on his injured opponent, this warrior from a tribe not of the Māo'ilani. He could not bring himself to finish his foe! Yet his heart, even in its youthful naivete, was stirred to action when he heard a shout from across the battlefield. It was Tangaroa! Overwhelmed by several warriors at once, and he needed help! Manawa cast off his hesitation and finished his foe and ran to his brother...only to be too late.
Now we mourn. Mourn for the loss of one of mighty Waata's two sons, the brother of Manawa, Tangaroa.
Waata tried to assuage the guilt that Manawa felt, but for a time the sorrow felt by his eldest son eclipsed even his own. Yet he did not let himself be conquered by it. No, what Manawa did was to give of himself to the Māo'ilani, to share that love he held for his brother to all his fellow tribesfolk. When storms came, he ushered those in need to safety and helped rebuild. When the sea's harvests were short, he shared food from his own Chieftain's stockpile and redoubled his own efforts in fishing. When sickness struck, he aided the families in need as their loved ones recovered. And when battle called, Manawa hesitated no more--all the better to see as many Māo'ilani as possible return home.
And so you see, my friends, that even before Chieftain Manawa discovered his Tokamaka magic, he had already made himself into the Rock of the Māo'ilani, upon whom anyone could rely.
Now, at the age of twenty years and as a new waihilo, Chieftain Manawa had new responsibilities, for those blessed with the rare gift of magic from Toparutangi, from Arakaia, from Paoro, could commune with the spirits of wind, of water, or of earth. And blessed by Paoro Manawa most certainly is! His training with the shamans of the Māo'ilani began at once.
And it was good that he received it, that he had been waihilo, for Chieftain Manawa, upon communing with the earthen spirits at the base of the great volcano Kratarkāom, saw in spiritform none other than Rātangu himself! The trickster Atua of fire! Manawa asked what the Atua was doing there. And Rātangu said that he had grown jealous of the favored sons of Toparutangi, the Māo'ilani tribe, who bested those tribes who held Rātangu as their chief god. He had come to awaken Kratarkāom with a slow but potent curse, and with so violent an eruption that our whole island would be consumed! Manawa tried to banish Rātangu, but, ever the trickster, Rātangu dispersed himself, his curse in place!
Yet not all is lost. For the venerable shamans went on many vision quests, and communed long with the spirits of wind and water and earth. Spread across Arethil, at the highest peaks and the deepest forests and driest deserts and coldest tundras, lands seen only by the Māo'ilani's storied Voyagers, lay the means to break Rātangu's curse! Spirits which contain the very essence of this distant lands, whose power can be combined and brought back to Āina o Ka Lā!
And so it falls to Manawa, Chieftain of the Māom people, son of High Chieftain Waata of the Māo'ilani tribe.
He has been chosen to be our next Voyager.
To not only go forth into the world and journey and return with great tales of Arethil, but to save us, his people and our land, from doom.
