Post by otterling on Feb 1, 2010 20:12:06 GMT -5
Name: Lanak
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Hetero
Race: Na'vi
Tribe: Itami
Mount: Pa'li - Lanak does not have a specific pa'li for her use as she does not often leave the camp. The one she uses most often is a young female named Sok'tah who she has connected with on multiple occasions.
Physical Description:
Lanak is, by comparison to her sizable husband, a petite woman. She stands only 9’ tall and is lean in musculature. Her lithe form displays the well honed athleticism of the warriors in her tribe though to a slightly lesser extent due to her position as a spiritual leader. A small scar that runs the length of her left hip is a reminder, however, of her days as a young hunter. Her skin is a few shades lighter than her husband’s, taking on a vibrant cyan color and her markings are not as readily apparent as his. High cheekbones and a long narrow face give her a regal look which is supported by the carefully controlled grace with which she moves and her piercing gaze is unwavering, catching and holding the attention of anyone she is speaking to. Her eyes are large and luminous with a golden yellow found normally in sunrises and her sharp ears are pierced in three places on either side. The largest of these piercings is a stretch ring in each lobe with a two inch opening in it. Above that she has two small rings made of a polished green stone.
Lanak’s hair is plaited into ornate intertwined loops which fall over her shoulders and pull up in the back to terminate at her hairpiece. The hairpiece is a set of two crescents carved of the same green stone as her earrings and bound in the middle with leather so as to form a shape similar to a figure eight with both ends open. Her braids wind around and through the rings to bind it to her head. Centered directly below the rings is her queue which hangs to just above her thin waist. Her braids are decorated with a variety of small iridescent feathers and beads ranging in color from purple to green.
Lanak wears a high collared mantle of shining purple beads which falls down to just above the bottom of her ribcage. It is open on both sides to allow freedom of arm movement. The pattern of the beads is organic and swirling along the neck but soon tightens down as it descends to keep most of her chest covered. She wears a thin leather loincloth below this that sits across her hips and tapers in the front. A hole has been made in the back flap to allow for her tail. Her wrists, tail and ankles are adorned with a few small woven bracelets made from local plants. Some of these are adorned with feathers woven into them or small claws dangling from them. The simplest of these is a thin braid made from the leaves of a bright orange plant which she wears on her left wrist. It glows softly at night due to natural bioluminescence and is her most treasured possession as it was the bonding gift Tukru gave her.
Personality:
Lanak is a mothering figure in many ways among her people. She is a source of council and comfort in troubled times, offering wisdom and advice where it is needed and healing when it becomes necessary. She personally visits and cares for any who fall ill and has come to know the personalities of each Itami over the course of her life so that she often seems to be empathic in her ability to tell when something is wrong with one of them. She is capable of great kindness but can also be stern when the need arises as she takes her role as Tsahik very seriously and will brook no trespasses against Eywa. She sees such things as putting the Itami tribe at risk and takes threats against her people very poorly.
She is a spiritually solemn woman in comparison to her more enthusiastic husband but despite being far quieter than he, she is just as well loved among her people and her kindness is well known. She is particularly fond of children and prays to Eywa that she will have one of her own soon. Deeply spiritual, Lanak sees every life as precious in its own way and she views the world around her with a reverent awe that she tries to instill in her fellow tribesmen.
The elder of the pair by a few years, she is cynical when it comes to sky people and does not trust them. She believes they will be everything that she was told they were as a child, and that they should leave, but like her mate, is wary of taking a stand against them. If there is a peaceful way to convince them to leave, Lanak would prefer it to open war, but if there is not... it would be better to stop them now than to wait for their numbers to swell once more. She is fiercely protective of her fellow Itami and of Eywa and fears what will happen should the humans once again become strong enough to challenge the Na’vi.
Lanak is also a devoted mate and while she isn’t as playful in her affections as Tukru is, she treasures him for his outgoing nature and reciprocates his love with her own. She is silliest and most easy going when in his presence but her affections are normally very passionate and adoring. She enjoys his touch more than anything and while most others take comfort in her, she takes comfort in him. She tends to lean against him, lay her head on his shoulder, or in some other way maintain a physical connection to him whenever they are alone.
Talents:
Pa’li Master – Despite the fact that she is now a Tsahik for her people, there was a time when Lanak was a hunter among her tribe. She still retains her riding ability though she rarely ever ventures far from camp.
Healer - Lanak has spent most of her youth training with the healers of her tribe. Her link to Eywa gives her the ability to call upon the spirit to aid in speedy recoveries.
Artist - As a Tsahik, Lanak is an intergral part of the interpretation of visions, symbols and the passing of wisdom from one generation to the next. As such, she has learned to paint, craft, and draw so as to use these means as a method of passing along stories and legends. She has a soft alto voice when singing and this, along with painting, are her primary tools of teaching.
Oracle - Lanak has spent many years under the tutelage of Mawey learning how to read the signs given to her and to others of her tribe by Eywa. She can interpret visions, dreams, and is capable of reading omens to determine the will of Eywa for her people.
Spiritual Leader - Lanak performs the majority of ceremonies for the Itami. She is responsible for the ceremonies of adulthood, childbirth, funerals, blessings, and so on. Because of her many duties, she rarely leaves the camp and is seen as the spiritual heart of her tribe.
History:
Lanak was born one of a set of twins. Her younger sister by only a few minutes unfortunately died in childbirth as she was far too underdeveloped to survive and the midwife who witnessed this brought it to the attention of Mawey, the Tsahik of the Itami, who interpreted it as a sign from Eywa. For Mawey, it was a powerful omen that the child would spend nine months in the womb with her sister and upon birth, one child would remain with the tribe while the other went back to Eywa. Right from the start, the baby girl had marked herself as a potential Tsahik because of this connection and Mawey would continue to watch her as the child grew, taking particular interest in her development.
Lanak was a fairly bright and cheerful child who seemed to have no fear. She was intelligent and precocious and her father had to carry her back to camp more than once when she tried to follow him on hunts. Right from the outset, Tan’hi, Lanak’s mother, knew her daughter would never be happy as a weaver the way she and her grandmother were, and so she encouraged her child to venture out with the gathering parties that would venture into the forest. Lanak adored these excursions and her wonder at the world around her never seemed to abate no matter how often she would head into the woods to collect plants and berries.
As Lanak grew, Mawey would come to the small tent the child shared with her mother and father and would invite her out with her to attend everything from other births to funerals. At first, Lanak didn’t quite understand why she was always asked to attend the rites but Mawey was kind and Lanak found her talk about Eywa to be magical and wonderful so she followed along happily. As she became older, however, she began to realize that she wasn’t just a favorite child of the Tsahik, but was being groomed for the position at some point. As fearless as ever, the young girl took to the calling with all the reverent passion of her teacher and she found that she could hear and feel the call of Eywa with a clarity that she hadn’t noticed before. The knowledge of something so much larger than herself gave the girl comfort and she became a devoted disciple of her new found craft. Much of what she saw Mawey doing was far beyond her comprehension but she knew that someday she too would understand and learn to hear the voice of Eywa in that way.
By the time Lanak was fourteen, she was splitting the majority of her time between the tribe’s healers, where she learned their craft and its connection to the circle of life, and Mawey. Her days would start early and end late but she found them to be full and vibrant. Each day she gained a little more understanding of the intricate web that held all living things together. Mawey had become a mother to Lanak in many ways and she sought out the woman’s council frequently. She had been told from the time she was only ten that she would be betrothed to Tsyal as he was the oldest of Mawey and Zekwa’s children and would someday take the honor of being Olo’eyktan. She had found the boy a bit boorish and pompous and didn’t much like the idea of being mated to him but she kept her thoughts to herself and accepted her duty as it came to her.
In her fourteenth year, however, her plans for the future were shifted more than anyone anticipated. Tsyal had been killed as had his younger brother Hufwe which left only the youngest child, Tukru, as the sole living heir to the title of Olo’eyktan. The boy had been grievously hurt and Lanak saw the grief in Mawey as she prayed to Eywa not to take her remaining son. Lanak stayed at Tukru’s bedside with his mother as the healers worked and to her relief, Eywa had heard their call. Tukru woke and though he would need much rest and healing, he would survive. Mawey had many things to attend to in the camp and so Lanak offered to stay at the boy’s bedside while he healed. His wounds would be more than physical and she knew he would most likely need an ear to bend as he worked through his grief and pain.
Lanak knew now that with his brothers gone, Tukru would be the one to inherit his father’s title and as such he would now be her new betrothed. At first she wasn’t sure what to think of this as the boy was three years younger than her and she didn’t know him much but as she sat at his bedside and they spent the months of his recovery talking, she grew more and more fond of him. He lacked the arrogance of his oldest brother and his humility was endearing. He also had the distinction of being one of the few who could make Lanak laugh almost constantly. As the years passed and the children grew, their bond only tightened. Lanak was never far from Tukru and she watched her friend and future mate grow into a man.
Lanak was far from inactive during those years of growth and Tukru had a definite affect on her outlook on life. She found herself training more as a hunter as she never enjoyed being very far from him and it wasn’t long before she was joining him when he set out to bring home game for the tribe. It was during one such trip that Lanak was injured badly. She was part of the riding party that would frighten the sturmbeests and allow the other na’vi to pick one out of the stragglers. She had done the maneuver multiple times without incident but that day her pa’li stumbled in an unseen hole in the field and the moment it lost in its stride was all it took for one of the younger sturmbeests to slam into them both in it's terror to escape the hunters. Lanak was able to separate herself from her pa’li only moments before the impact and while this saved her from being skewered through the chest by the top horn of the sturmbeest, her left hip was sliced open instead. Her pa’li was killed under the sturmbeests hooves as it trampled past in panic but the rest of her party managed to scare the creature off before it cost Lanak her life as well.
The healers were able to make quick work of her injury but she still bears the long scar it left her. She was barely healed before she was once again on a new pa’li and was back into the field hunting at Tukru’s side, refusing to be left behind and reminding any who challenged her decision that her life was in Eywa’s hands and she did not fear death. It was a sentiment that Zekwa also shared and as the old tribe leader slowly passed into the arms of Eywa, Lanak stayed at Tukru’s side to offer her support however it could be had. It was during those years as the Olo’eyktan wasted away that Lanak began to take on more and more of the roles of the Tsahik, thus allowing Mawey the ability to spend as much time as was possible with her husband.
The day finally came when Tukru was fully a man and though Lanak knew that he would choose her, she was still as nervous as a young girl when he came back to the camp that day. She was relieved that he was alive after his testing and he’d barely gotten the question out of his mouth before she had accepted his offer to mate. That night they lay out in the field together and she could feel the blessing of Eywa upon them. They were bonded for life and as Lanak shared Tsahaylu with her new mate, she offered to him all the memories and emotions of her life. When they returned the next morning it was to joy for their union and sorrow for their loss for Zekwa had passed during the night. Lanak found herself suddenly thrust into the position as Tsahik and over the first few years of her new role, she relied heavily upon Mawey for guidance. As time has worn on though, the young woman has become more and more confident in her position and she has come to finally understand the ancient ways that have been passed down to her.
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Hetero
Race: Na'vi
Tribe: Itami
Mount: Pa'li - Lanak does not have a specific pa'li for her use as she does not often leave the camp. The one she uses most often is a young female named Sok'tah who she has connected with on multiple occasions.
Physical Description:
Lanak is, by comparison to her sizable husband, a petite woman. She stands only 9’ tall and is lean in musculature. Her lithe form displays the well honed athleticism of the warriors in her tribe though to a slightly lesser extent due to her position as a spiritual leader. A small scar that runs the length of her left hip is a reminder, however, of her days as a young hunter. Her skin is a few shades lighter than her husband’s, taking on a vibrant cyan color and her markings are not as readily apparent as his. High cheekbones and a long narrow face give her a regal look which is supported by the carefully controlled grace with which she moves and her piercing gaze is unwavering, catching and holding the attention of anyone she is speaking to. Her eyes are large and luminous with a golden yellow found normally in sunrises and her sharp ears are pierced in three places on either side. The largest of these piercings is a stretch ring in each lobe with a two inch opening in it. Above that she has two small rings made of a polished green stone.
Lanak’s hair is plaited into ornate intertwined loops which fall over her shoulders and pull up in the back to terminate at her hairpiece. The hairpiece is a set of two crescents carved of the same green stone as her earrings and bound in the middle with leather so as to form a shape similar to a figure eight with both ends open. Her braids wind around and through the rings to bind it to her head. Centered directly below the rings is her queue which hangs to just above her thin waist. Her braids are decorated with a variety of small iridescent feathers and beads ranging in color from purple to green.
Lanak wears a high collared mantle of shining purple beads which falls down to just above the bottom of her ribcage. It is open on both sides to allow freedom of arm movement. The pattern of the beads is organic and swirling along the neck but soon tightens down as it descends to keep most of her chest covered. She wears a thin leather loincloth below this that sits across her hips and tapers in the front. A hole has been made in the back flap to allow for her tail. Her wrists, tail and ankles are adorned with a few small woven bracelets made from local plants. Some of these are adorned with feathers woven into them or small claws dangling from them. The simplest of these is a thin braid made from the leaves of a bright orange plant which she wears on her left wrist. It glows softly at night due to natural bioluminescence and is her most treasured possession as it was the bonding gift Tukru gave her.
Personality:
Lanak is a mothering figure in many ways among her people. She is a source of council and comfort in troubled times, offering wisdom and advice where it is needed and healing when it becomes necessary. She personally visits and cares for any who fall ill and has come to know the personalities of each Itami over the course of her life so that she often seems to be empathic in her ability to tell when something is wrong with one of them. She is capable of great kindness but can also be stern when the need arises as she takes her role as Tsahik very seriously and will brook no trespasses against Eywa. She sees such things as putting the Itami tribe at risk and takes threats against her people very poorly.
She is a spiritually solemn woman in comparison to her more enthusiastic husband but despite being far quieter than he, she is just as well loved among her people and her kindness is well known. She is particularly fond of children and prays to Eywa that she will have one of her own soon. Deeply spiritual, Lanak sees every life as precious in its own way and she views the world around her with a reverent awe that she tries to instill in her fellow tribesmen.
The elder of the pair by a few years, she is cynical when it comes to sky people and does not trust them. She believes they will be everything that she was told they were as a child, and that they should leave, but like her mate, is wary of taking a stand against them. If there is a peaceful way to convince them to leave, Lanak would prefer it to open war, but if there is not... it would be better to stop them now than to wait for their numbers to swell once more. She is fiercely protective of her fellow Itami and of Eywa and fears what will happen should the humans once again become strong enough to challenge the Na’vi.
Lanak is also a devoted mate and while she isn’t as playful in her affections as Tukru is, she treasures him for his outgoing nature and reciprocates his love with her own. She is silliest and most easy going when in his presence but her affections are normally very passionate and adoring. She enjoys his touch more than anything and while most others take comfort in her, she takes comfort in him. She tends to lean against him, lay her head on his shoulder, or in some other way maintain a physical connection to him whenever they are alone.
Talents:
Pa’li Master – Despite the fact that she is now a Tsahik for her people, there was a time when Lanak was a hunter among her tribe. She still retains her riding ability though she rarely ever ventures far from camp.
Healer - Lanak has spent most of her youth training with the healers of her tribe. Her link to Eywa gives her the ability to call upon the spirit to aid in speedy recoveries.
Artist - As a Tsahik, Lanak is an intergral part of the interpretation of visions, symbols and the passing of wisdom from one generation to the next. As such, she has learned to paint, craft, and draw so as to use these means as a method of passing along stories and legends. She has a soft alto voice when singing and this, along with painting, are her primary tools of teaching.
Oracle - Lanak has spent many years under the tutelage of Mawey learning how to read the signs given to her and to others of her tribe by Eywa. She can interpret visions, dreams, and is capable of reading omens to determine the will of Eywa for her people.
Spiritual Leader - Lanak performs the majority of ceremonies for the Itami. She is responsible for the ceremonies of adulthood, childbirth, funerals, blessings, and so on. Because of her many duties, she rarely leaves the camp and is seen as the spiritual heart of her tribe.
History:
Lanak was born one of a set of twins. Her younger sister by only a few minutes unfortunately died in childbirth as she was far too underdeveloped to survive and the midwife who witnessed this brought it to the attention of Mawey, the Tsahik of the Itami, who interpreted it as a sign from Eywa. For Mawey, it was a powerful omen that the child would spend nine months in the womb with her sister and upon birth, one child would remain with the tribe while the other went back to Eywa. Right from the start, the baby girl had marked herself as a potential Tsahik because of this connection and Mawey would continue to watch her as the child grew, taking particular interest in her development.
Lanak was a fairly bright and cheerful child who seemed to have no fear. She was intelligent and precocious and her father had to carry her back to camp more than once when she tried to follow him on hunts. Right from the outset, Tan’hi, Lanak’s mother, knew her daughter would never be happy as a weaver the way she and her grandmother were, and so she encouraged her child to venture out with the gathering parties that would venture into the forest. Lanak adored these excursions and her wonder at the world around her never seemed to abate no matter how often she would head into the woods to collect plants and berries.
As Lanak grew, Mawey would come to the small tent the child shared with her mother and father and would invite her out with her to attend everything from other births to funerals. At first, Lanak didn’t quite understand why she was always asked to attend the rites but Mawey was kind and Lanak found her talk about Eywa to be magical and wonderful so she followed along happily. As she became older, however, she began to realize that she wasn’t just a favorite child of the Tsahik, but was being groomed for the position at some point. As fearless as ever, the young girl took to the calling with all the reverent passion of her teacher and she found that she could hear and feel the call of Eywa with a clarity that she hadn’t noticed before. The knowledge of something so much larger than herself gave the girl comfort and she became a devoted disciple of her new found craft. Much of what she saw Mawey doing was far beyond her comprehension but she knew that someday she too would understand and learn to hear the voice of Eywa in that way.
By the time Lanak was fourteen, she was splitting the majority of her time between the tribe’s healers, where she learned their craft and its connection to the circle of life, and Mawey. Her days would start early and end late but she found them to be full and vibrant. Each day she gained a little more understanding of the intricate web that held all living things together. Mawey had become a mother to Lanak in many ways and she sought out the woman’s council frequently. She had been told from the time she was only ten that she would be betrothed to Tsyal as he was the oldest of Mawey and Zekwa’s children and would someday take the honor of being Olo’eyktan. She had found the boy a bit boorish and pompous and didn’t much like the idea of being mated to him but she kept her thoughts to herself and accepted her duty as it came to her.
In her fourteenth year, however, her plans for the future were shifted more than anyone anticipated. Tsyal had been killed as had his younger brother Hufwe which left only the youngest child, Tukru, as the sole living heir to the title of Olo’eyktan. The boy had been grievously hurt and Lanak saw the grief in Mawey as she prayed to Eywa not to take her remaining son. Lanak stayed at Tukru’s bedside with his mother as the healers worked and to her relief, Eywa had heard their call. Tukru woke and though he would need much rest and healing, he would survive. Mawey had many things to attend to in the camp and so Lanak offered to stay at the boy’s bedside while he healed. His wounds would be more than physical and she knew he would most likely need an ear to bend as he worked through his grief and pain.
Lanak knew now that with his brothers gone, Tukru would be the one to inherit his father’s title and as such he would now be her new betrothed. At first she wasn’t sure what to think of this as the boy was three years younger than her and she didn’t know him much but as she sat at his bedside and they spent the months of his recovery talking, she grew more and more fond of him. He lacked the arrogance of his oldest brother and his humility was endearing. He also had the distinction of being one of the few who could make Lanak laugh almost constantly. As the years passed and the children grew, their bond only tightened. Lanak was never far from Tukru and she watched her friend and future mate grow into a man.
Lanak was far from inactive during those years of growth and Tukru had a definite affect on her outlook on life. She found herself training more as a hunter as she never enjoyed being very far from him and it wasn’t long before she was joining him when he set out to bring home game for the tribe. It was during one such trip that Lanak was injured badly. She was part of the riding party that would frighten the sturmbeests and allow the other na’vi to pick one out of the stragglers. She had done the maneuver multiple times without incident but that day her pa’li stumbled in an unseen hole in the field and the moment it lost in its stride was all it took for one of the younger sturmbeests to slam into them both in it's terror to escape the hunters. Lanak was able to separate herself from her pa’li only moments before the impact and while this saved her from being skewered through the chest by the top horn of the sturmbeest, her left hip was sliced open instead. Her pa’li was killed under the sturmbeests hooves as it trampled past in panic but the rest of her party managed to scare the creature off before it cost Lanak her life as well.
The healers were able to make quick work of her injury but she still bears the long scar it left her. She was barely healed before she was once again on a new pa’li and was back into the field hunting at Tukru’s side, refusing to be left behind and reminding any who challenged her decision that her life was in Eywa’s hands and she did not fear death. It was a sentiment that Zekwa also shared and as the old tribe leader slowly passed into the arms of Eywa, Lanak stayed at Tukru’s side to offer her support however it could be had. It was during those years as the Olo’eyktan wasted away that Lanak began to take on more and more of the roles of the Tsahik, thus allowing Mawey the ability to spend as much time as was possible with her husband.
The day finally came when Tukru was fully a man and though Lanak knew that he would choose her, she was still as nervous as a young girl when he came back to the camp that day. She was relieved that he was alive after his testing and he’d barely gotten the question out of his mouth before she had accepted his offer to mate. That night they lay out in the field together and she could feel the blessing of Eywa upon them. They were bonded for life and as Lanak shared Tsahaylu with her new mate, she offered to him all the memories and emotions of her life. When they returned the next morning it was to joy for their union and sorrow for their loss for Zekwa had passed during the night. Lanak found herself suddenly thrust into the position as Tsahik and over the first few years of her new role, she relied heavily upon Mawey for guidance. As time has worn on though, the young woman has become more and more confident in her position and she has come to finally understand the ancient ways that have been passed down to her.
