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 Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:00 am
Welcome to Tendaji!Please welcome Balhira to Tendaji! 
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:01 am
Solo ミ Dreams of an Apprentice
Words ミ 787
Points ミ 2
The heat of the afternoon sun was unhindered, the sky a brilliant blue with the golden sun high above. Most Menehune used this time to sink below the surface of the waters, using the dark muck to keep cool and avoid the drying rays of the surface. Rarely, those who needed to work would dart out to the surface, putting on their protective footwear before rushing to the tall grass and what shade it provided. Everyone wanted to avoid the sun if they could, and daydreamed of times before, of the rumors of endless rain and salvation.
Balhira, unfortunately, was not part of either of those groups.
Her home was modest, a normal hut that had a roof peeking out from below the water. The sides of the house were stained with mud and muck, giving the edging a dark look that blended well with the water. Additionally, it provided an insulation to keep the home cool and the water inside. It was a typical home for an inhabitant of Salicora, fully equipped with a patio on the land where a fire pit was housed in the middle.
Balhira stabilized herself on the small window between the patio and her home, the grass divider pulled to the side and her eyes lidded as she watched her fire begin to burn. To her side was a small morter and pestle, where snail shells were ground into a fine powder. To her side was a large bundle of grasses collected from the waters, well known for their ability to be burned into a fine ash to create glass. It was a new practice, one only possible thanks to the Great Drought and the drier climate, and it allowed for more opportunities for the Menehune.
As the fire sparked and crackled, Balhira let out a slow sigh, her amber eyes glancing away from the fire to where the grasses sat. Lifting them up, she took a moment to gently touch them before tossing them high across the patio and into the burning fire. Smoke bellowed from the burning, as the grasses took up a majority of the space, and she could see them begin to burn and coil into dark black masses.
When she was younger, Balhira could recall sneaking to the patio from the outside, watching the fire burn as her grandfather, and then her father attempted to perfect the art of creating glass. They were patient, and willing to experiment with the new process and the dust that settled after a fire burned out. It was only after countless generations of work that they figured out the process of burning the grass to ash, melting it slowly with sands from the marsh, before burning it with a covering on the fire. It was only then that they could mold the glass into beads and other shapes, such as tools.
It was all fascinating to Balhira, as she watched from the shadows. It was a foolish thing to believe they didn't see her, small and innocent but curious, and finally when she was old enough they allowed her to assist. She would swim through the waters, collecting and drying out the grasses as well as hunting for snail shells. She would race about, determined to be part of the process and eventually get her hands on the mold to make something of value for her people. Eventually, as her grandfather passed, she was brought into the actual process, as her father felt a need to pass on the knowledge.
Now, Balhira lived alone in her own hut next to her father where she could work on the glass in her spare time. Around her, other areas had smoke bellowing up, a sign of progress and challenge. She wanted to be one of the greatest minds and glass makers, and to do so she needed to find new and unique ways to create art. It was a silent wish, as aspirations like that were selfish in the eyes of her people. However, she knew that with her knowledge she could help the Menehune. She could create tools and weapons to help fight off the beasts of the waters, to capture more food and to craft more goods. She would be a grand leader, and someone who others went to for guidance.
As the smoke bellowed before her, the fire flickering and the grasses turning into ash, Balhira let out one last sigh. Her arms strengthened as she pushed up onto the patio, ready to smother the fire and collect her ash. It was another day to work, to create, and to continue to improve her skill. There was no more time for day dreaming, she had a job to do.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:02 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:02 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:03 am
World Event ミ Playful Critters
Words ミ 574
Points ミ 5
The swampy waters of elehun seemed to be full of life lately. The warm summer weather had brought out all sorts of critters to play, and it wasn’t just those on land that were making their appearance. A family of enhudra could be seen flitting and diving around the village and seemed to take a particular interest in a single menehune. Their scaled bodies would glint and flicker in the lights coming from the sky above the waters as the three of them swirled and poked at the unfortunate kahikinan.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:03 am
World Event ミ Swept Away
Partner ミ Malea
Posts ミ 7
Points ミ 5
The ongoing downpour of rain over the area has made things harder for the people of Kahikina. The influx of water has made sure that the underwater currents have sped up in spots and the elders of both areas have been warning the others to be careful when out; you wouldn’t want to get caught up in these dangerous water spirals! But as rotten luck would have it, something of yours has dropped into the current! It could be something precious or useful to you, but you know you should go get it back. What do you do? How do you get the item back? Is it damaged now, or stuck somewhere hard to get? Does it take teamwork, or does your friend just get in the way?
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:04 am
Solo ミ Rumor Has It
Words ミ 1,202
Points ミ 4
Balhira was antsy from all the rain, and down right frustrated. Normally, a little drizzle was nothing to worry about. Her fire would keep strong, even with the dousing rains, and she could work throughout with out little alterations to her practice. But the last few months had been drenching, so much that she felt soaked to the bone (which was something considering she lived underwater)! It was endless torrents of strong wind, biting rain, and it left a heavy cloud of humidity that seemed to weigh down on the world. It also made it so she couldn't practice her craft, at all, meaning all the new items she purchased from the market was sitting in a corner wrapped tight so it would (hopefully) stay dry.
For a normally stoic woman, she was beginning to grow quite frustrated.
How was she suppose to become a skilled glass maker if she couldn't even burn the grasses? Everything was damp, dreary, and she had no way to distract herself from the weather by throwing herself in her job. She almost felt as if she wasted her time traveling into the larger cities for supplies, when she could have been working up until this storm. Yet, no one ever knew the storm was even coming, and no one could imagine it would be this long or this strong. Everything thought it was a summer storm, and now, they were slowly inching into the fall.
However, there was one thing that was spreading faster than the rains from the storm, and that was the rumors.
There were rumors that the great river in Pale'iko was beginning to swell, consuming more land than anyone could remember. It pushed to the treeline, a once-believed barrier showcasing the size of the river in the past. Rumors had it that this could only mean that the once dried up path to the saltwater was finally available to traverse after hundreds of years. No one could imagine what it meant, no one even remembered what life was like in the ages before the drought, and everyone was abuzz with excitement. Even the normally stoic Menehune were giddy with gossip, but Balhira assumed that might partially be because they can't really work with all of the rains.
"Hey Balhira, did you hear?" She remembered Henehona shout out one day, wading over from one of the buildings near Balhira's home as the rains were dying down to their normal intensity. The Menehune was the town gossip, acting like a matron with her need to always be in the know and the first one to tell everyone what was going on. She was treated like a bit of a pox, but inside every Menehune appreciated in some way her need to share all of the major happenings, even if she was a bit eccentric. There wasn't even a need to respond, as long as you looked at Henehona, she would continue on speaking until someone either cut her off or floated away while she was distracted.
"They say that the river in Pale'iko had flooded, so much so that they are sending a traveling party to see if there is anything out there! Can you believe it, they might even find those saltwaters that our granparents would talk about!"
Ah yes, the saltwater people. Balhira had never met them, nor had her parents, or even her great grandparents. Her family would speak of it over long holidays, but nothing much beyond the idea that a race once existed beyond the river, where the water grew thick and caused your eyes to burn. It was described like an inhospital land based on the stories from her grand parents, and that was before they spoke on how uncultured the salt races were.
It was as if those races were just floating about in the thick water, wasting away in the sun and not accomplishing anything. Sure, they would travel up the river and trade, but the Menehune had little interaction with them based on the stories, and when they did it was so unimpressive that Balhira was told again and again to simply forget they even existed, if they lived, because they are so detached from the ways of the marsh.
It was harsh, but coming from a family focused on accomplishing things for the greater good, she could understand the desire to resist outside influences. So she was quick to brush off Henehona and tell her to spread the word to others, so she could focus on trying to clean up her home and prepare for the work she missed thanks to the months of storms.
Over the next few weeks, as word continued to spread and a search party traveled south (including a few Menehune ambassadors), Balhira played with the idea in her head. What would it be like if they found the saltwater kind on their journey? Would they have survived and thrived, maybe even learned something new, or would they have fallen behind, becoming more savage with the ways of the wild open waters. Balhira didn't have much to go on, nor did she really even understand what it meant to be in the large lake that was called the sea, but she imagined them to be wild, much like the creatures of the lands. It was a big risk, and she hoped not only that the party leaving would come back safe, but that they would come back focused on their home, and not the temptation of something new.
Because, at the end of the day, Menehune needed to focus on themselves. They survived this long without the river race, why would they need to worry about the sea? Of course, getting information was valuable, it was important after all to assess the tools that might be available in such a world. Even she was curious to see if she could find something, anything, new and valuable to burn and create glass out of. But to go out of her way to travel so far away from her home, where her routine and livelihood was, well she just didn't get it.
She'd leave those concerns to people like Henehona, the wide eyed individuals who wanted to expand their horizons and find new things. It would be a tough lesson for them, as even she had been curious once upon a time, but it would help them grow too and see value in their family. Balhira was old enough now to know that family, community, it always came first. She was sure those in the salt waters were much the same. Hopefully not too much so that, if they were indeed found, the wouldn't become aggressive toward the travelers. Yes, she was curious, but hesitant about their future as the world grew. She liked her home, she liked her processes, she liked her people. Deep down, she was afraid, afraid of a truth that this was a bigger change than simply new neighbors. That this might change everything.
And she wasn't sure exactly where she would fit if everything changed, so she buried those feelings and turned toward her home, ready to get back into her task and her place in life. It was, after all, where she belonged.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:05 am
Class Quest ミ Venturing Into The World
Words ミ 546
Summary ミ Balhira has always kept to herself, deep in the Menehune swamps. The quiet of the swamps hid a reality - that the world was changing and if she wanted to succeed she'd need to change with it. It was time for Balhira to make a choice about the world.
In a blink of an eye, it seemed as if years had passed. It had been a long time since Balhira began to hear the rumors, first of people who lived in the salty waters of the sea, then those that lived so deep in the sea that they had begun to glow to create their own light. After that, it was land walkers, creatures with crystals and floppy horns that came from beyond the ocean. That was the scariest news to Balhira, a sheltered girl who wanted nothing more than to settle into the peace of the Menehune ways.
Unfortunately, the world was growing too fast for the Menehune to not be influenced in some way. Sure, they kept to themselves, kept the rules and practices without any concern with how the world was growing around them. But there were a few who preferred to explore outside of the world. They wanted to see the landwalkers, to experience the magic and weapons that they brought with them.
Balhira was skeptical and judgmental almost of those who decided to leave. Sure, she was open to the strangers who would often visit their shores, but when others asked if she wanted to travel and see the world, she refused. It didn't make sense, she had a job to perfect and a culture that made it uncomfortable to deal with.
Then, the earthlings began to settle in near their home. Balhira was resistant once more, bitter to an extent that they would come and try to change their ways. While others, more interested in things, moved closer, the girl was content to keep far away and deep in the murky depths of her home.
Eventually, they began to show interest in the glass crafts of the area, and other crafters encouraged her to sell her wares. Balhira was at a loss, the Ko’kapu was clear in how she needed to act - to sell for a means to live and not to sell for lavish spending. The Earthlings were interested in buying and not trading, which meant Balhira would gain access and be tempted to break away from the modest ways she grew up on.
It took many moons of toiling over her works before she finally decided on how to act. She knew it was not meant for her to travel the world, but the times of exclusion were behind them. Many Menehune acted freely between themselves and the outsiders, and they weren't punished as she was raised to fear. Was it because they used that as a way to discourage younglings from straying too far? Balhira didn't know, but it didn't mean she'd just fall into the future of a world explorer.
No, she couldn't quite encourage herself to stray from home. Instead, she opened herself up to the idea of trade with others. Her art was her pride, and if others outside of the Menehune enjoyed it, why was that a problem? Plus, if she had excess, she could always simply give it back to those who were in need.
Yes, that was much more comfortable of a thought. She'd sell, but give back to her community and ensure that they lived safe. Hopefully her gods would still honor her for such a selfless act.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 4:45 pm
Congratulations!!Congrats to Balhira for becoming a Rogue! 
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 4:46 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:36 am
World Event ミ Beasts
Words ミ 756
Points ミ 5
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:36 am
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:37 am
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 6:41 am
Roleplay ミ New Faces
Partner ミ Koa
Posts ミ ?
Points ミ ?
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