Chamu
"Can I leave now?"After the Serayin Yashelin, came the Idin. Chamu was the first Idin of the Ida's creation. The Serayin loved Chamu and strove to teach them everything they knew. Chamu loved them, but they loved the wilderness more. They took what they learned from the Serayin and applied it to their own survival, out there alone. Compelled to wander, sometimes for months at a time, Chamu explored the Kotuye Continent from top to bottom long before it became the well-worn home the Yashelin know today. Today, Chamu could disappear for months, even years, without significant changes in their loved ones. They would be concerned for Chamu's well-being, sure, and there is always gossip to exchange, but so slowly does Aravun Yashelin society move, today. Before the advent of time, however, Yashelin civilization was in its infancy. The Ida created new Idin with an urgent alacrity. New inventions were thought up every day. New faces meant more mouths to feed. More homes to build. On one particularly alarming occasion, Chamu came home after a year out in the wilderness and their village was in ruins. Chamu had been gone for three months, and in that time, their friends, family, and a dizzying number of strangers had moved Heshi Ariko up the top of the mountain without them. Young, alone, and afraid, Chamu panicked and called upon the Ida for assistance. It led them home, Chamu still teary eyed and existentially afraid for the first time in their life. They swore off wandering alone from that point forward, at least for so long and so far from home, but the transition was easier said than done. Heyir and Seri, their stalwart friends, helped Chamu sculpt a life for themself within Aravun Yashelin society. One that balanced their need for freedom with the need for community. Despite their best efforts and whining to the contrary, Chamu also became one of the founders of the Ezekoru, a position of great respect and of inescapable responsibility.
"I don't want to," Chamu hissed. "Ezeki, you can't make me." Ezeki pet their feathers comfortingly. "Would it really be so bad?" "Yes. I hate large gatherings!" "But think of the good you could do!" Ezeki urged. "For us. For our land's future. Chamu, please, join us just this once?" "... Fine..."Chamu's experience, knowledge, and ideas informed and inspired foundational aspects of Aravun Yashelin society. The Chamatoye Public Railway, for example, is deservedly named in their honor. Most of the wilderness trails and the special, hidden gems around Heshi Ariko were first created, maintained, and protected by Chamu themself and, later, their small but mighty team of naturalists and recreationists. Today, Chamu is the Lead Naturalist of the Aravun Yashelin. They belong to the Hesha Flock, but as they always say, "nature belongs to no one and everyone."
"Somebody should, but goddamnit, why does it always have to be me? Why, Ida, why?!" The Ida appears behind Chamu where there had once been empty space, at that moment a being of pure mischief. It calmly places a hand on their shoulder, "Perhaps because you always volunteer before anyone else?" Chamu does the only reasonable thing in this situation: shrieks.
Notes for future article expansion
Most of my favorite prose involves Chamu. If I need shenanigans, Chamu is almost always my default. Chamu is the type of person who desperately loves people, but is also fatally introverted. They are driven to wander, ala their name. They are also driven to nurture, and nature doesn't just mean "the wilderness." Although they prefer to spend their time tending to the natural world, they also have a deep love of people, nurturing their passions while ideally connecting them with the natural world.Idin
Maikir (Ayiru-Kabi)
Pio (Reincarnation)
Ezekoru member
Children
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