Home of the World-Dawn, at the furthest eastern edge of the world. Where the ancestral totems watch the first light rise over Prismaria's final horizon.
Nestled between the deep waters of the
Rototeia caldera and the knife-edged basalt ridge encircling the island, the
Teiaori islanders of
Motuteia live and build their homes in the shadow of
Miroteia, the mile high obsidian spindle. The village is clustered on the western shore of the Rototeia caldera close to a series of narrow straits and shallow inlets that connect the Rototeia caldera to the
Timerris Ocean.
Architecture
The buildings of Teikainga are built in traditional Teiaori style, constructed from timber from trees native to the island, and rest upon raised foundations of basalt cobblestones. Walls are mostly made of wattle screens and timber slats. Roofs have a high peak to them to withstand the island's high rainfall, and are thatched with thick layers of foliage from the island's native tree ferns and palms.
Buildings almost exclusively have a single story. Most buildings have a central hall that is taller than the rest of the structure. It houses a fire pit sunk into the basalt foundations, and raised openings in the thatch to vent smoke from the fire. Additional rooms are built off the sides of the central hall, typically bedrooms and storerooms. Some structures have additional storage space in the form of a loft above an existing room. These lofts tend to be cramped with little space beneath the thatched roof.
Only a handful of buildings possess a second story. One is the King's Grand-House, which has an exceptionally tall central hall with both internal and external balconies. The others are the Totem-Houses, specially built "houses" for the sacred totems of the Teiaori culture.
Pillars, columns, and the wooden trimming around the edges of roofs and doorways are intricately carved and painted. Carvings of historical and mythological figures are common, as are carvings of various plant and fish species. Paints are comprised of natural pigments, in particular ochre, umber, and ash. Inlaying small beads into carvings is commonplace, typically with beads of green olivine that has been eroded from the island's basalt columns.
Structures are built without any help from metal nails, screws, or fixings. Instead, timbers are held together by rope lashings, and by intricately carved wooden joins. The basaltic igneous rocks of Mototeia lack any viable metal ores, and all knowledge of metal working has long since faded from memory.
Rototeia Waterfront
The Teiaoi people rely heavily on the sea and the fish that surround the island. The caldera waterfront is lined with short piers and low sheds where outriggers and canoes are built and kept. Fish are strung up on strings and ropes to dry in the hot sun, or in small smoke shacks during the wet season.
A number of small totems stand on the water's edge, facing the obsidian spindle as if watching over the caldera.
Agriculture
A village cannot rely on fish and crabs alone, and the villagers of Teiakainga are well aware of this fact. Vegetables and fruits are a vital part of their diet, and households maintain small beds of garden vegetables, both of root and leafy varieties.
Most households enjoy a small but steady supply of eggs and occasionally fresh meat in the form of keeping several chickens, a small breed with shaggy plumage unique to the island. Many households also keep one or two goats fenced off from their vegetable beds, a likewise small breed that gives a decent supply of fresh milk and horn for making both tools and decoration.
On the other side of the basalt ridge lies more dedicated farmland. The main grain crop is a short stalked, small grained, hardy variety of millet primarily used for animal feed. The millet is also fermented into a weakly alcoholic drink, eaten as porridge, or ground into a coarse flour and baked into a form of hardtack. The other main crop is a tuberous vegetable akin to a yam or a sweet potato.
The villagers supplement their diet with food foraged from the surrounding rainforests, mostly fruits, small root vegetables, and coconuts washed up on the beaches.
Totem of the World-Dawn
Atop the knife-edged ridge of polygonal basalt columns immediately to the west of the village stands a sacred wooden totem. On each equinox,
Lux's light shines through Miroteia, the mile tall obsidian glass spindle. At the exact moment of dawn, Lux's light shines through the spindle such that it focuses upon the totem. The concentrated sunlight ignites the totem, and is seen as an omen of good luck. Should the totem fail to catch fire, if it was a cloudy day for example, it is seen as an ill omen. Totems are replaced between each equinox, the burnt ones because they've already been burnt, and the un-burnt ones because they are obviously bad luck.
Village of Ghosts
To the north of the village is a cluster of burnt structures and charred foundations, with a single pristine building in the middle. This is an old part of the village that was struck by disaster some time in the past. In Teiaori mythology, this is the Village of Ghosts, and is where funerary rites are held. The standing building is carefully maintained out of tradition and superstition, and is the final home of the small totems that memorialize members of the Teiaori who are deceased or are lost at sea.
Relics of a World Past
"H--ZS -ea---r"— Inscription on the ceremonial brass bell
Numerous relics of the ancient past can be found scattered around the village, hints of a culture and people very different to the modern Teiaori.
In the center of the settlement, opposite the King's Grand-House, sits a great brass bell under a thatched roofed shelter. An old ship's bell, the writing inscribed has long since faded into illegibility, yet only the thinnest patina of age coats its metallic surface. Only a few letters are still legible enough to give hints to its origin: "H--ZS -ea---r". It is rung only during important ceremonies such as the King's coronation.
Near the ridge of basalt columns stands a windmill. Once used to generate electrical power for the initial inhabitants, the dynamo had burnt out a long time ago, and the copper cables have corroded away into nothingness. It still exists as a monument of tradition, its wooden frame carved and painted in the same manner as on the houses.
Many Totem-Houses hold large slabs of rust and corrosion nearby to the totems they hold. Although their former use cannot be determined by looking at it, these were in fact electric machine workbenches used by the initial inhabitants, taken off of the wreck of their ship. Lathes, pillar drills, jigsaws, and more, all fell out of use when the power failed, and have crumbled away to rust.
Waikura Paakete
On the rough and rocky outer coast of Motuteia island sits an ancient pile of rusted steel and crumbling timbers. Known as the
Waikura Paakete, it is a sacred site for the Teiaori people. This is the wreck of the ship that originally bought the Teiaori people to the island.
Nice, and very evocative of pacific islander cultures too. It'd be really cool to call more attention to that stuff about the totem and village of ghosts in your opening as they feel really unique and mysterious elements.
Check out Shadowfire and my Adventure April challenge
Thank you!