Kavarnaq (ˈka.vaɾ.naq)
"The world is changing. If we wish to chart our own course, we must do it together."
Kavarnaq is one of the elders of the Aklaruk, a powerful tribe from the island of Kitlineq. She was instrumental in the formation of the Council at Sakeligaq, and has been among the Aklaruk's representatives ever since it was established. She is widely respected among the Kylitak tribes, although this was not always the case in the past.
Early Life
From a young age, Kavarnaq was possessed by a relentless wanderlust. As a child she would always be looking to the horizon, and would frequently start heading off into the distance if not restrained. Her parents trained their dogs to watch the young child and let them know when she had started to walk away. No amount of warnings or punishments seemed to impact Kavarnaq's need to travel, and she gained a reputation as an unreliable and flighty child.
When she reached her teen years, she set out for good. With only a few days of supplies she set off across Kitlineq, eventually arriving in the port of Tulitar on the island's west coast. She worked the docks as a porter for a season, and bought drinks for sailors who could teach her about shipboard life. Eventually, she found a ship willing to take her on as an apprentice sailor, and left the island of Kitlineq for the first time in her life.
A Sailor of the Great Ring
Over the next three decades, Kavarnaq never stopped moving. She explored the great cities of the Ring, and looked into many of its mysteries as well. By her own reckoning, she went entirely around the ring no less than fifteen times, counting one mad dash through the Gauzo Channel that took her across the ring in an afternoon. She watched the march of the Muhandasa around Bakunawa Lighthouse, and saw the Rí of Fennell dance the Rince na Oídhche. And she saw the armies massing for war in Vlast and Tagápulo. She saw the ambitions of Wamato to rule over everything in reach, and saw how Conomor the Cursed sought dominion over all Ynys. She stood outside the Burj Alhikma while the Malika of Saba gave a speech to the people, and heard secrets and danger in what the sorceress did not say. In her last voyage, she saw the Hleemeentreezee in person, and saw the look of madness and hatred in their eyes as her ship fled the terrible living Yhahaa that would consume them. She was a captain then, and called on the winds to drive her through the deadly Gauzo Channel, hoping that the legendary shortcut across the Ring would prove true. It did, and she brought her ship limping into port at Higashiyama. As she set foot on land, the wanderlust that had possessed her all her life suddenly evaporated, leaving only a desire to go home behind.
An Agent of the Gods
It was years before Kavarnaq fully understood what had happened. Only later would she learn that her need to travel and see the world had been enflamed by the Anirniit, who wished for an agent to go forth and see the state of the world. They selected Kavarnaq because she was brave and clever and would thrive in the wandering life, and instilled in her a wanderlust strong enough to ensure her journeys. They left no other mark on her, that she might pass unnoticed through the world and carry away only her experiences. And when she arrived on Gyeongseong, they let the desire lapse, so that she would come home and share her life with her people.
She did so, bringing her ship to Tulitar where she had set sail thirty years earlier, and then sold the vessel to the crew and left the sea behind. As she re-entered the domain of the Anirniit, they surrounded and supported her in finding the Aklaruk and her family. She had left as a child, and returned as a woman grown, but they knew her and welcomed her back. The Anirniit had foretold her coming, and a feast had been prepared, and as they sat and ate, she told her stories of the world beyond.
Later, she would describe how the storytelling brought everything together. In drawing all the threads of memory into a narrative for her tribe, she made the picture of the world that they needed to see. Over the next several weeks she would tell the stories over and over again, as they travelled across Kitlineq and met cousins and more distant relations. And as the stories came together, so did the purpose of her voyages.
The world was on the precipice of great change. Wars were coming, and great powers would clash all around. And the Kylitak were not ready. Each tribe stood apart, cooperating with each other but never coordinating on any large scale. They were peaceful and happy and prosperous, but that was not enough for what was to come. They needed to come together and become something more.
Building a Nation
Kavarnaq did not want to make a clone of the nations around the Great Ring. She was no Aoraki, to try and force a king upon her people. To do so would be to crush the life and people she wanted to preserve. They would find their own way.
She began to travel again, this time across Kitlineq and the nearby islands, speaking to every tribe of the Kylitak she could find, and every shaman of the Anirniit too. She brought her stories, and took away their advice, and over the next several years she birthed the idea of the Council at Sakeligaq. This would be a meeting place for all the tribes, where a council of all the Kylitak could be held. It would unite them in ways that had not been needed before, and let them prepare for the coming storm.
Not everyone agreed, of course. But enough came to the shores of Paninnaq to build the town and hold the first meeting, and more came in the years that came after. For thirty years the Council has met, and nearly all the tribes come to Sakeligaq to meet and discuss and plan. Kavarnaq has led the council meetings many times, but so have others and she no longer carries the dream alone. The Kylitak are preparing for the future. Kavarnaq hopes it will be enough.
Related Articles
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2024. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2023. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
Oh, what a magnificent saga her life would make! Wonderfully done, as usual :)