Haftera Djuur

Vastlanders are known to be unadventurous, uncomfortable out on the open ocean, uninterested in leaving the stability of home. These traits were fixed more and more firmly over the first half of the Oceanic Era when those with the adventurous spirit sailed away from the Long Coast without looking back. The final wave of exploration dwindled more than six thousand years ago, leaving a population that to this day is content to stay where they are.

And then there is Haftera.

Thanks to a chance encounter with an oceandweller, Haftera Djuur is one of the few Vastlanders to leave the Long Coast, and perhaps the only one to do so voluntarily. Since then he has embarked on a career of discovery that has expanded the known boundaries of the ocean beyond several previously unknown islands to the south.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born in the city of Chawso on the delta of the Swiftwater River, Haftera spent the first twenty-five years of his life as any other Valdian, learning a generational trade (his family has been in the hospitality business for upward of a century) and showing not the slightest hint of curiosity about the occasional foreigners who briefly visited. That changed the day one of them asked his help in calibrating a device that changed words from one language into another. Haftera spoke a few basic phrases into it, repeated the foreign words that came out, and was rewarded by hearing it answer with the phrases he had given it in the first place. He liked the strange sounds and cadence, and often afterward said them to himself just for the pleasure of it. Thereafter, whenever another group of oceandwellers entered the inn, Haftera would greet them with his rehearsed Oceantongue, and usually prevail on them to teach him more.

Three years later the linguist with the dialector came through again, and spent the day chatting with Haftera in Oceantongue. Impressed with his memory and ear for intonation, she suggested that Haftera would be a good candidate as a language student, and offered to sponsor him to Zaiyev.  Haftera surprised them both by accepting.

Education

Haftera studied linguistics for six years, and chose vocal performance as his art.  He completed his course of education just in time, some might say, since he graduated only two years before Zaiyev's destruction.

Employment

Haftera spent his first three years as a professional linguist not on the Vastland, but working on Galtern in reconstructing the ancestral human language.  After the eruption of Zaiyev, he had to interrupt his work to help rebuild the lost dialector data banks.  That project introduced him to the szageki language, giving him the idea that the sounds made by the chok might also be a complete language.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Haftera's most remarkable success is in deciphering the percussive language of the chok, and by that means discovering that their outer shell is a distinct species living in symbiosis with the chok.  Through talking with them he has also learned of other species the chok trade with, subsequently leading him to the Great Southern Island and his current work on communicating with the eehur who live there.

Known Languages

Besides his native Valdian, he is most proficient in Zaiyevi Oceantongue and uses it as his everyday speech. His specialty is in the nonhuman languages of the Southern Gap: Katadei Digenei, Choktap, and Jabber.