Ikselam/KokoTheOctopus

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Backstory

Koko looked covetously at the necklace. The glossy cowrie shells' colors sparkled in the sun. "Why does only Kura get a pretty necklace? You should make one for me, too."

"When you get married," replied her mother, "I will make you a wedding present, too. You are all grown up now; all you need to do is pick a boy."

Koko grimaced. "All the boys are ugly or stupid." She paused, thoughtful. "Some of them are both."

Her mother smiled. "What about Gau? I see you two together all the time, getting into trouble."

Koko was aghast. "How can you say such things!? That would be like marrying my brother!"

Her mother just smiled some more. "Maybe if you ask him, he would make a necklace for you."

Koko threw up her hands and stalked toward the beach in a huff.

After the ground stopped shaking, everyone was milling around in confusion. Were the gods angry? If so, why had one not appeared with demands? Shaman Pui came out of his lodge and shook his totem-stick, shouting for attention.

"The spirits of the sea are gathering to make war on the spirits of land," he announced. "Everyone must immediately go inland, to the sacred hill. If we stay close to the stone totem there, the gods of the island will be able to protect us."

There were various exclamations of alarm and disbelief at this.

"The ground is not shaking anymore," Koko scoffed to Gau, who was standing next to her. "Nothing has happened. Why should we worry? Ow!" She rubbed her head, smarting from the cuff her great-uncle Mou'ou had just delivered with his walking stick.

"Listen to the shaman!" said the old man. "When I was a young man, the gods fought a battle just like this one. Some of my friends refused to listen to the shaman -- they were eaten up by water elementals, along with every hut in the village!" Having delivered his warning, he hurried off after the rest of the tribe, who were hastily following Shaman Pui and his apprentices into the forest.

"Hurry up, Koko," said Gau. He looked worried; Koko wondered if maybe he did not fall into the "stupid" category after all. "Shaman Pui is very wise. Why should we question him?"

Koko grumbled under her breath, but followed him anyway. When they were almost to the path, she remembered something.

"Go on ahead, Gau. I will catch up to you."

"Don't do anything stupid, Koko!" he called after her, but didn't follow, which made her curse him under her breath.

She found the necklace right where she had seen her mother leave it, in the big wicker box in their hut. She grabbed it and ran out the door.

Water swept in from the ocean and knocked her over. She tumbled head-over-heels; the water pulled her under and dashed her against sand and rocks, but she held her breath. For a moment, her head broke the surface, and she gasped a breath before the sea sucked her back down. She struggled against the wave's grasp, but the sea was so much stronger than a gangly island girl.

The calm sea stretched out into the darkness. Moonlight shimmered on it like fish scales. A shadow punctuated the silvery reflections: a palm tree. To it clung a smaller silhouette: Koko, sunburnt and weak. Clutched in her left hand, a necklace of shiny cowries glistened.

A seagull flew down out of the night and landed on the tree trunk, just out of Koko's reach. She looked at it wearily. Her right hand tightened around the handle of her stone knife.

"Come here, little bird," she said. Her voice was hoarse and thick.

"I don't think so," said the bird. "You'd just hit me with your flint knife and eat me."

Koko didn't have an immediate response for this. "I'm out of coconuts," was what she finally managed.

The seagull cocked its head, keeping one eye on the young woman while inspecting the palm's tattered crown with the other. "Coconuts, eh? That's resourceful."

Koko shrugged as best she could while clinging to the floating trunk. "They are hard as hell to pry open with just a knife."

"But still," said the bird, "seven days with nothing to eat but coconuts. That's pretty impressive."

"Eight," Koko corrected it.

"My mistake," it acceded. "What's your name, kid?"

"Koko."

"Ha, your name's Koko, and you're clinging to a coco-nut palm. That's pretty good!"

Koko glared at the bird with what little heat she could muster. Below the water, a fish bit her leg. She yelped and kicked; it swam away.

"Sorry; people tell me I like puns too much." The bird did not actually sound contrite at all. "So, anways, I've been watching you for a while, Koko."

At about this point, Koko noticed that the seagull was actually a young woman. Her hair was like silver fire; her dark skin was patterned with unfamiliar tattoos. "You're a god, aren't you?" It seemed like a reasonable enough question to ask.

"Yeah," said the woman.

"Okay," said Koko. "So now what?" She felt another fish start nibbling on her toes; she kicked weakly. The fish didn't go away.

"You're obviously not going to live through the night," said the goddess.

"Oh?" Koko's eyes narrowed angrily. "I have been doing just fine so far, I think."

"No, seriously. You'll fall asleep and the fish will eat you."

"Look," snapped Koko, "do you have a point, or are you only here to taunt?"

The goddess leaned over suddenly, bringing her nose to within an inch of Koko's. The palm tree rocked in the water. "My point," she said, "is that there is an island near here. It is in the direction of the light."

Koko realized that she had been mistaken when she thought the talking seagull was actually a woman. It had been the moon all along, hanging low in the sky, its reflection a river of quicksilver across the water.

She made sure her knife's cord was still tied to her wrist, and wrapped the necklace tighter around her other hand. Gathering the last of her strength, she pushed off from the palm tree and swam toward the moon.

http://www.lensmen.net/blog/ikselam/Images/octo.jpg

Koko the Tide-Thief

Caste: Changing Moon
Concept: Reckless ne'er-do-well
Nature: Thrillseeker
Totem: Octopus Experience: 16+4

Attributes

Strength: 3
Dexterity: 5
Stamina: 4

Charisma: 3
Manipulation: 3
Appearance: 3

Perception: 3
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 4

Abilities

Athletics 3 (Swimming +2)
Brawl 4 (Grappling +2)
Dodge 4
Stealth 3 (Shaking Pursuit +2)
Survival 4

Awareness 2
Endurance 2
Larceny 2
Linguistics 2(Seatongue, Flametongue, 3 Western tribal languages)
Medicine 1
Occult 1

Charms

Deadly Beastman Transformation x3 (reflexive, instant, 5m)
- Str+2 Dex+4 Sta+1
- Arm Array, Wound-Knitting Power
Humble Mouse Shape (perm)
Hide of the Cunning Hunter (simple, 1 day, 1m)

Body Weapon Technique (supplemental, instant, 1m)
Sinuous Striking Grace (reflexive, instant, 1m per init up to Dex)
Snake-Body Technique (reflexive, instant, 5m)

Ox-Body Technique (-2x4)

Advantages

Compassion: 2
Conviction: 2
Temperance: 2
Valor: 3

Willpower: 6 Essence: 3
Essence Pool: 15/31(36)

Equipment

Moonsilver bracers and razor claws, moist blue hearthstone, cowrie-shell necklace, serviceable yet somewhat flashy clothes.

Merits and Flaws

Barbarian -1 (from an isolated island tribe)
Unusual Appearance -1 (from the West; in the South)
Wanted -2 (on the bad side of the Guild)
Known Anathema -1 (has trouble comprehending meaning of "low profile")

Double-Jointed +2 (flexible to the point of absurdity; +2 dice to applicable rolls, inc. grappling)

Combat

Base init: 9
Dodge: 12 Health: -0, -1x2, -2x6, -4, Incap

Punch

Spd 9 Acc 10 Dmg 3B Def 11 Rate 5

Kick

Spd 6 Acc 10 Dmg 6B Def 6 Rate 3

Grab

Spd 3 Acc 11 Dmg 3B Def 11 Rate 1

Razor Claws

Spd 9 Acc 12 Dmg 8L Def 10 Rate 6

Backgrounds

Artifact 3

Moonsilver Shield Bracers: +1 diff melee, +2 ranged. Hearthstone setting. Commit 3.
Moonsilver Razor Claws: Speed +0 Accuracy +3 Damage +5L Defense +1 Rate 6. Commit 2.

Manse 2

A manse hidden underneath a small oasis. The only entrance is through an underwater tunnel, hidden in the oasis itself. The manse consists of a collection of small caves, all of them featuring pools or streams of luminous water; all of the pools are connected, by a network of water-filled tunnels which account for much more of the Manse' architecture than the relatively small air-filled section. The hearthstone forms in a fairly inconvenient location, in a chamber at the nexus of the tunnels. The chamber is filled with air, and is not that difficult to swim to if you know where it is; however, the route is not particularly direct, and someone who doesn't know where they are going will have trouble getting there before they run out of air.

Shapes (Heart's Blood 4)

True Forms

Smallish, bright purple octopus with silver spots.
Lithe Western woman with purple octopus tentacles for hair.
Bigass multi-limbed octopus-monster.

Other Forms

Seagull whose purple legs have suckers along the back.
Albatross whose purple legs have suckers along the back.
Barracuda with purple, suspiciously tentacular stripes.
Coconut Crab, purple with tentacles instead of antennae.
Sea Snake with a purple tail, which has suckers on its underside.
Tortoise with purple and silver markings on her shell.
Sea Urchin with a few tentacles unobtrusively mixed in with its bright purple spines.
Lobster, purplish with tentacles instead of antennae.
Tree Frog, bright purple with silver spots.
Monkey with a purplish tentacle for a tail.
Jaguar with purple-and-silver spots.
Flounder with purple and silver spots.
Gecko whose purple tail has suckers on its underside.
Magpie whose purple legs have suckers along the back.
Vulture with a ruff of purplish tentacles.
Spitting Cobra with purple and silver spectacle markings on her hood.
Cat with thin purple tentacles instead of whiskers.
Electric Eel, bright purple with suckers on the bottom of her tail.
Carp with purple tentacles instead of whiskers.
Crocodile whose tail is actually a thick, purplish tentacle.
Lioness with purple tentacles instead of whiskers.
Zebra with purple stripes, suspiciously reminiscent of tentacles.
Mouse with a purple tentacle for her tail.
Jackal with purple feet, and suckers on her hind heels.
Mongoose with purple tentacles instead of whiskers.

xp log

12 Ox-Body (-2x4) 2 Endurance 2 2 Linguistics 2 - 16

Friends

Comments

Backstory is cute and well-written; also, I like her new title. --dissolvegirl

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