LunarTotems/Hummingbird
Introduction
Targaz swore as he slapped another one of the stinging flies away from his face. He hated the Southeastern jungle more than any place in Creation. He hated the heat, he hated the insects, and he hated the smell. He also hated the milky-skinned bitch from house Cynis who’d sent him here, deep into the sweltering heart of this stinking place, to gather slaves for her wedding feast. There was one thing that Targaz loved, however, and that was money. The scion was willing to pay handsomely for two-dozen healthy slaves taken from one of the tribes that made their home here. Something about the color of their hair, she’d said. She gave him a map, enough money to buy supplies, and a patronizing wave of her unblemished hand as she sent him on his way.
Normally, Targaz wouldn’t even have taken pause before refusing. The journey was guaranteed to be a grueling and dangerous affair, and he generally wanted nothing to do with the Dynasts, preferring to work for the Guild or for independent buyers. He had named a price so outrageous that he was sure she would have him thrown from her quarters, but she simply nodded her head as if it were no small sum. He shook his head as he reeled at the eccentricities of the Dynasts, but as long as he got paid he didn’t care if they burned the Imperial Manse to the ground. After this job was over, he wouldn’t need to work again for quite some time.
He and his men had been marching for over a week now, and the jungle stretched before them endlessly on all sides. Two days previous, they’d encountered a tribesman gathering plants near a waterfall. Judging by his hair, which shone like gemstones, he was from the tribe the Dynast had talked about. They’d tried to capture him, hoping that he might show them a quicker path to take, but he ducked into the trees and disappeared from sight before they could catch him. Since then, Targaz had felt uneasy, as if he was being watched. The men felt it too, and they jumped at the slightest sound or hint of movement.
Suddenly, from all around them came a noise like the pounding of drums. Three of Targaz’s men fell dead, arrows buried in their throats. The others shouted as they drew their weapons and circled together. Arrows were coming from all directions, first from the flanks, then from the rear, then from the front. They were surrounded. Targaz strained to see the archers concealed by the jungle, but all he saw was the occasional glint of color caught in the daylight that filtered through the tangle of leaves and vines.
Around him, his men were panicking as more and more arrows found their mark. Several of them broke and began to run back the way they had come, but a lightning-quick volley struck each one down before they had gone twenty paces. As their choking screams faded away, an oppressive silence fell across the jungle once more. No more drums beating in the distance, no more arrows seeking flesh. Targaz didn’t stop to think about why he had been spared, nor would he have cared in any case. He was alive and he intended to stay that way, money be damned. The bitch could go hang herself.
As Targaz turned around to leave, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sensation of sharpened stone pressing into his throat. There stood a man, or perhaps a spirit given human form, with a great silver bow pulled taut, an obsidian-capped arrow ready to be loosed. He was at least a foot shorter than Targaz and covered in swirling tattoos of silver and crimson. His hair sparkled with more colors than Targaz could count, and he watched as it seemed to shimmer and dance in the light, an endless hypnotic rainbow.
From all around, Targaz could see others step into the clearing, all with the same brilliantly colored hair. Men, women, even children gathered around the clearing, but no one save the man in front of him carried a bow. His men had been ambushed, slaughtered, by one man. He felt faint as the man with the bow began to speak in a deep voice. “This is my home. You have come here uninvited, and you would take my brothers and sisters away as slaves. For this, I cannot forgive you. Your blood shall be spilt and your spirit shall carry my message back to your masters, so that they may listen and know the truth in their hearts.”
"This is my home. And these are my people."
As the bowstring snapped forward with a booming sound, Targaz’s last thought was of how much he hated the jungle...
Kulibari, He Who Pierces the Skulls of His Enemies and Spills Their Brains upon the Earth
Symbology : Fertility, rebirth, beauty, tenacity
A Hopi tale tells of a young boy and girl left alone during a time of famine while their parents searched for food. The boy crafted a toy hummingbird, and the girl tossed it into the sky, where it came to life. Every day it brought them an ear of corn, and it eventually traveled to the center of the earth to plead with the god of fertility. The lands grew green once more, and the parents returned to their children. From the Aztec legend of Huitzilopochtli, who was reborn as a hummingbird to inspire his followers in battle, to the Apache story of Wind Dancer and Bright Rain, rebirth is a recurring theme in hummingbird myths..
Charms :
Finding the Spirit’s Shape: Hummingbird
Humble Mouse Shape
Eagle Eye Advantage
Nature’s Harmony Advantage
Knowing the Arrow’s Path
Skillful Ricochet Attack
Bowing Reed Technique
Stealthy Fox Method
Hummingbird Form : Strength 1, Stamina 1, reduced soak (1B/0L), reduced damage (may be fully soaked), difficult to hit (+2 bonus to Dodge attempts), can fly in all directions as well as hover in place.
Tell : Unnaturally iridescent hair/feathers.
When most people think of hummingbirds, they probably aren’t too likely to think of ferocious warriors. This is because they’ve never seen two hummingbirds fight over who gets the next turn at the birdfeeder. Hummingbirds are territorial, and can get downright vicious fighting for space, food, or the sheer hell of it. The fact that an Aztec god of battle has the hummingbird as his symbol is a welcome bonus.
Kulibari is a Full Moon focussing on ranged attacks. Using Skillful Ricochet Attack, he can ambush an entire army by himself, sowing confusion and panic as he makes attacks from otherwise-impossible angles. Rather than tackling opponents head-on, Kulibari prefers to strike from darkness, and a combination of Stealthy Fox Method and well-placed arrow fire allow him to do this very well.
With the rebirth concept strongly engrained in hummingbird legends, it’s also easy to envision a No Moon sorcerer with spells such as Summoning of the Harvest, Water from Stone, and Food from the Aerial Table. Another concept is the Changing Moon who takes the rebirth concept to its extreme, slaying the wicked and consuming their Heart’s Blood, then taking their shape to perform acts of righteousness and honor.
