Phinnae/PhinnaeInDepth
Did you ever wonder how Phinnae defeated the Kraken?
Did you ever wonder what fu Phinnae used on those four pirates???
Did you ever wonder what feats Phinnae achieved to be named the Western Juggernaut????
Read on for more answers to these and other questions when we explore the inner workings of the awesome being that is .... PHINNAE!!!!
Delpninus "Phinnae" Hydra
Phinnae is the eldest of 5 children ( 2xbrothers, 2xsisters ). Her Father is an excellent fisherman and member of the Council of Elders. Her mother is a medicine Shameness. Both important members of the tribe on the island of Tolinya.
The tribe has an everyday philosophy of family and survival. They are very communal ( raising children, cooking, building ). Belief and worship of the Sun and Water Gods ( Serentus and Aquavarta ) shape their lives. Daily rituals for good and bountiful fishing, cultivation and safety for the community. Phinnae's days are filled with caring for her siblings, sparring with her brother's as they train to be warriors, cooking, farming and caring for the home. The Tolinyans are essentially a peaceful tribe. Over the past 30 years they have had mild disruptions from traders. Skirmishes over land, religion and trade routes with neighbouring islands. Mostly they have experienced bountiful and peaceful times where they have been able to perfect fishing and farming techniques and discover new medicinal treatments.
As a child Phinnae’s father would take her out onto the seas to fish. Showing her the vast expanses of the ocean and even allowing her to go trading. The trips became more and more infrequent as Phinnae’s siblings arrived and she was needed at home.
As Phinnae grew up her parents were often absent due to their commitments to the tribe. Leaving her to care for the younger children. This is common among tribe members as they are all considered family and would band together to help Phinnae. Phinnae loves her family and tribe and is committed to helping as required, but longs to explore the world. She delights in new discoveries. Whenever time permits she heads to the beach to explore the ocean or scale the nearby mountains. She often finds herself gazing at the sky, watching as the gulls float high above, soaring with apparent freedom. Her passion for the outside world is fuelled by stories from distant traders of bustling cities, mysterious strangers and large flying machines. At times she may sabotage her cooking ( ie. Too much spice or salt ), feign illness or manipulate others in attempts to get extra time exploring. She believes that the tribe would benefit from exploring beyond their borders, making friends and gaining knowledge.
In the year of the Ralnim*, Phinnae's world comes crashing down. Tolinya and its surrounding islands experience more frequent attacks by pirates. They kidnap people and ransack villages. Sometimes burning whole towns to the ground. They seem to be looking for something. None of the villagers can tell them what they needed to know. By Phinnae's 18th birthday the Tolinyan people had fared better than most. Repelling some of the small invasions, with their well trained warriors, hiding in deep caverns and superior knowledge of the terrain. But suffer defeat they did. The pirates, more heavily armed, with better weapons and training, and in greater numbers launched a brutal attack on Tolinya. Phinnae's village suffered greatly. They came in the night. Ripped them from their beds and lined them up in the centre of the village. Talking with foreign words and gesturing around.
The tribal Warriors were the first to die. Used as leverage against the elders. With no comprehension of what they needed, no information was forth coming. That night is a blur. She remembers the screams of pain and terror. The smell of burning homes. The smell of burning flesh. Phinnae managed to gather a small group of children together and escaped into the bush. They huddled in pain and fear under the leaves of the giant Kooliac plant. The sound of distant cries and rustling of scrub nearby meant the night was long and unrestful.
Somewhere towards the dawn of day, the exhausted group had drifted into fitful slumber. This would see their flight from the pirates come to an end. From out of the twilight came the resounding echo of an explosion ripping the group from their nightmares and plunging them into panic. The young of the group woke with screams, quickly smothered by the older children, but the damage could not be undone.
From the distance wild dogs barked and tore through the underbrush searching for their prey. Sent by their masters on a mission of search and destroy. The children scattered away from Phinnae and suddenly they were upon them.
Dogs barking.
Men shouting.
Children screaming.
Suddenly she's grabbed, as a hand shoots out of the bush. She rounds on her attacker, screaming, kicking, punching and biting. She dislodges him only to have another push her to the ground. His mistake.
She lifts both legs in the air and rams them into his groin. A strangled whine escapes his contorted mouth and Phinnae is off. Free, she runs towards the safety of the mountains. Suddenly something "whooshes" through the air and wraps around her body tightly. She tumbles forward and into the clutches of the brutal brigands. Struggle as she may, she is bound and taken back to the village.
There she sees the devastation. The smoldering ruins of her home. She sees the bodies of her friends and family, left where they fell. Death permeates the air. Her world is shattered, but in an instant her heart and spirit splinters to oblivion. There, on the pathway lies the battered body of her eldest brother. Blood, congealed at his mouth and ears after repeated blows. His head turned at an angle. His open empty eyes staring back. Phinnae’s stomach churns. She turns away. How could this have happened? Around her, men, women and children are shackled together, herded down to the foreshore and loaded into two large boats. Everyone is silent. Numb to the nights tragedies, fearing the day to come. As they round the headland her eyes widen as she sees the largest ships she has ever seen.
Two giant floating monsters made of wood, with silver barrels pointing out along the sides of their bellies. Giant white sails unfurling in the heavy wind. People milling about on top. Her boat breaks for the furthest one. There is a flurry of activity behind her and someone’s hand from behind rushes forward to guide her eyes up . High above the water on a rope, roughly being lifted over the balustrade and onto the decking. Her breathe catches in her chest as she fights the urge to call out. They board the ship and are sequestered beneath the decks.
Trapped beneath the decks of the Pirates ship, Phinnae lay huddled together with the remaining members of her tribe. They spoke in hushed tones, imparting the horrors that had befallen them. Trying in vain to glean the fate of their loved ones.
Phinnae learned her father was lost in the first wave of the attack, her mother they knew not of. Phinnae remembered her sister, high above on the other boat. It gave her hope. They had all lost someone and were now sailing to who knew where. Phinnae had time to observe. And time to remember.
To watch the way the pirates threw food at them.
Kicked them.
Beat them.
Treated them as if they were animals.
She remembered the way the dogs had ripped apart the children.
She remembered the execution of the warriors in the village.
And finally, she remembered the body of her brother. An image that had been burned into her eyes. Boring its way to her mind until it was the only thing that remained.
She gathered the captives together and began speaking of rebellion. Of taking back their freedom. All they needed to do was wait for nightfall and the nightly drunkeness to take hold. For what they lacked in skill, they made up for in shear force of willpower, fear, rage and numbers ( 4 to 1 ).
These guys will not destroy what is left of her family and friends. They act as a group and are able to force most of the pirates into submission. The remaining prirates are circling her, taunting her.
Phinnae finds strength in herself to conquer the remaining pirates with awesome gland fu mixed with doctor mengele fu and a touch of lingering death fu.
Once they have overtaken the ship they turn back towards their home.
A giant Kraken appears overboard and begins to wrap itself around the ship. Phinnae feels anger and loss at the apparent futility of their triumph from the pirates. She cries out, grabs a massive splintered piece of wood and leaps onto its tentacle. She scales the mighty Kraken as it wraps its tentacles around the boat. Wood groaning against the force. She leaps onto its head and begins stabbing it with the wood. In the head. In the mouth and eyes. She manages to hack off two tentacles and gouge out an eye.
Lots of thrashing, screaming and cursing. The Kraken finally lets go of the boat, just as it's disappearing beneath the surface. It bobs back to the surface, water emptying from its bowels.
Phinnae however, has not let go and holds onto the Kraken as it dives. The water becomes all encompassing. But as she struggles defiantly to hold on a tingle runs down her spine.
In a split second all movement slows and a silvery ethereal woman, dressed in fine, vibrant clothing, appears before her with an outstretched hand. From the finger tips emerges a shiny bubble which expands before her to encompass them both. Then they are smoothly, but sharply lifted through the water and explode from the surface. Shooting miles into the air and coming to rest peacefully in the clouds. It is Luna. She welcomes Phinnae to the family. Tells her she sees great potential in her and wishes her well with her new found powers. She gives her a lovely parting fruit basket and unceremoniously pops the bubble. Phinnae feels nothing for a moment but the wind at her toes, and then gravity presses its will to her and she plummets to the waves belows. She hits the water hard but notices after a few seconds that she's still alive and the Kraken is before her again. Slowly winding back up.
She suddenly feels an overwhelming surge of power which she directs at the Kraken. The Kraken is shot up and out of the water. The people on board the boat watch as the Kraken soars high overhead and crash lands in the water far away on the horizon.
The freed slaves who number in the hundreds, taken from all around the western seas must now travel home. They sail back the way they came and Phinnae's island is first.
At the docks Phinnae is met by a stranger who convinces her to stay with him for a time. Telling her that the she has a new destiny and has been given special powers. Powers that will help her find her sister, avenge her village and keep her family safe. If she learns to use them. A condor high in the sky squarks, circles the docks and flies onward. Phinnae longs to rest. To find her feet and bond with her home again.
The mysterious stranger initiates her to the world of the Lunars. She is awed by their power and overwhelmed by the sheer size of her new world view. This will take some time to get used to.
The first of many trials begins with a sudden shift in the landscape and a rush of wind as her mentor transports her to the base of a craggy mountain unknown to her. His only advice. Get to the top. Phinnae surveys the looming, ominous outcrop and without much thought promptly begins to scale the heap of rock. Despite sudden gusts of wind, unseasonal snowfall, hidden crevasses, hungry pushy mountain goats and sudden rockfalls, Phinnae is able to conquer the top. Ironically if she had surveyed her surroundings she would have found the supplies required to construct a rudimentary escalator. Even more ironic was the small sherpa with a supply laden yallak ( four legged pack animal ). He held a placard saying "See the Top, with Me-Tee Kop".
During their time together, Phinnae insists on helping the villagers rebuild Tolinya. Her mentor ( known only as HamishThePatient ) assists and teaches at the same time. Finding a strange, soothing and familiar quality in the manual labor.
Phinnae joins the silver pact and is covered with silver tattoos. Her guide teaches her new skills and helps her enhance her current ones. He sees she has a strong arm and a good eye and decides to show her the virtues of archery. He finds she is very adept at this skill and bequeaths to her a moonsilver powerbow. A gift she accepts with honor.
The bow is long and slender. Measuring a full 1.2m from tip to tip. Covered with silver symbols in ornate patterns, on a background of light purple and deep forest green. She can feel a hunt beginning. The air ripples around her and it is as if the bow is whispering to her .... The Unconquered Bow of Vengeance .... Phinnae's eyes are fantastic because her hearing is poor. Unable to hear what the wind is saying, she names her bow Boris.
As the weeks pass Phinnae becomes impatient and wishes to find her sister. She has become more powerful and confidant. When she discovers a tale of a medicine woman having healed a tribal elder on board one of the pirate ships she feels this might be her mother. She wishes to find and avenge her family.
She receives word from traders that the Pirates her village encountered were named the Marauders of the Deep. Who were renowned for plundering and pillaging where ever they went. However, there had been a change in their patterns of destruction. They had become more methodical. Making more land falls than usual. Like they were searching for something. Rumour had it that they were selling slaves in the larger cities, trading under different names in the more structured societies of Creation ... Cherak!
With her youth, enthusiasm and determination she completely forgets the Lore Hamish has taught her regarding "being obvious". It takes a while for Phinnae to realise that the stares from people she meets are more to do with the glowing, silver tattoos on her body and the massive, jewel encrusted moonsilver powerbow slung on her back rather than the fact that she's a woman out of the kitchen.
With passage on a trade ship, Phinnae was off to Cherak ( tattoos a blazin' ).
To try and trace her youngest sister.
To find if the medicine woman was her mother.
To stop the pirates from doing this to anyone else.
Along the way Phinnae has to fight for her life. Testing and honing her skills. Learning new ways and challenging the old. A naive island girl in the big city is a soft target. A Lunar in a big city is a force to be reckoned with.
Phinnae uses her awesomeness to barter, influence, negotiate, bribe and sometimes force people to give over their information. Punishing those who have dabbled with The Deep. Travelling over land or by sea she is hunting her one time hunter. She has heard that the pirates do deals with many companies. From the slums of Cherak to the back allies of Celeren. Slaves, supplies and artifacts from the regions they plunder. No-one seems to know where they come from or who controls them. Many have been linked to the Marauders of the Deep. There silent three pronged symbol seen in many a cultured port.
Phinnae has tracked down a large portion of the captured villagers and set free many others once held captive by the Marauders. She arrives in the dead of night. Keeping in thegrips of the shadows. Those responsible have been punished severely and those who have lived to tell their stories, tell of a silver child who stands 8ft tall and has a bow twice her size emblazoned with jewels. Stories around the campfire are beginning to unfold. Her conviction unwavering. She can't be stopped. She can't be swayed. She is THE WESTERN JUGGERNAUT!
Phinnae still has no idea where her family has been scattered. Her latest lead is a mysterious company in the river city of Nexus. A small tea company named Wujin-shi. Are they an unwitting pawn of the Marauders, a customer perhaps or something even more sinister ..........
The Trials of the Western Juggernaut
Comments
Good place for a character sheet here. :)
Also note her Artifacts.
Artifacts
- Snazzy Bow of Bling (aka: Boris), Moonsilver Long Powerbow.
- Deep, forest green in colour with ornate silver markings and edges.
Not in the comments section, you ninny-phinnae! :) nikink
Oops, ta nikink :) Hope this gives Phinnae some depth. Phinnae
Awesome!!! Nikink :)
