Ika Juterheanitti

[Ika]

Player Name: Zina
Name: Ika Juterheanitti
Age: 17
Race: Human
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 168 lb

Physical Description: The Mikur people are sometimes considered an individual race because of their unique features and strange innate ability. Their bloodlines show an ancestry of humans, elves, and perhaps shifters or some animalistic race. Like all Mikur, Ika has dark skin and darker eyes, outlined with long eyelashes. Her hair is black and left to its own devices is a mess of wavy frizz. Usually she has a few braids done, which are commonly painted, never dyed. Her face is not particularly attractive, though not really unattractive either, with a squarish jaw and wider-than-average structure and flatter, Tian Xian-esque look. Her eyes are large and captivating.

Ika is very tall for a woman her age, but many Mikur women are. Her body is thick with trained muscle, she is fit and large, although after leaving Tapuria she gained a fair amount of weight and has a bit of a pudgy stomach. Although she wears some clothing on her upper body, or at least, what she considers clothing, her breasts are almost never covered just as all women of her tribe, and because of the lack of support they are not exactly perky or what most Eyropans would consider attractive. Her neck is covered in beads and feathered necklaces, and she has several strange and otherworldly things she wears on her torso, though she is more modest in garb when she is actively hunting. She is often wearing skirts made of plant material or feathers, varying in length but usually to her knees. Her arms and wrists are sometimes adorned with jewelry or at least what she calls jewelry, but not as often as they tend to restrict her movement somewhat.

Perhaps one of the oddest parts of her initial appearance are her tattoos. Tribal tattoos generally describe pieces of an individual in Mikur culture and the structure and style of these ink patterns denote specific birth tribes. As Ika is relatively young (although the lifespan of the Mikur is less than thirty years in their native habitat, with an average of fifteen), she does not have quite as many as some older warriors, but her shoulders, upper arms, and part of her spine are coated in strange designs. On her face, her forehead and part of her chin are also decorated, along with one of her ankles and calves. Most of these designs illustrate adjectives like "fierce", "spirit", "life", "hunter of rhea", "language", and about a hundred other things. She is of the punye-keke people, which she takes great pride in.

Possessions:
Nukani is a very grand, mysterious bird known as a tempfirus in Eyropan tongue. He is a beautiful specimen to behold, with scarlet and black feathers, long black legs, nasty curved talons, and sharp eyes. He is big, his head reaching half a foot higher than Ika's. Nukani is extremely rare in that he is one of the only creatures of his species born and raised in Tapuria. It is unknown how he traveled to Eyropa, just as it is not known yet how his companion got there. Nukani and Ika show an odd bond not unlike the friendship between and dog and human. Ika has a respect for Nukani that most others do not have because he is very much a wild animal. He has a fiery temper which often transcribes to the use of fire magic, and has injured many people and animals, including Ika herself. He is the closest friend she has, and she is his.

She keeps a decent amount of assorted tribal clothing, including two celebratory headdresses of a decorative nature.

Ika owns a very small house, little more than a shack, located in southern Eyropa. Other than Nukani, it is the most valuable thing she owns.

Ika has several tribal weapons:
• Harak - The harak is a very large, wide blade with a curviture similar to a scimitar. The instrument is odd partially because it is made from a kind of stone that resembles jade, but also because of its handle. The handle is the base stem of a kind of plant of Tapuria that feeds off of blood from its roots. Normally when these roots reach above ground, they develop spines to collect blood from passersby. On the harak, the roots have grown inside a special hollowed area of the blade and then jut out and wrap around it, developing spines closer to the tip. In this way, the more victims the blade and its
companion plant claim or injure, the stronger it becomes.

• Harakte - The harakte is in many ways a smaller version of its cousin, the harak. It lacks any curvature and the blade is shorter and thinner, the handle longer. It acts as a dagger of sorts but the weight and injury differences make using it more difficult and strategic than traditional daggers.

• Zarik - The basic tool of a bygone age, the zarik is a spear with one complex twist: like many Mikur weapons, the zarik is partially made from a living plant, which gives it its dangerous power. A long vine is expertly twisted around and through the base of the zarik, and the tip of the plant is inserted into the spade tip of the weapon. The tip has two very tiny holes in it, created for the vine tip's dangerous toxin which leak from it. These toxins severely aggravate the bare skin, and if they get beneath that, a normal human would be lucky to live. Antidotes for this poison exist, but time is the real problem. A person injected with the toxin can die within the hour.

• Lamakeke - A club with some dangerous attitude, the lamakeke is a large, rounded weapon that mirrors the Harak in its plant-life. The plant lies almost entirely inside of the large, jade piece and create spines which harvest the blood of the enemy, and thus make the weapon a little more dangerous when it blows through enough flesh. It is unlike the Harak in that the weapon itself does not really become stronger, and is much more inaccurate. The Lamakeke is meant for dealing heavy blows and requires such strength to use that even for a woman build like Ika, it is somewhat difficult to wield properly.

She also owns a few more commonplace knives, one of which is a high-quality elvish blade imbued with some kind of toxin. She doesn't use these as often.

Strengths:
Skilled warrior: Ika knows how to use many different kinds of Mikur weapons effectively in combat. She has also recently learned to handle knives.

Hunter: Ika was trained from a very young age by her mother and four elder brothers to learn how to track animals, recognize distinct calls, and find innovative ways to trap or ambush them. She enjoys the thrill of hunting game and can easily subsist on her own where there is prey to support her. She is not as skilled with hunting large mammalian game, but has some experience with it nonetheless.

Animal whisperer: On her left arm there is a large, twisting, organic symbol intertwining with several other markings. This symbol is special, as it represents an innate ability, perhaps partially magical, which allows Ika to have a unique understanding of many different types of animals. This is perhaps a stem of hypnotism but it is more likely that animalistic qualities in the Mikur people occasionally breed this ability, a relic of shifter ancestors. Ika does seem the type; she moves with a wild sort of "animal" grace, an ability that in many parts of the world are forgotten by humans. This ability does not let her "talk" to animals, but rather she can mimic their subtle body languages and expressions in a way that they understand. In this way she can "tame" formidable beasts, stop them from attacking or encourage them to do something, but she is not controlling the animals and she is not forcing them to do anything they don't want to.

Tiaju: Tiaju is the Mikur name for an art of hypnotism which she is strong enough to use on both humans and animals. Tiaju has a magical element to it, one which takes a lot of practice in learning to master. If Ika locks her eyes with an animal, the world feels very still to them both; they become a part of each other and know one another for what feels like hours, but is really a brief moment in time. This hypnotism is a part of her animal whispering technique, but it is different in that she can use it on humans and it requires a lot more concentration. She cannot coax creatures to do anything she wants, but she can plant ideas in their minds and severely confuse them. There is a weirdness about her stare that many people pick up, a depth from the thought remnants of so many creatures.

Immune to words: As she doesn't understand most Eyropan context for insults, it is essentially impossible for anyone to insult her. But, this goes beyond that because in the Mikur culture, confidence is by far the most important attribute in a person as well as physical capabilities. Since Ika has both of these, she is in fact so confident that even people in her own tribe can't insult her effectively.

Weaknesses:
Culturally displaced: Ika barely understands Eyropan and knows more words in native Semerkhet tongues than the common language. She occasionally still tries to respond in Mikuran but most of the time she is merely quiet. It is usually very difficult and requires a lot of patience to explain things to her. She is quite lonely, as she is possibly the only Native Tapurian outside of her country and her only friend is Nukani; it is impossible for others to understand her as the individual she is. They do not know her customs and ways.

Brittle Weapons: The stone that most of Ika's Mikur weapons are made from is actually quite brittle. They generally rely on the toxins and spines that grow on them in order to be effective. That being said, if the plants that grow inside of the weapons get too large, they will shatter or crack the weapon. Due to this handicap, Ika cannot continuously use one weapon; she must cycle through them enough so the plant does not grow too large but also does not die of starvation, which would render it useless.

Armor: Ika can't be fitted with armor and use it correctly. She is too used to having her body free to move about and can't take the extra weight and learn to use it to her advantage.

Disease-prone: Ika and her people have been separated long enough from the rest of the world that they are now unequipped to deal with many common viruses and bacterial illnesses.

Botanophobia: The fear of plants, botanophobia is not uncommon among Mikur people. It developed as a survival mechanism for recognizing that many plants are life-threatening. Outside of Tapuria, Ika's fear of plants seems a touch out of place. Her fear usually comes through as either an extreme will to kill the plant in question, or to run.

History:
below is the Eyropan translation of the recovered pages in Hrodric Faust's journal
Day 1
Our vessel has set off to discover the rare and enticing world of Tapuria, a country that was named but has so little known about it that it is impossible for men such as myself to ignore it. What awaits us is adventure and peril. What little we have gathered from the few explorers who returned from the islands warns us of danger and the certainty that we sail to our glory, or our deaths.

Jucilda and our new daughter, Kyra, eagerly await my safe return to shore in our homeland. I know they worry for me for good reason; the road is dangerous as there is not yet a road here. We seek to change that, and to explore this unknown and discover the truth to this miraculous place.

Day 13
We have lost half a dozen men to sea monsters of the kinds in epic folklore, ones which I for one have never seen or heard of. One, I swear it, was as long as the ship itself. I am hoping we arrive safely on the island. Perhaps it was foolish of me to forget the legends of the Tapurian sea. In the old texts at the Barthelehm temple, it is referred to as the Cursed sea. The stories tell of creatures long unspoken by man and forgotten, and of black water itself. The way is treacherous, but I am not afraid.

Perhaps that is foolish of me, as the other men say. I believe fear will only disrupt their ability to survive; I fear not these lost tales.

Day 24
Despite the size of the black sea surrounding Tapuria, it has taken nearly a month for our vessel to arrive on the shores of this strange place. There is the relief among the men that we have at last reached land, and yet we remember those we have lost to the strangeness of these oceans and wonder what lies ahead. There is fear. We will camp on Tapurian soil tonight, and it remains my hope that our discoveries will enrich the lives of those at home.

Already there are many species of plant we have discovered that are new to us. The sounds of the alien jungle are nothing like anything I have heard. The small birds here are strange and colorful. I named one today; I call it the blue-crown finch, although I'm not sure if it's a finch as I was unable to capture it for closer inspection.

There appears to be little here that is edible, and I'm not sure how the natives we have heard of survive off of so little. Tales of tall birds are evidence of their protein source, but how they distinguish the poisonous plants from the edible is beyond me.

Day 38
The stories of the large birds were truth. They are called moa, and they have become our standard food source since arriving here. Moa are strange, awkward creatures, with giraffe necks and honking sounds like alien geese. They seem to be stupid, but my knowledge of them being the main prey on these islands says that they are more intelligent than they look, or else simply survive on the whim of nature.

Twenty of our crew now remain as the toxic nature of this wilderness has taken seven lives now. Only two died of exposure to actual toxic plants. One of the plants spreads its seed by way of animals touching it; the seeds bore into the skin of our crew mate and he went mad over the course of three days before perishing by a seizure. The explorer in me might have liked to perform an autopsy to determine how the plant was doing this, but it seemed inappropriate at the time. My guess would be the plant was affecting his blood with neurotoxins somehow, which were reaching the brain. Our other crewman was physically strangled by a strange species of vine. These plants are clearly magical in nature; that much seems obvious now, as many move almost like animals.

The other five were killed by the rheanites that have been described by previous expeditions. In the Barthelehm texts they are often called "devil-walkers" and some such nonsense. Being here, I now understand the fear that those texts portray so well. They make a screech that is terrifying. Despite their strange, graceful appearance, they are deadly hunters and we did not hesitate to run upon sighting them. There are also stories of fire birds that look similar to the giant rheanites, but as of yet we have not seen them. It is possible they were merely the skewed memories of frightened explorers.

At least, this is what I hope.

Day 40
At last we have connected with a native Tapurian. A Mikur woman was spotted today spying on our whereabouts and stealing our food stores. She seemed to show little fear of us even when threatened by the end of a sword. Manchester tried to capture her but she fled before we could so much as get a second glance at her. Curious beings, the Mikur. We understand that they are not a peaceful people toward explorers, but most of us are not terribly worried about Mikur attacks.

The woman we saw was heavily tattooed and adorned with all sorts of trinkets. She carried an odd-looking spear.

Day 41
A Mikur tribe attacked us last night, assumed to be the same as the woman originated from. Eight of us were killed. These weapons are not ordinary melee weapons; we believe they are somehow imbued with poison magic. Duma succumbed to death from no more than a scratch on his chest. The other three were killed and their bodies were taken by the Mikur warriors for some purpose we're not sure of. The Mikur are rumored to be cannibals, but such a thought strains my failing sanity and I must not think of it. They barely appear to be human, not in face but in the strange ways they move. They move with such speed and grace in this weird and terrible jungle; we do not stand a chance, even with gnomish weaponry and the great skill of our team.

The men shrink away in fear at the local sounds, for we have faced one too many dangers on this island. Rheanites and other large predators threaten us. There appears to be a type of rheanite that hunts in flocks. We have seen their tracks following us every time we move camp; they appear to be intelligent enough at least to track our movements. So far, the birds have not struck again since we killed one some time ago. But, I do not believe it is fear that keeps them from coming back.

Although we were scheduled to remain here for at least another full month, the crew plans to leave within the next few days to avoid any more incidents. We will take back with us valuable scientific and tactical knowledge of the land. I admit now that they were right to fear this place. Even among our strongest and most capable, there is fear of the unknown power that lies here. Never have I been in a
place so truly wild, so dangerous.

Day 43
Our plans to leave came too late.

I am very shaken from this morning's events. I am not sure.
I should not be alive.

I woke long before dawn to the weird sounds of drum beats, footsteps, and human-ish hoots. Manchester and Nigel share my tent; we stared at each other as the sounds (they might have seemed like music if my heart hadn't been in my throat) began to creep closer. I clung to my sword, but my hands were shaking so much that I knew I'd never be able to use it properly. We moved out of our tents, but it was too dark to see very much at all. There were glows in the trees. I stepped backward several paces; the monotonous sounds fed into an impending doom that all of us felt. We were all going to die and we already knew it before we could see their faces.

Then something grabbed me, and I turned around to defend myself, but my sword was simply knocked from my hand. My attacker put a cloth over my mouth and then a larger one to blindfold me. My hands were bound and I was led away, all within a few seconds.

Behind me all I could hear were the death cries and screams of my fellow men.

I was walked for what seemed like several hours when at last we stopped. The attacker kicked me in my legs and pushed me down onto my knees, and yelled several things at me. The voice was deep and female. I was petrified. She hit me with what felt like a club in the back of my head and I lost consciousness.

When I woke, the sounds of the forest had changed. I've been here long enough to be able to tell it was mid-afternoon. The woman did not appear to be around. My hands were tightly tied to an ordichus tree. I sat there. My head spun and pulsed with pain. Part of me feared that a predator would find me like this but another part said that such a thing would be a blessing.

I waited.

When the trikan beetles had stopped calling, footsteps approached at last. The woman's voice spoke harshly to me. She yelled at me again. I do not know if she expected me to understand or if she was simply yelling at me to yell at me. She took the blindfold from my face and lowered the tie in my mouth so it stayed around my neck. The light burned my eyes and I squinted.

When the sun spots had cleared, I could see her face. She was the same as the one who had stolen from our camp days ago. The beads and trinkets she wore clattered against each other. Her hair was done in tight braids, although there were places where it was free to fall and tangle. She was holding a piece of cooked and dried meat, probably moa. She shoved it at me. My hands were tied. She made a sound of universal aggravation and then crept behind me to cut me free.

She knew I wasn't going anywhere. There was nowhere I could go. I would never be able to man the ship alone.

I took the meat and ate ravenously. She stared at me with estranged curiosity, but I didn't care. I was too busy maintaining basic survival instincts. She spoke to me while I ate. It sounded like little more than background noise to me, but I noted her voice was softer then.

She stayed with me for at least an hour, then gave me a few tools to start a fire when she left. I fully expected her to tie me again, but she did not.

I do not know why she saved me. I do not know why she is keeping me here. I do not know why me of all my crew mates, or if I am even significant at all. I believe, tentatively, that she did not mean for our crew to be discovered and killed. I am not stupid enough to believe that free thinking is not possible among native savages.

Day 50
It has been a full week since the woman, who calls herself Ika, rescued me from the destruction of my crew. I've told her I am called Hrodric, but she cannot pronounce my name and says "Hurodic" instead. She is a strange woman, and despite her size, the way she behaves makes me believe she is younger than I perceived at first. She does not speak my language and I obviously do not speak hers, but she appears to be modestly intelligent and has managed to communicate with me with hand gestures, sounds, and drawing in the earth.

I still do not know why she rescued me, nor what she plans to do with me. It must seem obvious to both her and I that I cannot stay here forever, but that I also have no way of leaving. It is extremely unlikely that I will ever be able to live amongst other people again. That fact alone makes the future seem inevitable to me.

I am destined to die here, though how or why is anyone's guess at such a point.

I am lucky that Ika seems to be wanting to keep me alive; every day she brings me food, cooked at first but now uncooked. I think she enjoys sitting with me by the fire while I cook the animals she catches. It is not for me to know why she does not leave me here alone and spend all of her time with her family instead.

Although the first day she showed herself during the day, now she only comes at night, and has instructed me to sleep during the day as well. I now understand why the Mikur do this; the large predators are all active during the day because their eyesight is keen and relies on light. Part of me wonders whether the Mikur have been on the islands long enough to see better at night, but I'm not sure of it. Ika tries to ask of my homeland, I think, but I do not think that my dirt pictures of houses and Guran city are registering. She does not know what these things are. However, I have managed to tell her that I have a wife and daughter. She has a child and husband. The faces and gestures she made when trying to tell me about her husband make me think that she doesn't like him very much, and that he is apparently shorter than her and this is funny.

She is strangely interested in my world; perhaps that is why she humors me in keeping me alive. She has given me a few instruments that are apparently supposed to ward off predators during the day. They spin, make odd sounds, and according to Ika have the spirits of people I am not sure of. Perhaps the Mikur gods or ancestors. I don't know if they actually work. So far the rheanites have left me alone.

It is an odd feeling, knowing that I am not long for this world. Stranger yet is the comfort I get from Ika's nightly visits.

Day 52
Last night Ika stayed with me through the night and slept with me through the day. I do not understand how or why it happened, or what has come over me, but the implications of me saying this should be clear. We were intimate, and for the life of me I cannot really understand it.

Our coupling was strange and foggy to me. Yet I do not regret it, although I remain confused as to how it occurred. I can try to blame such a happening on not seeing my wife for several long months, and Ika being the only woman I have come into close contact with since that time, but it all seems very unclear to me. I feel closer now to this native woman than ever, but it is not love or true affection or even lust that draws me to her. There is something odd at work here.

Ika left in a hurry this evening when we woke, and I can only assume it is because she was not meant to stay with me. She has a family. I am like a pet to her, and no more.

The last entry found in the journal was almost illegible. Some words have been substituted for the benefit of the reader.
Day 53
They (are) coming for me, us. we have hidden here. I (know) now that it (is) time for me to die. I could never think that I (would) take her with me. it was forbidden what we have done. or what she (has done). she was not making sense. I am not making sense.

We will die here.


The Aftermath
No one really knows how Ika escaped persecution. The journal was found in an unlikely Setkhantos area that Ika is said to have passed through, but it is not clear how she came upon the journal or why she did not keep it. Ika has become a legend of her people for what was a grand escape, though this is unknown to the world and her. She recalls what happened next as a dream-like memory, one that she can barely discern from fact or fiction.

[Saruna]

Approved.