Kuyeix
Age: 32
Height: 5'10"
Appearance:
Kuyeix is wrapped in the mysticism of her moiety, and it shows on her physical form. She smears a dark ochre mixed with rich soil over the left half of her face, though the right is left clean to display the highly stylized raven tattoo on the upper right portion of her face. Her hair is coarse, run through with a reddish ochre and pulled back into a club shape, wrapped tightly with cords woven from tree roots and sprinkled generously with bird down. It is studded with shiny minerals woven into the cord, and the two ends of the cord are left to hang like pendants, tied off in carved symbols for Wolf and Eagle
Her ears are pierced three times each, and cunningly carved ornaments dangle from these holes. Metal, pearls, and bits of highly polished glass are worked into and around the hardened sinew base, and are left to dangle in an eye-catching array. More stunningly woven, tied, and carved ornaments hang around her neck to reflect bits of light as she moves. The only piece she has on her person not designed to attract attention is her amulet, a pouch containing favors from Raven and her raven bones used for divining. It hangs under her clothing between her breasts.
The totem of her originating household, the lynx, is tattooed across her chest. She has since been tattooed with the totems of the four other moieties: Wolf on her left shin, Otter on her right shin, Eagle on her left forearm, Bear on her right forearm. Raven beak tattoos decorate the backs of her hands to symbolize that she works for Raven's will.
More ornaments ring her wrists and climb up to her elbows. Primary feathers from ravens' wings are affixed to her shoulders, and fetishes and offerings to Raven are looped about her waist and hips.
She is a powerful woman physically, with muscle developed from years of walking, climbing, swimming and hunting her own food. Her cheekbones are broad and prominent, her forehead wide, her mouth full and her nose proud. Her eyes are small and black, shining with dark and wicked amusement. She is quick to quirk a smile at the expense of others, and fine laugh lines have started in at the corners of her eyes.
Her skin has a yellow tone to it, though it is made dark from years in the sun. The darkness is accentuated by the ritual ochre. The skin itself is very tough, having been subjected to hardship all her life. Her legs are slightly bowed, and her feet pidgeontoed.
The clothes she wears are rough and worn with hard use. Over these she keeps a heavily decorated and patterned red and black blanket with a stylized raven across the back, as is customary for her people. She knows how to make her own clothes, but will not; such petty tasks are meant for members of the Raven moiety to accomplish. She will keep herself alive, but otherwise simply has too much to attend to for Raven to do more.
Personality
Her people are warlike, fierce, honorable, and easy to offend. Feuds and wars keep them busy with each other, though they are quick to unite against an outside force. Kuyeix, as raven-totem, has had to put aside many of these traits to adopt Trickster's mantle. She must not allow herself to show offense, for Raven is above such things and so too his totems. She cultivates cunning and guile within herself, and is quick to find humor in any situation.
She is fond of tricks and pranks, but shies away from anything resembling vengeance or revenge. She represents the Raven moiety. Their enemies are her enemies. She is above the petty inner clan wars, and above personal wars. She does not do women's or men's chores; she sustains herself and reserves her abilities for the moiety's best interests.
She is not altogether trustworthy. She has the best interests of her moiety at heart, but finds it hard to resist when good tricks present themselves. Additionally, she is largely incapable of forming strong interpersonal ties with others due to being Raven's totem. She must keep herself apart, so as to not form bias. She is still human, however, and so will often cultivate feathery relationships with other ravens. She is also fond of watching people, soaking in their affections and hates and living out her own wants and fantasies through them.
Due to the strength given to her by Raven she is typically a cheerful and outgoing person, though not always talkative. She is interested in people and their stories, and perseveres throughout difficulties. She has a high opinion of herself, and is quite vain. Raven will often take her most favored trinkets when she shifts, though she steadfastly makes more. She trusts others about as much as she would trust herself, which is -- as anyone would likely guess -- very little.
She loves Raven and she loves her people. Insults to either, if serious enough, will give her cause to curse their spirits, thus removing them altogether from Raven's presence. She, and her people, believe that everyone is connected to all things. Thus, even those who are not Raven's people still have access to him. Cursing them with spiritual exorcism will permanently sever the connection. It is something only done in the most severe of instances.
Strengths
Raven form!
Trickster's Gift. All those who have been chosen as Raven's totems are gifted with the ability to trick the perception of others. Over time and use, the individual using it will be able to affect more people (which is partly why elder totems are so highly valued, feared and revered). Most totems start out only able to affect one person, and Kuyeix was no exception. At the moment she is able to affect three people at one time. This entails causing those weak to magical manipulation to misjudge reality around them. They may step wrong, misjudge depth, hear sounds from the wrong directions, or not properly account for heft or weight when moving an object. Kuyeix is typically able to sustain the concentration necessary to achieve this for at least forty-five minutes, though it requires her being able to remain still and in easy visual contact of her targets. Strong smells, very loud sounds, bright light shone in her eye, or jostling her will cause the magic to fail. This sort of magic is mostly used in battle where a line of totems will observe the warriors from a distance. When there are totems on both sides it is not uncommon for totems to engage in battles of will with each other. The totem who can turn the other's magic inward can often cause the other to go into a magical coma, if not kill them outright, though it depends on age and skill level.
Can curse people, or give then boons. Most of the strongest curses are limited to her own clan (and a good many of them are, shall we say, faith based). She is capable of temporarily making someone more susceptible to illness, making them weary, increase their luck (luck isn't necessarily the best word, stuff like hunters more easily finding difficult game, finding lost items easier, having fortunate events happen), increasing their attractiveness to the opposite sex, . Length of time varies from under a day up to a month. Longer length curses/boons take up to a day of preparation and ritual, and due to the Raven's whim won't necessarily do what was wanted. (see below for details)
High agility, stamina, and quicker than normal healing. She is a tough bird.
Very loyal individual.
As with most of her people, her frame is built for power and so she is strong for a woman. Still not as strong as a well-muscled man, though.
Though more resistant to disease due to the shifter thing, she still is weak towards the eruptive diseases from other countries, and may still fall ill from them.
Quick to learn new languages in spades (not the whole language, but enough to be understood), though she does frequently have pronunciation issues.
She adapts quickly to strange situations. She is firmly rooted to the ground, and keeps her head in bad situations. She's practical.
Weaknesses
She is subject to Raven, always. If she betrays her moiety, or Raven, or behaves as she shouldn't (not controlling her emotions, being too empathetic, not playing tricks/pranks) he will take more than what propriety or whim would warrant, possibly even dooming her to a raven's life for good.
She is vain of her appearance, and goes to great lengths to make herself attractive within the styles of her people. Unfortunately for her, what is attractive to her own culture is often repulsive to others.
The accent from her native language often makes her sound stupid or slow in other languages, particularly the Greek blend typical to most of the civilized world.
She is human, and will sometimes enact pranks that aren't quite neutral in nature, earning herself small punishments from raven typically in the form of bad colds.
She tends to follow her own opinion before others' unless it directly contradicts her matriarch(s)-- sometimes to the detriment of all, including herself. She is stubborn.
Unused to beasts of burden and animals larger than she. She is very wary of them, and avoids them and their uses.
She cannot fight anyone unless her moiety (and by moiety, the chiefs and matriarchs of the clan deciding in a war council) declares war/battle/death towards another group or individual. To fight without this would incur Raven's wrath, as she would be using his gift for her own purposes.
Raven will not help her if she gets tangled up in a bad situation. He expects his totems to be cunning enough to keep themselves afloat without using their abilities in ways they're not supposed to.
It is improper for her to attend to her own needs beyond that most necessary to survival. She will not clean her living space, keep her clothing nicely, forage for the best food available, etc.
Shifting or asking other boons of Raven will ask a price. Typically she crafts shiny ornamentation for this purpose and keeps it upon her person. Raven takes everything on her body while she is shifted, and will keep some of it when she returns to human form. Other boons require offerings, and if they are not pleasing Raven may play tricks upon his totems. If a totem shifts without having anything prepared, he might find he has lost part of his mind or physical shape. There are horror stories of unprepared totems losing limbs, organs or full mental capacity to Raven. One returned to human form to find he had no skin.
History:
Raven moiety -- the group of clans who, by virtue of birthright, could claim Raven as both their crest and ancestor -- was the strongest and most revered of all the moieties. It could not be any other way. They were Raven's own moiety; descendants of a god who had through cunning and trickery created a space for humanity to thrive.
Raven
Wolf
Eagle
Otter
Bear
Kuyeix was born to the Lynx clan in the Raven moiety, beloved as any other child, spoiled as all children were spoiled. She was no more or less important than any other, and she was treated as were all girl children. Her mother and village aunties (for all in the household -- and by extension, clan -- were related) taught her what she needed to know for survival in life and within the harsh societal structures of the warlike People.
Though babies were always spoiled by all, once she reached a year or slightly beyond it in age, the age when she began toddling, she was exposed to the wide variety of work women were expected to accomplish. Women were the mistresses of their homes, the driving force behind the community. They did the dirty, necessary work for home and hearth. Gathering of plant matter, weaving, setting aside food for winter, cleaning kills, preparing food, making sure the men didn't make fools of themselves -- all such things were necessary and completed with satisfaction.
By the age of five she was a competent basket weaver, and found herself drawn to the arts that all in the clan were accomplished in. Carving, embroidery, embellishment of clothing and woven articles, the making of fetishes and jewelry for the purpose of showing affiliation and worship towards Raven: these things she tried her own hand at.
She, as all women worth their bride price, was a hard worker dedicated to survival and all its works.
Puberty came to her when she turned 12, and she left for her solitary time in the wilderness, a self-imposed (and necessary) exile for the duration of her menstruation. She was armed with a dagger, and was well educated in its use. Women sometimes had the time to set traps to kill animals, and knew how to defend themselves should predators seek them out as prey.
Kuyeix would then discover that she had been chosen by Raven to be his totem, and that evidence was clear enough when, in front of a gathering of the birds, she shifted for the first time into a raven form.
It was not some gradual morph between two forms, as the magic inherent to her people simply did not work thus. Her shape popped dark and black to a small, vaguely round lump, and then to the raven's shape.
The first change always took away everything the afflicted was wearing. All children were taught about what it would mean to become totem to Raven, and when Kuyeix's exile was over she presented herself before the clan matriarch and gave the news. There was no need to confirm it; anyone who dared to lie about such a thing would be punished by death.
A potlatch was held by Kuyeix's clan, and great wealth was distributed to the other clans within the moiety, as Lynx shared its great fortune with open hands. This would keep any ill feelings at the luck of Lynx at bay, and show the good will of Lynx that they would not try to use it to their advantage.
Kuyeix was formally renounced from clan affiliation, as was proper in her new mantle as living totem before Raven moiety. She was sent to an older totem to be taught the new skills she would need in her new role. Her old life, that of a woman's duties, was gone. She would never again be expected to perform such mundane tasks, except perhaps for her own personal survival should she be sent away from the familiarity of moiety, as she would have her needs taken care of.
Instead she learned how to control her shifting, her moods and emotions. Personal bias was corralled and kept in tight control. She learned the secrets of curses and boons. She was taught how to lay each, and to expect that Raven might disapprove of any laid curse or boon and warp it, or make it altogether ineffectual.
There were never many living totems at one time, and never necessarily did all of the moeities have a totem of their own. Moieties could petition for a living totem from a different clan, but it would always be costly, and so rarely done. Kuyeix became familiar with each of the living totems, and learned what they had to teach her. To be reticent or stubborn with her lessons did not occur to Kuyeix; she'd been born a proper woman of the moiety, and to disobey totems -- even when she herself was one -- was something that would not cross her mind.
Fourteen years it took for her to learn the whole of her new abilities and role. She was not exceptionally quick or slow, but was a steady and solid learner. At the age of twenty-six she was presented to the matriarch of the Raven moiety and was asked to perform the ritual spring blessing upon the Raven moiety. Kuyeix completed the blessing and was accepted as a full fledged living totem.
She learned quickly that 'totem' really meant 'tethered to boring servitude.' They were bound by strict rules and customs, and could not act upon their own tightly held opinions or beliefs. They could not do anything that might be considered representative of their moieties, and so would spend much time doing nothing, or bothering their people or each other.
They were only ever truly free amongst themselves, in their holy places. Only then could they dance and sing and wrestle to their hearts' content. Yet, so as to be at the disposal of their matriarchs they could only meet once a moon, when they would discuss the well being of each of the moieties, and share what progress they had made with their art. Kuyeix learned to cherish the new moon, and the freedom it brought. When she was among the People she masked herself with the trickster's face and did as they expected.
She was happy with her life and its predictability. Rare was she called upon, for she had two elder totems in the Raven moiety whose experience was valued. She was not particularly lucky, and so not particularly requested. But she watched her elders, assisted and learned from their fluid skills.
Unrest began with their cousins to the north in her thirty-first year, and the totems were called to war. Though they scoffed at their cousins, and their lack of matriarchal totems that the People carried, they still had power of their own and were valuable enemies. The moieties gathered to wrest more territory from the inland cousins, and the totems were all busy making boons and curses.
A small war party of fifteen men was lost to the western waters, chasing an inferior log boat from the cousins. They'd been spies, and the dishonor of letting the cousins get away was unacceptable. Kuyeix was the youngest of the living totems, and to her fell the task of retrieving the war party. All of the boats had gone far into the western currents, and the matriarchs believed them to be lost to the strong winter currents. Kuyeix was tasked to travel to the strange land and retrieve them or their bodies and all evidence of People and cousins.
Kuyeix was not happy with the task -- the excitement of war was so close at hand! -- but to disobey a matriarch was unthinkable. She would do whatever she had to to bring them home. No more, and no less. Kuyeix shifted to her raven form, and flew west to Tian Xia and the strangeness she was sure to find there.
Charms
Kuyeix can create charms (boons or curses) based on the five totem animals and their corresponding areas of affectation. She is strongest with Raven, of course. She has to have certain parts from the bodies of these animals in order to make the charms. She must harvest the parts herself, and cure them in ritual ceremony. The longer the ceremony, the more potent the charm (minimum time needed for a ceremony is five hours. She can only last in a ceremony so long as her body lasts. If she should collapse or lose concentration the charm will be ruined. The longest she has lasted has been sixteen hours, which makes a mediocre to good charm. Truly powerful living totems can last days. Give her a break, she's still a newbie!
).A charm, once made, will last depending on the material used to bind it. Bark, flower stems, and grasses tend to be the most frequent and most reliable bindings. Once the binding frays or snaps, the charm's power is broken. Metal can be used to bind, but charms made with metal have a tendency to act unpredictably, so even though they last longest it is not a recommended binding. Stone can be used to bind, but it is difficult to work with, takes a very long time to prepare and easy to mess up.
What is listed is what the charm affects. A boon will increase the attributes, while a curse will decrease them. Each charm can only hold one attribute.
Raven:
Physical - Agility (wing bones), dexterity(fine motor skills) (beak)
Mental - Increase quick thinking (eyes), cure maladies of the mind (tail and wing feathers)
Wolf:
Physical - Endurance (paws), sureness of strike (claws and teeth), better hearing (whole head)
Mental - social aptitude (tail), planning/strategy (pelt)
Eagle:
Physical - far sight (head), lightness of feet (wing bones), speed (flight feathers)
Mental - better understanding of medicinal herbs (gullet), plant lore (spine), connection with ancestors (feet)
Bear:
Physical - Increase strength (paw) ,tolerance to pain (stomach), better sense of smell (head)
Mental - fortitude of the mind (rendered fat), clear thinking (spine)
Otter:
Physical - Swimming (bladder), childbirth (pelt)
Mental - Wisdom (nose) , love charms (paws)