Macbeth
First Post
I'm going to start out with some backstory on how Chaka came to be who he is:
Chaka stretched out his wings and tried to learn to fly. His form was a gift from Ghede, but the knowledge of how to fly was not part of the form of a bird. The slaver's ship cut through the waves ahead and Chaka struggled to understand the movements of the breeze so he could catch the ship. He tried to force his form into the familiar parts of a call to Agwe, Master of the Tides, for hinderence to the slavers, but the bird's body responded with only a squak and a raised wing.
The slavers had never come this far north before. The southern tip of Bron Ange had always been a favorite spot for the slave trade but Chaka had always led the Ba-Ora in a peaceful life on the northern shores.
They had come like a wave from the sea on the night of the Great Feasting. Chaka and the rest of the village, the entirety of the tiny Ba-Ora people, had been at the Caille feeding the loa their bi-annual great meal. The drums were so loud and the rum so thick that the slaver's approached without being seen or heard. In the red light of the fire and dust kicked up by dancing, the slavers had stormed the caille, the Loa's home. Dan Petro had been riding Hofon when the slavers arrived, and the loa had not left Hofon's body before he was shackled.
It was almost funny to think that Dan Petro, the loa of freedom, could be so easily imprisoned. A simple pair of shackles, and the loa was stuck in Hofon. When the loa rode in a human form they were more vulnerable to mortal constraints. Something so simple as the idea of being imprisoned had been enough to seal the loa into the shell of the Ba-Ora body.
Chaka had been to strong for the slavers. The loa looked out for their own, but even the magic of the loa was not enough to save the entire village. Man, women and child alike, Chaka's entire village had been taken. When the slavers left, cursing the little man who's magic still pestered them, Chaka returned to the caille. With tearful eyes he begged the loa to help him free Dan Petro.
He hadn't expected Ghede to answer.
Of all the loa, Ghede answered his call. The Laughing Death had actually stood in front of him, wearing clothes stolen from the slavers that had taken so many of his people. A strange tall hat, absolute black clothesd in the style of the slavers, and a cane that could have been a man's bone. the smile on his face was big enough to split his chin from his face. "So they took Dan Patro?"
Chaka stood as tall as a Ba-Ora could in the face of a loa. "Yes. they have played a terrible joke on us, showing us that our old life was too good to last, that our freedom is a joke. Now I will play the grand joke on them, playing them the fool for the harmt hey have done to my people, for the slavery they have forced on Dan Petro."
Ghede's smile seemed to grow even more. "You know my work then. So you seek to play a joke on those that would hurt the Ba-Ora, the children of the loa?" Laughter like the crack of thunder escaped from Ghede's lips. "You know me well child, and you play to my likes. I always love a new joke. Here, take this." Ghede extended a hand covered in a slaver's glove darker then his own skin holding a necklaces with a single feather on it. "This will let you take the form of a bird, to find those that you would punish. I hope you will use it well enough to earn my laughter again."
Now Chaka was on the wing, catching up to the Charming Mary, the ship that now carried his entire village to a new world. He finally caught the wind and soared down to the Mary, taking a pearch on the high rigging along with the other birds. He wasn't sure if the necklace would work more then once, and he wasn't about to let it go. He would be a bird for the entire voyage to the new world.
He spent the first day watching the crew, listengin when nobody but a bird would be nearby.
That night, as the deck cleared down to the skeleton crew, Chaka set to work. He swooped down to the deck, grabbed a woodworking tool in his beak, and set down back on the rigging.
He spent the rest of the night clumsily carving with his beak. "...One-eye Jim took the odd share of loot, and Chaka knows..."
"...It was Herring Harrison's vomit in the soup, and Chaka knows..."
"...Navigator Kin's planning a mutiny, and Chaka knows..."
"...Small Reggie made the stink in the hold, and Chaka knows..."
The next day the crew refused to go into the rigging without an extra share each of the profits from the voyage.
The morning after that, seagull droppings spoiled every meal for the day. Chaka had been busy.
BY the time the Charming Mary made it to her first port of call, only two men would enter the rigging for fear of the saegulls. Chaka had made friends. And after every mishap, every strange occurnace, the crew would find a badly carved note from Chaka predicting what would happen. The carpenter wouldn't even sand them down after he lost a finger to a mad bird.
At the frist port of call, Chaka sat silently in his now familiar bird form and observed the slaves at sale. From the voices in the crowd leaked up into the air and Chaka was pleased to hear tha sailors of the Charming Mary speaking of Chaka, the Ba-Ora spirit that had haunted them all he way back from their slaving run. Hofon was among them, looking near dead with Dan Petro still riding him. It was no wonder that with his half dead appearence Hofon wasn't sold, so Chaka winged his way back to the ship and took a perch to be ready for the voyage to the next port.
From port to port Chaka harrased the sailors, and in each port he heard more talk of Chaka. A legend grew as Chaka hindered the crew at every turn. Soon the other ships in each port had small charms to ward off Ba-Ora spirits. Chaka smiled as mcuh as a bird can every time he saw one, and with each new joke played on the crew he could here Ghede's laughter gettign louder.
Chaka loyally followed Hofon for weeks through a number of ports, as the legend of Chaka grew to be the pirate superstition of the week. But then a wild storm was kciked up, tossing Chaka into the air and towards the coast while the waves washed the Charming Mary out to sea.
With the winds driving him too fast for his wings to fight, Chaka was forced to choose to revert to human form low over thw water to save his life. As he struggled to keep afloat, anothwe ship, not the Charming Mary but some other vessel, crested a wave and sailed towards him. The crew threw a line to him, and as he was pulled aboard the storm died. The crew took this as a good omen, and Chaka was allowed to stay onboard as the charm of the ship. Even when his name became known, the crew took this as a good sign: if the famous Chaka, the spirit that haunted so many ships (his legend had become exaggerated in each port), was on their side, there was no need to fear.
Now Chaka makes use of his magic and his standing on the ship to search for Hofon and the loa that presumably still rides him. As long as Hofon is bound by the chains of slavery Dan Petro will never be free, so Chaka works his magic to further Dan Petro's goals until the loa is free.
Chaka stretched out his wings and tried to learn to fly. His form was a gift from Ghede, but the knowledge of how to fly was not part of the form of a bird. The slaver's ship cut through the waves ahead and Chaka struggled to understand the movements of the breeze so he could catch the ship. He tried to force his form into the familiar parts of a call to Agwe, Master of the Tides, for hinderence to the slavers, but the bird's body responded with only a squak and a raised wing.
The slavers had never come this far north before. The southern tip of Bron Ange had always been a favorite spot for the slave trade but Chaka had always led the Ba-Ora in a peaceful life on the northern shores.
They had come like a wave from the sea on the night of the Great Feasting. Chaka and the rest of the village, the entirety of the tiny Ba-Ora people, had been at the Caille feeding the loa their bi-annual great meal. The drums were so loud and the rum so thick that the slaver's approached without being seen or heard. In the red light of the fire and dust kicked up by dancing, the slavers had stormed the caille, the Loa's home. Dan Petro had been riding Hofon when the slavers arrived, and the loa had not left Hofon's body before he was shackled.
It was almost funny to think that Dan Petro, the loa of freedom, could be so easily imprisoned. A simple pair of shackles, and the loa was stuck in Hofon. When the loa rode in a human form they were more vulnerable to mortal constraints. Something so simple as the idea of being imprisoned had been enough to seal the loa into the shell of the Ba-Ora body.
Chaka had been to strong for the slavers. The loa looked out for their own, but even the magic of the loa was not enough to save the entire village. Man, women and child alike, Chaka's entire village had been taken. When the slavers left, cursing the little man who's magic still pestered them, Chaka returned to the caille. With tearful eyes he begged the loa to help him free Dan Petro.
He hadn't expected Ghede to answer.
Of all the loa, Ghede answered his call. The Laughing Death had actually stood in front of him, wearing clothes stolen from the slavers that had taken so many of his people. A strange tall hat, absolute black clothesd in the style of the slavers, and a cane that could have been a man's bone. the smile on his face was big enough to split his chin from his face. "So they took Dan Patro?"
Chaka stood as tall as a Ba-Ora could in the face of a loa. "Yes. they have played a terrible joke on us, showing us that our old life was too good to last, that our freedom is a joke. Now I will play the grand joke on them, playing them the fool for the harmt hey have done to my people, for the slavery they have forced on Dan Petro."
Ghede's smile seemed to grow even more. "You know my work then. So you seek to play a joke on those that would hurt the Ba-Ora, the children of the loa?" Laughter like the crack of thunder escaped from Ghede's lips. "You know me well child, and you play to my likes. I always love a new joke. Here, take this." Ghede extended a hand covered in a slaver's glove darker then his own skin holding a necklaces with a single feather on it. "This will let you take the form of a bird, to find those that you would punish. I hope you will use it well enough to earn my laughter again."
Now Chaka was on the wing, catching up to the Charming Mary, the ship that now carried his entire village to a new world. He finally caught the wind and soared down to the Mary, taking a pearch on the high rigging along with the other birds. He wasn't sure if the necklace would work more then once, and he wasn't about to let it go. He would be a bird for the entire voyage to the new world.
He spent the first day watching the crew, listengin when nobody but a bird would be nearby.
That night, as the deck cleared down to the skeleton crew, Chaka set to work. He swooped down to the deck, grabbed a woodworking tool in his beak, and set down back on the rigging.
He spent the rest of the night clumsily carving with his beak. "...One-eye Jim took the odd share of loot, and Chaka knows..."
"...It was Herring Harrison's vomit in the soup, and Chaka knows..."
"...Navigator Kin's planning a mutiny, and Chaka knows..."
"...Small Reggie made the stink in the hold, and Chaka knows..."
The next day the crew refused to go into the rigging without an extra share each of the profits from the voyage.
The morning after that, seagull droppings spoiled every meal for the day. Chaka had been busy.
BY the time the Charming Mary made it to her first port of call, only two men would enter the rigging for fear of the saegulls. Chaka had made friends. And after every mishap, every strange occurnace, the crew would find a badly carved note from Chaka predicting what would happen. The carpenter wouldn't even sand them down after he lost a finger to a mad bird.
At the frist port of call, Chaka sat silently in his now familiar bird form and observed the slaves at sale. From the voices in the crowd leaked up into the air and Chaka was pleased to hear tha sailors of the Charming Mary speaking of Chaka, the Ba-Ora spirit that had haunted them all he way back from their slaving run. Hofon was among them, looking near dead with Dan Petro still riding him. It was no wonder that with his half dead appearence Hofon wasn't sold, so Chaka winged his way back to the ship and took a perch to be ready for the voyage to the next port.
From port to port Chaka harrased the sailors, and in each port he heard more talk of Chaka. A legend grew as Chaka hindered the crew at every turn. Soon the other ships in each port had small charms to ward off Ba-Ora spirits. Chaka smiled as mcuh as a bird can every time he saw one, and with each new joke played on the crew he could here Ghede's laughter gettign louder.
Chaka loyally followed Hofon for weeks through a number of ports, as the legend of Chaka grew to be the pirate superstition of the week. But then a wild storm was kciked up, tossing Chaka into the air and towards the coast while the waves washed the Charming Mary out to sea.
With the winds driving him too fast for his wings to fight, Chaka was forced to choose to revert to human form low over thw water to save his life. As he struggled to keep afloat, anothwe ship, not the Charming Mary but some other vessel, crested a wave and sailed towards him. The crew threw a line to him, and as he was pulled aboard the storm died. The crew took this as a good omen, and Chaka was allowed to stay onboard as the charm of the ship. Even when his name became known, the crew took this as a good sign: if the famous Chaka, the spirit that haunted so many ships (his legend had become exaggerated in each port), was on their side, there was no need to fear.
Now Chaka makes use of his magic and his standing on the ship to search for Hofon and the loa that presumably still rides him. As long as Hofon is bound by the chains of slavery Dan Petro will never be free, so Chaka works his magic to further Dan Petro's goals until the loa is free.
