[center][h2]The Man who Loved the Sea[/h2][/center] The sea danced as a dark purple, the dawn just touching the horizon. A lone selka fisherman sat in a canoe. The base had been burned to fell the tree, and the inside had been set ablaze and carved with rocks, making it a seamless tube for the old selka. He sat adrift with no tools but a humming smile, two round eyes set longingly on the horizon. A certain thump was in his heart and a certain warmth heated his soul. [center] “Oh ocean... my sea, Entrapped... beauty, Colours of night, Colours of day, Steal my heart away, A blue so bright, A ripple in sway, Steal my breath away, Oh ocean… my sea, Entrapped… beaut--y?” [/center] The man’s hum was cut short as his black eyes spotted two strange figures harassing a whale’s corpse on the beach behind him (his canoe having spun around during his idle singing). He strained his old ears as he paddled towards the scene. “No Juttyu,” The more grizzled of the two chastised, “We want the big thick jaws, less perforated.” “I’m just saying,” Juttyu, the giant of the two, debated, “These are massive, how are we going to--” He looked at the fisherman, “Uh, Panganeem?” “Hm?” Panganeem looked up from the corpse and flinched, the fisherman having snuck onto the shore unnoticed. He squinted and rose from his inspecting position to greet the man, “Hail, friend. I’m Panganeem, this is Juttyu -- the giant.” “I can see that,” The fisherman blinked as he witnessed the sheer size of Juttyu, “I’m Ippino, the fisherman.” “Well met,” Panganeem nodded and looked around, “Is it just you around these parts?” “Yes,” Ippino nodded, “I’ve left my tribe behind in search of solitude.” “Solitude?” Juttyu asked in his echoing voice. “Yes, solitude,” Ippino said, his left eye closing as it caught the midday heliopolis, “You see, I’m from the Hyummin tribe.” “I’ve heard of them,” Panganeem announced, “Aren’t they--?” “The biggest of tribes? Yes,” Ippino nodded again, “But size isn’t everything and the many families of the Hyummin have made their own lands unbearable.” “How so?” Panganeem cocked a head and leaned against the dead whale. “They quabble and squabble,” Ippino threw his wrinkled hands in the air, “Even my own son! Argue and debate, gnash their teeth and go behind each others backs. It is madness and I simply wish to fish, enjoy my loving sea and be well.” “Perhaps we can help,” Panganeem nudged Juttyu, who nodded. Ippino looked at them in shock for a while, “How?” “Well,” Panganeem crossed his arms, “I’m not sure… yet. But it is what we do, we are out to make the selka stronger in all ways by any means, and if unity is what you need, unity is what you’ll get.” “Right,” Juttyu agreed with a heavy nod. Ippino narrowed his eyes, “I’m an old man, so you’ll have to spell this out to an old jade, but why?” “Because,” Panganeem started. “We are k’nights!” Juttyu finished, soliciting a tiny glare from Panganeem. “Kah-nights?” Ippino mouthed, “What?” “It’s a work in progress,” Panganeem parroted Gralph, “But yes, we are K’nights and by holy decree and mortal wishes, we are out to make the selka strong.” “Holy decree?” “Father Kirron, you see,” Panganeem answered. “Ah, Kirron,” Ippino nodded, “Yes I know Kirron, he is the creator of the selka.” “Yes,” Juttyu nodded. “Husband to Delphina, too.” Ippino sighed, “Oh how I envy him.” “Delphina?” Panganeem cocked a brow. “Goddess of the Sea? Bride of Kirron?” Ippino looked shocked, “Come now, you must know of her.” “I suppose I do,” Panganeem gave Juttyu a confused look, “Now, at least.” “Mm,” Ippino folded his hands behind his back and waddled over to the lapping sea, “She pulls at my heart with her unending beauty.” His old eyes glazed over the horizon, the gentle waves pushing and pulling from the shore. A toothless smile formed on his face, “She inspires me, brings me joy. If my boat could go further, I’d find her heart, you know.” He turned to the other two and Juttyu pulled a hand from his nose, and Panganeem straightened his posture. “Oh?” Panganeem asked as he turned to the jawbone of the whale. “Yes,” Ippino nodded solemnly, “I’d find her heart, find her ear, and I’d whisper my poetry to her. I’d thank her for her bounty, praise her for her beauty, and then I suppose I’d not know what to do with myself any longer.” There was a loud snap as Panganeem ripped the mandible from the skull, bits of rotten flesh hanging off of it. Juttyu looked it over, “We still need to shorten it.” Ippino rolled his eyes, “I have tools back at my little hut, come with me. After we can discuss more about k’nights and what exactly you intend to do!” [hr] “There,” Ippino pushed the mandible -- now cut into two clubs -- across his table to the two k’nights. They sat in a squat hut filled with fish parts and stone tools, as well as several older canoes and a plush dry grass bed. Panganeem soaked it all in when he had arrived, but was now absorbed into his new bone club. “I think this is what Gralph had,” Panganeem smiled wide and looked to Juttyu who matched his smile. “So,” Ippino wiped bone dust from his table with an idle hand, “You’re hunters from Grottu, intent on becoming K’nights on the idea that if you do and strengthen the selka, you yourself will be strong enough to go out and find your daughter's killer.” Panganeem’s smiled faded, “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Ippino held up his hands and Panganeem shook his head, “I’m sorry.” “No,” Ippino shrugged, “I know what it is like to lose a loved one. Though he isn’t dead, somedays I feel like my son is already swimming in another life.” “You mentioned him earlier,” Juttyu pointed out. Panganeem nodded, “Yeah, so what has happened to the Hyummin?” “Five families,” Ippino sighed and crackled his knuckles, “The descendants of Lornun, Kilppundu, Korsachi, Punuphu, and Gorjapi.” He paused and tugged an old whisker, “I’m a son of Gorjapi and so is my own son. He thinks it is his duty to see the Gorjapi line rise to chieftain. The problem is, every family thinks the same about their line. Oh, we are great hunters, oh! We are the best fishers. Oh! We are warriors.” He shook his head, “When one makes a decree, the others do the opposite, when one family agrees with another, a thousand disagreements oppose them. When a family splits, even then they argue. We have no system, no chieftain. We are weak despite our size because we are divided.” “Then it is settled,” Panganeem’s fist thumped the table, causing the other two to jump. Juttyu looked at the hunter in earnest curiosity and Panganeem smiled wide, “We will unite the families and make the Hyummin as strong as they should be, so may be blessed Father Kirron and his k’nights.” Juttyu slammed his own fist in agreement, a crack creasing the edge of the table, “For Father Kirron and the Selka!” The two hunters gave a tiny “rryeah!” and the old fisherman shook his head, “If you intend to do this, you will need me. They will not listen to two strangers, not alone. I may be in exile of my own choosing, but I am known as old and frail as I may be.” “Very well,” Panganeem stood from his seat, a new energy filling his chest, “This shall be our first mark.” There was another, quieter “Ryyeaah!” [hider=Summary] Ippino, an old fisherman sings to his beloved sea, only to be interrupted by the vagabonds Panganeem and Juttyu The Giant. Turns out Ippino is a self exile from the largest of Selka tribes, the Hyummin. The Hyummin have been experiencing infighting among their five families and Panganeem and Juttyu declare that they will fix it. The quest begins. [/hider]