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[h2]The Girl Who Loved the Sea[/h2]
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This beach was a sacred place.

This was where Ippino the prophet had been visited by Delphina.

This was where the skies had wept during Ippino's funeral, when his body was cast out to sea.

This was where a new shrine made of piled stones and Ippino's old boat had been built to Delphina, because this was clearly a sacred place.

This was where selka offered their fish bones to show their recognition of who had supplied the fish, as Ippino had taught them.

This was where selka would come to pray for bountiful catches of fish, and to admire the sunrise and moonrise over the great blue.

It was in this sacred place that Delphina had appeared again to her faithful followers, bringing knowledge of how to create new types of musical instruments such as flutes, rattles, and lyres, as well as the means to create them, spinning twine and drilling holes.

It was here that the selka of Hyummin and Grottu had gathered for their first concert, where they sung praises to Delphina.

It was here that musicians came to play their songs to Delphina, Kirron and Bobbo, to please each other and the gods, and in the hope that they might be worthy enough to be graced by a divine presence.

It was here, during a stormy day, that one particular selka played her lyre and sung gently in the rain.

As the rain pattered around her, Hujaya plucked at the strings of the instrument she had made herself, creating [url=https://youtu.be/02pg9V1ENL8]a gentle melody[/url]. As she played, she sung a song.

"There once was a man who lived by the sea.
He looked at the water and found beauty,
In light of the moon and blue of the sea,
That man sung 'Delphina how I love thee.'"

Wind stirred around her as she plucked another phrase from the lyre before singing the next verse.

"This man was cunning and did conspire,
To steal from the storm birds their mighty fire.
Thus a burning branch did he acquire,
And with it he sought out his desire.

"Fire burned until a tree no longer stood.
With stone he carved out the innards of wood.
It floated on the sea and this was good,
He would stay out there as long as he could."

As Hujaya came to the refrain, the rain seemed to ease around her, calmed by the music of her lyre.

"There once was a man who lived by the sea.
He looked at the water and found beauty,
In light of the moon and blue of the sea,
That man sung 'Delphina how I love thee.'"

She noticed mist forming nearby, twisting about in the wind. Yet she continued to play.

"One day this man met a mighty K'night,
And he joined his quest to make all things right.
His cunning saved them in the greatest fight,
For he loosed fire and set his foes alight.

"From then on the Hyummin did he advise,
All could see that this man was very wise.
Despite his fame he'd not yet found his prize,
Because only one woman had his eyes."

The mist had gotten closer, and she felt a chill as the damp wind caressed her skin, distracting her. Then she heard a voice like a gentle breeze, [colour=lightseagreen][i]'They like you.'[/i][/colour] So surprised was Hujaya that she briefly stopped playing and looked over her shoulder, trying to see where the voice had come from. The air about her seemed to stiffen, and the voice hastily commanded, [colour=lightseagreen][i]'Keep playing.'[/i][/colour] Quickly and with a hint of anxiety Hujaya strummed a chord and kept singing.

"There once was a man who lived by the sea.
He looked at the water and found beauty,
In light of the moon and blue of the sea,
That man sung 'Delphina how I love thee.'"

Hujaya began to wonder whether it had been Delphina who had spoken. The thought of Delphina listening made her heart quicken, and she did her best to focus on her performance.

"Then one day this man saw Delphina's face.
That meeting's memory none would erase.
This man taught all to love Delphina's grace,
Till Ippino joined the ocean's embrace.

"Now there is a girl who lives by the sea,
Taught by Ippino of ocean's beauty,
By touch of the wind and weather rainy,
I now sing 'Delphina how I love thee.'"

The last notes of her lyre hung in the air as Hujaya bowed deeply towards the ocean. Up from the water rose the form of a goddess with a watery burble. At an imperceptible motion from Delphina the strange winds around Hujaya shifted, returning to their gentle circular dance they had been performing before Hujaya had stopped playing and drawing the rain away from the selka.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]"From all the mortals I have heard, none have been as beautiful a singer as you,"[/b][/colour] Ashalla said.

Hujaya gasped and looked up at the goddess, bringing her hands up to cover her irrepressible grin. "I- You- Thank you!" she blurted, overwhelmed by emotions.

A tendril of water stretched out and brushed against Hujaya and her lyre. The tendril then lifted Hujaya's chin so that she looked at Ashalla's face. [colour=lightseagreen][b]"Such devotion and talent is rare in a mortal,"[/b][/colour] she said. Hujaya only beamed and trembled in excitement. Ashalla drew her tendril back.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]"Rise."[/b][/colour]

Hujaya clambered to her feet.

Ashalla gestured to beside the selka. [colour=lightseagreen][b]"What do you see?"[/b][/colour]

Hujaya looked to her right. "There is the beach, the rain, the-" she hesitated and scrunched her brow as she tried to find words for what she saw, "the wind and rain move and dance with a life of their own. These... spirits, they're..." She turned her head to the other side. "They're watching me." She wrapped her arms around herself and her lyre protectively, and she cast an anxious look at the two squalls circling her.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]"Play for them."[/b][/colour]

Hujaya looked back to Delphina and relaxed. Delphina would not let any harm come to her, not now. Hujaya took a breath and strummed a chord on her lyre. She felt the wind shift around her and she looked back at the squalls. She played another chord and watched them react.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]"They are squalls. They like music."[/b][/colour]

Hujaya smiled as she strung a few chords together and made the squalls dance with the music. She started to hum and the squalls moved differently. Then she started vocalising on top of the lyre's rhythm, and the squalls shifted their movements again. Hujaya watched the squalls as she improvised, observing how they responded to different notes, patterns and progressions. Yet it was not the technical details which controlled the squalls, but rather how the emotion and feeling of the music flowed.

Soon Hujaya had the squalls dancing around her, and she spun around with them. She picked up the tempo and the squalls spiralled faster. With a sudden crescendo she leaned forwards and one of the squalls pushed outwards, forcing a sharp gale against the beach and sending out a spray of sand. Hujaya sung a note which rapidly climbed in pitch, and the other squall tightened into a brief whirlwind and pulled a spray of water from the ocean high into the air.

Yet the wind around her was starting to get unstable, and Hujaya could sense that the squalls were getting too excited. So she slowed down the music, gently bringing the squalls away from a frenzy and into a more docile state. Melancholic notes wafted around them, prompting them to release a localised shower of rain heavier than what had already been falling. Hujaya turned down the melancholic tone, returning the rain to normal. She then transitioned into a lullaby, and the wind calmed to stillness at the gentle sound of her voice. With a final strum of her lyre, the squalls were gone.

Hujaya exhaled and flopped onto her back. The exertion of her performance had caught up to her.

[colour=lightseagreen][b]"To speak with the squalls like that is a powerful gift, one which I have granted you, and which you can grant to others,"[/b][/colour] said the voice of flowing waves. [colour=lightseagreen][b]"I taste potential in you, Hujaya. You will make an excellent Stormbard. Now go. Teach others as Ippino taught you. Show all my strength through you. And create beauty everywhere you go."[/b][/colour]

Hujaya stood back up and bowed to the goddess once more. "Yes, Delphina. I am eternally grateful. I will serve you with all of my heart and strength, Delphina."

She looked up to see Delphina sink back into the waves. When the goddess disappeared, the storm ceased and the clouds parted, letting Heliopolis' warming rays shine upon the selka. Hujaya stared in awe at the sea for another minute, until she turned around and ran back to her tribe, singing all the way.

[hider=The Ballad of Ippino]
The beach where Ippino met Delphina/Ashalla is a sacred place of worship. Ashalla appeared there more recently and passed on the knowledge of how to make drills, strings and musical instruments (only the string is new. The rest had been purchased for the Ubbo); possibly implied is that Ashalla has done this at numerous other places along the coast too.

One stormy day a selka named Hujaya is playing her lyre and singing a song about Ippino on that beach. She is visited by a couple of squalls and Ashalla herself. Hujaya is a stunningly talented musician and singer, and Ashalla says so. Hujaya is also a devotee of Delphina, taught by Ippino.

Ashalla shows Hujaya how to control squalls using music.

Ashalla exhorts her to teach as Ippino taught her, show Ashalla's strength, and create beauty. Thus, Hujaya becomes the first Stormbard.
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[hider=Might Summary]
[u]Ashalla[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 9 MP & 4 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] -1 FP to teach selka about string
-2 FP to form a Holy Order, the Stormbards.
0 MP (discounted by Storms) to grant the Stormbards the Title [i]'Squall Whisperers'[/i].
[i]End:[/i] 9 MP & 1 FP
[i]Portfolios:[/i] 7/10 Colour
10/10 Ice
5/10 Music
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