NALAWI: LOCATIONS

[futurologists]

NALAWI click through for full-size NAVIGATION KOMO: RESIDENTIAL AREAS | THE INN | THE FOREST | THE LAVA TUNNELS | THE REEF | THE STRAIT | THE DEAD WALK PU'ULAI: THE TEMPLE | CITY HALL | THE MARKETPLACE | THE SPAS | TRANSPORTATION KOMO Recruits landed on the island named Komo. It’s one of the medium-sized islands, home to a full village and a few crops. It has three small volcanos, Kanu, Wahii, and Koki, all of which have gone dormant with the rest of Nalawi’s volcanos. It is currently separated from the nearest islands due to the choppy and dangerous strait between them. There used to be a ferry that would cross every hour, but its operator has recently lost her ability to power it. RESIDENTIAL AREAS Villagers live in buildings made from the material around them. Families without any construction-related Gifts within them build with palm wood and woven plants, or barter services from someone with a construction Gift. The houses built with powers tend to be incredibly varied, each one depending on the power that made it and the aesthetic taste of the user. Some of them are shaped from Gift-manipulated rock, creating very sturdy, contained dwellings. Some of them are made of living trees, bent into the shapes needed for shelter. Others are works of art, shaped of sand and then fired into glass, clouded for privacy. You can find a house made from any material found within Nalawi, all of them coexisting within the same space. Here and there are a few damaged homes, most of them abandoned and uninhabited. The damage to them is at least a decade old, and if asked about it, the villagers will just shrug and say it's nothing to worry about anymore. It’s worth noting that no house comes with running water in it. Bathing, as well as gathering water for the day’s drinks and cooking, is done in public water houses, where Water Runners keep the water supplied and ready. With the fading of Gifts, the remaining Water Runners are harried and overworked, and more are losing their functionality by the day. THE INN The Inn the recruits have been invited to stay in by the natives is called the Mali’ha, and is fashioned almost entirely of igneous stone. Each room is beautifully decorated, with shapes and designs carved straight into the stone, and comes with the basic amenities (sans sink or shower, of course, but there are public toilets just outside), although anyone over four feet tall might have to stoop to use them. The furniture is made of wicker, and liable to break under your weight if you’re not careful, but the beds at least seem sturdy enough. You might want to get used to your feet hanging off the edge, though. The innkeeper is an old brown stag, mostly white around the snout and half blind, who still has his Gift to pull beautiful shapes out of any material. These days he mainly uses it to build chess sets, and is happy to stop and chat with any recruit, particularly if they’ll play a game with him. THE FOREST A good third of Komo is coconut forest, coating the base of the three volcanoes and shifting into mangrove as it nears the shoreline. All manner of large colorful birds can be found here -- the locals will warn you to be careful, some of the birds are a little too big, and usually hungry, but what might be a threat to a 4 foot deer might not also be a threat to a human. Or so you’re free to hope. There are no large predators on this island, but you can still manage to get lost in the forest with too much wandering. The locals advise that you follow the sun when this happens, and you’ll be out of the forest one way or another eventually. THE LAVA TUNNELS There is an extensive tunnel system under the village, running from the nearest volcano to the shore. It’s obviously been carved out with someone’s Gift of Nalanni, and looks to be the work of several generations. These tunnels were until recently used to safely divert the flow of lava under the village and out into the sea beyond it, but now they stand empty and hollow. Children have taken to playing in them, although adults are skittish of stepping foot into any of them. THE REEF Just offshore is an enormous coral reef, even visible from the beach. It’s home to a menagerie of bright, colorful fish -- and a few sharks, too. This used to be where the people’s primary source of meat came from, as every morning those with the appropriate Gifts would scoop up the community’s haul. But with those powers faded, only very few fishers remain. The natives aren’t naturally swimmers, and while they do their best to swim out and net fish without the benefit of abilities, it’s been very difficult for them. THE STRAIT The nearest island to Komo is separated by about half a mile of choppy, rugged ocean, with sharp reefs that keep the waves always stirred up to a froth. The ferry that used to safely navigate the way on a schedule of every hour is currently out of commission, tied at the dock. Travel by canoe is possible, but not through the strait, and other routes are generally too long without a Gift to hurry them to be deemed worth the trip.There are still a few locals with the power to get to the next island by other means, but most of them are reluctant to make the trip, not knowing when their Gift might cut out, and very few of them can transport more than just themselves. THE DEAD WALK The graveyard of Komo is a bright and festive place, and families routinely have picnics and festivities there, to include family members that have gone on. Locals will warn you, however, not to be on the Dead Walk after the sun goes down. The Dead Walk is the path from the graveyard to the western shore. They say that the spirits of warriors who have fought and died for their homes still walk this route every night. If you see torchlight or hear drumbeats, this is a warrior party making its way to once again battle their enemies. Natives will instruct you to bow respectfully and not lift your eyes from the ground until the lights and sounds have faded off again. Glimpsing a warrior on the Dead Walk will spellbind whoever sees it until dawn. Or so they say. It’s probably just a myth, right? PU'ULAI This island is the largest, most central island. It houses the center of both their religion and politics, as you can find town hall and Nalanni’s largest temple here. The largest marketplace has also been set up here, although there are no residences on Pu’ulai, and it tends to become deserted at night. Many villages have sprung up on the small islands ringing Pu’ulai, and transit is still heavy between them even in the absence of Gifts. Here and there you might find damaged areas -- blackened rock, uprooted trees, shattered stones -- although the damage is old, and in most cases either mostly repaired or overgrown and obscured. THE TEMPLE The temple is usually called Nalanni’s Garden. It was built on the northeast edge of the island, nearest to the island that houses the volcano called Nalalona, which is where it’s said Nalanni lives. Or used to live, as some whisper. Nalalona used to spout steam and ash into the air on a daily basis, easily seen from the temple and viewed as a good, comforting sign, but it hasn’t stirred in months. Nalanni’s priests still work tirelessly to upkeep and maintain the temple, even as unease rises among them. The structure itself is built entirely of smooth obsidian, and sculpted into beautiful feats of architecture. The grounds are open for walking through, and you can find many gardens throughout the grounds, indoors or out, populated with the grandest, most colorful flowers that can be found on the islands. There are carvings and sculptures of Nalanni in every motif; she is generally depicted as an enormous woman made of stone and fire, with arms spread in welcome. There are murals closer to the center of the temple, where they will be more protected from the elements. These show the history of the Nalawi people, from their creation myth (born of a volcano and given life by the breath of Nalanni) to their discovery of their Gifts. Many of them also involve warfare, depicting the small deer-people being terrorized by another species, large and cat-like. Here and there are scenes of triumph, as the Nalawi people unite under a strong leader or ability and fight back against their aggressors. These wordless stories show almost endless terror at the hands of the cat-creatures, until the cat-creatures discovered that Nalanni was the source of the Nalawi’s Gifts, and attacked Nalalona itself in their greed to get these Gifts for themselves. Then Nalanni herself rises from the volcano in the fury of a tropical storm and rains destruction down upon the home of their enemies, leaving nothing behind. There have only been a few murals added since then, mainly depicting thankfulness for good lives and bountiful harvests under Nalanni’s guidance. CITY HALL This is where the Council lives and works, and many parts of it are open to the public. The Council are the leaders of Nalawi, and the only proper residents of Pu’ulai. Recently the ten of them have been in nonstop meetings and conferences as they discuss the rising crisis of fading Gifts. By the sound of things, they have yet to come up with any viable solutions. Any local can explain to the curious that the Council is made up of those with the strongest Gifts, and each of the ten of them are widely admired and respected by the people. Any time one dies or steps down, a nationwide contest is held to find a replacement -- they’ll explain that doesn’t mean just fighting, although that is part of it, it’s whoever uses their Gift best to complete the tasks. This, they explain, leads to powerful and clever leaders, whom all can agree are the best fit. If the current Council have lost any of their Gifts, and some citizens are beginning to speculate on that front, they’re doing their best to keep it a secret. THE MARKETPLACE The Marketplace’s usually bustling activity has begun to dwindle. With the recent trouble with crops and fishing, there’s little surplus food to be sold there. Even crafts and clothes were generally made with the assistance of powers, and none of the colorful, flamboyant belongings that can be seen throughout Nalawi are for sale in the Marketplace right now. You may find the duller handmade versions, which will do in a pinch, but there’s no question that the life here has dulled. THE SPAS Spas are incredibly common through Nalawi, with several of them built in and around each volcano. However, they have all gone out of commission as the volcanoes under them went dormant, and the powers used to man them faded. These luxurious buildings are now closed up, some with employees still sitting wistfully around outside, hoping that today might be the day the spa’s volcano awakes. TRANSPORTATION If you’re lucky, you might still find an operational ferry. These are large, flat bottom boats, usually propelled by someone with water or wind control. They can take many people and belongings in one crossing, and are used for interisland transport. Most of these ferries are permanently docked as their operators lose their Gifts, though. Most families still have canoes, although many families relied entirely on a family member’s power for locomotion, and now are left to hope for the generosity of neighbors to get them from island to island. Very few of the natives swim without the assistance of a Gift, and while some of the islands are close enough together with shallow enough water to walk between, depending on the tide, it’s seen as quite dangerous. Between the sharks and the waves, it’s really better just to stay home.