#katashaka

[scoldingdarjeeling]

What does your OCs name mean to you?

Tag game post and shameless advertisement for my incredibly skilled, talented artist and friend, Nick @quinthebard - you're tagged, btw! 🌟

Tempest “Genie” Eugenia Valourheart

As many of you already know.

But what I haven’t shared... is that for the past 300 years, her family has adopted conventional Faerûnian names to better navigate the political world of Baldur’s Gate. Their Katashakan names and heritage are closely guarded secrets, known only within the family. They conceal their origins to protect both themselves and the wider world from the entity lying dormant in their bloodline - a curse inherited from the ancestor who bound himself to an evil purpose and became the instrument of a civilisation’s downfall.

Tempest no longer uses Eugenia, the name given to her at birth. As a Sorceress Adept of the War Wizards, she was required to choose a new name during her proving - one that reflects her combat abilities while obscuring her identity from enemy eyes. The Cormyrian Royal Mages deliberately recruit those without strong family ties, shaping them into instruments wholly devoted to the cause and loyal to the throne.

Inyazi

Her Katashakan name, meaning “lightning” and inspired by the Xhosa & Zulu languages: Unyazi. It is a common practice for the Valourhearts to give their scions names associated with the sky.

Inhliziyo Yonyazi

And, authentic to D&D tradition, Tempest also has a true name - one never meant to be spoken aloud: Inhliziyo Yonyazi, meaning “Heart of Lightning” (Zulu/South African origin). If that doesn’t have destiny written all over it, I don’t know what does.

"Roro" inyoni yezulu

The storm entity dormant within her heart is called Roro, an Easter egg referencing Ororo Munroe. Roro is one of the divine inyoni yezulu (Xhosa/Zulu origins: "bird of the sky"). The storm eagles: rulers of the skies, also known in shamanic tradition as Children of the Sky Mother.

Thank you for tagging me, @saylofwaterdeep & @ceremorph0sis!

Open tags: @litsenn, @asorceresswrites, @babydinosaur930, @missfortunetherogue, @cursed-nyxan, @bhaal-battle-beer-bard, @goldbootsgirl, @woundedsoul12, @perpetualmaladaptivedaydream, @amorgansgal, @onlytavs, @toomanyfamiliars, @starlit-serpent, @lucretiouswept & @unovafarm

[scoldingdarjeeling]

From Tempest Journal - somewhere on the Trackless Sea, aboard the Jolly Mermaid 🧜🏾‍♀️

8th of Alturiak, 1492 DR I remember my brother's words about them, from the stories he used to tell me when I was a little girl. In the woodland realms of Faerûn, it is common for elven rangers to bond with giant eagles, but they are a far cry from their prehistoric cousins: storm eagles. They are a remnant of the old world, specialised in hunting whales, drakes, and mastodons. Isolated and unique to the ecosystem of Katashaka. They mate for life and make their nests at high altitudes, far from humanity and other predators foolish enough to raid them. Elminster once noted their elusive kind during his visit. And in the records kept in Candlekeep, they are catalogued as 'Fulminornis katashensis.' However, in our oral traditions, the elders refer to these titans by their true name: The Children of the Sky Mother.