Norinar

So there is Norinar's mythic history and Norinar's history as a person. These are similar things but not the same things. Much of Norinar's personal history has been lost to time, as the nuance and quirks of the man have been polished away to make room for the legend.    Norinar was only four years old when the great colonial fleet arrived in 690 ME. This Samvaran fleet, led by Selkie warlord Nualoa, began the Plundering of Zeshema in earnest by fire and sword. This fleet set to work raiding, conquering, enslaving, and exploiting the local peoples of the Greater Zeshem Region to transform it into a Samvaran colony and selkie march kingdom. Ecosystems were disrupted by invasive species and rapid deforestation. These changes disrupted Zeshem foraging-agricultural economies and led to heightened infighting and famine. Famine created the ideal conditions for plague, and the colonial influx and trade opened the door to new epidemics with low local immunity. Massive populations died and the disrupted local communities were vulnerable to slavery and exploitation. But the people of the Zeshem riverlands fought back.    Norinar's clan, the Ostrozek, lived along the Sumijo river (supposedly where the Zeshem capital of Kozmio now stands, though that is debated) and were initially insulated from the worst of the violence occuring further North and along the coasts. The rivers sustained his people with catfish and yams and mangos even as the more arid regions destabilized. But the shadows of war and plague still struck his village. By age 12, Norinar's father had died of illness and the Ostrozek's warrior-cult had opened to include younger men. Norinar eagerly joined to protect his younger siblings and mother and to win assurances that his father would be cared for in the afterlife. He fought against the neighboring clans and quickly proved to be a capable fighter - even a leader. After some years of this as a young teenager, Norinar withdrew and sought to train as a healer. He had become disillusioned after war and fighting had failed to secure health and prosperity for his family, so he turned to the divine for answers.   Norinar learned the healing arts but left the Ostrozek lands after his mother and sister - his two closest friends in the world - died of a passing sickness. He ventured into the world seeking more powerful medicine and answers to his great questions. He fought bandits, warriors, and petty monsters as he traveled to the coast and then into the Gluttonmaw-infested mountains. He learned the healing arts of many peoples. His stoic certainty and skill in both war and healing attracted followers of many clans who spread his legend as they traveled.    Legend claims that Norinar and his band first waged war on a Leviathan that had begun preying on Southern coastal fishing boats and villages before they turned their attention to the selkies. There seems to be some truth in this, but it is unlikely that the mythic account of his single-handedly slaying the great monster is true. Regardless, Norinar's united forces were able to wound, beach, and finally kill the monster with the help of many allies. A great feast was held - supposedly at the riverside that is now the city of Polikitza - on the Leviathan's extra-nutritious meat. This feast attracted mercenaries, merchants, priests, warriors, and young wanderers from clans across the region. And at this feast Norinar rallied the people to hold their unity against a new foe: the selkie colonizers.   This war took many years, but seriously escalated when Norinar was able to rally the Northern tribes to a great victory over the Samvarans in 717 ME. Norinar, now in his thirties, had come to the conclusion on his travels that the people must be united and that any outsiders who came to take their land must be cast out. In 720 ME, three years into Norinar's devastating invasion of the selkie colonies, Norinar was sold out and betrayed by one of his dissatisfied and ambitious companions who felt that the great leader was leading the coalition into disaster through over-confidence and an unwillingness to negotiate.    Shot with a poisoned arrow and dying in the arms of the man who betrayed him, Norinar was left to drift river to wash out to sea. But he did not die.  Norinar cast a great wish - to return as a creature of vengeance with the knowledge to heal his people - and he called upon the Tragedy Magic his mother had taught him. The Masked One Automata came to the dying man and spoke with him; it had been closely watching and was prepared to make Norinar a Ghost. As the magic set hold, the Automata told Norinar many secrets of the universe. What happened next is unclear. Perhaps the prophet became a ghost, but was given magical enhancements. Perhaps his wish simply gave him unnatural abilities as the Automata interpreted his wish very generously. Or perhaps the Automata figured out some way to use its heightened influence in that moment to work outside of its pre-ordained ruleset. Or maybe Norinar became a warlock of that strange creature.   Whatever happened, Norinar emerged alive and with unusual magic. He returned and spoke of his death and rebirth by the Masked One - who he said was Alima, the nebulous water-bound force of creative power revered by many clans in the region. He taught people his secret ways and began wearing a mask whenever he acted in an official capacity as a leader: a stoic mask when preaching, a frightening mask when warring. He did this for twenty-five years, organizing and preaching and resisting selkie colonial rule. He finally died from a long-term injury complication in 745 ME. As he did, he promised his followers that Alima would find a new leader to continue the struggle and that the people would one day be united as one. With that, his body failed. His masks vanished after his death.   There were many reports of Norinar after his physical death. A mysterious warrior wearing his war-mask was said to haunt the waterways at night, slaying invaders. Some reported a mysterious healer caring for the sick wearing his priest-mask at dusk. Perhaps this was his ghost, or an imitator, or the Masked One's machinations. Over the centuries, sightings stopped. No one seems to know why, even Lunar Gods, which has added to the mystique of the old prophet.