Panambay (paˈnambai)

Panambay is a medium-sized island located just southeast of Lahat. When the Mekongga were forced to abandon Lampuato over a century and a half ago, most of the survivors relocated here. The island had previously been used only by the itinerant Tau Dilaut villages, who were willing to cede it to the bedraggled refugees of Lampuato's catastrophe.

The Mekongga soon found, however, that Panambay was far too small for their needs. Even as a fraction of Lampuato's former population, they were still too numerous to inhabit an island barely one-fifteenth the size. Instead, Panambay became a place for the Mekongga to pause, regroup, and rebuild after their great upheaval. It was here that the foundations of the present-day Kingdom of Lahat were laid.

After less than three years on Panambay, the Mekongga launched their invasion of Lahat, seizing vast swathes of territory from the decentralized Tau Tanah and slaughtering all who resisted. Today, Panambay forms part of the Kingdom of Lahat, which has fortified the island and uses it as the central base of its naval forces. These are headquartered in the city of Pelabuhan Kapuri on the eastern coast, where a natural harbor is framed by white chalk cliffs.

Notable Spirits

The gods of Panambay reflect a mixture of Tau Dilaut, Tau Tanah, and Mekongga influences. The most prominent are the Lamatua - a pair of deities who divide the island between them. In the east is Naika, the lord of sunrise, while the west is ruled by Turuna, the lady of sunset. These two gods are said to be largely indifferent to mortal concerns, spending their time engaged in a continual dance - each leading when their portion of the day is ascendant, then sleeping in each other's arms through the night.

Tau Dilaut stories of the Lamatua were primarily concerned with avoiding their attention, while the Mekongga have embraced them as gods of natural order and Kosalo. They maintain shrines to both, though they do not expect their prayers to be answered; the Lamatua are revered as symbols of a world functioning as it should. In Mekongga Folk Magic, the dance of the Lamatua is echoed in one of the many rituals meant to reinforce the divine order of the universe. It is performed four times a year by trained groups of dancers representing the two gods, as part of the Kingdom's efforts to stabilize Kosalo after the Lampuato catastrophe and the conquest of Lahat.