Character History
Acair was born on Vanti island, his close family paying respect to Laviku and praying for an easy birth and a good season's fishing. The birth was relatively calm, Laviku be praised and the boy who would grow up to be Acair Oceansong spent a happy few days on the island, suckling on his mother's breast and staring at his cousins splashing about in the water.
The Oceansong Pod was experiencing something akin to a golden age. Many of their ships sailed as one across the Suvan Sea, collecting and dispensing stories across the land of the Svefra. The grandson of the current Lia, he wasn't given much attention due to his gender. His parents were quiet and caring, teaching him all that was needed to survive the Suvan Sea. Fishing and swimming were all mandatory lessons, each began before he could walk. When he learned to speak, they taught drilled him with memory games and told him stories, quizzing him afterwards.
These things became second nature to him as time went on, musical instruction came shortly after, for just knowing history wasn't enough, he also had to learn to dispense it. His mother gave him her first harp and instructed him on its use. On his twelfth birthday, his father taught him the basics of sailing, allowing him to spend a few hours a day piloting one of their ships by himself. A few years later, once he met Mau, his first Tavan, they gave him a ship. The first one that his father had sailed, The Mockingbird. She proved to be a tricky vessel to pilot, but as the years passed and the strength built up in his hands, he grew to be a worthy sailor for her.
They were easy years, with lazy sailing from one port to another, his father had a certain love for Riverfall and the Akalak people and they spent many seasons there singing songs and telling stories. Attempts were made to teach Acair Tukant but he didn't enjoy learning the language, finding it far too complicated to be of any use.
Times became difficult in 512 when the Djed storm rocked the Suvan sea. Acair's memory of the event is foggy, a result of the rampant magic in the air, ships and their crew were destroyed in moments, great beasts pulled themselves out of the water, swallowing screaming Svefra. Some kneeled on the deck as their ships capsized, praying to their Gods. By the end of the storm, only Acair, his uncle, mother, father and sister had survived. Was it Laviku's will? There was nobody to say. The next few days were spent mourning the dead, sending Avikki to other Pods to assess the damage. Acair's mother became the new Lia and with their remaining three ships, they continued their clan's journey, travelling across the Suvan sea and gathering stories. |