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TANE KAITANGATA / 176 YEARS OLD / HUNTER/TRADER/HEALER / FERNCOMBE

FULL NAME:

Tane Mahuta Kaitangata

BIRTHDAY:

29 May 1840

SPECIES:

Faerie - Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi

AREA OF RESIDENCE:

Ferncombe, in an impossibly old cabin just a few steps into the forest. It is within a line of sight to Tallulah Saxton’s cabin, but there is enough distance between the two to offer privacy.

OCCUPATION:

Tane is self-employed, and makes a living selling or trading food and other goods that he hunts, gathers, or grows at his home on the edge of the forest. He’s also something of a healer and apothecary, using a combination of his own magic and tinctures made from wild plants to treat sickness and injury. He trusts only himself to do this work as many others who set foot in the forest tend to disrespect the rules of his people.

BIOGRAPHY:

It was 1840 when a few (misguided) Maori tribes signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a part of the British Empire and opening the door to colonists who had previously been poking around the island, upsetting the faeries and other native races. Chief among the opposition to this new agreement were Tane’s own parents, a pair of fierce and ancient Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi that were known for their rather savage tactics of chasing off colonists and other humans from their sacred forest. Years earlier, they had enthusiastically participated in an incident against European sailors of the ship Boyd, in which 60 or 70 colonists were killed and eaten. And since then, they had been known to all as the Kaitangatas, the man-eaters, a name which they also bestowed upon their only son, born not long after the signing of the Treaty in 1840.

Tane was raised as a fearsome warrior, bound to protect their sacred forest and kill on sight any foolish colonist that dared set foot inside. And for a while, he knew no better. He and his parents guarded their territory for years alongside many other Te-Tini. And while they weren’t in the regular practice of eating people, their notorious surname reminded colonists and other supernaturals alike that they were not to be trifled with. But the colonists continued to come, and in larger and larger numbers. His parents continued to violently oppose the efforts of the colonists, fighting against them in the New Zealand Wars from about 1845 until their deaths in 1864. Tane was still relatively young when it happened, and he was on the battlefield with them when they were killed by musket fire from a line of European troops. Being pretty gravely injured himself, he chose to retreat to the forest among a group of other Te-Tini, who then tended to each other’s wounds. He still bears scars from this battle.

It was in this group that he found a sort of second family, a resolute community of fighters determined to drive the Europeans out by any means necessary. But from them he also learned of kindness, gentleness, and mercy. He developed his healing abilities, defended those too weak to fight, supported orphans and others who could not easily fight or gather food for themselves, and he found that he was much happier. Even with the encroaching threat of the colonists, he found peace in communion with his fellow Te-Tini, and even some other supernatural creatures that they worked with. He became extremely warm in this period, and the blood soaked into his name, Kaitangata, began to steep away into the surrounding waters. Eventually, the colonists won. And countless numbers of his kin, both Te-Tini and otherwise, had fallen under their oppressive fists. But rather than continue to fight a losing battle, Tane decided to defend what was most important to him- the forest. For years, he lived in the house of his family just at the edge of it. He watched the colonists, and chased away anyone who came too near. The particularly troublesome ones he disposed of, when he had to. But Tane was no longer a man who went out seeking blood. His time communing with other faeries, especially his own people, had attuned him to the abundant nurturing and healing energies of his forest. And he wanted to do right by his land- to be a caretake rather than just a soldier. To sow good seeds, encourage the growth of strong trees, and pull out the suffocating weeds when they threatened to choke out that natural beauty and abundance of his forest.

After a time, Tane found himself more or less alone after many of his treasured second family of Te-Tini were killed or scared away in other skirmishes. But all the while he remained in his house in the forest, a vigilant guard to her safekeeping. As the years passed, he grew more understanding, more adaptive to the new world as it grew. Humans continued to come (for they couldn’t be called colonists anymore, that time had long passed), and while he could never truly accept or trust them he did reach a kind of understanding with them. Many he would guide through the woods if they were ever lost, making sure that they followed the sacred rules of his people, and of the forest herself. He trapped game for them, and told them which plants to eat, and made them medicines; and in this way, he grew to be tolerant of them. He still prefers the company of any other supernatural creature to that of a human, reasoning that even the darkest and foulest among them at least have natural claim to the land. But he is Tane the Man-Eater no more.

In early 1960, Tane came across a Mataku girl gravely injured in his woods. He had felt her, bleeding into the moss and the fingerling streams of the forest, and had felt a stirring need to find her, which he did just in time to prevent her death. With his healing magic, he stopped her bleeding and closed her grievous wounds; and he carried her back to his own home to look after her. She slept for what seemed like ages, and he studied her. Already, he could feel the Greyness of her seeping into her skin like cold water, chilling her. He wasn’t certain she would ever be warm again, and for this reason he pitied her. He could see her slow march towards Blackness playing out before him already, and he knew the fate of those who ventured too far. But he was surprised to find when she awoke that there was a brightness to her still. She reminded him of dappled sunlight streaming through the trees of his forest, playing on the water of shallow creeks, dancing in his eyes. She loved the forest almost as much as he did, and as she took her time recovering, he began to fall in love with her. She never spoke of the attack that left her near death in his forest, and in fact whenever the subject was approached she became cold and sad again, all light and mirth gone from her, like a flower wilting. He quickly learned to avoid the subject. He taught her everything he knew, as these things were taught to him by his own tribe- how to hunt and forage, how to mix medicines, how to hide and defend herself when she needed to. She wanted to learn everything. And that was how he came to understand her inevitable approach to Blackness. There was nothing she didn’t want to learn, even when it came to the magics of forbidden elements. And although it frightened him to watch, his love for her stayed his hand and his tongue on the subject.

They were together for years, but she didn’t respond to his feelings for her until their very last together. It was early 1969 when they finally made love for the first time, and he promised to guard her forever, as fiercely as he defended his forest. Whatever had come after her before, he said, stood no chance against him, or his love for her. He had mistaken the dark sadness in her eyes then for something else, had assumed it was her memories hurting her, and not his words. But for whatever reason, she was gone only months later, without a word. It ruined him at first. He went looking for her in the woods, and even returned to the place he had found her, where all manner of flowers had sprung up from the hollow her body had made on the forest floor all those years ago… But he did not find her, and eventually a day came to pass when he realized if he kept looking for her, he would never stop looking. And he had no way of knowing if she even wanted to be found by him, or if he would even like what he found of her. So, he returned to his cabin and mended his broken heart the only way he could, by living as if nothing had changed.

But the forest and his people would always need defending. More recently, there was a young Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi couple he had known since they were themselves babes, who had a child and moved into a house close to his own at the edge of the forest. They were a joy to watch and to be close to, and he often communed with them as he did his people many years ago in the midst of war. They were special to him as any close family member would be… and then all of a sudden their lives were snuffed out in one awful night; their child left parentless. Tane had gone to the Elder Council himself and asked if he could have her, raise her close to her parents’ home and in the ways of the oldest Te-Tini. But, for whatever reason, he was denied. One Elder in particular told him that Suppression was the way they had always done things, and that it was how they would continue to be done. And this Elder himself came to collect the child, Suppressed her, and sent her off to a family in Australia in need of a daughter. Tane was devastated by this development, but he agreed to keep watch over her family’s house in the hope that she would one day return to it, and to her legacy, which he was determined to teach her. As it turned out, he didn’t have to wait too long, at least not by his standards…

When Tallulah Saxton first returned to Echo Valley, Tane at first thought he was imagining things. But his heart and his Te-Tini blood told him otherwise. She had found her way back somehow, despite knowing nothing of this place or her real family. He was so overjoyed, he had to stop himself from going to her immediately and telling her everything. But as old as he was he knew that these things could not be forced. So, since then, he has been biding his time, waiting for her to come to him, or for a more appropriate time to approach her. He can’t wait to share everything he knows with her, and make her a Te-Tini of his ilk; strong, fearsome, and protective of their forest, and yet also merciful to the weak and injured, and nurturing of all growing things.

PERSONALITY:

There is a part of Tane still deeply rooted in the old ways of his tribe. The Te-Tini have always been known as proud and fearsome defenders of their sacred forest, and it is no different with him. He carries with him every day the legacy of blood his parents fought so hard for. And while he is no longer a vicious man himself, he certainly can be made that way again. He has grown sympathetic to travelers and other foolish humans who mistakenly wander into the woods, but those who disrespect or desecrate his home will see little mercy. These days, he tends to give people the benefit of the doubt- he will help anyone he comes across that is in need of it, but the moment their behavior turns sour he has no trouble punishing them in whatever way he sees fit. He has burned and blinded those who refused to respect the ancient ways, and some he has even killed. But this he saves for the most offensive among them, and he uses their bodies to feed the forest they insulted. He can be easy to anger, but as he has fashioned himself into a kind of mentor for others, he tries to be patient and understanding, especially to other supernaturals he shares this island with as a rightful inhabitant. He has the least patience for humans, and he isn’t afraid to show it.

In general, he speaks little or not at all to humans, and in a gruff voice when he absolutely must. He’s known in town among the humans he trades with as a sort of an old curmudgeon (they don’t know just how old he is of course), perhaps a bit crazy, and a wild man- he doesn’t rely on any modern technologies, and for the most part he doesn’t need or want them. He’s content to live undisturbed in his little cabin on the edge of the forest. To other faeries, especially Te-Tini, he is warm and welcoming. His gruff voice booms with mirth, and he often cooks for guests, which he greatly enjoys. He could likely cook in a restaurant if he had a mind to, but he prefers the more intimate company of his own family, in his own home. His food is quite good, and he would never disrespect the plants and animals sacrificed to make it by tainting the meal with any unworthy ingredients, or poisons. This makes his food some of the safest to accept from a stranger, likely on the entire island. Even unwelcome guests or humans recovered from the forest may wake up to the delectable, savory smells of his food on their doorstep, or at the side of their bed if they’re recovering in his house. He understands that people need food, and he does his best to provide it so that others won’t disrespect his forest by going about getting it in the wrong way.

Unlike many other faeries, Tane doesn’t mind the presence or company of other supernaturals. Having once loved a Mataku girl, he bears no ill will towards them, although he does of course avoid dealing with the Black ones if he can. He prefers the company of Merfolk and Selkies to Sirens or Kelpies, but will aid or commune with any of them, as he considers them as much a part of this land as his own people. He gets along with any kind of faerie, but prefers the company of his own people the Te-Tini, above all else. He quite enjoys interacting with the Patupaiarehe, the Air folk, but sometimes doesn’t get along well with the Pakepakeha and the Ponaturi. Still, he makes an effort to commune with any and all that need his help, even people he doesn’t like personally. He’s the type of man who will grumble and complain about how stupid you were to break your arm, all the while mending it for you with no expectation of gratitude or recompense.

And due to his age, he tends not to take what the Elder Council has to say too seriously. He knows the rules, and he follows them, for the most part- he doesn’t expose his magic or his true nature to humans, he protects his forest, he deals with other supernaturals politely and helps them when they require it. For all else, he expects to be left alone and not have his business meddled in. He may still harbor some resentment towards them for Suppressing that Te-Tini girl all those years ago… but she’s back now, and he’s going to make the most of her return to empower not only her, but their people at large. He wants to see the land return to the Fair Folk who were always meant to rule it. Right now, he can live peacefully with the humans, but the glory of those old days his parents fought for still glows deep inside him, and he wants more than anything to do right by them, and by his tribe, the Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi.

FACE CLAIM: MANU BENNETT ✗ MUN: Regina Mae, EST,26, She/Her

#Manu Bennett #Faerie #inhabitant #Te Tini O Hakuturi #Male #Ferncombe #Tane Kaitangata #Member

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