The Hana are the Commoner craftspeople of the Menehune, Fae of the South Pacific related to the Nunnehi.
Overview[]
Like Boggans or Nockers among the European Fae, the hana are the craftspeople of the Menehune. It is they who built the famous platforms, ditches, and he’iah scattered throughout the islands that so greatly puzzle archeologists. Despite their name, farmers and common fishers are also members of this calling, which makes up the most numerous of the Menehune. Their many crafts include not just structures, but canoes, cloaks, leis, weapons, etc.
Hana are always busy with some project, and they often work together in groups. One hana may have singing or poetry as their craft and will practice this while others work around them, providing musical accompaniment to the daily chores.
And there are many chores. The Menehune live a subsistence culture, and besides gathering their needs from the environment, they must spend time with humans who follow the old ways, teaching these humans not to forget.
The hana are the heart of the Menehune. Without them, chiefs, priests, and warriors would be useless. Why rule an empty village? Why propitiate the spirits when no one has angered them? Who is there to fight for without the hana?
But this fact is often forgotten by the other callings, and the hana must patiently remind them, usually through pranks. It is not against taboo to disassemble the high kahuna’s grass hut around them whole they sleep, nor to serve the chief bitter fruit. Likewise, when a warrior’s tunic rips too easily (and embarrassingly) or their surfboard cracks, tumbling them into the sea, it is not against any law.
Appearance[]
Not unlike boggans, hana are most often portly and short. They are a jolly people, content for the most part with their lot in life. They are social and work well together and with others, except for kokua, whom they often distrust. Most often, they can be found wearing traditional Hawai’ian clothing.
Seemings[]
- Keiki Iki are playful and curious, always picking up things and playing with them, trying to figure them out.
- Kanaka are dedicated and ready to throw themselves into any task at hand. During this time, hana choose one craft to specialize in.
- Kumu are masters of their chosen craft and are well regarded for it by all. They are ready to relax in this phase of life and tutor younger hana.
Lifestyles[]
Hana can be found wherever their craft takes them: searching the forests for materials, carving canoes on the shore, collecting flowers for leis, stoking up a fire for roasting pigs, or just about any other activity that makes up the life of a traditional Hawai’ian commoner.
Birthrights & Frailty[]
- Affinity: Prop
Birthright[]
- Craftwork: Similar to the boggan birthright. When hana work together they can build just about any structure in one night, as long as they are not witnessed by banal observers.
Frailty[]
- Abandonment: If for some reason a hana cannot finish their task in the time they declared at the start of the task, they will leave it uncompleted and never return to it. Any other hana who attempts to finish it risks suffering Banality.
Views of the Others[]
- Ali'i: Our chiefs are powerful people. They are charitable but we must not risk their wrath or harm their mana.
- Kahuna: The priests are scary. They break taboos and this may bring danger on us all.
- Kokua: They take their duty too pridefully. They are more dangerous than helpful.
- Kithain: They have many skilled craftspeople and artisans among their kind. There is much we could learn from them.
Known Hana[]
References[]
- CTD. Immortal Eyes: Shadows on the Hill. pp. 134-135.