Inoli’s birth coincided with a sudden storm that would last for weeks. It had been a clear evening and Mother Moon blessed her parents with the birth of a strong child but as she began to wail with her first breath the shining moon was obscured by dark clouds and a storm thundered across the sky. With each shattering crack of thunder Inoli’s cries grew louder. The shamans debated the portents of the child’s birth and when the storm finally subsided they called her
Calls for Thunder for her wailing had outmatched the cracking of the sky.
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One evening Inoli lay on a hill telling the stories about Mother Moon. Around her, children from the village lay listening. The night was warm and the guiding beacon shone brightly. As they spoke clouds moved from the south and slowly covered the moon bringing their conversation to an end. She mused at the darkness and thought on the moon's dissapearance, when suddenly a fork of lightning snapped her back to the moment, the children were screaming in fright. It had struck so close, dazzling her for a moment. She bounced up, drawing her weapons to her. The warm night dropped in temperature and Inoli shivered, snarling at the incoming storm. She unleashed a furious howl at the storm, beckoned for the children to follow and bounded back to the tribe, racing across across the plateau with the youngsters in tow. Lightning bolts shattered the ground around her as she ran and she arrived home moments before the pelting rain. The children ran past her and were quickly ushered into the tents but Inoli was stopped by one of the wizened shaman.
The tribal elders had watched the storm roll in from the south; Thunder Speaker must follow the storm back to where it came from, and quieten the voice that called it forth.
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background notes to build upon
• Inoli is the warrior's common name, Calls for Thunder is her childhood name, Thunder Speaker is Inoli's coming-of-age name.
• Inoli trained amongst the best warriors in the tribe, learning to use everything at her disposal to gain an advantage in the fight. She was taught to use her thunderous voice to demoralize or infuriate her opponent and take advantage of their distractions to put them down quickly.
• Renamed Thunder Speaker because of her demoralizing shout
• Tattooed with Quah tattoos
• Family/tribal connections: family back at the tribe, no children of her own but tells stories to the young
• The Thunderspeaker has a shaved head like the warriors of her Quah.
• The parts of Inoli’s skin you can see are all tattooed with tribal markings from her Quah.
