#Gerudo!Makani

[axewchao]

Decided to turn a couple of my OCs into Zelda races!

Why? Because I know for a fact that I can't just draw Dal n' Rev all day. One day I'll branch out, and that means I need more practice with everything else Hyrule has to offer =w=

'Specially the Zoras. Those damn fish... head... tail... things =_="

I'll be sticking their mini-bios under a readmore :3

Makani

A Gerudo journeying across Hyrule. Blessed with fire magic, she left Gerudo Town to learn how to properly control said power, mainly via fighting as many monsters as she can. She hopes to one day return to the desert and challenge the legendary Molduking. Has an affinity for baking, and has considered establishing her own bakery somewhere pleasant and pretty.

While Makani has a number of goals on her mind, one she struggles with revolves around her eventually finding a voe. She doesn't want to just... have a kid for the sake of adding to the next generation, then waltz off to continue pursuing her own desires like her mother did. She wants to find a husband and start a loving family, but still has dreams, and only has so much time to do either. Subconsciously, she feels like she's being rushed to pick one thing and stick with it forever, which stresses her out.

Dusty

A Goron traveling with Makani. He considers Makani his sworn sister because of the matching heart-shaped marks (okay Dusty's is a rock) on their necks. Like his name implies, he's known for leaving large trails of dust clouds whenever he rolls around. He uses this to his advantage when fighting monsters; blocking their vision with dust, then striking from behind. He can also use the spikes on his back to scale up various walls.

Dusty is particularly fond of crashing into things. Monsters, large rocks, ore deposits, you name it, he'll crash it. Like most other Gorons, he doesn't like the taste of gems, but still collects them to make easy rupees. After hearing about the powers each gem can hold, he's kept one of each type for himself, as he's now debating over whether he should just attach them to his weapons and call it a day or keep more and have them converted into jewelry later. That "diamond circlet" thing sounds pretty badass, after all...

Tuno

A young Zora that was found washed up on the shores of Hateno Beach by Symin some time prior to the events of BotW. Rather than let the child swim back out to the unknowns of the sea, Tuno was instead brought to the Domain, where he was taken in by Laflat. Much like Link, Tuno never says a word, but can communicate with other Zoras by wiggling his fins.

Tuno has abilities similar to that of a puffer fish, in that he can puff up his tail and raise a set of spines to stab/scare any would-be assailants or threats. However, unlike puffer fish, he isn't poisonous in any way. He rarely puffs up, both because he's difficult to scare, and because it looks embarrassingly silly. The one thing that does scare him, however, is Octoroks. It's possible that some kind of Octorok had terrified Tuno in the past, maybe even drove him away from the sea entirely.

Tuna

A Hylian boy who lives at the Woodland Stable. He's Tuno's best friend, and the two are as close as siblings. Tuna often wonders if it's possible for a person to turn into a Zora, and likes to daydream about what his "Zora form" would look like. Prefers playing with the horses rather than actually tending to them, and is often begging his parents to let him start his riding lessons.

For reasons unknown, Tuna is prone to falling ill on the night of a blood moon, often left bedridden by sunset. He's become a sort of alarm at the stable because of this, where if anyone is wondering when a blood moon will rise, they just check on him. If he's feeling dizzy, that means one's coming. He'll recover the following morning without fail, but this doesn't stop his parents and fish bro from worrying about him.

[rosezemlya]

Wow! The new chapter was so amazing! Thank you so much for writing! You are a wonder! I don't know if it was just introduced or if I never noticed it before but does the 'quis' have a direct translation or definition or is it more of a cultural/religious/something-like-that term?

Awww, thank you!  :D

The most direct translation given in the story itself so far is in Chapter 25, when Neesha and Hunter meet Anduriel for the first time:

"Mel varasin lodanan tol, Makani. Toln secre quis meln est."

I serve before you, Guardian, Zelda translates for me. Or I am your servant. Something like that. Your sacred quest is mine. Or oaths or mission or something. Quis has a lot of nuances.

Beyond that, the definitions provided in-text have been mostly contextual, rather than direct, but I’ve defined it in various places on here more explicitly.  

The word “quis” means quest or mission, like you see in “sen quis lodannan sen venan”.  The nuance of the word is super contextual - sort of like the word “job” in English.  When I refer to a “job”, I might be talking about a personal project, or a specific task, or a career path, or a professional position, or an archetypal category of work, or etc..  The word “quis” (lowercase) is like that.

When it’s capitalized - Quis - it refers to the Sheikah’s holy mission.  Their purpose (and their religion), which they generally believe was assigned to them by the Goddesses.  Their whole religion is founded on the defining and pursuit of the Quis. 

This is the “Quis” referred to in the names “Quisrol” (translated in-text as room of passage) and “Quisros” (rite of passage).  When a Sheikah completes their Quisros, they are accepted into the ranks of the Sheikah as full members (and adults), which means they are now sworn to the Quis - to pursue it and further it and live and breathe it.

The Quis is less specific than the Gerudo oath to “defend these lands”, but it comes from a similar place, spiritually.  It binds the Sheikah to Hyrule (the land, not the political entity) and the Goddess’ service.  To preserve it until the Goddesses return to the world to judge it.  The details vary generation to generation, but there’s generally an undercurrent of doing what they think they need to to help Hyrule pass that final test when the Goddesses DO come back to judge it.

Can’t remember when I last updated the Sheikah dictionary on here, so here are some of the words/phrases/nuances (including some phrases that were in drafts of TWR rather that LoZ RR, but it’s essentially the same language, so it counts):

Phrases:

[axewchao]

Sure, you could slide down a hill on a shield... but where's the fun in that?

Grab your nearest Goron bro and roll down into the fray like the maniac you are!! After all, who needs shields when you can roll? >:3c

[rosezemlya]

What do Hunter and Neesha think of the Master Sword and the fact that they spend so much time near one of the most storied and holy artifacts in Hyrule? I kind of feel like that'd be like hanging out with a friend who owns, and frequently uses, the Holy Grail. Has Link ever let Hunter or Neesha hold or use the Master Sword?

Neesha doesn’t care beyond low-key jealousy that Link has a magical sword and she doesn’t.  She’s pretty sure she deserves a magical sword more than he does.  But she’ll never say it, because that would be petty and also because Goddess forbid she admit that anything the Hylians care about is cool.  But beyond that it doesn’t have the same sort of cultural cachet that it would for the Sheikah or the Hylians or even the other main Hyrule races.  The Gerudo don’t worship the three Goddesses, they worship the Wind, which is different (they believe in the Holy Three and they respect Them, but they don’t worship Them because They left.  The Wind is still here.  The Wind is still showing up and doing the work.  And that’s what matters to the Gerudo).  The Hero isn’t a thing for them the way it is for the other nations, so the Master Sword is just a magical sword.  It’s no different for them than anything else in his pouch.

Hunter views the sword the way Catholics view Saints - it’s not the Goddesses, but it’s the next best thing.  For the Sheikah it’s a Makani, and therefore a living (sort of) embodiment of the Goddess’ Will and the Sheikan faith.  The Makani are the ideals to which the Sheikah are supposed to attempt to live up to.  That Link fails utterly to treat it with the respect it deserves bothered him in the early days - not least of which because there’s a part of him that was jealous of Link on so many levels (he got to live with Bruiser and Hunter didn’t, he got to be the Hero and Hunter didn’t, etc.) - but he let it go quick.  Link accepted him so quickly and so easily and so completely that it was hard to hold things against him, even for a heart as bitter as Hunter’s is capable of being, and ultimately Hunter was a devout kid and is a devout person and when the Hero chooses you personally to be not just a brother in arms but a literal brother, that’s big enough to take the sting out of things.

Also, for the sword specifically, there’s this thing Link will do with it, this way he has of looking at it and talking to it sometimes, that makes it clear he and the sword have an understanding of a sort.  There’s a relationship there, and if it’s not the one Hunter would have chosen to have, it’s mutual and built on clear respect and deep connection in all the ways that matter.  And ultimately Link is ALSO a Makani of a sort.  He’s allowed to treat it like that - no one else is, but he is, because he’s chosen.  (And also, though he’ll never admit it, it’s convenient for him that Link is as irreverent as he is about things because it lets Hunter also be a little irreverent, which lets him find a positive and healthy balance with his own faith and the requirements of his people and culture and to chart his own path within the context of the Quis).

In terms of holding it, Neesha’s been all up in that business.  She’s swung it around and tested it out and done various patterns with it.  It’s a beautiful sword and she’s a melee!nerd, so she’s definitely messed around with it.  In fact, a significant number of Gerudo have, though none of them have been allowed to use it in a fight - that’s for Link only.

Hunter’s held it once.  He didn’t ask, but Link saw him looking and handed it over to him.  It was a big deal for Hunter because he is a Goddesses!nerd, but it’s not something he’d want to do often.  For one thing, he feels like someone in the party should probably treat it with the respect and pomp and fuss it deserves, and the other two certainly aren’t going to.  So he treats it like the holy artifact it is (the HOLIEST artifact, in fact) and you don’t just go around touching those for no reason.  He’d tell the other Sheikah when they ask (and oh they ask), “It’s easier to handle if you think of him as, like, a really excitable horse that the sword is riding.  Who’s wielding who, you know?  I do.  It’s the sword.  The sword is wielding him.  Trust me, it’s better to think of it that way than the other way.”