Ghosts of the Islands
Scattered Hopes
The Dead remember. The Dead linger on, beyond the ken of mortal consciousness. Past the Shroud dwell the Restless Dead, wraiths and ghosts of fearsome disposition and unquenchable passions. They are the spirits of the deceased, locked into this world still for personal reasons and needs that must be fulfilled.
Scattered across the Hawai’ian islands are many wraiths. Some are ghosts of Westerners arrived since the 1600s. Others are the lingering spirits of maoli natives. All must cooperate to outlast the horrors of the Underworld and the constant pull of Oblivion. Yet few do. The Sea Which Knows No Sun offers few islands of sanctuary to so many Restless Dead, and the Shadowlands of Hawai’i contain only 300 such places (twice as many as the Skinlands do).
There are thousands of wraiths in the Hawai’ian islands and the two necropoli of Hilo and Honolulu. Many are faltering, dimly emoting folks -- people who lingered as wraiths, but their passions and fetters are only barely impressive. But there are several hundred wraiths who have a natural talent for the afterlife, who have passions and goals great enough to survive the pull of Oblivion. They are the leaders among this chaotic crowd of wraiths, and some even bear the honor of the Mangaia – wraithly crowns that grant a wraith ruling over one (or more) of these islands temporal and spiritual power (and responsibilities).
The Restless Dead of the Sea Which Knows No Sun do not belong to any wraithly empire. The empowerment and restriction of the Mangaia makes it difficult for ambitious chiefs to leave their islands to conquer others. But they are also scattered that neither the Kingdom of Iron nor Jade has been able to lay claim all of what the Polynesian Dead refer to as Ru’s Archipelago.
Skinlands
The Restless of Hawai’i have mixed relations with the Quick. Menehune, Kopa Loei, and other traditional mediums can appease the dead here. Otherwise, the Restless are cast out of the sunlit domain, and most wraiths are more focused on seeking a place to dwell in peace here in the Afterlife.
Shadowlands
The eight largest of the Hawai’ian islands are reflected in the Shadowlands with corresponding landmarks of antiquity, such as he’iau temples (which often serve as Haunts) and memorial cemeteries to ancient kings. Famous whaling ports often have a number of Haunts where more Western wraiths are likely to prefer. The jungles of these islands seem like wilted, dead places in the Shadowlands, but horrible beasts born from the Labyrinth often stalk these wild places, threatening what little space is available to the dead. On top of which, more deadly than the turbulence of the Tempest are the wraithly vents of the volcanoes dotted around the islands. The lava flows like sluggish black oil, and any wraith fool enough to touch it finds it is still as hot as ever (inflicting terrible aggravated wounds to the ghost’s Corpus).
Luckily, the two necropolis of Honolulu and Hilo provide good bulwarks against dangers, such as Typhoons (watery Maelstroms common to the region) and Maku, the shark-like Spectres that swim the waters surrounding the islands. The scores of atolls in the Skinlands are doubled in the Shadowlands, providing numerous oases for the dead to settle. Of course, it is never enough space, and conflicts precede any forced outrigging migrations of the dead to other, further atolls and isles of Ru’s Archipelago. All of Ru’s Archipelago, including Hawai’i, float upon the Sea Which Knows No Sun. Beneath its relatively calm waters, the Tempest boils and froths, eager to claim the dead for its own. These islands really are the last sanctuaries for the Restless Dead of Hawai’i.
Special Events
Special events are annual (or more frequent) holidays or special ritual days that the main group or groups observe as a whole community. Attendance and participation is often expected of all members, and sometimes required.
Appease the Gods
Cultural appropriation has long been a complaint of minority peoples by hegemonic ones. Hawai’i has endured this, too, in countless ways. Some have been shrugged off as unimportant (such as surfing). Others (such as the depiction of Hawai’ian religion) have been less tolerable. Unfortunately, ignoramuses in life are often ignoramuses in death. And yet, even ignorance can create or at least attract the existence of those delusions. The Maoli (ruling Hawai’ian dead) have noted that the ancient Hawai’ian gods were benevolent entities on countless occasion. This has not stopped the heresy of Luakunikeahi from sacrificing fellow wraiths to barrow-lava floes. This event is done after Makahiki ends on March 15th and the Maoli chiefs have been unable to stop it. Now, the Luakunikeahi are attracting the interest of the ha’ole ghosts. But what the Maoli do not realize is that the heresy has attracted the attention of a Malfean who is masquerading as the ancient Hawai’ian god of war, Ku, who demands appeasement.
“Navigate all the Sea Which Knows No Sun and you may come to understand that our island homes birth the roots of heavenly oneness.”
-- Olaikaika Kaimana, Chief of Kaua’i
