Silakara-Vuriwai-Ne-Ta

From gronkfinder

This individual's name uses the traditional Fanakaran method of naming. Their given name is Vuriwai, their family name is Silakara, and they have the honorific Ne-Ta, meaning "where authority rests".

Silakara-Vuriwai-Ne-Ta (pronounced see-lah-KAH-rah-voo-RIH-why-NEH-TAH) is the legendary founder of House Silakara and the first ruler of Rashareka.

There remains much unknown about the real Vuriwai due to Rashareka's intentional manipulation of the oral stories recounting his deeds. In their official narratives, Silakara-Vuriwai was a humble fisherman who livedin a coastal village on the Old Twins in the early ninth millennium. Every day after catching enough to feed his family he would make the trek up the nearest volcano, where he would then rest until after the sun went down, watching the lava flows emerge from the earth. This tradition he maintained for decades out of a respect and devotion to the volcano, the deific Beating Heart of the island. He never missed a single day on the mountain even as the volcano grew more active over the years, spewing forth molten rock closer and closer to where Vuriwai sat, then to either side of him - even still, he never wavered, hiking the same route to the same place day after day. Finally in Y8265* the day came when the pressure within the Heart could be restrained by the skin of the world no longer and the lava came forth explosively, sweeping down the slopes of the volcano towards the sea. The devastation was widespread and immediate as whole villages were swallowed - all nearby except for the one in which Vuriwai resided, where the lava flows seemed to bend away as if sparing it. The people were quick to realize the source of their salvation. Vuriwai was elevated to the role of their leader as the survivors elsewhere on the Old Twins flocked to him. Now known as Silakara-Vuriwai-Ne-Ta, the dynasty he established quickly set about rebuilding the islands, all in devotion to the Beating Heart.

In reality, while there was certainly a figure named Silakara-Vuriwai who led his dynasty and tribe to power on the Old Twins, most modern reconstructed oral histories instead make the claim that he was a minor warrior-king who took advantage of instability following a volcanic eruption to consolidate control of the archipelago.

Modern-day followers of the Beating Heart almost universally reject Silakara-Vuriwai's claim to direct divine guidance, and by extension the claims of his dynasty, or at least maintain that they held no greater status than any other blood-touched.