Childhood

Ma’likka was born as the third child to a typical family in what is known among the U’tu as Jungle Center Tribe. She was a precocious and adventurous young girl, which is what lead her into trouble and the event which would foreshadow the tribulations she was to endure years later.

At the ripe age of three, young Ma’likka was playing in the village by herself when she caught sight of a small flying squirrel up in the canopy. Having watched her much beloved older brother hunt before, and looking to follow in his steps, she picked up one of the branches she had been playing with and stalked after the creature.

Being of course very young and not yet quite mastering the art of stealth, the flying squirrel took off, and she tried to pursue it, straying farther and farther from the village. Soon after, she lost sight of her prey, but so too had she lost sight of the village.

Her mother then took notice of the girl’s absence, and in desperation the rest of the tribe began combing the area around the village looking for the toddler to no avail. A day passed. Then two. Ma’likka’s family, and the rest of the tribe gave her up for lost. The Jungle was far too dangerous for a young child, and there was no way she could’ve survived that long on her own.

As luck, or perhaps fate, would have it, shortly after Ma’likka gave up looking for the village and huddled pitifully on a branch trying to muffle her terrified sobs, a small troop of capuchin monkeys came upon the lost child. One of the females, just having given birth herself, climbed down to the lost child and began stroking her head and chittering softly as the rest of the troop came closer, now curious of this new creature.

Her cries ended, and Ma’likka took comfort from the presence of the troop, and fell asleep soon after. For the next day and a half, she followed the capuchin, and they in turn brought her food, and looked after the small child who had now bonded with the female’s young baby.

It was almost dark at the end of the second day, when a ripple of excitement passed through the troop, and soon Ma’likka and the capuchin found themselves in the presence of a very surprised U’tu scout. With joy, he scooped up the child and carried her back to the village with the troop of monkeys close behind, and the village rejoiced to have the lost girl returned to them safe.

It was at this point that the village Wise Man declared that the girl was Far Traveler, the Monkey Blessed, and the event foretold of a great calling and journey ahead. The girl earned her first tattoo that day of a monkey paw over her heart, and the troop decided to stay with the village afterwards. It was from this troop that Ma’likka found her forever animal companion Bah’tu.

As Ma’likka grew, she studied and trained relentlessly under the watch of her brother Ki’llek, her father, and the other hunters in the ways of the U’tu Hunter, and developed a talent for stealth, speed, and dexterity through the trees. The death of her brother spurred her on even harder, and when she passed the Trials of Adulthood at sixteen, Ma’likka left the tribe to find her destiny.

For the next two years she skirted the border villages, learning their language and trying to get a grasp of their customs with faithful Bah’tu at her side, and when the time came for her destiny to take hold, Magic took her to begin her journey to Talara …