The Kala'kai

Privateers, smugglers, traders, sailors.  The kala’kai could be described as an of these, often encompassing many or all such titles.  Never call a kala’kai a pirate or mercenary, though.  Despite their skirting of the law, the ray-like people believe actions should be undertaken by those who wish to have the action done, especially dirty work.  It is the selfishness of such jobs that offends the kala’kai, and while they have made business their purview, ever is it in the interest of all parties that deals are made.  The kala’kai excel at making compromise happen, in a profitable way.


Everybody Needs Something
If there is one thing that every Kala’kai understands, it is that everybody in Atlazan, in the world, desires something.  The Kala’kai make it their business to know where to get things.  If you want to buy or sell something a pailaka or kahuna will can provide you with the means to transfer those goods or knows someone who can.
Provided compensation, the Kala’kai will ship or smuggle anything as the ultimate middle man.  Many will not even question package contents.  Some will require knowledge of what they are shipping, and this can cause problems.  If there is one “fault” to these sailors, it is the fact that they refuse to be a part of something with which they disagree with on moral grounds.  “Dirty hands belong to those who wish to have a garden.”  The kala’kai remain uninvolved and believe involvement is an absolute as soon as one is aware of what he is doing.


Born To The Water
Few Kala’kai spend much time on land.  In fact, it is not uncommon to find guild halls or business housed on floating buildings within large ponds, naturally occurring or constructed by the owners, within a city.  Many Kala’kai are uncomfortable without the motion of the sea under their legs.  Profit or important personal journeys are guaranteed to be involved if you are found wandering on land.
“Land-legs” take some getting used to and even those who spend much of their lives on land have their hearts pulled by the sea.  They tend to linger in seaside towns, take baths when a lake is passed by, and purchase salted fishes whenever possible.  Additionally you will never find a terrestrial Kala’kai staying in one place for very long, preferring to keep moving.  When they must sleep a hammock is used with short sail-like hangings to allow the wind to rock them.


Weather Is King
Weather is incredibly important to the Kala’kai, unsurprising since their lives revolve around it.  Along the coasts winds and rains can come suddenly or with great warning.  Storms may look large and become small or the reverse may be true.  On the ocean, where Kala’kai ships transfer goods as far as distant continents this can prove quick and disastrous.
To these nautical people, weather is (quite literally) king.  Mo’i.  When told to travel safe or have a good day, Kala’kai will often answer with, “if Mo’i allows.”  The weather is treated as an entity capable of being angered or pleased with offerings and prayer.  The more religious members of various cultures have told them about their gods of nature, but the Kala’kai always laugh.  Just as winds foretell a storm or a droplet is but part of the hurricane, so to are these beings.  They are simply manifestations of the greater force that is weather, Mo’i.