Kopa Loei

*To fight sharks, you must breathe the water without drowning first.*

In the days before the pristine white sands of Waikiki were ever dimmed with the shadows of resort hotels or dirtied with the cigarette butts and garbage of millions of tourists, the land of Hawai’i and the far-flung islands of the Polynesian peoples belonged to the Kopa Loei. These wizard-priests, called kanakakahuna, used their Arts to bind themselves to the land and ensure its fertility through rituals meant to honor the native gods, preserving the balance between the natural world and the needs of the people. Some amongst them used their powers to navigate the vast expanses of the Pacific, connecting the islands and their people into one large extended family. Above all, the sacred laws of kapu ensured that the land thrived… and that the Kopa Loei retained their power.

When mages from the mainlands – now called ha’ole kahuna, or “chiefs of Those-Not-Us” –invited the Kopa Loei to join in their pale Council, they were politely rebuffed. What had the kahuna to fear from these Tupa Nui, the Great Builders from across the seas? Much more than they realized. Advance scouts from the Odyssean branch of the Daedalean Explorators sent back reports of rich paradises inhabited by (as they saw it) primitive savages. Using an age-old trick, these haka’uhane (“empty souls”) impersonated the Polynesian god, Lono, whose standard was a tall cross-pole hung with long banners of white cloth. The rest, as they say, is history

As with so many civilizations that got “civilized” by their invaders, the Polynesians and their cousins throughout the islands fell to disease, servitude, and cultural conquest. Old ways retreated before convenience and Christianity. Today’s Kopa Loei – what few of them remain – are no longer the kings and nobles of the past, nor are they the rulers and keepers of island life. Centuries of Technocratic rule have seen to that. However, those handfuls of kanakahuna and their kin who still live in the Hawai’ian archipelago have managed to keep a strong grasp upon the traditions and rituals that sustained them for centuries before the arrivals of the ha’oles (Those-NotUs, derived from a word meaning “those without breath”). Although the tourist and military trades have ravaged some of the most sacred and beautiful portions of the islands, modern Kopa Loei still manage to carve out places of their own, free from ha’ole developers and New Age tourists. There, they work to replenish and rebalance the mana, preserve the flora and wildlife, and create communities where kanaka – Sleeping and Awakened alike – can live as they did in the times before. Such communities, and the laws of kapu that govern them, are essential to the future of the people. As Ke aka nui (“the Great Shadows,” a.k.a. Nephandi) spread their poison across the world, the Kopa Loei, guided by the resurgence of their Kahuna-nui oracles and seers, prepare for battle… not only with the Tupa Nui usurpers, but with the Great Shadows whose shark-like hungers will end only with oblivion.

## Organization

Kopa Loei gather into loose collections of kadugos (groupings of blood-kin) with anywhere from two to 20 members in a given group. A kupuna (elder or mentor) teaches his or her keiki (child), and while these aren’t “official” titles, those terms are recognized as primary foundations of Kopa Loei hierarchy. Within the group, all kanaka receive respect. The Kopa Loei don’t acknowledge nonsense about “awakening”; certain kanakakahunas are simply more attuned and powerful than others are.

Kopa Loei follow three traditional specialities: the ali’i, wizard-priests who bond with the Land and specialize in Prime; the kahuna, mage-shamans who work with a variety of Arts; and the often-female he ho’okele moana (“wayfinders”), who navigate the open oceans and connect the various islands and underwater strongholds of the kanaka maoli. In the past, the ali’i commanded the greatest respect, with a system of religious rules (kapu) to maintain the fertility and prosperity of the land and to underscore the deference due to these leaders. Kahuna, also, were treated with reverence, and wayfinders (Awakened or not) occupied the lowest level of respect. These days, however, those he ho’okele moana command far more respect, thanks to their abilities to find unspoiled islands in the heavily exploited Pacific.

## Factions and Sects

### Kahuna

More independent sorcerers are called **Kahuna**, a word that's been sadly bastardized by surfer culture. Such mages work in many different Arts; although traditional kahunas specialize in one type of magic over all others (a Kahuna Ho'o-unauna, for example, summons malicious spirits), the last century has forced many kahunas to generalize their Arts for flexibility. As the Kahuna Ho'o-unauna example illustrates, these shamans and wizard-priests can be fairly ruthless and selfish, especially when angry. Whether a kahuna's magic heals, harms, divines, or destroys depends on the personality and goals of the mage themself.

### Wayfinders

**Wayfinders** are *maka'ainana*, common folk whose gifts allow them to do their jobs better. These people often utilize Hedge Magic rather than True Magic, although a few wayfinders do have Awakened Avatars. Such "intuitive folk" use subtle spells to help them dive or swim, navigate, fish, predict the future, or build. Like kahuna, a wayfinder's whim often dictates the uses to which they'll put their magics. While most ali'i and kahuna are men, wayfinders tend to be women. Although their talents are noted and respected, wayfinders aren't afforded the same reverence and fear that ali'i and kahuna receive, and they're as bound by kapu as any other common person.

## Initiation

Unlike other Traditions or Disparate groups, the Kopa Loei treat the initiation of their new ho’omaka as a private affair between each individual kupuna and keiki. Potential students and initiates are exclusively native islanders – no ha’oles allowed! – who’ve been selected through their participation in political events, islander social media, and recommendations by other members of their kadugo. Whatever her origins, a potential candidate must be able to sing her kanaenae (adulation prayer to the gods), proving her connections to the Polynesian people.

## Affinity Sphere

Kopa Loei don’t believe in spheres. Game-wise, their Sphere Traits depend on the things they do, not on training given by the group.

## Focus

Ho’omana flows through connection with nature, sacred intentions, and purity of self. For this reason, Kopa Loei do not, for any reason, use what they would consider unnatural or technological tools to work their magic. Creation’s Divine and Alive, split between Divine Order and Earthly Chaos. Careless, flashy magic disrupts and harms the balance of the natural pathways – kapuhuna – and it often angers the gods. In all things, balance with nature and blessings from the gods are essential.

## Glossary

Below is the Lexicon or Glossary of the Kopa Loei

* **Aina:** The Land, in both a mundane and sacred sense.
* **Akua:** Spirits, both good and evil.
* **Ana'ana:** Using Life magick to kill from a distance.
* **Aumakua:** Personal god, sometimes an avatar of a major deity and often associated with a given family. Also, the Avatar of a True Mage, seen in visions as a totemic figure.
* **Bayanihan Spirit:** The view of all Polynesians as one great extended family.
* **Ha'ole:** Anyone not a kanaka. Usually derogatory when used to refer to Caucasians. Also, a Tradition mage other than Dreamspeakers and some Verbena.
* **He'iau:** Temple of old Polynesian traditions. A platform of stone, sometimes with walls or a roof. Also a Chantry or Kopa Loei meeting place, usually with a Node.
* **Ho'o-komokomo:** Using Life magick to cause sickness.
* **Ho'okupu:** Awakening; literally "to sprout" or "grow," but used to mean a gift of Spirit.
* **Ho'o-piopio:** Working with Forces.
* **Ho'o-unauna:** Summoning akua lapu (evil spirits) to cause death and destruction.
* **Iwi:** Bones. A person's essence (or Resonance) remains in his iwi after death. Works as a Fetter for ghosts.
* **Kadugo:** Of the same blood; Kinfolk or kith. Also a term for "cabal".
* **Kahuna:** Priest, shaman, magickal worker. The type of magick is appended to the title; Kahuna Ho'o-piopio is Adept of Forces.
* **Kanaka:** A native Polynesian. Formally, kanaka ma of identification. Should not be used my non-natives, as it's assumed to be derogatory comes from ha'oles. Also moke.
* **Kahuna-nui:** Oracles. Very few are able to connect with their people since the downfall of the Kopa Loei.
* **Kapu:** forbidden, sacred, taboo. Equivalent in some uses to the Celtic geas, a stricture or forbidding. Also used in "Keep Out" signs.
* **Ke aka nui:** The Great Shadows, the Nephandi.
* **Keiki:** Literally "children"; initiates.
* **Kilokilo:** Divination using Time.
* **Kua'aha:** Altar, especially the stone altar of a He'iau.
* **Kuhikuhi pu'uone:** He'iau location and construction. Complex art using Prime to find Nodes, Matter to reinforce the building and Time and Spirit to find auspicious sites, materials and assistants.
* **Kupuna:** Elders, mentors. Teachers of the old ways, guiding new initiates from keiki to kahuna status. Also used for Mastery of a Sphere or style; Kupuna Lapa'au = Master of Life.
* **Lapa'au:** Healing with Life.
* **Luakini:** He'iau built for human sacrifice. Construction and use are illegal by current American law. Native sovereignty activists don't talk about it, but some want to make the luakini legal again as punishment for breaking kapu.
* **Malihini:** Literally "newcomers"; Tradition mages.
* **Mana:** Quintessence.
* **Mele:** Chants, specifically recitations of ancestry or events.
* **Menehune:** The Polynesian fae; the Kopa Loei consider themselves cousins of these kith, and many common folk consider them one and the same.
* **Moe'uhane'na:** People whose souls are asleep; Sleepers.
* **Mu:** Assistant to a kahuna; an acolyte or consor.
* **Nana-uli:** Weather forecasting, using Forces, Entropy, Time and Matter to sense winds, presence of clouds and probability of weather patterns.
* **Oneone-I-honua:** Representing people to the akua as a priest, using Spirit, Prime and/or True Faith.
* **Poi-uhane:** Using Spirit magick to contain and repel harmful spirits.
* **Puna'lua:** Sharing of mates; not restricted to those of opposite gender. Also, a slang term for sleeping around indiscriminately
* **Rokea:** Weresharks.
* **Tupua Nui:** Great Builders; the Technocracy.