Takamal

Takamal, The Shaman, was an unaffiliated character played by Bwh. He was used only once in an official Active Character capacity, during the Mages' Regal campaign, in a subadventure with Vohr Kethon.

Description
Takamal was a member of the Order of the Yellow Rose, a group of monks who worship Ilmater. He was 39 years old, and had been in more places than his blank, unassuming stare would leave one to believe.

As a hunter and tracker, Takamal generally wore clothes which would blend easily with the surrounding environment. He preferred natural adornments to jewelry. Several tattoos, the significance of which is unknown, were etched into his skin; they are believed to have been unmagical.

Personality
Takamal was best described as reticent. When assisting others, his mellifluous voice was stern and blunt; when not, he was as silent as a summer wind over short grass. Due to a long and brutal history, most of society's little conflicts seemed pointless to him; ergo, he spent as much time outside of cities as possible.

Maztica
The child Tacal was born into Kultuka City many moons ago (in what we would call 1337 DR). Like many of the Maztican peoples, and the Kultukans in specific, he was strong and fast and quick-minded. Within his village, he was a star player of The Ball Game, a cultural oddity unknown within the boundaries of Faerun.

Names have power, however, and much like his namesake, he cast aside that which he held most dear for a woman. Unlike Aliah, this Xetarra was cruel and malicious in her dealings with the child. She told the fifteen-year-old boy that, if he were to bring back a Feather from the plumage of Qotal, she would consent to his love.

Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. Tacal left his village behind and undertook the behemoth task of sailing the Trackless Sea, in search of the Plumed Dragon. Instead, he found an Amnian trade-ship. Or, more accurately, they found him – near death, half-crazed from starvation and sea-sickness.

Amn
In Athkatla, capital of Amn, they put the boy to the question. He was released at the age of twenty. Friendless in a city of pale-skinned uncivilized heretics, Tacal soon found himself to be the worst sort of public nuisance. It was during one weekend of drunken cavorting that he told his tale to a young knight named Cordell, who would eventually lead the expedition from Amn and found Helmsport back in his homeland.

The Tuigan Horde
The young man changed his name to Maca and sought to reclaim the heritage that would have once been his. Years of traveling brought him to the frozen steppes of the Endless Wastes, where he was befriended by the Tuigan, who had never seen a one such as he. They outlined their plans, under the new Khahan; Maca agreed wholeheartedly.

The invasion of the Tuigan Horde has been outlined in a dozen history books – and its impact is still felt between the Dragonwall and the city of Suzail. Maca, though not a proficient warrior, slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children while in the mad embrace of the Horde. They fell to his sword, knives, even teeth when hard-pressed. He tore out their hearts and offered them up as an offering to Zaltec – a God so far away that it could not hear him.

A year later, after the collapse of the Tuigan invasion force, Maca heard rumors from his mercenary corps of a “new land, discovered far to the west.” Cordell had made contact with his homeland! … and promptly destroyed it.

Monastic Life
Seeking meaning in his life, the once-again nameless individual found himself at the door of the Abbey of the Yellow Rose. The Worshippers of Ilmater took kindly to the suffering man, and he began the long healing process. It is here that he took the name Takamal, though he would rarely use it in the outside world.

Westgate
Leaving the abbey behind, he travelled into the wild, working to tame his soul. As an expert tracker and hunter, he became well-known as a ranger in the northern nations. His taciturn demeanor and odd foreigner ways caused him to be dubbed "The Shaman" by some unknown peasant. That name has spread farther than any other.

It was almost by accident that Takamal met Vohr Kethon; their paths crossed while the former was waiting for passage to Cormyr. He aided Vohr in his meetings with the local chapter of the Night Masks before moving onward.

Return to Amn
After some time in Cormyr and the Lost Valley, attempting to thwart the efforts of one Devin Lithengaar to claim the throne from the Steel Regent, Takamal finally made his way back to Amn. The port city of Murann was the only known port able to access his homeland -- the land for which he yearned so greatly. However, he and his companions, Harithan the druid and Kaskus the panther, were caught off-guard when goblins attacked a small town called Amnas. Harithan was taken prisoner. Takamal saved the entire town from obliteration, only to die from complications of wounds three days later.

The town was destroyed months later, in the internicine warfare which took place during The Chronicles of Amn. As the entire territory was scorched by fireballs, none can say for certain where his grave now rests.

Takamal as an NPC
''While his spirit would return, if given the opportunity, Takamal is dead and should not be used as an NPC. His legend exists, in fragments, throughout Faerun; oblique references to The Shaman now only exist in the mouths of old codgers in darkened taverns.''