Ahua the Great
 | This section is in the process of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. This template was placed by User:The Oan Isles. If this section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. If you are the editor who added this template and you are actively editing, please be sure to replace this template with {{in use}} during the active editing session. Click on the link for template parameters to use.
This article was last edited by The Oan Isles (talk | contribs) 3 years ago. (Update timer) |
Ahua the Great is the central founding figure of the Oan Isles and of the Mauist religion. He is a semi-legendary figure in that while there is historical evidence for his existence, many of the stories and actions attributable to him are unprovable. Born around 990 CE, he was the son of Chief Rangi of the Iano tribe on Tokamotu, rising to the post of Chief when he was around 20 years old. There are myths which claim that he fought mermaids, was blessed by Maui in the form of a Spix’s Macaw and others. Nevertheless, his progeny survives in the modern House of Ahua which provides heirs to the Throne of Polynesia.
Ahua the Great | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 990 CE Tokamotu |
| Died | c. 1070 Tokamotu, The Oan Isles |
| Cause of death | Natural causes |
War of the Mermaids
One myth is the War of the Mermaids. Myth holds that mermaids, mysterious sentient marine beings, were attacking fishing vessels in the Deep ocean. Ahua and his men stayed in one of the boats waiting for the mermaids to attack. They trapped one of the mermaids and tried to interrogate it, but it suffocated and died. From their observations, they felt that the mermaids were becoming overpopulated and running out of food, driving them to the surface and closer to the islands of the West Pacific.
Ahua told his father and asked for permission to set sail and hunt the mermaids before they overran the islands. His father refused and ordered that he be arrested to prevent him from going. When he was in his father's dungeon, a Spix’s Macaw flew through the bars and alighted on his shoulder. The Macaw flew out again and the dungeon's metal doors flung open from the hinges. He ran out, invigorated by this incredible occurrence, and fought 10 men single-handedly. He sent a secret messsage to his friends via a messenger to gather at the habour where they would take the boats and drive out the mermaids.
His friends got to the shops, but they had to fight off his father's solders. They got on the boats and sailed for nearly a hundred miles in rough rainy weather. As they huddled in the cold, a Spix’s Macaw came from the sky with the rain clouds parting behind it and the warm sun radiating behind it. They rejoiced and were in awe of this strange phenomenon.
Their joy quickly turn to fear as a great crowd of mermaids floated to the surface, cold yellow eyes poking above the surface. They lunged at the ships, pulling the rudders, breaking ores and pulling men from the decks and shredding them to pieces. He prayed to Maui, the deity of his people, but deafening noise of death and destruction. Then he decided to fight and fight. One mermaid got him and pulled him down. It was the king of the mermaids. They wrestled in the water, but he stabbed him in the ribs. The creature let him go and swam away in agony. As Ahua was falling to unconsciousness, a dim light floated in the water and then exploded like a bright light, sending the mermaids fleeing.
Ahua's men pulled him up and back to his ship. The The Spix’s Macaw spoke in a loud voice, "I am Maui, God of the Wind and Sea, yet there is one greater than I, who wrought the ribs of the Urth, lay the grass like a carpet on the ground, made the animals from clay. Find the Milky Ones from over the sea, one of whom is in a hut on the Isle of the Rock, go to him and he shall teach you of the one I speak. I command you!"
The men trembled as the Macaw flew away back to the sky.