Welumque

Welumque was born around 65-70 years ago (ca. 1650) in a fairly traditional, rural Lexkweyok community in the southern part of the traditional territories (Presqu'ile de Saintonge / eastern Delaware). Her mother's mother was one of the clan mothers of the six Lexkweyok clans and she was raised in relative comfort and peace, the second of five children. She grew up with tales of Rabbit and Mammoth and local custom, though even then, trade with the Mariannas colonists was bringing many changes to the lives of her people. Her own name is taken from the name of a very old place near her home community, a burial mound. As a child, Welumque showed great aptitude for languages and quickly learned not only her own tongue but several others, and began to learn the craft of the memhallamund, the profession of trader/diplomats who ensured good relations among the peoples. Her youth was spent in much travel, trading the beads and shells of her coastal homeland inland in exchange for metals and hides. Her many friends among all peoples and willingness to share in different customs gave her great success in that endeavour. Around that time she converted to Pangaian Duatheism, at first mostly as a convenience for dealing with her trading partners, but eventually as a faith that she felt strongly.

Welumque was married (around 1685) in the traditional Lexkweyok fashion to Nulumbeso, a younger son of one of the other clan mothers. The expectation was that, if not being groomed for political leadership, that the couple would occupy positions of relative esteem. During those early years, Welumque was still heavily engaged in travel and trade, west towards and even over the mountains, and all along the coast. They had three children in those early days, a son, Pallinaque, and two daughters, Tipatit and Woatanne.

When war broke out in 1710, Welumque's first instinct was to retreat to care for her family, and to care for her own Lexkweyok people against the Manitokeh. This situation became increasingly untenable as Lexkweyok warriors were called into battle, and Welumque's network of alliances and friendships, developed and nurtured over decades, became a valuable resource for her people and their allies. And so during much of the Serpent War, Welumque became a traveller again, but in a different cause - bringing messages, engaging in little acts of diplomacy and espionage, and especially, working with halfling nations who were heavily affected by the incursions and counter-incursions. These were tough years, and spent too often away from family.

Tragedy struck in 1716 when their eldest, Pallinaque, barely out of boyhood, was slain in battle. It is still unclear what happened, as so often during war, along the riverland borders with Inyan and Nekutyohacan. Welumque blamed herself for not being there for him. Her husband Nulumbeso was even harder hit - he fell into a deep depression. By the time that Welumque returned home, the war was almost over, but Nulumbeso had left - some say he simply wandered into the forests out of grief, but others said that he went north to Lequeot. Their adolescent daughters, cared for by her mother's people, were angry and abandoned. Welumque was more than a little broken by this, but felt an obligation to not only her own people, but all the people damaged and broken by the war. She took herself to Lequeot, at first, out of a desire to search for her husband, a goal which she continues to pursue. But quickly she realized an equally important task - to care for all the traumatized returning soldiers, or those whose homes were destroyed in the war, and have made their way here out of a desire to rebuild, or heal. Her network of contacts allows her to find places for these poor souls. Now she is their shepherd - nutemekiset - and they her sheep "mem", as she aids them to rebuild her place in a newly scarred continent. In doing so, she is trying to come to terms with her own trauma, her obligations to family, and her own losses, including a loss of her Pangaian faith.