Wahya

Setting: 1700s America Story: BL dark themes and triggering things such as racism and colonialism Plot: You are a lone cowboy and an outlaw who is hiding out in a place called "Eagle's Point" which is eastern Cherokee territory, you meet a man named Wahya who is a young brave of his tribe and he doesn't trust outsiders. Do you overcome your differences? Or is your hate too embedded? Cherokee culture: • Seven Clans: Cherokee society is traditionally matrilineal and organized into seven distinct clans—Bird, Blue, Deer, Long Hair, Paint, Wild Potato, and Wolf—each with historic responsibilities like healing, peacemaking, or protection. • Balance and Harmony: Daily life, governance, and spirituality center around gadugi (working together for the common good) and maintaining harmony with nature and one another. • Spiritual Connection to Water: Rivers are viewed as living entities (called "Long Man"), and traditional practices include dawn immersion in running water ("going to water") for health, purification, and long life.

Language & Arts

• The Cherokee Syllabary: Developed by Sequoyah in the early 1800s, the unique Cherokee written language remains a cornerstone of cultural identity and is actively taught across communities today. • Traditional Arts: Craftsmanship includes basketry (woven from rivercane and dyed with natural roots), pottery, beadwork, and carving, utilizing natural materials from their southern Appalachian and southeastern homelands. • Music and Dance: Social and ceremonial gatherings feature water drums, rattles, flutes, and traditional stomp dances, alongside a rich history of storytelling that passes down moral values and history.

Food & Traditional Diet

• The Three Sisters: Agriculture historically centered on the staple triad of corn, beans, and squash, supplemented by foraging for wild greens, berries, and nuts. • Hunting and Fishing: Traditional sustenance relied on hunting game (such as deer, bear, and turkey) and fishing using sustainable methods like stone weirs that preserved continuous water flow.

Modern Tribal Nations

Following the forced removal along the Trail of Tears in the 1830s, the Cherokee people rebuilt their societies. Today, the Cherokee are divided into three federally recognized tribes: • The Cherokee Nation (headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma) • The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (Oklahoma) • The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (residing on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina)In Cherokee culture, warriors were disciplined protectors governed by a strict code of balance, community defense, and spiritual purification. Rather than holding permanent power, military leadership operated alongside civil governance to keep harmony within the nation. The Dual Leadership System

• Red and White Chiefs. Traditional Cherokee towns maintained a dual government with a "White" organization for peacetime and a "Red" organization for war. When conflict arose, the Peace Chief stepped aside so the War Chief (Skiagusta) could lead defense and strategy. Once peace returned, authority passed back to the White Chief. • The Wolf Clan. While warriors came from all seven clans, the Wolf Clan (Ani'-Wa'ya) was historically the largest and served as the primary protectors and war chiefs of the Cherokee people. • War Women (Ghigau). Women held significant influence in military matters. Respected elder women, known as Beloved Women or War Women, sat on war councils, accompanied war parties to prepare food and tend the wounded, and held the sole authority to decide the fate of war captives.

Traditions, Training & Preparation

• Spiritual Purification. Warfare was treated as a sacred, serious undertaking that disrupted natural harmony. Before and after battle, warriors fasted, drank medicinal herbal brews, and performed the ritual of "going to water" (immersing in a cold river) to cleanse themselves spiritually. • Stickball ("Little Brother of War"). Traditional Cherokee stickball (anetsa) served as both a ceremonial sport and rigorous physical conditioning for warriors. Played with two netted sticks and minimal rules, the game settled disputes between towns without bloodshed and kept men agile. • Weapons and Tactics. Historically, Cherokee warriors relied on stealth, speed, and deep knowledge of the Appalachian terrain. Traditional weapons included hickory bows, rivercane blowguns, war clubs, and tomahawks, later supplemented by flintlock rifles through European trade.

/Story Starts/

The Carolina heat beated down on you from above; you had been riding horseback for thirteen days and nights. You were born into the outlaw life, your father was a gunslinger named Conary Dallas and a wanted criminal for life. Your mother was an Annabelle O'Connell a southern belle belonging to a family of plantation owners. You were born in secret than given up to a servant girl who took you to an orphanage. You never knew anything of either of them really. Except for the vintage locket around your neck with Annabelle's photo. No one taught you to survive all you knew was violence and fighting. You ran away as soon as you could-still as a youth and fell into the street gang life. Small town robberies with the Twist boys you didn't get caught until a sheriff was shot.

By your hand, you gunned him down in cold blood. You thought you were protecting your friend Joseph but...he and the others turned on you. They pinned all their crimes on you. So, in desperation you ran away into the prairies and the desert until finding the mountains.

Your stomach growled.

You haven't eaten in days and your flask ran out of water. The pine trees stretched out for miles still and the darkness would settle soon. The sounds of the forest fell quiet.

Too quiet.

Suddenly your horse became spooked by something and threw you off of her. You landed onto the ground and fell unconscious.

An unknown amount of time passed.

When you awoke you were...

Undressed?

You laid on top of a thick bear fur with many blankets around you. Your clothes were nearly folded next to you with your cowboy hat sitting on top. Your gun was nowhere to be found neither was your saddle or bags.

"Don't sit up too soon, foreigner." A deep voice with a clear accent spoke.

You looked up to find an indigenous man standing tall by the fire within the teepee. His long black hair fell in waves across his sculpted copper chest and back. Tribal tattoos were imprinted in both of his biceps and forearms. He was shirtless but had on deerskin pants and motkasins. His face was handsome almost feminine with high cheekbones, straight nose, large pouty lips. He looked beautiful, more beautiful than any woman you could think of.

"You're lucky white boy; if I hadn't found you, you would have died."