#naakka

Before she was cursed to be a harpy — half bird, half human — she lived in the war torn borders of rivaling countries Oja and Allikko. She is quiet about her past, but she claims she was forced to leave her old home country after the Valkea Incident, when the god Valkea cursed many of the residents of the border towns already under siege or attack. The ones cursed were shunned in the fear of the curse spreading, and with her new body Jackdaw fled before the witch hunt got any worse.

Sometime during that time, she befriended another person touched by the curse. Half human, half viper, Shad was a bit younger than her, but a good (although sometimes a foolish) companion who did not mind or question her appearance. Together they boarded the  Northern Shrike, a pirate ship with a “cursed crew” whose captain is the now infamous “sea witch” Hilja. While Jackdaw doesn’t mind the outlaw’s life and raiding ships Hilja determines deserving of it, Jack’s pride doesn’t quite give in to following authority figures. Much less a foolhardy captain younger than her.

In addition, she has her own goals. Despite what she tells, it wasn’t Valkea who cursed her but Kehrä, the god of strategy, plots, and magic. Jack asked for her wisdom and powers to aid her when the armies of Oja and Allikko clashed. A knowledge to conquer and overpower, or maybe to protect? Perhaps neither, perhaps both, but Kehrä deemed her plea to be too greedy. The god punished Jackdaw for her hubris, and made her a siren — one of the cursed followers and believers who asked too much of Kehrä. The god gives them all the knowledge in the world, but only so that they can get lost in it, and in the remote islands and rocks they lure others greedy for knowledge and power to their demise.