Lelemiki
The land of Kahala is challenging. Most of it is dominated by mountains and hills separated by deep valleys. The Kahala'i have been forced by necessity to become ingenious in order to survive. Some of these strategies include extensive terracing and topping of mountains and hills. Others include networks of ziplines made of kreja silk ropes and advanced bridges. But perhaps the finest adaptation to this environment was the development of the lelemiki.
The lelemiki is a gliding vehicle that originated in the land of Amitari in northern Kahala. It was constructed of a bamboo frame with wings and rigging of lightweight kreja silk. The first lelemiki were fragile affairs that carried only one or two hakanu. Piloting these early lelemiki required extreme skill and bravery. Miscalculating the winds could easily prove fatal. Yet they were used extensively by the Ka'ani warriors of Amitari, who employed them primarily for communication and reconnaisance as well as the insertion of elite units for sabotage and assassination missions.
After the Kahala'i tribes were united into an empire, the magicians of the To'ani applied their skill in semiotic magic to the mundane craft, turning it into a semiotic construct. The frame and rigging were enchanted for high tensile strength. The wings were enchanted with glyphs that heated or cooled a volume of air underneath them, with command words for the pilot that allowed them to adjust this effect and so achieve controllable lift. No longer did lelemiki pilots need to hunt for updrafts or be forced to land in the evening when the air cooled. Soon larger lelemiki were developed with compartments underneath them that could hold up to ten hakanu, or an equivalent weight in goods and supplies.
These advanced flying vehicles were a key technology that enabled the Kahala Empire to conquer the vast lands of the more numerous Kua tribe to the south. With them they could land battalions of Ka'ani who decended on parachutes of kreja silk or drop chemical and semiotic explosives on their foes as well as maintain constant surveillance on troop movements high above the range of spears and arrows.
In recent times, visitors from other lands have learned of the lelemiki and its usage from the Talani'i. Once word of this device reached the ears of the leaders of the Kalmasan Samraj and Volenaran League, there has been as intense and so far fruitless attempt at learning the secrets of their construction.
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