Una Laing

Una Laing is a character played by Niki in Bones of the Naga

Ooh la la...

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Traits

Full Name: Una Laing (pronounced OO - Nuh LAYNG)

Gender: female

Species: human

Height: 5'4

Weight: 165 lbs i.e. "pleasantly plump"

Hair: black, long

Eyes: brown

Skin: black, tattooed

Age: 39

Religion: Voodoo, very superstitious

Language: English

Origin: Lanka Island | Map: [1]

Race: Lankan Islander

Appearance: short, doe-eyed, round face, voluptuous curves, black, chubby, long black hair, often braided with beads or up in a scarf, gap in teeth.

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Recent History

Una has worked under Abacaneeser in Serenton for almost 20 years, after he saved her from slavery on Lanka. Although unclear as to why he saved her, she nevertheless seeks to repay her debt to him by taking on any odd task he may have asked of her. For nearly two decades she has kept his affairs in order - cooking, cleaning, anything to ensure the health and happiness of the man who saved her life.

Una's loyalty to Abacaneeser is unwavering, to the extent of using voodoo rituals she'd learned from her mother to hex those who might choose to harm him. She watches his guests carefully and pays close attention to any strange behaviors.

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Background

Una grew up on the tropical Island of Lanka in the Salton Sea, where her father was a fisherman. Una, her mother, and two smaller brothers sold the fish at market in Lanka Town, a dangerous merchant city with a reputation for danger and less-than-legal dealings. Una's father, Michael, worked long hours but was fortunate to own the boat on which he worked. They were not rich by any means, but the belongings they had were nice in comparison to the plight that had stricken those in the inner city of Lanka Town.

Una's mother Lea was a beautiful woman who was rescued by Michael when she was young. Her family had been taken capture during a raid of drug merchants, and she had hidden in a muddy bay for 6 days before Michael found her while out fishing. Despite the age difference between the two (nearly 20 years), the two fell in love and began a family.

As the oldest, Una was expected to help out with the family business. She spent many hours stoking fires under smoked fish and tying knots for her father's nets. Once she went out with her father for a week-long sail, where she learned how her father casts out nets, preserves fish on the boat, and how he sets bait for the fish. And oh, how many fish they caught! She could hardly believe the ease in which her father seemed to pull fish out of the water. As the nets were brought on deck, the other crew would gather around the catch, choosing the best fish and throwing back the small ones. The trip had a long-lasting impact on her, and throughout her youth she taught herself to cook and use the fish her father caught, as well as how to catch her own fish from the shore.

In Una's early twenties, her father died in a fishing accident, leaving Una and her mother Lea to care for the two younger brothers. Unable to make ends meet, Lea was forced to find work in Lanka Town as a prostitute. She was gone almost every night, and Una was often left to take care of the home, the laundry, and to prepare whatever meals she could summon with such meager provisions for her and her brothers. As the months progressed, Lea became ill and could no longer work enough to make ends meet. Una and her brothers became desperate. It was surely only a matter of time before the Syndicate, the local government, would be coming to claim the debts the family had accrued.

One night a large storm set in while Lea was away in the town. The wind and rain were so fierce that Una feared the home would collapse. Forced to make the hasty decision on her own, Una gathered her brothers and ran towards the inland jungle to seek shelter from the giant trees. She and her brothers ran towards the brush, arm in arm. As they neared the edge of the jungle, a troop of Syndicate thugs paroling the jungle outskirts quickly came towards the shivvering group and siezed them all, tying them one to another by hemp rope.

"Ah, Bandulu, nah. Come wit' a nah an' we dan bun ya!" (You thiefs! You're coming with us, and we're going to [burn]kill you!) said the largest of the thugs. Surely, Una thought, there must be some mistake.

Una struggled, but to no avail. Her brothers wailed in fear, and panic sunk in. She found the rough flesh of a finger (or perhaps an ear!) and bit as hard as she could. Suddenly a blow to the head silenced the commotion and all struggling stopped.

Una woke up the next morning bound in ropes by her hands. As she looked around, she found herself in an outdoor jail cell on the market street, and around her were others in a similar plight. She kicked and screamed while onlookers gawked and laughed. Not realizing the consequence for causing a scene, Una was swiftly kicked by a Syndicate jailkeeper. He kicked her repeatedly until she thought her ribs had been broken. Finally it stopped, and she doubled over, sobbing silently.

For days she was continually beaten, raped, and starved under the watch of the Syndicate. With no news of her brothers, her demeanor grew dark, and she began to feel despair. One sunny day, the jail door opened, and all of its inhabitants were bound together and marched out into the muddy street. Local merchants and citizens gathered near as a drunken member of the Syndicate shouted with slurred speech, "Hey nah, see it, sistren an' bredren a Lanka! 'Ere be day Bandulu fer ya all pleasure. Skettle mon, dat. An' now who go with who?" (Here they are, ladies and gentlemen of Lanka, this group of criminals is here for your pleasure, and cheaply to. Now who will buy?)

As the guard's drunken slur still hung in the air, Una was thrown down on the ground into the mud. His words were incomprehensible; she could feel the bottoms of his bare foot standing on her rear, rolling her on the ground. An excited crowd threw out shouts and curses as each of the prisoners were bought by rich merchants. After a time, a heavy, drunk pirate staggered over to her. She shrunk down into the mud to avoid any more blows. He pulled her up by her hair and inspected her teeth and face.

"This whore will serve me well! She's mine," growled a pirate, clearly not of Lanka Island

Just then, an old man came out of the crowd. With a foreign gentleness, he asked the jailer to name a price for the girl. The pirate grunted indignantly, as he picked up Una by the hair. The foreigner begged his forgiveness and stated that he had already made arrangements for the girl. Seizing on an opportunity for exploitation, the jailer called out a price that was beyond the budget of anyone in the crowd. The foreigner nodded, and brought out his pouch. Una wiped the mud from her face as tears rolled down her cheeks. The pirate threw her down back into the mud. Shocked by the horrible events that had come to pass, Una stood up, wiped off what mud she could, and walked slowly over to her new caretaker. He smiled at her with a strange familiarity that she had never encountered. Something about this man was extraodinary.

She would never fully understand why this foreign gentleman would invest such interest in her.

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Skills

Twenty years of working for Abacaneeser has sent her to the markets, to alchemists for bartering, to shady places for information, all with a tight-lipped smile and great humility. While the voodoo teachings of her mother slowly fade from memory, Una remains confident (perhaps a little too confident) that she can most certainly conjure up the most formidable collection of hexes against anyone who seeks to harm her employer. Known for being a bit nosy, Una has a tendency to get in over her head as her mouth might occasionally move faster than she realizes. The townspeople find her a bit of a kook, a mystic, a strange foreigner with bizarre rituals, but she couldn't care less.