Umbaji Bastian

Umbaji Bastian was born to the Ocean, where the rhythms of the tides and the hum of distant sails were as familiar to him as his own heartbeat. His father, a well-respected merchant, ran a prosperous trading vessel that made regular trips along the busy Indian Ocean Trading Route. From a young age, Bastian was taught the intricacies of navigation, trade, and the delicate art of negotiating with merchants from distant lands. Though he learned to handle the ropes and maps, it was the scent of his father’s spices—the rich, pungent smells—that captured his heart the most. Bastian’s mother, a gentle storyteller with a heart as expansive as the ocean itself, would tell him tales of sea gods and the jal pari. Though he never took these stories to heart in a superstitious way, they stayed with him, whispered like a lullaby in his mind whenever he sailed. His father, a pragmatic man, scoffed at these tales, focusing solely on the merchant routes and the pursuit of profit. But Bastian always found comfort in his mother’s words.