Satreeka - Child of Four Tribes

Visit Satreeka's bio page on Elfquest.com Here

Satreeka didn't have a thread on the old SoC, for obvious reasons.

Satreeka is the daughter of Venka, and the Go-Back warrior Mirff. Her name represents members of the four tribes that most impacted her mother's life.

Sa: For Savah, to represent the Sunfolk.

tree: For Treestump, to represent the Wolfriders, the tribe Venka was raised among.  

ree: A part of many Glider names, specifically Aroree, who helped raise Venka, and whose actions were pivotal in making sure Kahvi was able to safely cross the Vastdeep Waters with her - then - infant daughter.

ka: For Kahvi, Satreeka's own grandmother, to represent the Go-Backs.


Incidentally the name Satreeka also has ek in it - though not as clearly heard syllable - to represent Rayek, Satreeka's grandfather, and Ekuar.

'Character Bio'

Satreeka (f)

Alive leaving
Daughter of Venka and Mirff
Granddaughter of Rayek and Kahvi
Niece of Vaya and Teir

Hmmm... I have two theories about Satreeka, the first one is that she wasn't supposed to exist. It seemed sort of out of nowhere that Venka was suddenly having a cub right around the time that Ember would've had her cub(s) if her Recognition with Teir had gone through. The line about being "a child of four tribes" was supposed to be uttered over Ember and Teir's offspring, why else would they have written out all of Teir's backstory from HY and WH and gone to all the convolutions to make him the child of Khavi and Windkin? Four Tribes? Khavi is Go-Back and Wolfriderish, Windkin is Glider and Wolfrider, Ember is Wolfrider and Sunfolk. But Venka is Sun Villager and Go-Back, she's only Wolfrider by adoption/raising (since the Khavi mini-series has the Go-Backs being reject Wolfriders who lost their wolfblood) and where exactly does Glider come in with Satreeka supposedly being Mirff 's (an unwolfblooded Go-Back)? Are they trying to say that because he floats Rayek is a Neo-Glider? Or that he was a host to their spirits for a time and he contracted it? Or that holding ghost-Winnie hostage makes him part glider somehow? Venka wasn't conceived or born while he was playing ghost-host sooo... I dunno what the logic is here. The only thing that makes sense to me was that that scene was written out but with Ember and her cub(s) but then Wendy decided she needed to be over-the-top gung-ho pro-choice with Ember for no particular reason and shoved her pregnancy off on Venka because someone had to have a baby to symbolize hope or whatever.
My second theory was that Venka's pregnancy was planned, but that the huge shock/twist for everyone was that the sire was going to be Two-Edge. It would have been awesome if his love for Venka had prompted him to finish his healing with Leetah, if that healing had unlocked a soul-name within him (that his mother had tried to torture out of him being unable to accept that her half-troll child had an elfin soul) and he'd Recognized Venka. Or even just if they'd been lovemates and had a cub anyway surprising the crap out of everyone. It just seemed like they were building up his feelings for her so much, and she was nice to him instead of just simply telling him off, that I kept expecting something to be there and oh wouldn't that have made both Rayek AND Winnowill just lose their dang minds? But since they wanted to keep the whole Rogue's Curse thing neither Winnowill Or Two-Edge is really allowed any closure.

Satreeka was born 10 years after Ember's and Teir's cub would've been born.

The four tribes thing was explained in my first post; not blood, but the four tribes who influenced Venka.

Yes, I observed that you directly quoted the corporate line about what her name means, I had some theories that I put out. I felt like they built up the whole Venka/Two-Edge love angle and then suddenly switched wolves midstream and dumped Ahdri off on Two-Edge (because hey one elf chick is as good as any other I guess? And gosh they look so similar I can see why he'd easily transfer his affections) and suddenly Venka is having a cub with the only Go-Backs to be worth giving names to? They didn't really resolve anything on the whole Venka/Two-Edge ship, they had her tell him off after she got shot and he felt all kinds of terrible (and I expected him to make weapons for the Go-Backs to fight fire with fire after that, but they sorta dropped that (and that was where Strongbow using a gun and declaring the Way "dead" should have played out against the backdrop of and it would have had more meaning rather than just a random throwaway))
My main theory is that Venka's birth scene was supposed to be Ember's and the poetic bit about being the child of four tribes would have had actual correlation in fact rather than metaphorical (and sort of grasping at straws and trying to ram everything all together). Tree for Treestump to symbolize the Wolfriders? Cutter was the one who was more her adoptive father-figure, how was Treestump more important or more representational of the Wolfriders? If the Tree in Satreeka is for Treestump how is the Ree at the same time for the Gliders? If it's already being used for Tree? That's not how Scrabble works.

The "child of four tribes" line striked me as artificial ... conrieved, downright wrong. I thought it through many times but it will not fit. The post-hoc analysis of her name and explanation about influencers, upbringing and being rescued do not mend it for me, Redhead. Even less as those arguments fit - if ever - for the mother and not for the newborn.

Satreeka clearly is a child of Go-Back via her sire Mirrf and Sunfolk via her grandsire Rayek.
I acknowledge grandmother Kahvi as the Wolfrider connection. Being Two-Spear's and Willowgreen's daughter she is a Wolfrider by birth - with or without wolf blood (see Suntop). Additionally Venka was raised Wolfrider but that's a side note for me.
There's no way to connect her to the Gliders, tho. There is neither a blood bond nor a cultural one.

Satreeka's official bio page is very eager to prove the "four tribes connection" by analysing her name. I like the idea that the syllables were chosen to honor the elders - Savah, Aroree, Kahvi ... possibly even Ekuar. It's a nice thought.
Taking "tree" for the Wolfriders and Treestump especially (and the "ree" part for Aroree again) is very far-fetched. Treestump never had a noticible connection with Venka. Cutter on the other side was explicitly mentioned two or three times as the one who helped to raise Venka.
Aroree was even less involved in Venka's upbringing than any random Wolfrider in my opinion. In the time when Venka was a cub Aroree was pictured as a gloomy, guilt-ridden and probably depressive loner.

Last not least - In case you want to include the "rescued by" part she should have been labeled a "child of five tribes" because it took the effort of two Wavedancer healers, Snakeskin and Skimback, and Reef to save Venka's life after she was shot.
(Was Venka already pregnant at this time? Then it would even count for Satreeka herself! - I'm so lost in that timeline.)

*sigh* I wish they would have explained the meaning of "Satreeka" in the comic itself, like they did with "Tyleet"  ... or at least worded the "child of four tribes" part different. The way it is now it really feels like a unifying symbol that was transferred to Venka's child after the "true heir" of four tribes - the one to lead the mixed Wolfrider tribe somewhen in future - was cancelled.
And then the unifying symbol disappears with the Palace and becomes a "starsdweller" anyway.

Would they have worded it somehow along the lines: "Satreeka is named to honor the four tribes and elves that influenced me most!" it would have made much more sense.


(I beg your pardon - this was edited, rewritten and amended several times before I got it straight.)

But they've never tried to claim that the Child of Four Tribes was to be taken in any other way than Child whose name is derived from members of four tribes.
And maybe "Child of" doesn't have to be a blood thing, Sunstream was basically a Wavedancer for several decades. Lots of people have "become" Wolfriders. Woodlock, Rainsong, and their family "became" Sunfolk.

The Wavedancers weren't included in the naming because they didn't have any influence on Venka when she grew up.
Aroree, on the other hand, had quite a bit of influence on Venka's early life:
1: Bringing Kahvi and Venka to Sorrow's End.
2: Staying with Kahvi and Venka in Sorrow's end until Venka was old enough to do the crossing of the Vast Deep Waters (and providing the transport).
3: Calling for aid from Tyldak when Littletrill died as they were far out over open water.
4: Lived for some time with Kahvi, Venka, and Tyldak in that grotto.

All this might possibly count for Venka being a child of four tribes. #16 found

It does not fit for her daughter, an infant who has not experienced any cultural or social influences. Even less when this child will grow up as a starsdweller.
Calling Satreeka a "child of four tribes" is a MASSIVE stretch.

We have a saying that fits this constructed coherence very well: "(etwas) an den Haaren herbeiziehen"
Literally it translates: "pulling (something) in place by the hair" - in English it's simply "far-fetched".

I agree that we disagree, Redhead.

I agree with the Aroree part, at least for it being a meaningful name for Venka's cub. But how is Treestump more important? Why was she supposedly named for him of all the Wolfriders? Cutter would have made more sense. If it was supposed to be Ember"s cub(s) it would make (sortof) more sense because Treestump is her uncle, but the name is such a bizarre mash-up and the explanations felt like some sort of I-painted-myself-into-a-corner-and-changed-my-mind-and-retconned-and-prayed-no-one-would-notice thing.
What it felt like things were leading up to imho, was that the Ember/Teir cub (or cubs, I was really really hoping she would have twins since twiness is passed down the maternal line (also Satreeka could be better broken up into two sensible names easily- Sarta and Treeka, Saree and Eksa... but if it were Ember/Teir's cub we'd probably ditch the Eukuar/Rayek references but would probs still honor Savah as she was a strong Grandmother-figure in Ember's life)) was going to be the Child of Four Tribes and since they were the ones staying on Abode it would have had some dang meaning and significance. As is, she went off with the Palace and they do already have members of all the tribes on board so why is that any kind of significant? All the Palace-dwellers are presumably one big tribe again, or tribes were an Abodean concept and now they are simply and purely elves so the old distinctions don't at all matter. What was supposed to be significant about Venka's cub was going to be that it was Two-Edge's and that that was going to be the amazing healing between the elves and trolls. They built up so much Two-Edge's feelings for Venka, and how even without Leetah completing her healing of him he had achieved some sort of balance or peace on his own (and also after her first healing he could send and so could presumably Recognize). I would have found that amazing, and the reference to Ekuar in the name would have been to honor Two-Edge's bond with Ekuar that was shown where Ekuar was able to calm his early madness by playing strategy games with him. It would have made Timmain's nothingburger speech to the trolls have had something to it, it would have explained why Old Maggoty cried if there had been a cute baby to fuss over, why would she give a flying flip over what Timmain thinks? Why would she be moved to tears? That whole scene was so flat, there was a huge something missing there and I think that missing thing was Venka/Two-Edge's cub that healed the rift between elf and troll. It is all part and parcel of them deciding that Winnowill got no closure so no did anybody related to her (which since they loved to make her the ultimate villain of choice, means pretty much everybody). Venka and Two-Edge having a cub would have brought a beautiful flower out of something Winnowill did out of perversity (blending elf and troll) and brought healing between the two groups. It would have shown the elves aren't so damn eyes high all of the time, and would have been part of the double-punch to Rayek that really brought everything together for him.

Since Venka was raised with the influence of the four (old) tribes, it's entirely possible that she'll raise her daughter with that influence in mind. And of course it's entirely possible that Aroree will play some sort of role in raising Satreeka.

That is actually one of the cool things about Satreeka; We don't know anything about how her life will be? She's one of those open characters who're just waiting for fanfics to happen.

"Sacutreeka" just sounded too silly.

And about Venka and Two-Edge, well... one-sided love just doesn't work, especially the kind of one-sided love that's simply based on the recipient's ability to beat your abusive mother.
Perhaps that was Venka's biggest mistake; she thought that if she just treated Two-Edge with kindness - only telling him off after the whole gun thing was revealed - but never answered to his feelings for her, he'd understand that she regarded him simply as a friend. However, in the end she had to basically spell it out for him, and he was able to move find some real love.

Redhead Ember wrote:

"Sacutreeka" just sounded too silly.

Wouldn't it be Sacureeka if the Tree part was Treestump?

Redhead Ember wrote:

That is actually one of the cool things about Satreeka; We don't know anything about how her life will be? She's one of those open characters who're just waiting for fanfics to happen.

Just like Dre-ann!

Venka was raised primarily as a Wolfrider. Kahvi, with Aroree's help found the Wolfriders after Rayek stole the palace with Leetah, Skywise, and the twins. She grew up and reached adulthood with the Wolfriders. She had no upbringing as a Sun Villager or Glider. She may some input from Kahvi on the ways of the Go-Backs, but her upbringing was as a Wolfrider. Cutter raised her as his own and she would have learned leadership skills from him and Kahvi. Then you add the fact the Kahvi left with Tyldak when Venka was barely full grown.

As for Satreeka's name, I think it was made up at the last moment. I would understand a name that reflected Venka's upbringing by the Wolfriders and acknowledging her Go-Back roots, not to mention the father's as well. But for the Gliders and Sun Villagers seems to be a stretch.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

Wolfrider parents make up tribe names for their cubs, to keep their soul name, their real name hidden. Other elves just use their real name, so presumably they are born with their names rather than being named by their parents, since it’s something that is inherent in them the way soul names are. So Venka naming her daughter after the four tribes makes no sense, as presumably she has no soul name to hide, not being a Wolfrider, and it’s a stretch to believe she was born with a name meaning Savah/Treestump(why though)Aroree/Kahvi.

BlueCoyote wrote:

Redhead Ember wrote:

"Sacutreeka" just sounded too silly.

Wouldn't it be Sacureeka if the Tree part was Treestump?

I was thinking if Treestump got replaced with Cutter. So it'd be:

Savah.
Cutter.
Aroree
Kahvi.

G0lden wrote:

As for Satreeka's name, I think it was made up at the last moment. I would understand a name that reflected Venka's upbringing by the Wolfriders and acknowledging her Go-Back roots, not to mention the father's as well. But for the Gliders and Sun Villagers seems to be a stretch.

Venka got Sun Villager roots too.

Stargazer wrote:

Wolfrider parents make up tribe names for their cubs, to keep their soul name, their real name hidden. Other elves just use their real name, so presumably they are born with their names rather than being named by their parents, since it’s something that is inherent in them the way soul names are. So Venka naming her daughter after the four tribes makes no sense, as presumably she has no soul name to hide, not being a Wolfrider, and it’s a stretch to believe she was born with a name meaning Savah/Treestump(why though)Aroree/Kahvi.

Have there been any indication that non-wolfrider children have pre-destined names? Other tribes simply don't have hidden (soul) names.
However, it seems like all elf parents might have some sort of knowledge about their child's personality/skills, and may choose an appropriate name. Toorah and Rainsong both knew they'd have a child with healing powers, for example.

At first I actually thought Windkin was her father, that would make sense with the child of four tribes statement. I am dissapointed that Mirff is her father, that seems so insignificant.

I actually like that fact that her father is just a Go-Back. And... dayhm, does she look like him? She's even got his nose!

I briefly thought his joke about Sunstream being the sire could have been true. I mean… we don't know if Sunstream and Venka ever shared furs/preserver silk bedding, pretty sure it wouldn't count as Sunstream "cheating" on Brill, because I'm pretty sure the elves don't even have a concept of cheating.

Has Satreeka Mirfs nose?  I have not seen that. I find it difficult to find out how she looks in the Wendy style. The eye brows  are like a Savah Venka mix?  brown eyes? darker skin than her mother??? (in the first issue of s -hunt) Was a Sun Villager or Suntop the father??? But what for was than that scene with Venka crying after she was rolling in the furs with Mirf and that other female Go-Back (saying: Thank you mother, for all..."), than that she felt the conception of Satreeka?

A name with 3 syllables sounds different and interesting. I don't know what it means. But " Treestump" in the name??? Than it would be rather "Rayek", the grandpa.

"A child of four tribes" sounds like the often happening overreaction of parents' pride. lol

There is just something about her general facial structure that screams "Mirff" to me.

Also, kinda funny how the relationship - and end of it - between Venka and Mirff kinda mirrors the relationship - and end of it - between Kahvi and Rayek. Just with... actual communication and understanding between the parties.

ah, ok, she mirrors Mirfs face. I will put more from the other side (Venka, Rayek) in it, when I try to draw her. Another project, I wanted to do for so long and didn`t do.

"Also, kinda funny how the relationship - and end of it - between Venka and Mirff kinda mirrors the relationship - and end of it - between Kahvi and Rayek. Just with... actual communication and understanding between the parties."
ok , I have not seen that yet, but yes, now that you say it. I find Mirf not caring at all about his daughter strange , odd. But it seems to be very Go-Backish to let go everyone. And the opposite to Rayek who is totally possessive (who even clings to dead elf spirit which has to be let go)

And you found the last Easter egg from Moonlight.

"

"A Go-Back chieftess gives birth to a child whose sire - until the birth - is unknown, and leaves the tribe shortly afterwards. Said child ends up growing up together with a slightly younger agemate."

Now, who did I describe here?

As for Mirff not caring, well… I think he and Venka had reached the conclussion that he - and the unnamed female - wanted to stay, while Venka wanted to go.

Redhead Ember wrote:

Since Venka was raised with the influence of the four (old) tribes, it's entirely possible that she'll raise her daughter with that influence in mind.

I wish this would have come true


But Venka developed into an overprotective helicopter-mom and keeps Satreeka away from everything "evil-ugly-bad" - especially of Wolfrider (Strongbow) hunting. Seemingly even a childish "roll in the mud" is disapproved. Does Venka hate doing laundry? XD

Such a sterile and unworldly upbringing promises a "painless" youth and life - but is a recipe for catastrophy in my opinion.
If this is an example of "Palace style education" I understand why the Firstcomers were running into death so starry-eyed. Seriously - Venka should know better.

"Such an sterile and unworldly upbringing promises a "painless" youth and live - but is a recipe for catastrophy in my opinion.
If this is an example of "Palace style education" I understand why the Firstcomers were running into death so starry-eyed. Seriously - Venka should know better."

Ooooh yes! I am very curious and eager to see this catastrophy.

Embala wrote:

Does Venka hate doing laundry? XD

I always hear a helicopter sound, when Venka is around! ^^