Orisha of winds, storms, and lightning, renowned for her extreme power.
Heroic Abilities
Swift: Ignores all terrain Movement penalties. Oya's Storm: Damage all adjacent enemies and heal all adjacent owned units by 40. Costs 1 Charge and ends turn.
Historical Context
When storms lash the Caribbean and West African coasts, when tornadoes tear through a village, when the hurricanes come, followers of Yoruba and New World African religions believe that this is Oya’s power. The Yoruba people of West Africa have a rich religious tradition, with four hundred and one separate divinities. When Yoruba were enslaved and brought to colonies in the Caribbean, their traditions fused with Christianity to make new religions such as Haitian Vodun. In Africa, Oya is an orisha, a goddess that once was a person (or was a spirit, and then made flesh). Her name means literally "she tore," and as such she is the goddess of change, winds, and storms, and the ruler of the Niger river. In Haiti, Oya is transformed into the Irish loa (the Haitian version of orisha) Maman Brigette – who is, for Catholics, Saint Brigid of Kildare.
Oya is the sister-wife to Shango, the god of thunder, and was the only one of his wives to stick with the loud-mouthed god. When they set off to war, they do so together, with Oya bringing the wind first, and Shango following afterwards with lightning.
The two fight each other at times, too. Once, Oya had two buffalo horns on her head, and in the middle of a fight, she charged at Shango with them, meaning to gore him. Shango didn’t fight back; instead, he presented her favorite food: akara (bean cakes). Oya was so delighted that she surrendered her horns to him. Now, if Shango finds himself in trouble, all he has to do to summon Oya is to clack the horns together, and she comes with all the fury of the wind.
Oya is still actively worshipped in Africa and the Caribbean. When a follower enters a trance and becomes possessed, she is notoriously loud and foul-mouthed, but, like the wind, promises to shake up whatever seems firmly rooted.
Orisha of winds, storms, and lightning, renowned for her extreme power.
Heroic Abilities
Swift: Ignores all terrain Movement penalties. Oya's Storm: Damage all adjacent enemies and heal all adjacent owned units by 40. Costs 1 Charge and ends turn.
Historical Context
When storms lash the Caribbean and West African coasts, when tornadoes tear through a village, when the hurricanes come, followers of Yoruba and New World African religions believe that this is Oya’s power. The Yoruba people of West Africa have a rich religious tradition, with four hundred and one separate divinities. When Yoruba were enslaved and brought to colonies in the Caribbean, their traditions fused with Christianity to make new religions such as Haitian Vodun. In Africa, Oya is an orisha, a goddess that once was a person (or was a spirit, and then made flesh). Her name means literally "she tore," and as such she is the goddess of change, winds, and storms, and the ruler of the Niger river. In Haiti, Oya is transformed into the Irish loa (the Haitian version of orisha) Maman Brigette – who is, for Catholics, Saint Brigid of Kildare.
Oya is the sister-wife to Shango, the god of thunder, and was the only one of his wives to stick with the loud-mouthed god. When they set off to war, they do so together, with Oya bringing the wind first, and Shango following afterwards with lightning.
The two fight each other at times, too. Once, Oya had two buffalo horns on her head, and in the middle of a fight, she charged at Shango with them, meaning to gore him. Shango didn’t fight back; instead, he presented her favorite food: akara (bean cakes). Oya was so delighted that she surrendered her horns to him. Now, if Shango finds himself in trouble, all he has to do to summon Oya is to clack the horns together, and she comes with all the fury of the wind.
Oya is still actively worshipped in Africa and the Caribbean. When a follower enters a trance and becomes possessed, she is notoriously loud and foul-mouthed, but, like the wind, promises to shake up whatever seems firmly rooted.