Kitpui

Age shows plainly on Kitpui, an older Lnu man whose brow and eye corners are creased with lines and whose brown eyes usually sit almost closed. Short, angled brows top his face, and his long black hair is bound into wrapped braids. He favors layered ornament: three necklaces at once, a tunic collar trimmed with claws, and a fur pouch slung from a cloth belt.

Steady and soft-spoken, Kitpui carries himself with patience and genuine warmth toward everyone in his circle. Leadership for him means listening: he draws out his people's views and weighs them before acting, which can make him slow to reach a decision. Even when he rejects a proposal he thanks the person who offered it and lays out his reasoning plainly, as he does when Miskwekepu'j urges him to expel the Norse at once. Rather than fear the newcomers, he leans toward hope, reasoning that contact so far has gone well and that his tribe stands to gain from what the settlers know. He is a natural mediator, forever inclined to smooth conflict into cooperation.

As reports pile up about the Norse settling nearby, Kitpui tells his people that a choice cannot wait much longer. He quiets the council to hear out the shaman Miskwekepu'j, then asks whether the pale strangers should be forced off the land; the shaman answers only as an adviser, leaving the ruling to him. Kitpui opts for friendship, walking out to greet the Norse alongside Plmk and others. Come winter he checks on Miskwekepu'j and learns from Niskawaji'j that the shaman has spent four days peering into what is to come.

Miskwekepu'j eventually shares his vision: the Norse will fell the forests, summon endless ships of their own kind, and consume the country, and he demands they be driven out. Kitpui honors the warning and promises to watch the settlers closely and guard against the weapons foreseen, yet he still hopes to ease his people's lives by learning what good the strangers can teach. The shaman accepts the decision while quietly resolving to expel the Norse by any means. Kitpui later sits down with Thorfinn's group, sharing the customary pipe, thanking them for the invitation, and praying for their missing companions in Markland. He assures them a different tribe carried out a recent attack, praises their craftsmanship, and proposes that both peoples thrive together through mutual aid.

The meeting breaks apart when Miskwekepu'j sets his own scheme in motion and loses a hand. Afterward a sickness sweeps the tribe, its victims burning with fever as their skin blackens. Plmk fetches the hiding shaman, warning that the chief is dying, and Miskwekepu'j rushes back with a list of healing herbs. He finds Kitpui failing and struggling to breathe. The chief thanks him for coming, offers an apology, and asks the shaman to look after his family.