# Marama — When the World Shook character guide

> Marama in When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Presently Marama, the chief Marama

**First appearance:** 0008-vii-the-orofenans

## Snapshot

Terrified chief of the Orofenans, caught between ancient taboos and the three strangers whose god seems to kill on command.

## Who they are

Marama rules the island's native people, yet his authority shrinks before the awakened power on the Mountain that devoured his own high sorcerer. He half-suspects Bastin himself is the god, and obeys the strangers' demands for a house and provisions out of pure dread. His frightened retreat matters because it hands the castaways a foothold on the sacred rock — and shows how quickly old beliefs collapse.

## In the story

### [Land](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/vi-land)

Chief of Orofena; welcomes the survivors and offers them food and shelter; asks about their intentions.

### [VII: The Orofenans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/vii-the-orofenans)

Chief of the Orofenans, undergoes surgery to remove a tumor, becomes devoted to the group.

### [VIII: Bastin Attempts the Martyr's Crown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/viii-bastin-attempts-the-martyr-s-crown)

Warns Arbuthnot about the danger of the lake and the sacred island.

### [X: The Dwellers in the Tomb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/x-the-dwellers-in-the-tomb)

Comes with a priest to beg the survivors to return, is threatened by Arbuthnot, and agrees to bring offerings.

### [XII: Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Years!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/xii-two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-years)

Mentioned as a friend; the priests act without his knowledge.

### [XXVII: Bastin Discovers a Resemblance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/xxvii-bastin-discovers-a-resemblance)

Briefly mentioned as reporting convulsions on the island at the moment of the electric discharge.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/characters/marama
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/characters