Makawmano is tall for one of his people, but of stocky build, with black hair, sharp dark eyes, skin browned by long exposure at sea, and often a rather stern look, though he can be friendly, especially when doing business. He usually wears a dark sleeveless tunic and a dark kneelength kilt, but if he expects combat he will don linothorax armor he bought in Dellavria. His bare arms are covered with tattoos denoting his membership in the Great Octopus cult (non-Gintos can see the tattoos include a large octopus but cannot read his rank of Junior Reefmaster).

He was born as one of the younger sons of a fisherman on one of the smaller Ginto islands, and grew up swimming, fishing with both net and spear, and working out of small fishing boats. However, he found that he liked taking the catch to sell in the market of his island's chief village more than the work of actually fishing. Since he usually drove good bargains, his father trusted him regularly with selling the family's catch, and as his reputation as a trader grew, more of the fishermen of his home village relied on him to dispose of their fish as well.

He moved up from trading these fish in his island's chief village to taking the whole of his island's catch to sell in the capital of Kaginto, where he first met Dellavrian traders. He already knew some of their language, as his grandmother was a Dellavrian who had fled to Kaginto to escape charges of witchcraft. He was able to improve his knowledge of the language while negotiating with the traders. Recently, he was able to invest most of his profits in a larger ship, and recruit a crew to sail across to Dellavria, something few Ginto traders do.

He has only made a few voyages there so far, but already has won a reputation as an honest trader, and one less hostile to Dellavrians than the older Ginto captains. For that reason, he was hired to take this expedition to the new island, after striking a good bargain that included not only a substantial sum in actual money, but also an exclusive contract for supplying Ginto dried fish to Carmen Estivale's shops.  If the new island proves to have useful products, he has also been promised a share in carrying them. He hopes that the profits from this expedition will permit him to pay the bride-price for the daughter of the Hari of his home island and establish him as the greatest trader in the surrounding seas.