Empire!7 - Into the Depths: Waters of the World (CWBG)

[Gaius Hermicus]

McTavish Enterprises

Spoiler: Summary

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McTavish Enterprises (MTE)

Blurb: Corporate state led by exiled walrus merchants.

Leader: Captain Eleazer McTavish
Dip: 3
Mil: 2
Econ: 5
Fai: 1
Int: 4

Capital Region: New Gloucester (Region 130)
Resource: Mineblossom Sponge
Desired Import: Skilled Labor
Holy Sites: Ahabian Philosophy
Faction support: All MTE

Starting tech: Composite Grafting

Spoiler: Geography

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Formerly known by its native name, Captain McTavish and the PR arm of McTavish Enterprises have essentially replaced all traces of the former toponym with a modified version of their own homeland: New Gloucester. While much warmer and verdant than their ancestral land, New Gloucester otherwise strongly resembles it in its rocky, craggy seabed. Interspersed throughout the territory are occasional promontories peeking above the salty surface, crusted over with barnacles. Seaweed is common in the region, though not the giant kelp found elsewhere.

At the northeastern corner of New Gloucester is the last remnant of McTavish Enterprises’ glorious past - the rotting corpse of the Monhegan, the great white whale, bioengineered to be a hollow transport vessel, which conveyed the Gloucesties from the far north to their new homeland. Though its body is bloated and bursting from decay, the gargantuan carcass remains a place of both ambition and sorrowfulness for its former crew, who frequently visit it to marvel at the glorious creation they cannot reproduce.

Spoiler: People & Government

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New Gloucester’s culture was forever shaken by the arrival of the Monhegan. Though the exhausted whale-ship expired immediately after being moored, its crew, under Captain Eleazer McTavish, quickly set about exploring the region. They found it to be warmer than their thick folds of blubber would allow to be comfortable, but absolutely chock-full of delicious shellfish to gorge themselves on, and also a trade hub with merchants from the Pfilghol and Costa Sereia seeking the native Mineblossom Sponges. The Gloucesties therefore decided to stay where they were, quickly colonizing the entire area and renaming it after their homeland.

The government set up in New Gloucester consisted of the Board of Directors of the newly founded McTavish Enterprises. Originally a mere captain of a trading vessel working for a much more significant corporation, Eleazer declared that his new title of CEO should stand for “Captain of Executive Operations'' instead of the more traditional “Chief Executive Officer”, thus ensuring that there was no megalomaniacal promotion being granted - in fact, his title of Captain did not change at all. Most of the Gloucesties, formerly the crew of the Monhegan, work for McTavish Enterprises as various officers named after their previously held positions in the grunt-labor force of the crew.

Gloucesties closely resemble walruses. Heavily built, their already thick frames are further bulked out by rolls of blubber suited for their much colder native environment, leaving them to constantly complain of the heat. Their faces are short and snout-like, covered with long, obsessively-groomed whiskers, while slightly curved tusks hang from their upper jaws. They dress in crusty flannels or seaman uniforms distinguishing their position within the company.

Unfortunately, the Gloucesties are not the only sapient inhabitants of the region. Among the delectable clams and shellfish of New Gloucester are an intelligent species of oyster, which lack mobility but are able to communicate via pheromone signals. Unfortunately, the Gloucesties did not recognize the signals when they first encountered them and gorged themselves upon the terrified oysters. Though they eventually learned that the oysters were capable of sapient thought, they occasionally still eat them while professing their intention to do no such thing. Frequently, such feasts occur during philosophical discussions, when the walrus’ attentions are captured by their contemplations and they do not realize that they are consuming their neighbors.

Spoiler: Resources

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Mineblossom Sponge: Much prized by other peoples of the area, New Gloucester’s ubiquitous Mineblossom Sponge can be found all along the rocky seabed, clinging to crags and stones. Unique among sponges, it is sheltered by a hard, but pliable, outer shell, which the sponge “blossoms” out of when fully mature. While the sponge itself is edible, it is the shell which is particularly useful, as it is soft enough to be hammered into metal-like plates, which can be used for tools or building materials. However, extracting the shells from the sponges and manufacturing them into useful products is hard work, work which the newly promoted officers of McTavish Enterprises are loath to do themselves. As a result, a source of skilled labor is needed to fill out the rank-and-file of the corporation.

Starting technology: Megafaunal Tailoring. While the Gloucesties have no idea how to replicate the monumental achievement that was the Monhegan, some of the techniques that went into its construction are known. In particular, Ahab’s method of grafting smaller creatures together, eventually ensuring the brain and organs of the one were absorbed by the other to leave nothing but an increased mass, are still practiced on a smaller scale by McTavish Enterprises. In particular, highly aggressive trained lobsters are grafted together with Mineblossom Sponges to give them armor as hard as steel, which the Gloucesties use as guard animals for their markets.

Spoiler: Faith

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Ahabian Philosophy
Though most of the Gloucesties are not particularly ideological, a strain of philosophical thought managed to capture them nonetheless. This is Ahabian Philosophy, named after the scientist who designed the Monhegan. Such a feat had previously been thought to be impossible, yet Ahab’s singular devotion (some would say obsession) to his goal proved successful. Toiling day and night, driving himself to madness with tunnel vision, he finally managed to engineer the monstrous whale-ship, only to die at the very climax of his vision. This philosophy of single-minded dedication to one’s goals is the core of Ahabism, which holds that any distraction from success is antithetical to sapient existence. Dedicated Ahabians thus pursue achievement beyond any reasonable standard, with the most devout of all sacrificing their relationships, sanity, or even lives in the process.

Holy Sites

The Monhegan’s Scrapyard: The corpse of the gargantuan white whale that conveyed the Gloucesties from their icy homeland. Now little more than bones, the remains are still an awe-inspiring site that reminds Ahabians of the possibilities achievable by seeking out their own goals.

Ishmael’s Self-Help Center: For those Ahabians who are insufficiently dedicated to their own success, the philosopher Ishmael offers classes in philosophy and motivational techniques. These classes come at a steep fee but Ishmael argues that the cost is nothing compared to the results achieved.

The SeaCow and Tardigrade: A key marketplace established by McTavish Enterprises, fortunes are made and lost every day at the SeaCow and Tardigrade. Statues of a virile manatee victorious over a cowering waterbear form the center of the market, where philosophers often gather to discuss the daily market trends.

[mystic1110]

OpenSEA regions

Artetchhue - Region 55

Spoiler: People

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There are two races in Artetchhue - the Chelonian Ortel and the Tetraodontid Orquig.

The Ortel are Chelonian race of hunters. They are exclusively carnivorous and subsist as a slow moving consumptive mass. These sharp toothed turtles eat almost anything, scavenger like in that they would eat bones and shells, but prefer good fresh meat. They are a tribal people, living in loose bands run by chiefs. The chiefs could be of either gender and sometimes the chiefdom is shared between two individuals, rarely even three. Importantly the chiefdom(s) are not hereditary – instead the strongest rule. It is not rare for Ortel to engage in brutal (yet leisurely) blood baths as rivals compete to eat each other to become the next chief, or to engage in horrifying (yet unhurried) coup attempts as a up and commers team up to take down the current chief by tearing them apart.

The Orquiq are a race of pufferfish – they are extremely unpredictable and volatile and often explode with little to no stimuli or provocation. Interestingly, they seem to share some genes with some species of eels and contain truly shocking about of electrocytes, specialized cells that generate electric charge and take up much of an Orquiq’s body. As an Orquiq expands by puffing itself up it builds and build electrical current until it reaches critical mass and explodes. Because of this tendency to explode, the Orquiq are a strict gerontocracy – those of them that live longer lead, the primary importance of a leader is to not explode. Much of the leadership decisions revolve around placating the younger Orquiqs and calming them down, informing them to just enjoy life and not to blow up.

The two races rarely interact, simply because while the Ortel would eat anything, it’s counterproductive trying to eat a pufferfish that would explode in a ball of electricity frying you alive as you approach it. The Orquiq, on the other hand, don’t swim close to the Ortel, because they know they would fly into a rage or a panic – either one of them might cause them to blow up – which might cause a chain reaction.

Spoiler: Geography

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The geography of Artetchhue is not anything special - it is cold and filled with the usual underwater sights of steep abyssal cliffs, corals, grottos, and sandscapes - however, an important fact of Artetchhue is that it holds no volcanoes, lavatubes or other heat vents - anywhere in the region leading to a remarkably cold region of water in an already cold region of the world. The frigid water seems just above the temperature one would expect massive ice sheets to form - and yet they do not. This glacial environment probably let to the strange development of those that inhabit the region - the Ortel, turned carnivorous - need warm blood to sustain themselves, while the Orquiq developed the ability to generate electricity, presumably for the warmth.

Spoiler: Resource

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The main resource of Artetchhue are hiring or conscripting a pack of Ortel - one could always use a slow-moving garbage disposal for your enemies or the refuse of their society, and their bones. The main import of Artetchhue is a Heat Source - any heat source, as it would placate the Ortel which would stop eating everything to bask in the warmth and calm down the Orquiq and stop them from blowing themselves up.

Spoiler: Faith

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Both races of Artetchhue worship the Claw. The only doctrine of the Claw is that "The claw decides who will stay and who will go." This doctrine is shared between the races although their interpretations of what "The Claw" is widely differs. The Ortel believe the Claw refers to a giant Turtle who was their forbearer and that the Claw was called such because of it's giant claws. It was large enough to tear open icebergs and eat whatever was preserved within. This Giant ancestor determines where the Ortel travel and as such determine who would stay (those that the Ortel don't eat) and who will go (those that the Ortel do eat). On the other hand that Orquiq believe that the Claw refers to a sort of protective Goddess that would wrap an exploding Orquiq in her claws and stopping the internal cascade. She would therefor save the Orquiq by being a ground for them. In this fashion she, the Claw, determines who would stay (those she saves) and who would go (those that end up exploding).

Micht Tsy Fivrivirvs - Region 57

Spoiler: People

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The people of the Micht Tsy Fivrivirvs are the Tsy Fivrivirvs and they are a species of large flippered marine mammal’s characterized by prominent tusks and whiskers, and their considerable bulk. Males weight about two tons and could occasionally be as much as three tons. Females weigh about two-thirds as much as males on average, occasionally even half as much. Much of this weight is held in blubber stored beneath the skin, keeping the Tsy Fivrivirvs warm in the polar waters. Both males and females have tusks, which are elongated canines that reach about one meter in length and sometimes can be as large as two meters. The tusks are used to cut holes in the ice for the Tsy Fivrivirvs to surface and breath air before submerging again – and they are used in the usual aggressive politics of the Micht (which is the Tsy Fivrivirvs word for “Kingdom”).

While already unusual, the Tsy Fivrivirvs are even stranger in that on top of their skin grow multilayered feathers, which make these large bulky creatures unusually fast as the feathers preserve underwater superhydrophobicity for reduced drag. The feathers of a particular Tsy Fivrivirv depends on its family and are often the cause of meaningless grudges or fights. While there are many families, there are four prominent families are the Gry Findyvr (which have red and gold feathers), Fiff (which have yellow and black colors), Ryvnik Liv (which have blue and bronze feathers), Syt Ryn (which have green and silver colors). Secondary families are formed during passionate romances between the prominent families and their progeny has feather colors from one of each of the progenitors (such as Tsy Fivrivirv with Black and Silver feathers or Gold and Yellow Feathers). There also exist tertiary families of monocolored feathers (for example a tribe descendent from a Gold and Yellow feathered father and a Gold and Green feathered mother, being all Gold Feathers) – these mono-colored Tsy Fivrivirv are usually considered the dregs and grime of so-called Tsy Fivrivirv society.

That society is not much of a society – families are extremely patriarchal and consider anyone that doesn’t at least share one feather color with them as an enemy. Of course they are a passionate people and affairs between families are quite common, but such affairs usually lead to familial grudges and wars. Wars and brawls and fighting is what the Micht is known for – the Tsy Fivrivirvs love to battle each other with their husks and heft. The Micht itself is a false concept – there is no Kingdom or King – Just familial chiefs called Prefects which exist to count the grudges against other Tsy Fivrivirv. Instead the Micht is a religious concept of the Tsy Fivrivirv Messiah, that being which would be a Tsy Fivrivirv with a feather of each family that would lead them back into the Sky.

Spoiler: Geography

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The Micht is a sargasso of frozen seaweed. Giant icebergs float in the waters above stretching far down into the depths. The ice wraps itself around the natural seaweed and thus extends as far down as the ocean floor so that the entire region appears to be an ice cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites of ice covered seaweed. The Tsy Fivrivirvs use their tusks to break these ice pillars to harvest the seaweed within – either to eat or to make their homes.

Spoiler: Resource

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The Tsy Fivrivirvs live in dams made of Woven Seaweed which is plentiful in the Micht, however they would appreciate Building Materials for more substantial lodging.

Spoiler: Faith

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The faith of the Tsy Fivrivirvs is called “The Last Dream”. The last dream of the Tsy Fivrivirvs was that they once swam through the sky above the ice as easily as they swim in the waters below the ice. Given that they are a mammal species that surfaces from the ice to breath once in a while, they know what the sky looks like and believe that they once rules the skies before becoming too heavy and falling into the water. Many families of the Tsy Fivrivirv disagree what made them so heavy to begin with: sin, too much food, a cruel god . . . these disagreements form another axis of fighting among the families As stated previously though, their does exist a concept of a Tsy Fivrivirv messiah, that being which would be a Tsy Fivrivirv with a feather of each family that would lead them back into the Sky.

Coresite - Region 58

Spoiler: People

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There are no natives in Coresite, instead the region is now composed of various hiveminds, either Herring, which make up most of the populace or the mercantile Medusa alga . . . the hiveminds at the moment seem to exist in equilibrium given what appears to be their central function, either administrative (fish) or commerce (plant). Between the two hiveminds are a small populace of Mer missionaries, spreading the gospel of the Pattern.

Spoiler: Geography

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There was a reason that Coresite was not inhabited by creatures before Deep Blue migrated part of its awareness into it. The region is largely barren of plankton, kelp, algae or other oxygen producing fauna or flora making it a poor host for life. Even life that would thrive outside such oxygen rich areas, such as tube warms, would find no heat vent here – instead the region is largely an expanse of broken shells. What creature’s the shells are from seem to be long gone. They may yet exist in the fossil record of the region, but to the new comers to the region, all they would see are still waters, relatively clear given the lack of prior life, and a flat seabed composed of broken shells.

Spoiler: Resource

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The broken shells that make the seafloor of Coresite though are very pretty, if one is given to appreciate ascetics. They are the color of gold, silver and cobalt. The few of these beautiful shells that exist intact are the Warped Shells that make up the regions prime export. Given their names one would think that the shells are curved in unusual ways, but instead the referenced to warping is a reference to the warping of the metal and blue colors of the shells which appear in complex patterns on the shells. The regions required resource are domesticated creatures, mainly as a reliable food source, since there are so few other options for nourishment in Coresite.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Pattern seems like a religion tailor made for an entity like Deep Blue, which is largely a thought pattern between some Herring. Perhaps that is why the entity had seemed receptive to authorize a subroutine of such Herring to listen to the Mer missionaries and learn of the Pattern. However, while the original religion refers to the patterns of the coronas of the ice above or the movements of the tides, the subroutine of Coresite looks at its own pattern and so do the Mer that live in the region, looking at the moving fish for predictions of the future.

Region 59- Separatum Corporate Holdings

Spoiler: Geography

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The Separatum Corporate Holdings are located on a patch of rocky seafloor, instead of sand and silt, the seabed is mostly made of underwater limestone caves. This does mean that there are numerous caverns in the Holdings that open up into air filled chambers, except one should note that the air in these caverns, without circulation is heavy and not really breathable. That said, these pockets of air do create conditions perfect for the harvesting of algae – and are often called the algae mines by the people of the Holdings

Spoiler: People

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The Separatum Corporate Holdings include the expanse of land previously labeled Region 59. The land is densely populated, full of slums of previously starving people. Now however, within those slums are huge automated algae farming tanks that provide the substance for the population. These tanks are a blessing and a curse - the blessing being food and the curse being work. The tanks while automated need monitoring, and such jobs are in short supply. Competition for them is fierce. The government of the region is the Separatum Corporation, the shareholders of which are the five members of the original Relief Counsel. Given Deep Blue’s request for administrative control, the Herrings were elected as the Directive Board and Executive Committees. The Board and Committee oversee much of the functioning of the Corporate Holdings, while the rest of the Shareholders come by to inspect of push their various agendas – some more humanitarian than others. The Corporation, while stemming from a philanthropic concern, has, through the capitalistic bent of some of its members, and through the mercantile and expansionism of its other members, morphed into an entity that wants to make good on its investments. As such, the Corporation is, if not outright exploitative, is positioned to be just that at a drop of a hat. Citizens of the Holdings are in one sense workers belonging to the Corporation, while at the same time also being considered assets. Labor is, of course, always an asset, but the Board and Shareholders both monitor any depreciation and interest of each of their citizen-workers. It goes without saying that Unions are strongly discouraged.

The people of the Separatum Corporate Holdings are Mer – they are not a particularly distinguishable from those that lived in the former Scintillating Ceiling except maybe by their thin frames and hallow faces – but this is probably due to their long-malnourishment and current working conditions than anything genetic. They are also paler than other Mer, again probably due to staying in the caves with the algae tanks rather than dancing in the waves – the sun’s ultraviolet light might penetrate ice and water, but not rock.

Spoiler: Faith

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If the Mer of the region had a faith prior to the communion they do not remember. Even the promises and chants of the communion are distant to them as they clock in and out of the algae mines and factories each day. Faith might be an opiate of the masses, but work and work alone feeds them.

Spoiler: Resources

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The traditional resource of the region had been Coral Dyes, but after the crises and the takeover of the region by the Separatum Corporation, the development of an advanced algae farming apparatus, the real resource of the region must be considered its algae.

179 - Sunken Necropolis

Spoiler: Geography

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Geography

Deep beneath the surface of the ocean, an otherworldly world exists. Sunlight filters down through the water, casting a soft blue glow over the sunken city ruins that litter the seafloor. Ancient buildings, once grand and mighty, are now covered in coral and seaweed, their walls and pillars crumbling.

Ships and boats, long since abandoned, rest on the ocean floor, encrusted with barnacles and shells. Schools of colorful fish swim through the streets and alleyways of the sunken city, darting in and out of windows and doorways.

As you swim through this underwater realm, you can't help but feel a sense of awe and wonder. The city, now forever entombed in the depths of the ocean, is a testament to the passing of time and the impermanence of all things. Yet it is also a place of great beauty, a haven for all manner of sea creatures. It is a place where the past and the present collide, a place where one can truly lose themselves in the magic of the sea.

Spoiler: People

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The Wetherwisps.

These ghostly creatures are native to the darkest depths of the ocean, where they dwell amongst the ruins of ancient cities. Wetherwisps are highly intelligent and can communicate telepathically with others of their kind. They are not quite ghosts or phantoms, but instead paranormal vibrations similar to the ones that are considered Mammos. While Mammos is fueled by faith and it's associated magic, the phenomena of the Wetherwisps is more akin to Deep Blue itself - a naturally occurring non-biological entity, except while Deep Blue is a memetic personage, these are more akin to physical vibrations. That is, they are intelligences that don't exist in a visible light spectrum, and instead one feels them as an invisible shaking - the water around a Wetherwisp is constantly churning white, which is generally how others view them - they look like wraiths made of rapids, while in actually, they are non-visible and the white people see are the moving waters around them.

They are known to be fiercely protective of their territory and will attack any intruders with powerful psychic blasts - they do not seemingly need food, and they seem to take great pleasure and compete among themselves in knocking out intruders and collecting them for their own curious purposes.

To whom the ancient cities belonged to is beyond the knowledge of the Wetherwisps. In terms of government, it is difficult to say as Wetherwisps do not really have a traditional government like other regions. It is possible that they may have some sort of hierarchy or social structure within their own kind, but this would be largely dependent on their individual personalities and the specific needs of their group. In general, it is likely that Wetherwisps operate in a more predatory or survivalist manner, focusing on securing resources and territory for themselves rather than working towards the greater good of a larger community.

The Wetherwisps role in OPENsea, is primarily as spies and soldiers, not surprisingly Deep Blue has found that it's own non-biological make up to be a selling point in appealing to the Wetherwisps and convincing them to join its causes. Through it's own logistical powers it was able to teach a select few Wetherwisps to calm down, and thus have the waters that roil around them slow down enough for them to essentially actually be invisible - a useful service. The Wetherwisps themselves find the lead of Deep blue curious and interesting as they have more opportunities to collect material for them to preserve and hoard.

Spoiler: Resource

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Wetherwisps

Wetherwisps are both the people and the resource of this Region. Wetherwisps are paranormal vibrations , it is possible to allow oneself to be temporarily possessed by a lone Wetherwisp, and temporarily sync to their frequency - thus experiencing a euphoric high similar to a hallucinogenic drug before the vibration passes and the phenomena is expelled.

Required Resource: Preservatives

Fitting with their ghostly mythology, the Wetherwisps seemingly need Preservatives to remain alive - they almost act as if they are dead and that they need to be preserved - to prevent decay. This is almost a fiction - the Wetherwisps do need preservatives but not to stay alive, not that they are dead and decaying in flesh, there is no flesh and they're not dead to begin with - instead preservatives are needed to maintain a Wetherwisps victims from decaying. Wetherwisps, do not eat - so instead they collect biological specimens and keep them in a state of static seemingly out of spite.

Spoiler: Faith

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Heartsweepers

The central tenet of the Heartsweepers faith is the belief that the living are corrupt and unworthy of existence, and that it is the duty of the Wetherwisps to cleanse the world of their presence. According to the teachings of the Heartsweepers, the Wetherwisps are blessed with the power to purify the world through their powerful psychic abilities, which they use to attack and destroy any living beings that they encounter. The Wetherwisps believe that by cleansing the world of the living, they will be able to bring about a new age of peace and prosperity for their own kind. The Heartsweepers faith is a deeply nihilistic and destructive religion, and those who follow it are often feared and reviled by other underwater species. However, the Wetherwisps are fiercely devoted to their faith and will stop at nothing to spread its teachings and bring about the purification of the world.

Wings of the World is a minor religion in the region, primarily practiced by Nomads that pass through the Necropolis. The Necropolis is a useful region for religious minorities given its mysterious nature - it's hidden spaces - and its position in the world as a bridge from Polar regions to temperate.

187 - Marble Kingdom

Spoiler: Geography

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Geography

As you dive deeper into the ocean, the sunlight gives way to darkness and you enter a world of shadows and mystery. The water around you is icy cold and still, and you feel a sense of isolation and solitude as you swim through the abyss. But as you continue on your journey, you begin to notice openings in the rocky walls of the ocean floor. These openings lead to a network of caves and grottos, each one more beautiful and mesmerizing than the last. The caves are illuminated by a soft, glowing light that filters in from the surface, casting a warm and welcoming glow over the rocky walls and floors. Stalactites hang from the ceiling like crystal chandeliers, and stalagmites rise up from the ground like marble columns. As you explore these underwater caves and grottos, you feel as though you have entered another world, one that is hidden and unknown to most people. You are filled with a sense of wonder and excitement as you discover new nooks and crannies, and marvel at the beauty of the underwater world.

Spoiler: People

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Deep Dancers

These graceful creatures are native to the depths of the ocean, where they dwell in underwater caves and grottos. Deep Dancers are known for their shimmering, iridescent scales and long, flowing tentacles, which they use to swim and maneuver through the water with ease. They are highly social creatures and are often found in large schools, where they engage in elaborate courtship rituals and dance to the rhythms of the ocean. In terms of government, the deep dancers have a egalitarian and cooperative society, as they are known to be highly social and value harmony and cooperation. They may have a council of leaders that help to guide and make decisions for the group, but these leaders are chosen through consensus or democratic means rather than through a more hierarchical or authoritarian system. The deep dancers may also place a strong emphasis on personal freedom and individual expression, as they are known for their elaborate courtship rituals and dance to the rhythms of the ocean. This leads to a more decentralized and fluid system of governance, where individuals have a greater degree of autonomy and the group works together towards common goals.

The Deep Dancers found themselves under the rule of Deep Blue and part of OPENsea under mysterious circumstances - but they haven't found much change in their lives as of yet. The hiveminds use of decentralized management fits their prior governmental structure. That said, Deep Blue's conversion to an opposing faith does strike them with concern and their is rumbling over remaining the subjects of their strange overlord.

Spoiler: Resource

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Stripdrill Hyphae

Stripdrill Hyphae is a type of underground fungus. The fungus grows in long, thin strands, which are typically harvested and dried for use. Stripdrill Hyphae can also be used as a heat source. The fungus has the ability to generate a significant amount of heat when it is exposed to oxygen, making it a valuable resource for those in cold or inhospitable environments. The fungus can be burnt as a fuel source, or its heat can be harnessed and used to warm homes or other structures. Stripdrill Hyphae is a highly sought after resource due to its unique properties, and is often traded or sold on the black market.

Required Resource: Toxins

Toxins are required for the growth of Stripdrill Hyphae - the Fungus feeds on poison to grow, without which it dries up and shrivels.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Deep Dancers follow the faith of the "Eternal Communion" - however as was well known the teaching of this faith were wide a varied and rarely practiced the same way twice. According to the teachings of the Eternal Communion, as interpreted by the Deep Dancers, all living beings are connected and part of a greater whole, and it is the duty of each individual to maintain harmony and balance within the natural world. The Deep Dancers believe that through the practice of meditation and the cultivation of inner peace, they can tap into the collective consciousness of all living things and better understand their place in the grand scheme of things. They also place a strong emphasis on the importance of community and cooperation, and believe that by working together and helping one another, they can bring about a greater sense of harmony and unity within the world. The Deep Dancers view the oceans as a sacred place, and believe that they have a special connection to the spirits of the water. They often engage in ritual practices and offerings to honor and give thanks to these spirits, and believe that by doing so, they can maintain a strong and positive relationship with them. Overall, the Eternal Communion is a faith that promotes peace, unity, and a deep respect for the natural world. The Deep Dancers who follow this faith strive to live in harmony with the oceans and all the creatures that dwell within them, and believe that by doing so, they can bring about a greater sense of balance and harmony within the world.

[Grim ranger]

Kar-Nath Hegemony regions

Spoiler: Region 75 - The Plains of Sarkenos

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Region 75
The Plains of Sarkenos

Spoiler: Geography

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Situated in a rather plain territory of rolling seafloor vegetation and occasionally rising cliffs between it and many of more important regions surrounding it, the Plains of Sarkenos are a curious case of “good enough” terrain. Defensible, but not the most. Have their share of holy sites, but not the most holy. There is a measure of natural wealth to harvest, but only truly enough for one trading post to take advantage of without intensive measures. Simply speaking, the Plains are a borderland.

Settlements in this terrain mostly fit for fish-farming and other simple agricultural projects tend to be smaller communities, dotting the plains wherever they have found a particularly ample spot to settle themselves. Often these communities can even be quite mobile, some of them being mostly made up of tents and other structures easily packed and moved when situation calls for it. The most established of the various villages and small towns is the township of Plain Current, from which the more important people of the region (and its chieftain) attend to administrative functions of the scattered community. Founded upon the side of one of the larger rock formations in the region, the place is fairly defensible, and hosts the mining operation of magnetic sand.

Spoiler: People

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Borderlands attract migrants, and as such it has population from many of the surrounding civilizations, simple folk that have gathered together into small communities. Most of the people inhabiting the Plains are not particularly wealthy, simple bartering and communal goodwill worth more than riches or rigid rules. There are races from most surrounding regions, often people seeking to escape the constraints of whatever has alienated them from their home…and over time, their descendants have grown more accustomed to community of many mingling races.

The daily lives of the people inhabiting this land are mostly focused on making certain essential tasks are done. Herding schools of fish, maintaining housing, tending to fields of seafloor crop and attending to mining of the magnetic sand prized by traders are all common ways to spend one’s time, and only a few take to administrating, matters of faith or fighting full-time. Still, the chieftain has mandated a measure of militia drills to drive away marauding beasts or occasional band of raiders, something that has proven to be a wise choice.

While the communities of the plains are generally allowed a fair degree of self-governance, they are still expected to follow the mandates arriving from the chieftain reigning at Plain Current, as well as to pay a measure of taxes. Regardless of this, many find this relative freedom compared to the neighbouring empires of the region a pleasant change of pace.

Since the Hegemony’s takeover of the area, relatively little has changed. The soldiery of Kar-Nath mostly patrol the border regions and leave the commonfolk of the Plains to their business, much to everyone’s relief. While still nominally part of Hegemony's territory, the Plains are offered almost full autonomy by the deal struck between their chieftain and the Frozen King, and as such they can expect to see relatively little of their overlords at any given time while reaping the benefits of being protected by a larger nation.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Magnetic Sand
Mined out of the deeper-reaching iron cliffs of the plains, Magnetic Sand is somewhat of a peculiarity. While not an item of massive import for day to day life, it is often sought out as magical material by many, and is seen as status symbol or academic curiosity across the seas. As such, it makes for a good trade good, even if its use in the region itself is highly limited.

Requirement: Toxins
The business of cultivating crops and herding schools of fish brings about its own challenges, and some of the most pressing of such are parasites, unwanted weeds and potentially invasive species that threaten such humble livelihoods. The people of the Plains have found a solution in various toxic mixtures mixed up depending on the pest they are supposed to guard against, and require constant supply of such products or risk losing harvests of fish and flora to such common misfortunes.

Spoiler: Faith

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As a loose community, those finding their home in the Plains of Sarkenos do not have a codified religion. Preachers of many varieties ply their trade in the small villages and townships, and thus far no faith has united the people. Many worship their deceased ancestors or subscribe to various faiths they have brought with themselves from the empires around the Plains, but it is often seen as polite not to bring one’s faith up too often.

While the lack of codified faith has resulted in no new holies being truly raised, there are certain natural formations that often draw people’s worship. The Roil (HS 1) is an inexplicable whirlpool near the very center of the plains that seems to have dug through the seafloor itself, with many whispering of its unique properties in tones of reverence or fear. The Claw of Sarkenos (HS 2) is the highest rock formation on the plains, curling out of the ground akin to four-clawed hand of a massive beast, made of unique dark stone none have been able to identify.

With Blossiming Sequence having moved into the territory from the neighboring territory of Bastion, they have quickly opened up modest reliquary temples to invite theological discussion from the locals. While not yet a dominant faith of the region, their influence is regardless growing.

Spoiler: Region 65 - Pelegar

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Region 65
Pelegar

Spoiler: Geography

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A region once thriving, Pelegar is a land still recovering from destruction of ages past. Situated at the very edge of truly frigid waters much like Glacier Crag, it hosts plethora of ruins of older civilization...now half buried underneath sands, broken cliffs and occasional blocks of ice that seem to have been truck amidst the broken terrain after some grand calamity. The passage of time has returned measure of hardy vegetation to the area, however, and especially thickets of kelp seem to survive well in the local soil.

As apparent descendants of the ancient civilization once inhabiting the place, the locals still tend to form cities around the half-broken coral and crystal spires of their storied ancestors, creating a curious mix of ancient grandeur and repairs of colorful banners and simple building materials. This patchwork quality mostly affects the central structures, and the homes of the common folk clustering around them to form towns tend to be simpler affairs, at times more resembling tents than fixed dwellings. The region's most important town is Panatia, as it boasts the most intact of the ancient structures and houses the local ruling body, the Triumvirate.

Spoiler: People

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While small concentrations of other races common in Polar waters wander about this region as well, the majority population is held by the native Lacertis, a race of lizards sporting a number of amphibian traits...and, crucially for living permanently under the waves, gills. While adapted to underwater life quite well, they still sport bulkier forms than many races about the place, and their wide jaws and powerful tails can be a boon on the battlefield.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Untalented Crabs ---> Talented Crabs
The cuisine of choice originating from Pelegar, Untalented Crabs could be found in fair numbers in the local waters, making herding them into large "farms" for trade purposes a simple enough matter. It was not a remarkable trading good, but there was always a need for food and grafting material for those who happened to be in need of a new carapace.

Of course, that was until the crab population of the area was decimated, and the merchants of Seatide Confederacy stepped in to bolster the financers of local crab breeders to help them renew their depleted stocks. As these new crabs were bred from most intelligent and talented of their kind, the continual refinement of the species eventually resulted in rather smart crustaceans that could act as skilled labor: a truly monumentous achievement in crab wrangling.

Requirement: Dyes
Still fixated on restoring their gloried past, the locals have developed plenty of techniques to create colorful fabrics and ceramics, all of which need a fair amount of different dyes.

Spoiler: Faith

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The local faith of Pelegar is Yearnmourn, a collection of beliefs venerating the ancestors who had built the artful structures the ruins of which they now hold in such high regard. There are relatively little rituals that are considered indisputably sacred, with majority of them centering around burial and reconstruction of ancient relics left behind by their venerated ancestors. This worship of their precursors has elevated the grand figures from that ancient society (the ones they have knowledge of anyhow) into minor deities that people call upon for various tasks in their day to day life.

The sites of religious importance in the region are the Ancient Graveyard (HS 1) and Coral Spire (HS 2).

[Kythia]

Faction Name The Magaramach

Spoiler: People

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Picture a crocodile. Remove those parts of its head that aren't mouth and make them mouth - a long body ending in powerful jaws. (The brain, should you care, goes backwards to near the stomach. The eyes are lost due to the darker waters, replace them with electrochemical sensors inside the mouth and a tongue sensitive to minute currents in the water. Nostrils are lost to gills shielded by slightly thinner scales). Now thicken the scales and up the musculature. You're picturing a Magaramachon.

They hatch from eggs at about a foot long and grow rapidly until about five feet, slower after that though rate of growtth is highly dependant on food availability. Magaramachi are biologically immortal and grow throughout their entire life, becoming stronger and more intelligent as they do, until they meet a violent end or, less commonly, succumb to starvation or disease. The bulk, those smaller than about six feet, are barely intelligent - smarter than a dumb dog, dumber than a smart one. Once they pass around six feet they start getting progressively smarter with no theoretical upper limit. The Magaramachi don't keep records themselves but records from their neighbours talk about one who reached thirty eight feet and was able to make substantial contributions to the world's knowledge - it's entirely possible that algae propogation was invented or at least substantially improved by them. Reaching such a size would have taken centuries though and as their body grows so does their food needs; Megaramachi of that size invariably starve to death.

Magaramachi society is entirely focused around size, and as size grows so does ego. Once one is large enough to have a concept of "myself" and "not myself" they inevitably come to the only sensible conclusion - that they are the greatest of all Magaramachi, that their smaller cousins are suitable only for training to bring them food and that their larger brethren (who attained such a size only through pure luck) must be brought down and eaten. The very largest, fifteen foot plus, are capable of understanding that not everything feels that way and acting as if they are not the greatest and most perfect of all things under the sea, but the fact that they can pretend not to think it doesn't mean they don't think it. Diplomacy is possible but goes much smoother if every so often the other party remarks on how large and incredible the Magaramachon is, how they are truly the greatest of all Magaramachi and how they will inevitably grow larger still.

Magaramachi females are perhaps slightly larger than males on average but not so much as to be an infallible guide. Magaramchi are hatched from eggs as they fall, those infants that don't hatch in time are eaten by mudscum as the eggs hit the bottom and the mother swims away unconcerned. Magaramchi fmales are capable of multiple simoultaneous pregnancies from multiple partners (or the same partner multiple times) - three or four concurrent pregnancies is common and seven or eight is a relatively routine occurance (akin to triplets in human society)

Magaramachon society, such as it is, is composed of several distinct groups under the leadership of the largest, the group being precisely as big as the leader can get away with. At any time the Salination is home to around twenty or thirty such groups in a constant state of war as each individual leader seeks to redress whatever cosmic wrong has happened to allow Magaramachi who aren't them to have any influence. Currently the largest, by quite some way, is the twenty three foot female who calls herself (or, more likely, allows others to call her) Leviathan - Magaramachi lrge enough to have names tend to have names like that: "Giant", "Huge", "Enormous", etc. The exception is those too cowed by a larger leader to have set up on their own who take/are given deprecating names like "Tiny" or "Small" which adds more fuel to their sullen plotting and scheming against their leader - until, of course, that breaks into a frenzy of teeth and claws when a challenge is made.

Algae plays a huge part in the diet of the smaller Magaramachi and smaller, non-intelligent, ones will instinctively "farm" the more desirable crops. Spreading clumps out for more growth, eating competing blooms etc. As one grows larger, this task becomes devolved to those smaller ones you've brought under your sway but becomes likewise more efficient with techniques such as crop splicing, crop rotation and selective breeding being widely known. These techniques have also been used on a species of large fish (called the "highest fish") that lives much of its life floating face down on the surface and, with much less success, on the mudscum below. Magaramachi are far more adept at farming the surface than the floor.

Spoiler: Faith

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Each Magaramachi intelligent enough to consider the issue of faith follows a religion at once unique to itself and indistinguishable from every other Magaramachi. It can be broudly summed up as "<Insert name here> is the best" or "<Insert name here> is the biggest". Tenets are simple. <Insert name here> is the pinnacle of the Magaramachi race. Those it has cowed into following it have made the only sensible decision based on a) how tiny and insignifcent they are versus b) how huge and awesome he is.
Those larger are living on borrowed time until they are inevitably challenged and eaten, the calaries from their body feeding <Insert name here> and being another step on their eventual and utterly guaranteed path to becoming the size of the entire planet and then eating the planet. It's unclear what would happen after that.

Spoiler: The Magaramachi Salination, Region 10

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The Magaramachi Salination is an unusually salty region of tropical waters containing the confluence of a few major ocean currents. It's a relatively shallow area with only a few rifts leading to deeper area, the majority of the region extends only a hundred or so feet down before one meets three or four feet of thick viscous mud. The bottom mud is the domain of the mudscum - semi-intelligent flat fish who live in packs and eat any flesh that makes it's way down there: their sharp teeth are effective at making sure that most things that come down are sufficiently dead to be eaten straight away regardless of how it landed but Magaramachi scales and similar carapaces need to be left to soften in the mildly corrosive mud for a few days.

Above that various shoals of fish, collectively known as deepfish, swim. Eating particulate matter and eventually dying and falling to feed the mudscum they are actually, though noone has noticed, the main driver of the region's enhanced salinity due to their highly saline skeletons eventually degrading.

Above that, the floating Magaramachi and various shoals of fish collectively called the highfish. Some of these are highly attractive to the Magaramachi and an unchecked explosion in Magaramachi numbers wuld likely lead to their extinction, with as yet unknown effects on the local ecosystem.

Above that, the surface. Clouds of colourful algae cover most of the surface gaining energy from the salts in the water and eventually dying and falling to be eaten by fish.

The algae covering most of the surface means there are few photosynthesising plants in the region as the waters are darker than one might expect given their depth.

Resources: Most Magaramachi aren't really able to understand the concept of trade but they do understand the concept of "if I do this, you do that" in the same way that a dog does. With a bit of effort and a fair amount of sweet, high-calorie foods, smaller Magaramachi can be lured and somewhat domesticated into a supply of Labour by more intelligent races. They can't handle complicated jobs and require constant oversight but their raw strength ad lack of need for sleep makes them equivalent to entire work crews when it comes to infrastructure projects and the like.

The sweet food is an essential part of that process though; the Magaramachi sweet tooth is all encompassing. Not to say the Magaramachi salination is free of such treats: theres a small silver and blue fish that they devour by the handful and a particular reddy green algae rewards those willing to travel to the surface. But there's not, and in fact can never be, enough Sweet Foods for the population's liking.

Holy Sites:

• Sharprock: Open.
  Technically a particularly hard coral but sharper minds than the Magaramachi could be forgiven for thinking it was rock. This large reef towards the north of the Salination is deadly within seconds to anything large enough not to be able to avoid brushing up against it. It's easily sharp enough to penetrate Magaramachi scales or similar plating and strong enough to make removing parts to use a weopans dangerous. The Magaramachi give the area a wide berth and those intelligent enough to think such abstract thoughts view it as a place of death and terror, an eternal punishment for anyone smaller than them.
• The Breeding Gyre: Open
  At the confluence of several major currents, the water is whipped into unpredictable whirls and eddies and something about the ever changing touch of the waters drives the Magaramachi into a frenzy of reproduction and violence. This place is both the major source of Magaramachi young and the major check on their population as individuals make their way there to fight one another, feed from one another and do other things beginning with "F" to one another. They stay there in an orgy of violence and other things until dead or too weak to continue. While it may seem hellish, the smarter ones view it as their (eventual) eternal reward for being so incredible and large - though of course in their dim imagination they win every encounter and grow bigger and stronger with each one.
• Leviathan's Home: Leviathan is the boss
  An area of the salination. Not particularly salty but not particularly not-salty. Not overly blessed with food but not too barren. Not too this, but not totally un-this. It's sole distinguishing feature is its the area Leviathan has called her own. She half swims, have floats through this area, an occasional flick of her tail driving her towards the males she has domesticated over here or a passing shoal of fish over there. Periodically - weekly? on average? - a challenger not bright enough to recongise how large and fantastic she is enters the area to be destroyed in a brief but bloody encounter. Their half eaten corpse slowly sinks to the bottom to be devoured by the mudscum who are finding this area to be a nirvana.
  

Faction Support:

• Aristocratic: Self
• Clerical: Open
• Mercantile: Open

Spoiler: Bloodripper Lands, Region 154

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Spoiler: Geography

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One of the powerful currents that bring salt to the Magaramchi Salination passes through this area. Over the years and centuries it has worn away softer rock leaving strange towers of granite and the like projecting from the landscape. The constant flow of nutrients from the current means that vegetation is lush but the constant scouring means it is largely low-laying, clinging to the seabed. The exception is leeward the various dunes that have built up of current-swept detritus where localised biomes flourish in what would be called a rainforest were it on land.

Spoiler: People

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The Bloodripper lands were colonised, and later named, by the Magaramachi somewhat accidentally and it takes a certain type of person to coonise strange new lands, even if those lands are only a couple of miles north of familiar old lands. The Magaramchi aren't famous for their scholarship or inquisitve nature but there is still variation in the race and by and large it was the more thoughtful (as in, they occasionally wondered what they were eating or from time to time paused attacking something to think about other ways of attacking it) individuals that made the trip. The de facto leader, Big-Brains endlessly circles the piles of tablets and other miscellania he has acquired, pausing only to drive off thieves, and the others have taken his lead Seperated from their ancestral spawning pools and the society built up over the generations, the Bloodripper colonists have become insular and rapacious, little more than a loosely bound group of individuals in endless semi-civil-war over the the collections of one another that are second only to size in their internal hierarchy. If they did any actual scholarship, the Bloodripper lands would be a land of reclusive scholars jealously guarding their stashes. But they don't, they just circle, guard and raid.

The most important area to them, and the closest to a holy site for the reclusive hoarders is Tablet Gully. You may think it's a gully, with tablets in. But youd be wrong. It's a gully where tablets used to be, all are now in the hands of individuals. But over the years the geography shaped powerful currents through the gully and it is still where a lot of detritus washes up. If they have sufficiently subdued their neighbours to feel safe leaving ther stash unguarded, most Bloodripper colonists make the trip here to see daily to see what the currents have washed up.

Relations are strained to the point of non-existence between the Bloodripper colonists and those Magaramchi which remained int he salination. The physical leadership style of the Magaramchi fades quickly with distance and the Bloodripper colonsts consider themselves a seperate nation. The Salination and whoever lays claim to it at the moment, predictably, doesn't.

Spoiler: Resources

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The lush vegetation could have given many potential resources and perhaps if the area had have been colonised by a different race then the Bloodripper Lands would be known for its medicinal herbs, or dyes, or foodstuffs. It would likely have a different name as well. But it was colonised by the Magaramachi and they were taken by the apex predators in this area, the Bloodripper Eels. Powerfully built eels, the largest around half a metre in diameter and three or four metres long with powerful jaws and enough internal musculature to choke prey by wrapping themselves round it, the bloodrippers are a source of food, amusement, danger and waste disposal for the Magaramachi colonists.

Those same colonists are the most inquisitve and curious of an admittedly uninquisitive and uncurious race and the discovery of some ancient stone carvings left noone-knows-who has intrigued them. Each of the solitary Magaramchi guards a horde of carvings that they lack the eyes to decipher along with other trinkets that the currents have brought. Their thirst for other Esoterica is limitless, though unlikely to be fed.

[Lady Serpentine]

The Greenwater Clans

Spoiler: Summary

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Leader: Speaker Meriel Swiftwater
Diplomacy: 3
Military: 5
Economy: 5
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 4

Capital Region: The Greenwater (Region 141)
Resource: Esoteric Reagents
Desired Import: Luxury Goods

Holy Sites:

• The Living Grave: Ascension's Mirror
• The Deepheart: Pacificist
• The House of Shallow and Depth: Ascension's Mirror

Faction Support:

• Aristocratic: The Greenwater Clans
• Clerical: The Greenwater Clans
• Mercantile: The Greenwater Clans

Starting tech: Megafaunal Tailoring - Without some form of fast communication, the social structure of the Greenwater Clans would be rather more difficult to maintain on a large scale. Not necessarily impossible, to be sure, but the ability to swiftly and accurately communicate messages is a significant boon. Unfortunately, early attempts to create particulate organisms that were secure, private, and insensitive to environmental conditions - while remaining capable of transmitting messages accurately and at speed - proved highly unsuccessful. Instead, the precursors of the Clans turned to the development of swift and efficient organisms capable of transporting messengers, an area in which they had a great deal more success, and the principles of which would eventually be turned to a number of other purposes.

(Specialized skills are necessary to breed, alter, and handle larger biotechnological organisms within useful timeframes, owing primarily to their vastly longer generation times, which must be circumvented by brand new means of intragenerational modification.)

Spoiler: Geography

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The western border of the Greenwater is dominated by the a massive kelp forest, spanning the length of it from the tangled Greenheart that marks the northmost reaches of the country to the point where the water grows too poisoned to explore far to the south. Despite this, it is still the easiest way to reach the outside world, and most of it is at least somewhat plausible to attempt to traverse for a well-equipped band of moderate size, if something of a roll of the dice. As such the Serovin Forest has settlements dotting the edges of it, and even some major routes maintained by the border clans, to better facilitate both external trade and the extraction of the various resources found within the forest's borders for internal use.

Most notable among them is the border town of Hunter's Rest, which sits at the end of the largest such path, and has grown comparatively large and wealthy from trade both internal and external. Primarily this trade is in rare plants and animals from the depths of the Serovin, but it also serves as one of the primary importers of outside goods. That said, its position as a border town means it is not especially near the halls of power, a fact that sees it face difficulties in leveraging that wealth and control of trade, already two steps or more behind by the time it learns it should have taken action.

Furthermore, valuable as the more monstrous creatures of the Serovin can be, they are undeniably dangerous even when deliberately hunted. Should they choose to brave the town itself and make it so far in, it can be quite destructive indeed, and Hunter's Rest is forced to reinvest a larger amount of its profits into defenses, repairs, and the maintenance of the trade routes that sustain it than settlements in safer waters - to say nothing of the numerous small settlements it is responsible for the protection of, and which provide much of the raw materials that it either processes or sells on.

As one progresses eastward and southwards, the terrain gradually shifts to rolling dunes and broad plains of seagrass, interspersed with reefs and some worn fragments - long since picked clean of anything of value to anyone save a few devoted scholars - from before the Calamity. The settlements here are larger than those of the border, on average, and turned to different purposes. Farming is more common here, for there is simply more land that supports it, and more people willing to live on that land. It is hardly the only occupation any more than hunting is the only occupation of those on the border, however - which is to say that a great many people dismiss matters in both places as exactly that, and are quite wrong.

The heartlands are also where the great beasts of burden and riding animals used by the Clans are bred and raised, though many of the former are also butchered (as is only to be expected). Both are valuable - the messenger-fish more so, as they are more specialized -, but some of the more forward-looking Speakers responsible for messenger-schools are growing concerned by stories told by foreign merchants. Those stories hint at technologies unknown to the Clans that would render couriers obsolete, and those clans who provide their mounts with them, unless they can find some other use for riding animals.

At the heart of the Greenwater is the city of Haven, which claims to be the first settlement the Clans formed after the Calamity. Naturally, this claim is wildly disputed, impossible to prove, and unquestionable within polite society. What is not disputable, however, is that it is the closest thing to a capital the Clans possess. Surrounded by powerful, influential clans who make good use of the fertile land around it and itself grown rich on trade, a de facto court has formed, ever-shifting but always orbiting the Speaker chosen to represent the Clans as a whole, an arrangement that is at turns mutually beneficial and viciously cutthroat as the delicate balance of power among the clans shifts.

Even further east, the waters grow foul, salty and choking until even the seagrass gives way to barren sand. Those who ignore this clear sign that they should turn back eventually find a wall of jagged stone blocking their path, reaching up nearly nearly to the surface and broken only by narrow, winding paths and descents into a seemingly-bottomless abyss. The currents are the truly dangerous part, however, pools of poison and airless pockets of brine sitting undisturbed for centuries alongside riptides that can drag even the strongest burdenfish into a wall of stone spears, and no expedition seeking to pass through has ever returned - nor is there any record of anyone passing over those mountains from the other side, even in tales dating back nearly to the Calamity.

Until recently, progressing too far south would see one meeting similar conditions, albeit without the precipitous descent and knife-edged spires that mark the eastern edge of the Greenwater, or the terrifying currents that accompany it, the water eventually turning lethal simple to swim through. Recently, however, those the Clans have placed near the southern border to monitor the waters and ensure no unexpected shift in currents sweeps that poison deeper into the Greenwater have reported that though the waters remain brutally salty, they are no longer toxic, and several Clans are eager to take advantage of this news.

Spoiler: People

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Most of those within Greenwater are mer. Whether that is because they were the majority before the Calamity or simply the largest group remaining afterwards is a matter of much debate among bored merchants looking for a way to fill their evenings and demonstrate erudition they may or may not possess, but there is precious little evidence either way. The fact that they are the majority now, on the other hand, is indisputable. The most charitable explanation of this is the Calamity itself, but research into the period immediately after is always haunted by the possibility that it is no accident at all but a horrible choice, made by the desperate and deeply traumatized or not.

Styles vary by clan and region, but bone jewelery is common across the entire Greenwater, sometimes even going so far as chains carved from a single piece of bone, though that is a difficult and time-consuming affair that requires great skill. Plant-based harnesses that hold polished stones of particularly attractive colors are also reasonably common, though more so on the plains, where seagrass is easily available; such garments are typically crafted for a specific purpose, as they rarely last more than a few weeks.

On the western border, near the Serovin, more exotic materials are available. They are mostly reserved for military applications, however, and it is rare to see someone not in a clan's militia - or a successful mercenary or ranger - wearing the specially-treated scale and leather garments that proximity permits, though they are nevertheless emblematic of the region in the mind of most foreigners.

Spoiler: History and Government

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If some form of government existed before the Calamity, no record of it exists. It is, however, known that in the immediate aftermath those who could banded together for survival in whatever form that took. These were the precursors to the clans of today, though far less formalized; scattered groupings of survivors working together for common survival. As they largely lacked the means to write easily and did not begin with a strong oral tradition (one of the few facts that can be determined about the forebears of the clans) most information comes from secondary sources, primarily stories from a few generations on, after an oral tradition had been established.

Historically, each clan has had two primary points of authority: An elected clan-head (the exact term has minor regional variations), who managed the clan at home, and a Speaker (usually, but not always, elected separately), who - as the name implies - spoke for their interests at inter-clan meetings and generally served as the public face.

In time, however, the role of Speaker broadened somewhat. Some clans which were particularly near each other or otherwise found their interests aligning regularly found it reasonable to elect a new Speaker - one who could speak for them all to other clans (or groups of clans, when there were those nearby who had done the same). The original Speakers maintained their positions, but they were no longer the primary voice to the outside world; instead, they were the face of each clan within the wider group, speaking up to ensure that their clan's needs would be heard and respected by their allies.

The role and duties of the clan-head, meanwhile, have stayed much the same. Few clans have shown much interest in giving up their independence by joining completely to another, and even when they have, the structure has been preserved through the transition, with local alliances generally serving as a check on the newly-empowered clan's ability to expand by force. As a consequence none of these loose coalitions have ever formed something that would be recognizable as a country (or even a government on any scale above the local) to modern scholars.

Despite that, these changes have continued into the present, primarily differing only in scale. (Although it is worth noting that the clan-heads have de facto lost a good deal of their power as the Speakers become ever more prominent.) Nowadays, most outsiders will deal with an all-clans Speaker - a comparatively recent position designed to facilitate trade and other interactions with their nearest neighbors - or one of their representatives; that said local or otherwise minor matters are still generally resolved by a more minor Speaker.

Until now, the role of Speaker for the Clans as a whole has not rested with one Clan. In the months following the death of Speaker Alric Blackfin (the last to hold that title), however, his daughter has been named the new Speaker. And to make matters worse, she was also elected clan-head of her father’s clan - something not in itself unusual, as many clans are content to permit the protege of the last clan-head to be the new one’s successor, but her clan is among the largest and most personally powerful. There are dark whispers of kings amongst those in power now, and not everyone will be content to allow a dynasty to form…

Spoiler: Resources

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Many things could be sold by the Clans. Beasts of burden, riding animals, labor... But the one most attractive, for both internal and external trade, and the reason that the border clans have not been entirely eclipsed, is the supply of Esoteric Reagents that comes from the Serovin Forest. Medicine, poison, and industrial materials are all found there, some in flora, some in fauna, and some in things that defy easy classification, and the border clans harvest it all.

On the other side of things, the Clans love the finer things in life, as all people do when given the opportunity. While they are hardly without the capacity to provide some of those themselves, they neverthless still greatly desire the exotic Luxury Goods that can be brought in from foreign lands.

Spoiler: Faith

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Ascension's Mirror could at first be mistaken for an offshoot of the Flowing Way. Certainly, a brief summary of the faith does nothing to dispel this notion; both focus heavily on stories, and the impact that a person can have on their life; both have gods that are relegated to the role of creator, who do not take a hand in the affairs of mortals. A closer look, however, would reveal that the details differ a great deal more significantly: Where the Flowing Way focuses on the collection and understanding of stories, Ascension's Mirror focuses on their creation. To understand still matters of course - how could it not? - but they do not believe that those stories are a reflection of some divine plan. The Middish conception, they would find even more laughable. Prophetic dreams, they might believe in, should they be well-attested; that the gods have left behind shards of knowledge that demand action of those who uncover them, on the other hand, they would find ridiculous.

Further, they believe that stories have power to them - a power that is quite divorced from any divine revelation. It is little enough, at first; a current so weak you cannot feel it, can barely see the seagrass sway at its touch. But with time, as events repeat themselves (or near enough that those "currents" are all pushing in the same direction) they grow in power, until at last they could be likened to a riptide. There is room for variation, of course; one story need not be "stronger" simply because it is older, at least not as it manifests around a particular person. If one could form a truly complete theory of how and why this might be so, they would assuredly be rich, or at the very least respected.

Given the general belief in a lack of direct divine intervention, the practices of the Mirror are largely concerned with, in a sense, metainformation. There are a number of sects which align with one side or another of the divine debate they believe in, of course, but in its pure form the Mirror as a philosophy concerns itself more with the ways in which stories function than anything else; this, in turn, renders it an attractive base for adding one's own beliefs to. The specific strain most common among the Darkwater Clans at present, is something of a middle-of-the-road path, largely concerning itself with providing the means to make one's own choices and story, rather than taking a stance itself.

The Living Grave: It is a monster. It is a horror. It is, without question, a legend - and so the faithful gather to hear a dead thing speak. Half-buried in the seafloor there is the husk of an ancient Draig, an empty thing that should serve as no more than raw material. Would serve as no more than raw material, had not the first to stumble upon it heard a voice like lightless water given tongue the moment she touched the half-decayed shell. Draig have ever been famed for their resilience; this one, it would seem, has managed to live on despite its death, though it seems chained to the body it once controlled.

Mirror faithful hold that this is clear proof of their beliefs - that it lived on, unlike so many of its kin, because it had fashioned itself into something that could not truly die. Whether that is the case or it is simply an extreme example of Draigiau adaptability, there are many who come to commune with it, and the tomb-body bustles with activity, mer excavating the silt around it and wandering its corpse like hagfish with no concern for day and night.

Most visitors do not find it to be much of a conversationalist. Certainly they can sense its presence, and it theirs, but it cares little for most of its petitioners. Those that catch its eye with a sufficient demonstration of their devotion or otherwise seem useful, however, it speaks to far more often. And to its loyal servants, it makes no secret of the fact that it wishes to rise again, tempting them with promises of wealth, or power, or simply the fact that to do so would surely secure their own legend.

The Deepheart: The Serovin forest is undeniably dangerous. It is especially so in the northmost part of it -what locals refer to as the Deepheart - where the kelp grows even thicker and more tangled than the rest and strange beasts lurk in the gloom. It is to monastery-fortresses there, woven into the kelp itself, that the last dregs of the Pacificists have retreated, a few traditionalist clans even moving wholesale into the Deepheart.

Despite that, however, it is also valued by the faithful of the Mirror, for those beasts could earn one great glory, as could the lost treasures supposedly hidden in the kelp - should one prove capable of slaying or retrieving them, that is. And not every monastery now claimed by the Pacificists was always theirs; the House of Shallow and Depth is slow to act, but it turns a baleful eye northward at reports of those in its service driven from their homes or slain.

The House of Shallow and Depth: In the city of Haven, there is a building of coral and carefully-shaped stone, wrapped in living kelp from the Deepheart. Within there are kitchens, bedrooms, - it is in many ways a city unto itself, though one dependent on trade, as its gardens should swiftly begin to struggle were they asked to provide for everyone within without assistance. Most important of the things it houses, however, is a grand library. As the residents are followers of the Mirror, the original purpose of this library was of course to hold stories, but it has expanded greatly over the years, and it is widely believed that if there is knowledge to be had, it resides somewhere in those grand stacks - though those who know it more closely are quick to caution that the exception is the knowledge of where within them it might be found.

Regardless of how true that belief or its caveats may be, the order that resides there - which has come to share its name with the building itself - has not forgotten their original purpose, and in addition to scholars, sages, students, and storytellers, they have a significant contingent of glory-hounds, fools, and madmen of all stripes seeking a way to cheat their way to a favorable story or learn the shape of those they may find themselves within. They do not play favorites in the grand games of the gods, no matter the personal feelings that they may display in their (frequent) debates amongst themselves, so would-be heroes, dashing rogues, and those who would slit a throat for a moment's inconvenience are all made welcome... Though those who think that this means they can do whatever they wish swiftly find that their story is not yet overwhelming, and the House amply defended.

[farothel]

Write ups for regions 4 and 29

Spoiler: region 4

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Name: Lupomata

Spoiler: Geography

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This region has a large number of valleys and hills and cliffs, mostly topped with smoking stacks belching toxic chemicals into the water. A few small drop-offs are found to the north and North west where the smoking hills make room for a desolate wasteland. In the hills there are a lot of caves and tunnels, mostly old smokers that are dormant. The valleys have mostly a rocky bottom, but there are some patches of sand where the eye weed grows.

Very little grows here, mostly hardy plants and corals that can stand the chemicals (or actually need them). The one plant that makes life easier in the region is the Eye Weed plant, which filters the toxic chemicals out of the water. So all settlements sit only where the Eye Weed grows and is surrounded by the plants. They don't remove all the toxic chemicals, but enough that within settlements one can survive without extra technology, at least for the natives. Visitors from outside the region best be very careful removing their filtering masks (although for small amounts of time it is okay).

There are not many predators in the region, but there are parasites that destroy the Eye Weed which have to be controlled. Some fish can also stand the toxic chemicals and feed on the natives. Near the vents only very specialised creatures can survive the heat and the amount of chemicals.

Spoiler: People

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There are two main species in this region. The Lysmatella are smaller, shrimp-like creatures who are quite smart, while the Lupocyclus are more crab-like, larger but not as smart as the Lysmatella. the strange thing is that when Lysmatella and Lupocyclus work together, a sort of low-level hive mind forms between the two species, allowing mostly the Lysmatella to direct the work of the others more easily.

They live mostly in the valleys, where the level of toxic chemicals is less than on the tops of the hills. While the Lysmatella do most of the governing (what there is in the region), the Lupocyclus do the heavy lifting and most of the Eye Weed maintenance.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The region has always been fragmented, as the natives could only live where the Eye Weed grows (in the sandy valleys). While they can tolerate the toxic chemicals for long enough that some trade had developed, it wasn't enough for a strong centralised government. so the villages remained rather small, with a local noble (all from the Lysmatella) ruling over each village.

On the other hand, the fact that it was very difficult to move from one village to the other meant that there has been very little warfare between the villages. All villages maintain a militia to defend against predators, Mostly Lupocyclus with Lysmatella officers, and they have similar tactics, but there is not really a unified military.

Spoiler: Resources

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The plant known as Eye Weed is grown across the region where-ever it can be grown. It is vital for life in the region, but some can be exported. It is very good at absorbing chemicals and also has some anti-biotic properties. Older plants actually contain a lot of chemicals that they absorbed in their lifetime, but the young shoots can be used to neutralise chemicals. this can be used to counter drugs or preserve food, or when a person has been outside of the villages too long, to counter the toxics they absorbed themselves.

While the Lupocyclus are quite content to live as before, the Lysmatella want exotic goods as a way to show their status and also to have something others from their species don't have.

Spoiler: Faith

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The people in the region beleive that after dead, if you have fulfilled your destiny, your soul goes to another plain of existance (called the Dream World) where it can still be contacted by people with special abilities. If not, it is reincarnated in another body.

People with the ability to contact ancestors, called the dreaming dead, all can't form hive minds with others. So anybody who lacks the ability to form a hive-mind will become a priest (both species can become priests). The main training of priests to contact the dreaming dead is in a small village (Holy site 1) near the middle of the region where the only non-priests are one Lysmatella overseeing a group of Lupocyclus tending to the Eye Weed.

The second holy site is a chasm near the village of the priests, where there are a lot of villages around at various points. This is the only more organised part of the region as the villages are closer together. All the villages close to the chasm dispose of their dead by letting them into the chasm. It is tought that this chasm has a portal to the Dream World somewhere down below.

The last holy site is a small cave in the North-East, where according to legend the first Priest received the gift of Dream Talking from a soul so strong it could reach back by itself.

In the past years, a battle has been fought between different faiths and while the main priesthood is under the power of the Hymenocera, the holy sites, except for the site of the recently created holy order) are in the hands of the Shimmers of Unseen Bane.

Spoiler: region 29

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Name: Belosa

Spoiler: Geography

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A mostly sandy/muddy region with small rock formations dotted through the region. A lot of toxic chemicals are brought here on the current from the north-east, but there were a few crevassas in the region where toxic chemical poured out. The sand becomes a wasteland to the north-west. Closer to the North it's more hilly with the smokers also seen in region 4.

Due to the toxicity there are very few plants and the animals either tolerate the chemicals or actually need them. Near region 4 there grow some Eye Weed plants, but the rest of the region is not really suitable for them.

Spoiler: People

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The Belosiae are cephalopods, about 5 feet long (including tentacles). They have grown used to the chemicals and actually have filtration systems in their body. They also use some of the chemicals they ingest to be able to glow in a unique pattern, which they use in mating rituals or in dance feasts when tribes meet. They live in tribal units, roaming through the region.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Because the lack of sufficient shelter and the lack of materials to build them, the Belosiae are mostly nomads, traveling from place to place with their herds of Spine Crabs. Each family unit is self-contained, although they do intermarry. There is a council of the heads of the largest tribes and the priests which decides on the few things that affect the region as a whole. Beyond that all tribes govern themselves and the few conflicts between tribes are most often solved by a combat of champions. As they are nomadic, everyone learns to defend the tribe and the herds, meaning they have quite a lot of soldiers should the need arise.

There are a few small towns around the rock formations where tribes come together to trade.

Spoiler: Resources

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In the region lives a species of crab called spine crabs. These are often well camouflaged in the wild, but are now domesticated. They serve as food and draft animal for a large amount of different jobs. The spine crabs themselves dig in the mud for small molluscs to eat.

Due to the relative low amount of rock in their own region they need a lot of building material to build houses for themselves.

Spoiler: Faith

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The main faith in the region is ancestor worship, where they believe that their ancestor's souls will look after them if properly appeased. Near the border with region 4 some tribes follow a different form of ancestor worship as in that region. While they don't have many Dream Talkers (only a few Lupocyclus move over the border), they do have a location near a group of Eye Weed plants where the few Dream Talkers say they can hear the ancestors. It's not clear why this location is different, but a lot of tribes following this religion try to pass there at least once per year. This site has recently been taken over by the priests of the Hymenocera as part of their vendetta against the Dream Talkers

In the rest of the region a different form of ancestor worship takes place, where people just try to emulate prominent ancestors. In the largest town near the middle of the region has a large cave that functions as the Hall of the Ancestors. Any Belosia who has done something noteworthy for the whole region will get a 'statue' in the Hall, where his/her glow pattern is recreated using luminous algae and sponges.

A third site the Belosiae consider holy is the site of a large battle between them and the titans, where many ancestors did glorious deeds. For most visitors it's just a muddy plain.

[Feathersnow]

Region 125: The Everswamp of Qzzry'ya

Spoiler: people (physical)

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Most of the people of this brackish region are of a vertebrate clade previously unencountered. It has long been hypothesized, based on studies of Mer and It-That-Comes-From-Beyond-the-Sky that vertebrates are far more dominant above the sky. Some heretics suspect the Nacres may even be vertebrate-derived, based on the increased durability and metabolic hyperactivity needed to live in the toxic vacuum that exists beyond the water.

This clade is believed to be more basal than the Merish or, to use the word the Nacres called It-That-Comes-From-Beyond-the-Sky, "Avian" forms of terrestrial vertebrates that have re-colonized the sea. It has many traits in common with fish, but limbs of the same array as a Nacre or Otterian, with many traits in common with a mer. Biologians studying them now feel confident Mer ancestors once had four limbs and closely resembled Otterians based on this study of a basal vertebrate.

These creatures resemble Otterians in more than their gross physical features. They also have an uncanny ability to live in aether, actually nesting in it. Unlike Otterians or Mer, their reproductive properties are much like that of the Precursors- abandoning eggs and accepting any larva to make it to an adult phase in the wild to society. Thus, unlike Mer, who are repelled by the ways of Sakurado's cultivating infants deliberately, to the people of Qzzry'ya, this represents a more humane and logical way to safeguard future generations.

Of great shock to everyone, there was found a living colony of Precursors in Qzzry'ya. On the standing request of the Nacres to not wantonly and violently exterminate sentient bloodlines and out of an indulgence to anthropologists, they are going to be permitted to live naturally, though any are free to convert.

Spoiler: people (culture)

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The dominant culture of this area called themselves the Levt. This word is both the name for their society and the dominant species. They revere the Great Mangrove. Study of this being confirm their legend that it is a single clonal colony actually introduced by the semi-apocryphal Saint Tomo in Precursor Times.

According to legend, there was once a forest of similar trees that were devastated in The Cataclysm. St. Tomo created this replacement to stabilize the ruined ecosystem and prevent the extinction of the Levt. In thanks they have practiced a corrupt form of primitive Sakurado, but are eager to adopt themselves to our new orthodoxy.

Spoiler: Geography

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This area was once much like Dashasham, a series of mountains piercing the sky, but the Great Mangrove absorbed much of the salt and filled in much of the available space. It is more wood than water, and less mountain than either.
The waters here very light in mineral content, to the point it can cause kidney distress in fish designed for other regions.

Spoiler: Resource

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Cuttings of the Mother Mangrove can live almost anywhere and provide fodder for animals due to their fast growth.

The hormonal system of Mother Mangrove is actually a Precursor relic used replicate industrial chemicals by careful application of stimuli. These Fruiting Mangrove are living chemical factories! That said, they cannot produce extremely complex biologicals.


Since Mother Mangrove has consumed most of the region, Fertilizer is needed to continue production effectively.

Spoiler: faith

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The Levt practice a primitive version of Sakurado that will require instruction to become orthodox. They do revere our saints and understand the need to care fir the World Garden. It us a good first step!

[Feathersnow]

Region 120

The Dekapoloi

Spoiler: people

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This region is a rough conglomerate of hamlets, notionally ten spread out 'cities," each representing a different species or ethnic grouping. There are representatives from Otterian, Nautilite, Merish, and Crab-folk tribes, as well as Sakura-Jin Hermit Crabs, and other races as well. The Hermit Crabs are later immigrants, and not notionally one of "the ten." Levt are also not present, being restricted until recently to Qzzry'ya.
They have a democratic council, with speakers from each tribe answering to a grand jurist. The most recent grand jurist led the defense against the Sakura-Jin invasion. He has since converted and has been allowed to keep his titles in exchange for allowing the Ecclesiarchs to act as a veto on his power and name his successor.

Spoiler: Geography

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This land has rolling hills and variable salinity clines. It is interspersed with small villages that are organized by caste and ethnicity into ten "cities." The actual terrain is idyllic and pastoral.

Spoiler: resource

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This place is a calm, pastoral land where axolotl shepherds farm their strange basal vertebrate creatures for meat and nutritious glitter-slime they shed from their bellies.

The people have little building materials and move around constantly, living in tents. As a result, they need Textiles

Spoiler: Faith

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The people of this region have no organized religion, but pray to manifestations of nature personified, not unlike the Baalim priests of the Precursors, though they use different names. Theologians will study similarities to these discredited faiths in order to better supplant them. This is the first time Mer or Otterians have been attempted to be integrated into Sakurado in large numbers. Their bizarre biological needs and "family" structures may not be easily integrated and great care will be taken not to antagonize them or make the integration seem compulsory.

[Frostwander]

Region 103: Taifre Mandala - The Hundred Trenches

Spoiler: Geography

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Ridges and canyons alternate in chaotic waves, forming a sea ‘floor’ that is rarely level or smooth. The rock is largely composed of multicolored limestone ridges. The ridgetops, most exposed to the heavy currents of the region, are barren but for hardier crustaceans and schools of larger fish. The valleys, sheltered from the harsher waters above, are home to sweeping coral reefs and thousands of species they house - including the Nereid, the only known sentient natives of the region. From above, this has the effect of a mandala-like swirl, alternating bands of rock and vegetation in a myriad of patterns and colors. It is broadly debated among the locals whether this pattern was natural or deliberately cultivated. This earns the region its proper name, Taifre Mandala, though colloquially it is often simply called the Hundred Trenches.

At the center of the region, like an eye of calm in the swirling trenches, sits the shallow basin containing the remains of the Temple of Duarge. It is the most intact pre-Calamity structure in the region, only recently identified by the Sereian visitors. Numerous hollow shell structures dot the basin, faded paint and carvings depicting all kinds of ocean life, from fish and seahorses to turtles and whales. Broken remnants of shoal enclosures and feeding pens litter the grounds between, now overgrown with seaweeds and corals. In the spiral arms of the valleys extending, many more-fragmented ruins speak of a once vast city, now only a shattered legacy to be explored and deciphered.

The passage of the Trawlers has left a scoured scar thousands of meters wide, marring one side of the mandala. Fortunately the primary settlement of Demeli was missed, but one of the outer collegiate grounds was less fortunate. While the staff and student body were evacuated, the campus itself was completely leveled.

Spoiler: People

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Nereid are a merfolk race, with a piscine lower body and tail meeting at the waist with a humanoid torso, arms and head. Adult Sereia typically measure two to five meters in length from head to fin, with the tail accounting for between half and three-quarters of their body mass. Skin and scale colors come in a broad spectrum, though very few Nereid sport the customized grafts of the Sereia.

Spoiler: History

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The Nereid have lost much of their history, but the scholars have begun to piece together things from the ruins and relics recovered by the adventuring scholars. They have traced their origins to a once widespread society of their race known as the Tritaol Republic. The republic, according to records, was a thriving high society of faith, philosophy, and martial prowess. Dozens of city-states formed a network of communities, and representatives of each governed in a senate according to their population. Grand architecture led to the creation of vast halls and temples.

Then the Calamity laid all this low. From pieced-together bits of writing, the scholars’ broad consensus (there is some debate on the meaning of certain phrases) is that a combination of corruption and complacency among the aristocracy was already fraying cohesion among the Tritaol people. When the apocalypse struck, the already weakened ties among the city-states collapsed. Without the nets of trade and support, most who survived the initial devastation succumbed to starvation, exposure, and infighting. Small groups formed, forsaking class and caste from desperation, managed to survive in isolation until the waters cleared and bonds could be found anew.

Spoiler: Resource

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Adventuring Scholars - Those Nereid who continue their education into the field of research have formed colleges. These schools are focused on furthering scientific knowledge through analysis of their predecessors and of the natural world. Groups of scholars take their studies from the halls of their schools into the wild currents of the trenches, which necessitates some skill in navigation and survival as well. Those who pursue these ‘field studies’ spend years training and pursuing a thesis under the supervision of a respected mentor before they are allowed to join or lead expeditions of their own.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Examinations - Nereid beliefs bear little resemblance to that of the republic that was their origin. With their survival dependent on careful study of their surroundings, knowledge and education have surpassed philosophy. The Examinations are a series of developed tests, where children and young adults can prove their retention of their lessons. These test for proficiency via memorization and deduction of four subjects: language, reading, mathematics, and scientific reasoning. An individual’s performance in the Examinations determine their prospects in the next level of schooling, and when education is completed, the career options available.

[TheDarkDM]

Lapangan Zamrud (Region 24)

Spoiler: Geography

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Lapangan Zamrud (Region 24)

Spreading south of the crimson waters of Bloodhome and the Khandeeps, the rolling kelp forests of Lapangan Zamrud form a glistening veridian sea-within-a-sea. Their verdant expanses guided but never pierced by the stunted remnants of volcanic mountains, the tangled wilds can easily confuse and disorient those unfamiliar with their currents, leaving more than one weary traveler vulnerable to the dapple-furred sea tigers that make the place their hunting grounds. Those fleeing to the sandy surface are no safer, for venomous, sapphire-hued urchins often cling to the holdfasts of the groves. Occupying one of the shallowest expanses of the tropic waters, the waters above the rolling forests are often speckled with strange ghost-lights from the surface, and Lapangan Zamrud’s inhabitants are some of the few brave enough to have laid eyes on the mythic “sun.”

Spoiler: People

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Merfolk

Wedged between great kingdoms of corals, the mer who call Lapangan Zamrud their home have long prospered in careful anonymity. Weaving hidden villages in natural valleys and dales, they have farmed the forests and hunted its bounty for generations. Loosely organized into tribal groups, conflicts between these settlements were rare and highly ritualized, with all involved aware of the greater danger of exposing their hidden fastnesses or drawing greater attention from ravenous sea tigers through rampant bloodshed. Most arguments and grievances between the scattered villages were addressed at regular conclaves of tribal leaders, these conclaves forming the nearest thing to a governing body in the region. However, the rise of the great powers in Lapangan Zamrud’s orbit spelled doom for this way of life.

As conflicts raged and tropical kingdoms sought to become powers, the dregs of a dozen armies were left adrift in the uncaring sea. Many of these forces, driven from their homelands by the expansionist ambitions of Syndicate, Lighthouse, and Unity, saw in the kelp forests a place to lick their wounds and consider the future. At first, this trickle of outsiders was seen as no danger to the forest tribes, and some were even welcomed to prove themselves and thus gain a true home. But what began as a trickle soon became a flood, as entire shattered divisions reconstituted themselves beneath the banners of one of a dozen petty warlords. The native population found itself besieged, their forests now fully infected with armed bands who navigated the hidden ways thanks to collaborators willing and unwilling. These bandit groups extorted the hidden villages to fulfill their base desires, while adopting the fundamental rule of the forest - to hide. Woe to them, that this proved insufficient to blunt the Syndicate’s ambitions.

The invasion of the Lambent Syndicate brought true war to the great forest for the first time in recorded song, as bandit clans made a stand against the unified fist of the kucen’s slave soldiers. Had they commanded the loyalty of the people, they might have prevailed, for the forest held as many dangers for the invaders as for the occupiers. But the Syndicate is ever one to couple the thrusting spear with the subtle knife, and beneath the haze of battle sirens in service to the great Mistresses made contact with the local tribes. Eager for freedom and seduced by the siren’s honeyed words, the tribes betrayed the secret ways, the hidden fortresses, and the supply caches of last-resort that the bandit clans had relied upon, and so their oppressors were finally defeated. To signal the peace they offered, the Syndicate’s soldiers bound all the captive bandits in fungal cages bound to the kelp, breaking their limbs and leaving them as living delicacies for the swarms of bottom-feeders drawn to the carnage. This ring of the living dead stretched the perimeter of the forest, and offered a chilling warning against further resistance.

Now, the tribes stand liberated but not free. Their confederation now meets in a location of clear-cut forest where the Syndicate’s intricate coral palaces might take root, under the watchful eyes of a siren. The subtle knife has been sheathed, but one need only look at the field of bones that now surrounds Lapangan Zamrud to know they are a conquered people.

Spoiler: Resource

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Fibrous Kelp

The vibrant fields of Lapangan Zamrud are made up of a variety of species of kelp, but none is more prized than the durable bull kelp that the local mer rely on for building materials and textiles. The tough strands can be woven into fibers of great strength while still alive, providing living cocoons in which to shelter from the elements. Moreover, the natural processes of the heterokonts serve to filter the surrounding waters of impurities, suggesting more advanced uses for the resource.

Resource Requirement: Military Labor

Forced to spend a generation under the control of greedy despots, the people of Lapangan Zamrud log above all else for a return to the security of their prior anonymity. To that end, each village has taken up a collection to procure their own defenders, independent even from the Syndicate’s distant enforcers.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Gyre: With their daily lives so intimately entwined with the kelp forest, the mer of Lapangan Zamrud have long deified both the kelp itself as well as the often mercurial currents that set it to its strangely graceful dance. This animist belief system, whereby the souls of all departed mer sprout anew and whisper their old wisdom through the water, is collectively identified as “The Gyre,” and is venerated at innumerable small shrines. No central locations for worship exist, but concentrations of tribes in the East and South have great influence over the rites practiced by the villages radiating out from them.

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The Crawling Crags (Region 20)

Spoiler: Geography

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The Crawling Crags (Region 20)

A rocky expanse riven with shallow fissures, the Crawling Crags has little at first glance to entice long term habitation. That is, until night falls, and the faint glow coming through the cracks in the sea floor. Through those crevasses, a visitor would see the hidden world of the Crawling Crags, shallow caverns that play host to a wide variety of hearty corals and grasses, fed by geothermal vents and a series of dizzying currents that draw in unwary prey from the edges of the region. It is in these fragile bubbles of life that the inhabitants of the region, the Revenant Hermits, construct their dizzying spiral villages.

Spoiler: People

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Revenant Hermits

Reminiscent of bone-white hermit crabs, the Revenant Hermits stand three feet tall when in motion, though this belies a great deal of their mass due to their hunched posture and manifold limbs. However, unlike the smaller crabs with which they share a name they do not scavenge mollusc shells - instead, small family groups construct elaborate spiral shell structures from the chitinous resin secreted from a specialized gland in their underbelly. Disdaining large settlements, groups of Revenant Hermits range far afield, their hunters appearing above ground briefly, if ever.

Spoiler: Resource

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Carcinized Architects

Though they lack the large settlements that normally presage elaborate monuments in other cultures, the entirety of Revenant Hermit art is focused around architectural endeavor. To that end, their isolated homesteads are miracles of angle and curve, expertly crafted such that seemingly diaphanous supports can anchor structures of majestic scale. It is this expertise more than anything else that draws the eyes of outsiders to the Crags, and the Revenants profit greatly in plying their expertise as free masons.

Resource Requirement: Unskilled Labor

For all their expertise, however, the Revenant Hermits are not a profligate people, and architectural ambitions are too-often stymied by lack of labor. To solve this issue, some exceptionally sociable homesteads have begun seeking a source of “alternative labor,” that might be put to the backbreaking work of exceeding the greatest achievements of Revenants past.

Spoiler: Faith

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Spindleshrines: Isolationist by nature, the Revenant Hermits do not gather for conventional worship. Indeed, the faith of each individual Revenant is a deeply private affair, and they rarely express their faith even among family. Instead, each homestead maintains a fragile, luminous spindleshrine somewhere in the vicinity of their claimed cavern, where Revenants can travel at their own whim to contemplate the endless tides. As with their other structures, these spindleshrines are built as expressions of architectural excellence, with the grandest and most beautiful drawing the rare pilgrim from farther afield.

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Hamparan Pasang Surut (Region 32)

Spoiler: Geography

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Hamparan Pasang Surut (Region 32)

Abutting the toxic expanse that shrouds the southern tropical reaches, the white sand and clear waters of Hamparan Pasang Surut roll up to touch the mythical reaches of the surface. Taken in discrete segments, the region might easily pass for a paradise, sandy atolls and small islands encircled by white-sand shallows that nurture scattered expanses of coral and lush stands of sea grasses. Viewed from afar, however, the beauty of these waters is marred by the jagged chasms that separate each small archipelago. Jutting shards of igneous rock stud the walls of these canyons like broken teeth, while foreboding sea monts rise from the depths to pierce the waves like eerie sentinels. This interplay of darkness and light, warm water and bitter cold, creates a dizzying eddy of currents in these liminal canyons that divide the small settlements of the local mer and have historically prevented any organized unification.

Spoiler: People

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Shoal Wardens

A species of tropical sereia possessed of light-green skin and scales that range from a sand-yellow to a deep ochre in color. Organized in large extended family groups, each tribe occupies one of the islands of calm shallows that dot the region. Having survived as primarily agrarian communities prior to the renaissance, most tribal groups continue the tradition of tending their kelp patches and coral nurseries while engaging in sporadic trade with their neighbors. While the difficulty in traversing the region had prevented any large-scale unification prior to the arrival of the Lambent Syndicate, the five largest tribes had already begun consolidating power through intermarriage and mercantile domination, creating five vague and shifting power blocs engaged in simmering border skirmishes that sometimes flared into outright tribal warfare. Agents of the Lambent Empress infiltrated the three lesser powers of this quintet, and with the Syndicates vast resources were able to finance the subjugation of the two nominally supreme powers in the region. In the process, the three newly-dominant powers found themselves militarily dependent on continued Syndicate support, and their integration into the Syndicate swiftly followed.

Spoiler: Resource

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Delicate Mussels

While the stormy currents around the liminal depths of Hamparang Pasang Surut pose a danger to any traveling from one shallows tribe to another, eyes of tranquility in the storm provide an environment uniquely suited to the cultivation of a species of local mussel. These delicate mussels are prized for their meat and shells locally, and have proven attractive to foreign merchants for more exotic purposes.

Resource Requirement: Unskilled Labor

While the greatest mercantile bounty of the region is found outside its settled areas, the difficulty in navigating the liminal depths has long stymied large-scale cultivation efforts as well as inter-tribe commerce. It is for this reason that the locals expect any parent kingdom or suzerain power to provide adequate labor in beasts of burden or stalwart servants to forge new and lasting trails.

Spoiler: Faith

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Promised Waters: Occupying bright and welcoming islands of tranquility surrounded by more menacing but necessary deeps, the local tribes of Hamparang Pasang Surut have nurtured an oral tradition promising an ascension one day to a place where both areas flow in harmony. These promised waters, so the stories go, will be tended by the souls of the honored dead, whose benevolence quells all turbulence and whose embrace can be felt in every current and eddy. While the reality of this promised sea is, in modern times, assumed to be allegorical rather than physical, the presence of a number of perfectly circular estuary lagoons on the largest islands in the region provide a continuous source of hope that one day the spiritual idyll might manifest.

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Ujian Berat (Region 16)

Spoiler: Geography

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Ujian Berat (Region 16)

A desolate wasteland polluted by the redglow rifts, Ujian Berat is a broken expanse of black sand, igneous rock, and obsidian that manages to retain an edge even against the unpredictable and murderous redtides that sweep the ocean floor. What little fauna remains has been irreparably twisted by the strange energies of the rifts, swollen to monstrous proportions and reduced to beings of animalistic fury. Civilization’s hold on the region is tenuous, even after the Syndicate’s efforts to tame it, with only a few heavily-fortified bastions perched on the edges of the largest of the rifts. And then there are the redglow rifts themselves, jagged canyons in the sea floor whose depths are shrouded in an omnipresent crimson glow.

Spoiler: People

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Redglow Revenants

Beyond its monstrous predators, the only inhabitants of Ujian Berat are the Syndicate’s redglow revenants. Or, perhaps more specifically, the mass of prospective warriors undergoing the tempering necessary to forge redglow revenants. Assigned to one of the scattered training fortresses the Syndicate has erected through the region, these soldiers become little more than prisoners, subjected to the rigorous and unyielding conditioning and exploited in the harvesting of ore from the depths of the rifts. Many of these candidates meet their death and are quickly forgotten, but the most hardened and loyal among them are elevated to the Syndicate’s military elite.

Spoiler: Resource

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Redglow Rocks

The mysterious redglow rocks once polluted the waters of Ujian Berat with inhospitable radiation. Though the ubiquity of the glow has been artificially constrained, their poisonous and mutagenic properties remain as potent as ever.

Resource Requirement: Crops

Bereft of arable land or domesticable animals, Ujian Berat relies exclusively on imported supplies of food (and indeed all necessities) to feed its assembly line of the Syndicate’s troops.

Spoiler: Faith

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Victory is Life: While the region, as the Syndicate at large, venerates Radiant Indah, there is an undercurrent of faith that exists in parallel to the wider orthodoxy. This is the warrior ideal that was created alongside the Death Commando, and has grown to embrace the eventual ascension of death commando to redglow revenants. Loyalty to the Syndicate, its Mistresses, and the Empress is paramount, and personal worth is measured in fearlessness, obedience, and ferocity.

[MappyPK]

Splendid Miru Miru

Aniwana (153)

Spoiler: Summary

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Capital Region: Aniwana (153)
Resource: Decor.
Desired Import: Exotic foodstuffs.

Holy Sites:

• Toka Toka: The Cyphiri Way
• Whawhai: Open
• Tura Anga: Open

Faction Support:

• Aristocratic: Splendid Miru Miru
• Clerical: Open
• Mercantile: Splendid Miru Miru

Starting tech: Photospore Signaling - Due to the physiology of the Taika, photo-messaging systems can make use of bands of light many other species are unable to detect. This allows for secretive signals to be sent between individuals and regions through the use of photosensitive, light-emitting relay microorganisms strategically placed along commonly traveled paths and routes.

_{Light- or sound-based communication often faces the issue of rapid diffraction and distortion underwater, especially over long distances, while speedy messenger organisms are often expensive to maintain, especially when contacting groups; a system of well dispersed particulate organisms with modular and adaptive stimuli responses, on the other hand, remains reliable at range and can sustain itself near-indefinitely.}

Spoiler: People

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Taika are a race of small- to medium-sized saltwater fish known for their wide variety of hues and shapes, similar to those of a traditional betta fish but two or so times larger. Additionally, many people may be familiar with their outstanding eyesight, able to see far further on the light spectrum than most other creatures. Indeed, their sensitive perception of color has caused them to have quite an eye for the aesthetically pleasing. In response, evolutionary pressures to mate have resulted in Taika producing brightly colored bubble nests. The pigmentation of their meals are stored in a specialized organ in the body, which secretes it in small quantities into the air produced to create the bubbles. Bubble nests are particularly sturdy and cannot simply be popped by passing through due to the specialized gas make-up of the bubbles themselves. Often times, they take the form of small arches and decorated entrances to small caverns in the rock. Rarely, a nest will be made entirely out of bubble.

Therefore, a varied diet is a sign of power among these people, as the most colorful homes can only come about from eating a variety of foods. However, they are primarily carnivorous, so smaller fleshy creatures of bright colors are rare to come across. All of these factors come together to result in a species that can be quite competitive amongst itself, with everyone wanting to have the flashiest home. Trading, buying, and selling exotic foods, wares, and decorations are commons, though many are prone to using slightly more underhanded tactics to rise the ranks of Taika society.

Males and females are physiologically very similar, and there is no conception of gender roles among these people. Mer are generally uncommon in Miru Miru, due to their significantly larger size being generally incompatible with the Taika way of life. They are not actively shunned, however, and can be seen living in the outskirts from time to time, building shelters of colorful stones in an attempt to fit in with the Taika.

Spoiler: Geography

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Aniwana is a relatively shallow region with high levels of vegetation, including seaweed, kelp, and a wide variety of green algaes. Although the base of the ground is relatively simplistic in makeup, including sand, clay, and dirt, stone pillars of modest size can be found scattered about, and these are where the people design their homes. The numerous smaller fish and abundance of planktonic organisms that can be found hiding in these rocks and forests make up the most basic diet for the Taika of the area, as the vegetation cannot provide the resources necessary. Of course, organisms of lesser intellect, such as corals, sponges, anemones, urchins, sand dollars, and starfish, come in many varieties in the region as well, though they are often given less attention and serve primarily as decorative pieces rather than members of the society.

Spoiler: History and Government

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For as long as oral tradition can recite, the reigning Teacher is selected through competition upon the passing away of the previous head of state via competition known as the Ruawacka. A two-week journey is taken by the most experienced and highly-regarded Taika of the nation in order to find a meal with the greatest vibrancy of all. A two-step competition then occurs: in the first round, bubbles are created to be as colorful as possible in order to prove that their journey was eventful and successful. A council of judges, traditionally known collectively as the Kaiawa, is formed of those Taika who have been determined to have the greatest perception of color. These judges come to a decision on the five most worthy colorations, whose makers then participate to create the largest bubble possible in the same hue. The bubbles are measured, and the winner becomes the next head of state, inheriting the palace and positions of the previous Teacher. Essentially, they become the acting monarch of the people, though it is within their power to delegate various duties to councilmen and personally selected individuals. The Teacher is free to grant themself any title they so desire to be remembered by those passing down oral traditions and stories.

The first leader following the organization, Tuatahi, follows in the footsteps of his mother, who went by the title the Bubble Bender, having set the record for the largest single bubble ever produced by a Taika in one of the most competitive rounds to date, or so they say. Elders worry a bit about his grandiose nature, having already made several massive expansions to the royal palace.

Spoiler: Resources

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Taika can never have enough of the most exotic of foods and meats. The most beautiful colors come from species only available in lands not yet known to them. Indeed, their plain palette is home is not nearly enough to satisfy the desires of the people trying to spruce up their homes.

On the other hand, however, many citizens have taken it upon themselves to cultivate colorful plants and scour the seafloor for sparkling objects, as these things can compliment the nest quite nicely if placed with grace inside and out.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Miru people are not particularly well-known for their faith. The occasional folklore and storytelling across generations makes up the most part of their beliefs, resulting in no organized faith among them. Under the command of Tuatahi, however, the people have let in the teachings of the Cyphiri Way.

Holy Sites:
Toka Toka - A large stone pillar topped by a circular donut-shaped structure. Covered from top to bottom in unintelligent life, it is said that the first bubble was a result of a sudden riptide passing through this one of a kind formation.
Whawhai - A stone circle in the ground on a relatively flat, open stretch of sand and gravel. Here, Taika in dispute with one another legally fight out their quarrels until one side either gives up or is unable to continue.
Tura Anga - A small rocky monument at the bottom of the largest of the stone cliffs in the center city. More nests can be found above it than any other stone structure in the Aniwana region.

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Parikao (150)

Spoiler: Geography

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The shallow sand and clay seafloor of Aniwana just marginally begins to encroach into Parikao, at which point a stone base covers much of the borderlands. This stone takes a steep angle downward and seemingly continues until a flat seafloor is once again reached, returning to a sandy covering. The cliffs traveling downward are covered in a vast array of corals, which are often plucked from their bases and brought home to decorate gardens back in Kanapa. Artists and tourists from the big city often find themselves desiring to take a look at the rainbow shelves of Parikao.

The depths contain a continuation of the same greenery as Aniwana, but in much lesser density. Indeed, vegetation is scarce, limited to basic leafy greens including seagrasses and kelp. Taikans have attempted to import some more exotic options for their gardens, but have been relatively unsuccessful without the installation of bioluminescent technologies to provide more light. Indeed, the villages on the seafloor in Parikao are lined with photospore organisms to ensure that the people living there can see in the dark that encroaches. It does, however, lead to some spectacular displays that provide a modern twist on the traditional Taikan garden, attracting some to live there for just this purpose.

Spoiler: People

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Although small, the population of Pojanese that inhabit the region, including its depths, are highly militaristic and are not fond of outsiders entering their territory unless good reason has been provided. Their preferred transportation method is, of course, sharkback, allowing people to quickly travel through the area. However, having been paid for hire by the Taikan elite for many years, they have warmed up to the presence of the people of Miru Miru, who have quickly been moving in large numbers into the region. Indeed, a mutual understanding of sorts has been reached, in which the two groups have realized that they are better off together. The reckless and dangerous Pojanese raiders can defend the region and gather resources, while the Taikans can generate income and lead the area to greater prosperity.

Currently, the proportion is approximately two households of Taika for every Pojan, and a handful of Mer on the shallow border with Aniwana. According to initial reports, the Miru government has reason to believe that some unincorporated Taikans may have been living in the coral walls, unbeknownst to the larger civilization just next door. Just as extravagant in terms of abodes, though, as those living in Aniwana, so they truly are kin.

Spoiler: Resources

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The people themselves are the primary strategic resource of the region. The Pojanese Raider Bands for hire across Parikao’s waters are quite greedy, and can easily be convinced to join a higher power’s ranks with some careful economic coercion.

However, these people require a greater variety of Tools than they currently have access to, in order to help smith more weapons for an advantage on the battlefield. The Taikans moving into the region for the first time also need these tools to construct new buildings, especially in the depths.

Spoiler: Faith

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Many of the Taikan colonizers still hold onto their religious indifference or Cyphiri Way beliefs, but the different native groups of Pojanese have their own traditional beliefs, split primarily into two major groups.

Those that live somewhat further down follow a variety of Ascendent Teachings, a sort of traditional moral code that prioritizes the needs and desires of the individual, rather than as a group. If you only live once, surely you should be allowed to live your lifetime to its fullest, no matter the cost to others. Those who follow these long-lived traditional teachings feel a certain affinity with the recent arrival of the Taikans, who do indeed have a similar taste for luxury. The students of the Teachings have shown the Taikans one of their favorite places for plundering, the (HS1) Lost City of Garo, in which treasure can often be found. Exploring the City is considered a right of passage for young Pojans in Parikao.

The less prominent of the two, Sunlight Reverence, is a monotheistic celebration of the light that falls down onto the warm waters. It is said that a winged deity hides behind the Sun, pushing it across the skies on the regular so that the people below can achieve the perfect balance of wakefulness during the day and rest while the seas are dark. On the longest day of the year, followers gather near the surface at a circular stone formation known as (HS2) The Sunstone, where they must endure the heat of the waters to prove their loyalty to the Sun Deity. The followers of this faith find themselves trying to live on the short stretches of seafloor before the massive cliff-faces the region has been named after. Additionally, they are extremely wary of the Eel, who has slithered dangerously close to the Sunstone in recent years.

Of interest to some religious communities is a site on the southeastern cliff face in which the corals are entirely absent, instead replaced by what appears to be a colorful selection of crystals poking out from the side. Dubbed the (HS3) Mata Tiota, it is revered for its seemingly unnatural beauty.

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Wakamarumaru Marama (152)

Spoiler: Geography

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While the waters near the surface are fairly uninteresting aside from the occasional vesicle of algae, the crags below provide ample space for highly defensible homes. Most of these caves are fully covered by stone, but have their openings in the side of large boulders and rock formations. Inside, mineral-based stalactites, stalagmites, and full columns are plentiful, creating the illusion of something of a web. Indeed, the inhabitable caves of the region as a whole are maze-like, perfect for anyone who wishes to live in relative solitude.

Anything larger than a Lysimian would be unable to maneuver these enclosed spaces. A variety of underwater vines and fungi attach themselves to these walls as well, which can be harvested for short-term sustenance, or imported back to Aniwana for garden construction.

Spoiler: People

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Though sparse, the majority of those living in the area are members of the Mauve Shade, former subjects to the Lux-Glossian regime. Originally, they had volunteered to colonize the new seas to escape their lack of respect among the natives of the Greenwater region from which they had left, but have eventually come to realize that their quality of life has been much higher in Wakamarumaru Marama, as the nearby Taikans call it, thanks to the relative easy access to algae on the cave walls.

Since Tiaki’s prideful yet peaceful parade into the caverns, a small number of Taikans have moved in, taking advantage of the particularly interesting terrain to create more stylistic bubble nests. However, the lack of visitors due to the area’s low level of development makes this an incredibly niche community. With greater investment, however, the caverns could become prime bubble nest real estate.

Spoiler: Resources

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Large floating vesicles of luscious green algae can be found floating near the surface. Though easily spotted, they are not large in number and cannot be easily harvested, making it difficult to maintain a constant supply. Nonetheless, they are said to be quite tasty by the members of the Mauve Shade, and clearly undergo photosynthesis rapidly. Some people find their presence unsettling. Where do they come from? Presumably, the caves down below, but the exact spawn point has not been tracked down.

The cave systems below the surface, however, are difficult to light up consistently, even with the usage of the bioluminescent technologies the Taika are known for. Something more powerful and of much larger scope is needed for those who wish to set up shop within the caverns.

Spoiler: Faith

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The vast majority of the colonists are followers of the Lux-Glossian Way, while some of the newer Taikan inhabitants have brought ideals of the Cyphiri Way with them. The two groups tend to get along well, however.

Followers occasionally gather at a particularly spectacular stone formation known as the (HS1) Matao Toka. Truth be told, it doesn’t hold any significant historical or religious value, but the still waters that surround it are said to be quite soothing, allowing for a safe space to meditate.

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Oka Oka Okale (149)

Spoiler: Geography

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Oka Oka Okale’s most prominent feature is the long sandy slope that reaches down towards its depths from the neighboring Aniwana, which has become littered with a myriad of stones in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Given the sandy terrain, the native people, a group of sea slugs, were unable to climb up the hill to figure out the source of these mysterious rocks. Unbeknownst to them, the stones are actually a result of discarded Taikan garden rocks. When a Taikan relocates to a new shelter, it is traditional to remove all traces of their previous bubble garden. While plants can be uprooted and eaten and bubbles can be popped, the centerpiece rocks are difficult to dispose of, so many have taken to discarding them by simply allowing them to roll out of Aniwana. The region is otherwise unremarkable, with a relatively barren stone floor and occasional formations that hold up important structures, such as the local Chora Base.

Spoiler: People

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In addition to a modest population of native Taikans, a large number of Sluug have been discovered to be living on the seafloor. Previously an uncontacted species, the cultural intricacies of these miniature white and gray sea slugs fall in line with those of Miru Miru quite well. Indeed, they are quite territorial within their family units. Their most defining characteristic, however, is their tendency to carry around decorative stones on their back, causing them to appear as though they are snails. Beauty is valued above all else in Sluug settlements, which the owner of the most fancy stone almost always declared leader of the village. Though now defunct as an organized faith, the local animist practices assert that one can enhance their soul through having a colorful and vibrant rock of a unique shape, causing many to take pilgrimages to the bottom of the slope, waiting for the stones to appear.

Spoiler: Resources

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The Giant Cleaner Wrasse are… useful, but not particularly bright, to put it lightly. Similarly to cleaner wrasse of normal proportions, they are highly efficient at cleaning other organisms, removing dirt, decaying matter, and parasites from them. This service is likely more valuable to natural predators than the energy they would provide as food. However, due to their scale, they are primarily attracted to sharks, rays, eels, and cetaceans. Having one of these try to clean a Taika, for example, would result in the Taikan being fully suctioned into its mouth. They can, however, be somewhat easily persuaded into scraping stone, metals, or even non-standard organisms clean by sprinkling the dead skin of a shark or eel onto said surfaces (and, given the nearby presence of Magaramachi eating friendly organisms, collecting this matter is no problem). [Giant Cleaner Wrasse would count as megafauna, domesticated creatures, and parasite hosts]

Unfortunately, the relative lack of intellect possessed by the Giant Cleaner Wrasse results in much of the seafloor being scraped clean of its algae and decaying organisms, removing all natural fertilizers necessary for growing food. As a result, these products must be imported in large quantities.

Spoiler: Faith

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The first of two common beliefs in Oka Oka Okale, Worldsong cannot be described as anything other than cultish. While not necessarily an organized religious belief in itself, its followers live below the Chora base present here. Indeed, the base itself sits upon something of a plateau close to the surface, while these people create hamlets and outposts around its base, simply referred to as (HS1) The Chora Base Base. Unable to live without the splendor of the Chora’s songs, they have since turned into a choir of their own, singing about the majesty and grace of the Chora and their turtles. Rumor has it that they do not sound particularly good.

On the other hand, followers of the Animist Practices believe that each and every object in the sea contains a soul of its own, that persists beyond the grave. Most notably, the colorful stones that come rolling down the hills are said to be the most energetic and vitalizing souls of them all, and should one collide with you at any time, you have been chosen to receive its blessing of liveliness, wealth, virtue, or some other generally positive quality depending on its color. However, if one dares steal a stone from (HS2) The Pebble Bed, both parties will lose their souls and fade away, unable to find a reason to continue living. In recent years, followers of the Animist Practices have dwindled in number, being replaced by many Flowing Way followers.

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Hiahia Ika (159)

Spoiler: Geography

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Hiahia Ika is covered by a thin layer of ice, which can easily be cracked. From this thin layer grows twisted stems of ice that reach downward towards the seafloor. These pillars are sturdier and longer-lasting than one might expect, with only major brute force able to shatter them. Aside from these, though, the space is extraordinarily flat with a grainy floor of gravel.

Spoiler: People

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A very minute number of native Taikans live on the southern border with Wakamarumaru Marama, though the majority of the population lives elsewhere. Previously an uncontacted species, the Haka are a species of relatively mundane-looking goldfish who have adapted to the chilling waters of the far north. Generally speaking, they look quite similar to the Taika, but only appear on a white-yellow-orange gradient of colors and are noticeably more rotund. Hierarchy in Haka villages is established through the vibrancy of one’s scales and a home painted properly in the same color as said scales. Many of these villages are established on the aforementioned ice pillars, with markets and public spaces on the seafloor and housing carved into the sides.

Spoiler: Resources

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There is nothing quite like the floating medusas known to the locals as Transient Jellywishes. From the depths rise these miniature snow white creatures, floating upwards until they research the surface, where they instantly dissipate into thin air after rising through a hole in the ice layer. The process seems to take less than an hour. If they are captured in a glass jar, though, they are unable to reach the surface and remain intact. Tradition calls for anyone who captures a jellywish to shake the jar until it begins to dissolve, at which point one should close their eyes and make a wish. The jar is to then be stored until the wish comes true, and under no circumstances should its contents be ingested, for no one has survived after consuming a swirled jellywish. When the wish does come true, however, the blended beverage is to be dumped back into the Spawning Grounds, where new jellywishes are born. [Intended to qualify as esoterica and toxins.]

Due to the icy waters of the region, though, large quantities of food are not readily accessible by the citizens. Meat, a rare delicacy considered to be far more nutritious than the native seagrasses, is always appreciated.

Spoiler: Faith

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Acute Perspective. Complaining about life is to be embraced, not taboo. The Dark Caverns (HS1) of the depths are the location of choice for such discussions, which are embraced by many. The faith acts as a stress relief for those who need it most. Getting unwelcome thoughts and events off one’s mind can be refreshing. Unlikely the other two common faiths of the region, they simply see the jellywishes as a reminder of their inevitable doom.

The followers of Upright Philosophy, who regularly congregate at the Spawning Grounds (HS2) are the origin of the odd traditions surrounding the jellywishes. As the jellywishes always travel upward, toward the light, they must be the one true source of upstanding morals. It is required that all followers swim upwards following a jellywish at least once per week to reflect upon the short duration of one’s life and understand that they must live to do good during that time. Capturing a jellywish just before it reaches the surface is said to make wishes come true.

Tangential Theory, on the other hand, are those who wish to redirect the jellywishes away from the surface, believing that the odd creatures’ intent on dissipating in the open air is a curse from which they must be freed. Followers find themselves pouring hours a week manually redirecting jellywishes in a tangential direction, often azimuthally to the north, where the Philosophers will be unable to follow them – or, if they do, leave the region forever. The two groups often debate at the Jellywish Meeting House (HS3), just a few minutes’ swim from the Spawning Grounds.

[Grim ranger]

Region 64 - Yor-sul Depths

Spoiler: Geography

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Named by Kar-Nath Hegemony after a minor deity governing what little agriculture the lands of Frozen Kings manage to maintain, the Depths seem to be a rather worrying place to venture to at first: massive drop into a valley carved deep into the seafloor, harboring little of value at first glance and being truly cold enough to freeze even the inhabitants of Polar seas dead. Those who can manage the crushing pressure and deathly cold, however, find that the area in the depths sports a hauntingly beautiful icy forest of plants the likes of which Polar seas rarely see. While perhaps more wreathed in eternal winter than any other region yet claimed by the Hegemony by its very nature, the ample natural defenses provide protection for the inhabitants and land below is quite well-suited for sturdy construction of the Nathi.

The settlement that has been formed amidst the icy forest has taken the peculiar name of Whitereed, consisting of sturdy keep in middle of the area around which essential marketplaces, logging operations and other services have settled. It also sports many structures made of planks of its native frozen wood, lending majority of the city a chilly appearance matching the forest around it.

Spoiler: People

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While the settlers come from races of Nathi, Lacertis and Mer, they have all been forced to adopt certain modifications to survive the harsh environment of their new surroundings. Their forms are much warmer than others, and both internal modifications and equipment is utilized by the settlers to live with the pressures the sheer depth places the settlement under. As such, each year has molded them further away from their previous natures, the common term for the settlers of the area being Nen-shor or Burning people.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Frozen Logs
The peculiar trade export of the area, the logs hewn from the frozen forest offer both an easy way to preserve meat and other produce, as well as build sturdy structures without need for coral-grafting or other similar methods.

Requirement: Meat
As the changed physiology required to survive the area leaves its people burning hot, they naturally require plentiful food supplies to make sure their hard-working population does not work itself to death thanks to their overclocked mitochrondia. As easy source for plentiful energy, meat of all kinds is vastly preferred to anything else as a trade import.

Spoiler: Faith

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As only recently settled area, Yor-sul Depths currently only has the faith the colonists brought with themselves, that being the Blossoming Sequence. With the settlement fully established, it has gained Plaza of Meditations (HS 1) to serve the spiritual needs of the people.

[Feathersnow]

Spoiler: Tair (region 117)

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Spoiler: Geography

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Similar to Dashasham in its pristine state, this region is full of caves sunk into reefs and seamounts. It is fairly desolate in terms of biological life, however.

There are many caves, seamounts, and islands. There is less planktonic life which leads to fewer sessile lifeforms serving as a base of the food chain as they do to the south.


The region is somewhat chilly, which normally would imply greater plankton streams. The reason for this discrepancy is not well understood.

Spoiler: People

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Populated primarily by Mer, this region has a minority of Nautilites. They are noted by all wearing hats, with the choice of hat coding complex social cues. Nautilites import glue from Dashasham to affix their hat to their shell. This cultural cue caused great consternation to the Sakura-Jin missionaries who decry all clothing. A way was found to skirt the restrictions by breeding de-fanged anemones to serve as living hats, thus preventing Sakura-Jin trying to show cultural inclusion from "wearing the dead."

The integration of mammals into Sakura-Jin society is fraught with complications, as the extreme dependency and emotional neediness of pre-adult mammals makes monastic life less obviously desirable and reproduction by cloning mildly impractical. This has led to a slow, rewards-based propaganda campaign to encourage buy-in voluntarily.

The government is a based around a republican council of aristocratic guildmasters in the central city, also named Tair. There are notionally 10, each dominating a different industry.

Spoiler: Religion

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there is no great faith amongst the people of this region, yet.


Many worship the same cult of anthropomorphic natural forces endemic to the region, but Sakura-Jin missionaries have made many in-roads in recent years, helped by their connections to nobility in the region and humanitarian aid.

Spoiler: resources

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This region breeds Bioluminescent Tunicates that are a much desired resource. They are coveted by many regions and feature prominently in the Exposed Garden that hosts the Cenotaph
Of Saint Marcion in the Heart of The Caves of Therapy.

They seek Preservatives as the farming in this region is highly seasonal, having long periods of nothing followed by periodic bumper crops.

[Aerin]

Kenaqua
Written by Audworld
Region 52

Spoiler: General

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Kenaqua

Leader: Counselor R. Blacktide
Diplomacy:
Military:
Economy:
Faith:
Intrigue:
(Link to rolls pending approval.)

Capital Region: Kenaqua (Polar 52)
Resource: Algae-Based Fuel
Desired Import: Large Minerals

Holy Sites:
The Darkened Cube: The Shroud
The Labyrinth of Vines: The Shroud
The Temple of Leviathan’s Skull: The Shroud

Faction Support:
Aristocratic: Country supported
Clerical: Country supported
Mercantile: Country supported

Starting Tech: Photospore Signaling: Photosphere Signaling has been a consistent and easy way for the communities in both South and East of Kenaqua to communicate with each other, and particularly for the Southern communities to warn the Eastern ones about upcoming current storms within the Northeast Passage. This has the effect of maintaining a more consistent civic life and of allowing travel expeditions to occur with much less risk.

Spoiler: Geography

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Geography: Kenaqua is a somewhat barren territory in the southwest of the Polar Region. Kenaqua’s own southwest has slightly warmer waters. While still frigid, this area contrasts with the much colder environment that makes up the majority of Kenaqua to the east and slightly to the north.

The western region of Kenaqua lays against a series of caverns directly to the south, just within Kenaqua’s borders. These caverns are shallow yet extremely high-pressure, and therefore unexplored. Occasionally a strong current bursts from them and travels north, pushing just enough of the warmer waters of this southern point against the cooler northeast passage to create a reaction. What results is a current storm that fills a large chunk of the region’s middle, leaving the eastern and southern portions inaccessible to each other.

As a result, this “northeast passage” remains largely uninhabited, used only for travel. Most of the ground is barren and empty, since any plant life or frozen structures were long ago destroyed by the repeating current storms.

Large frozen forests of aquatic kelp and algae surround the towns in the eastern inhabited zone and are largely used for foraging. Apart from these, the grounds are largely tamed, although unsuitable for agriculture.

Spoiler: People

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People: Kenaqua’s population is almost exclusively Mer. The two occupied areas of the region, the south and the east, have distinct yet similar cultures. The southern region’s inhabitants mostly focus, as a rule, on the day to day struggles of life: hunting food and providing for their community. Days are brightened through weekly festivals and nightly routines, all done as a community and all in line with the local beliefs (see: Faith).

To the east, the citizens are of a more metropolitan sort. Two cities, Barrenton and The Verge, make up the centers of civic life. To call these cities is, admittedly, generous; both look similar to the ramshackle towns of the south, yet are far more compact to fit more denizens. The political and religious leaders all work and live in The Verge, while Barrenton is where the storytellers reside.

Storytellers are a specific class within Kenaqua. Identified through omens, and born seemingly at random, storytellers are the ones entrusted to carry the people’s history orally. This is not just a basic history of Kenaqua; certain factions of storytellers are entrusted with civic life, while others are entrusted with technological history, more others with religious history, and some who have the job of remembering the philosophic questions and discussions surrounding public life in Kenaqua.

Surrounding these two cities are smaller towns, resembling in appearance the southern areas but resembling the cities in daily life. As food is foraged professionally and sold in the cities and towns in the east, leisure is slightly less of a luxury, so citizens are often spending time attempting to advance themselves or their communities through technology, civic life, or social organizing; usually, but not always, an endless task with little or no reward.

The Northeast Passage, despite the risk, is home to settlements of bandits who attempt to attack and rob anyone passing through from South to East and vice-versa. Under current civic leadership, the amount of bandits and the percentage of successful robberies have gone down significantly.

Spoiler: History and Government

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History and Government: Kenaqua began as a series of isolated trading posts in the southern and eastern regions, at first inaccessible to each other because of the fierce current storms. When Photosphere Signaling became an accessible technology to the east, however, the citizens spent much time setting up signals to the south, initially for the purposes of ensuring smooth trading by creating an early warning system about upcoming storms. This created a civic closeness between the two areas, and when the cities in the east had developed to the point of seeking organization under a state, the southern villages joined eagerly and willingly.

An organization known as the Counselors formed quickly to take over civic duties, with representatives from every town and village. R. Blacktide, from a small village in Kenaqua’s south, was elected leader of the Counselors and therefore of the region. Blacktide’s goals have consistently been stated as increasing the wellbeing of Kenaqua’s citizens while harshly suppressing organized crime within the Northeast Passage. Citizens have noticed, however, that the Counselor’s actions, and Blacktide’s own choices, seem to support the wishes of a powerful faction within the Counselors led by the Second Leader, L. Ivyson.

The Counselors, chiefly Blacktide, determined that economic life should be based around the fair distribution of resources and the swift creation of the technology needed to better allow this. Ever since, they have attempted to tightly control Kenaqua’s economy; a plan that has not always been supported by independent economic powers within the region…]

Spoiler: Resources

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Resources: The frozen algae and kelp forests around the eastern towns contain high-pressure fuel cells under the ground, where the frozen plant matter has collapsed on itself and formed layers and layers above each other. This fuel is easily used for biotechnology, as it gives the small organisms frequently used for such biotech the appropriate energy and nutrients needed for optimal efficiency. This fuel powers the Photosphere Signaling used within Kenaqua, with more than enough left over for trading.

In addition, Kenaqua has a need for large minerals. The reasons are twofold: one is that the leaders in the east hope to use minerals as a basis for technology creation not based on biotech. The hope is that this will create more technology resources that are not dependent on the limitations of the various forms of biotech, not in the least the heavy fuel usage. If fuel could be reserved strictly for trading, the reasoning goes, the economy could grow much faster and resources could be shared among Kenaqua much easier.

The second reason is that many traders and travelers wish to attempt to either close off the cave systems, or otherwise set up some sort of buffer around the south entrance to the Northeast Passage. If current storms could be repressed, safety of travel could be increased. A greater hope than that, however, is that the Passage could finally be developed. Communities could appear, banditry could be suppressed, and greater harmony could be achieved. The widespread belief is that the only way to prevent current storms would be to change the landscape somehow; either block off the cave entrances, or create large walls to redirect currents out of Kenaqua into wider areas where they could hopefully dissipate before hitting cooler waters.

Spoiler: Faith

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Faith: The Shroud: The Shroud is the catch-all name given to the faith community of Kenaqua. While the leaders and clerics to the east, in The Verge, have codified the articles of the faith under three laws, the scattered practitioners to the south follow a myriad of religious figures and beliefs which are loosely considered one faith due to the shared community.

The laws codified as the Shroud’s worship practices, in the east, are:

1. The Gods exist in time instead of place. This is not a specific or set time: rather, whenever members of the Shroud work to better themselves or achieve goals in accordance with a specific divine figure, that God is present within the time that is spent.

2. The Gods are unrecognizable entirely. Outside of the values which they stand for and the desires they have, interpreted, of course, by the Clerics, nothing can be known about them whatsoever. Their very names are a mystery.

3. Holiness and unholiness exist within all worshippers. Holiness must be constantly strived for through the destruction of that which is unholy within a practitioner’s soul. That which is unholy, of course, is also up to the determination of the Clerics.

Most of the Shroud’s members in the south ignore the clerical interpretations of the rules. The whispers there are that the Gods exist in time because acting in their favor opens a door between planes that allows their presence. They are unknowable, apart from their will, and this will can be heard in a worshiper’s own soul while this door is open. What they stand for and what values they embody are known in whisper and passed down among generations.

As for removing that which is unholy within oneself… that, too, is dependent on what is learned when the “door” is open.

Many Shroud members worship one deity alongside their communities, and many of these communities have for generations. In addition, many of these communities have their own rules for worship and their own ideas for theology. The beliefs about time are the one thing tying most of these communities together to the point where they have been given the same religious umbrella.

The Darkened Cube: The Darkened Cube is a large cube floating in dark waters near the southern caves. Its size is immense: each face could be covered by about thirty Mer. Each face has an absence of light, and gazing into one is said to reveal secret knowledge.

Nobody knows where the cube came from; it has consistently been a part of the geography, and has consistently been a pilgrimage site for the extra-devout members of various Shroud sects. Staring into a face of the cube is a religious sacrament that practitioners spend months preparing for, due to the power of the potential visions and the perceived danger thereof.

Nobody knows for sure what is shown within the cube’s vast depth, aside, of course, from the practitioners themselves who have gazed within. One thing is known, however… none who have looked into the cube have returned the same. All are quieter, and many have a hollow look in their eyes, described by the religious authorities as a sign of holiness…

The Labyrinth of Vines: In the frozen forests to the east lays the Labyrinth of vines. Frozen towers of algae and kelp have come together into walls here, and these walls have formed a deep labyrinth, taking up square space equal to The Verge in size. Entering this area of forest is equivalent to entering a complex maze, and there are no maps, legends, or easy ways out.

Belief among many of the Shroud is that this labyrinth is a place of spiritual strengthening. The meditative experience of swimming through, first finding one’s way in and then out, is said to enlighten the soul and open an easier channel of communication with the Gods. The danger presented by the labyrinth (as it is not guaranteed that one will find their way out) is known to emphasize the devotion of Shroud who enter.

There are also rumors of a chamber at the Labyrinth’s center, but so far, none have ever found it and returned.

The Temple of Leviathan’s Skull: A large fish-like skull, the size of a small town, was discovered within the Northeast Passage one day. Shroud quickly discovered that the inside was already set up like a temple, with religious artifacts, art, and altars lining it. Ever since, it became a site for Shroud to show devotion to their Gods, such as leaving offerings, doing rituals or prayers, or creating devotional art in a meditative state.

Despite the bandit groups within the Northeast Passage, none have ever robbed the Temple. Rumors abound about one such attempt, which resulted in the bandit’s instant death upon attempting to move an artifact. Whether this story is true, and whether the majority of bandits avoid robbing the Temple out of fear, respect, or devotion is unknown.

The Temple has also been seemingly immune to current-storms, as whenever one ends it is exactly where it began, with the inner worship spaces appearing identical. This is taken as evidence by Shroud of the Temple’s holiness.

Rumors also abound about where the skull came from, given as it simply appeared one day. Did it float down from the surface? Did it drift in during a particularly strong current? Did something die and rot at a rapid pace, despite the frigid waters? Or did it just appear? Nobody knows, but the mystery keeps many a Shroud up at night.

[Grim ranger]

Region 63 - Redselle

Spoiler: Geography

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A region with similar frozen temperament to the waters of neighboring Yor-sul Depths, Redselle is regardless widely inhabited. A thriving region of merchants long since adapted to combating the cold to practice their craft near the supplies required for their work, the region has long traditions and connections far to other regions of the frozen seas. Its geography possesses few larger underwater mountain ranges, the space between them forming valleys unusually lush for such a cold place. Numerous sorts of flora adapted to the cold and often long dark find a home in this region, he most distinctive of which is dark red reed after which the region has ultimately been named.

The region has many trading towns traveled by caravans hawking fresh discoveries from near and far, the largest of which is Zivia. White not in any way fortified, it is a jewel of the area, the dwellings of richest merchants each attempting to outdo each other in sheer opulence.

Spoiler: People

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The basic social structure of merchants banding together and various people working for them to eventually form large, competing enterprises forms the bedrock of the local hierarchy, and as a result of its extremely developed textile markets the region has long had a large standing army overseen by the richest of merchant families to protect the valuable wares of its inhabitants from foreign aggression. Mer form the bulk of the local population, although with the arrival of Nathi explorers the Nen-shor (or Burning people) have also begun to settle to the area in some numbers. Others come further still, lured in by prospect of rich trade.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Sheerspun Fabric

A traditional industry of the region, weaving has long been basis for Redselle's strong economy, and the area's sheerspun fabrics are akin to art by now. Woven from the abundant strands of Redselle's local red reed so finely that the material is somewhat see-through and soft as a dream, this luxury good is in high demand among higher class of merchant.

Requirement: Preservatives

With the production of fabrics being an operation that must be constant for trade to flow uninterrupted, some of the materials needed require means of preserving them further until they can be made use of, the gathering and transportation of large amounts of unprocessed plant matter opening up the very real possibility of spoiled harvests.

Spoiler: Faith

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The region has some prior religious practices united under the banner of Aging Occultism, which are quickly being superceded by the emergent mega-faiths of the Polar waters. So far, however, these larger religions have seemed to deem Redselle beneath their notice.

The site most sacred to the local faith is centered around the Deep Sink (HS 1), an oddly smooth natural well formed into the rock at the very top of a mountain that occasionally sends up erratic jets of water. Many of the local occultists try to decipher the meaning of this ever-changing torrent, while others still dive into it to seek powers beyond the knowledge of common Mer. Another site of mystical significance can be found in Cave of Reeds (HS 2), a cavern so full of local flora that ones venturing inside rarely have an easy time returning...and those who do often seem delirious, speaking of visions of varying accuracy.

[Czard]

The Peacekeepers of Surunung (Part I)

Region 155 - Rahakera

Spoiler: Geography

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Once a vast, virtually featureless expanse of basalt stretching for leagues across the seafloor, the seabed of Rahakera has been transformed over eons into an enormous circular depression by a relatively small but persistent oceanic gyre, a circular current that has continuously weathered away the basalt, leaving a course gray sand in its place. Since then, several groups have crossed over the Rim of Rahakera into the sandy expanse and have attempted to claim it for their own.

The velocity of the gyre steadily increases as one moves away from the center of the circular current before abruptly stopping at the edge of the depression. This has resulted in the seabed having a gently sloping conical shape as the faster currents near the edge have carved deeper into the basalt. At the edge of the depression is a steep wall, almost completely vertically inclined, which is referred to as the Rim of Rahakera. At the center of the gyre, the more gentle currents have done less to wear away the seabed, leaving behind a steep, rocky mountain that looks down on the rest of the region. This rocky peak has come to be popularly known as Surunung, from which the name of the state presently in control of the region is named, and was once the most holy site of the nearly defunct Kelamati faith of the Rahaa. The warmer, shallower waters nearer to Surunung have historically been the more populated areas of the region, though recent events have caused a dispersion of the population to the deeper waters closer to the Rim. The entire region is relatively shallow, with the sun's rays piercing through the crystal clear waters all the way to the seabed. As such, plant life is abundant and serves as the primary food source for much of the region's inhabitants, though coral is notably virtually extinct in the region.

Rahakera is studded with numerous small towns and settlements consisting of basalt structures carved by the Rahaa. These towns are generally located in craters and caves dug from the basalt, leaving behind the rock forming the structures the Rahaa call home. Most notable of these settlements is Kejakota, a city carved from the peak of Surunung and the base of operations for the Keja Pod and their armies of Kejatara. The most distinct feature of the city is a large, hallowed-out basalt column in the center of the city known as the Basalt Flute of Penyumum. Surrounding the city are submarine canyons connected to a vast network of caverns and mines beneath Surunung; here, the Kejatara are bred, trained, and organized.

Spoiler: People

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Presently, Rahakera is populated by the native Rahaa (about 99.4% of the population), the selectively bred and tailored Kejatara (about 0.5% of the population), and the ruling Surunese Keja Pod (<0.1% of the population). The Rahaa reside in all parts of Rahakera and make up the overwhelming majority of the population in every area. The Kejatara and Suru almost exclusively reside in the capital of Kejakota.

The Rahaa are somewhat comparable to large parrotfish. On average one meter in length, these large reef fish come in countless varieties of colors and can vary widely in size, with the smallest specimens being just under thirty centimeters in length while larger individuals can reach up to two meters in length. They have long, spiny pelvic and dorsal fins that stretch the whole length of their body; from their boxy heads to the base of their crescent shaped tails. Of their features, their most notable is their set of highly dexterous jaws.

The Rahaan jaws are dexterous enough to allow them to use tools with relatively high levels of control. Each mandible has 4 rows of interlocked teeth; each tooth has a slightly curved tip and is locked into place horizontally by grooves on the sides of the teeth that slide neatly into the grooves of the two adjacent teeth in the same row, preventing any tooth from moving out of line in the x and z planes. At the base of each tooth are specialized muscles that can retract each individual tooth up to 50% of its length into the RahaaÂ’s jaw. This gives the Rahaa the ability to form numerous shapes with their jaws that are conducive to holding objects and using tools. However, this is not the most well known use of the Rahaan jaws; rather, itÂ’s breaking rock and sculpting structures and statues. The Rahaan jaws are remarkably muscular and their teeth particularly durable; enough so that the Rahaa can bite and break pieces of rock off of larger formations. The Rahaa can eat and digest the rock for what limited nutrients it contains, though this is not their primary food source. These abilities have allowed the Rahaa to become some of the great sculptors of the sea, carving and etching countless works of art from the basalt.

The Rahaan culture has historically been a peaceful, isolationist one; as herbivores that never struggled to find food due to their varied diets and the abundant food sources in the sandy expanse of Rahakera, there was never much reason for the Rahaa to engage in war over resources and territory they did not need or desire. As such, the Rahaa valued peace above all else and were exceptionally passive. Most Rahaa live in small, underwater caverns that were carved out of the basalt seabed long ago, though some have taken to sculpting structures on the seabed out of the basalt, creating buildings and cities from the rock. In particularly densely populated areas where food is more abundant, this practice is more common as there is limited space for caves. The Rahaa diet primarily consists of seaweed and algae, which they eat by scraping the algae off rocks using their jaws, often ingesting a small portion of rock in the process. Though the Rahaa are known for digging into the seabed and living in submarine caves, they generally do not dig more than a couple dozen meters deep below the seabed and prefer to only dig for either housing or artistic purposes rather than mining for valuables and economic gain. However, recent developments in the region have issued serious challenges to core Rahaan cultural values and overturned many long standing traditions, as for-profit mining and conscription by local governments has been on the rise.

The Tara are a regionally extinct group of large starfish that resided in the region surrounding the mountain of Surunung. The Tara could aptly be likened to a massive blue-gray crown-of-thorns starfish. Reaching up to 2 meters in diameter, possessing a number of arms ranging from 6 to a rumored record of 28, and being covered in toxic spines, the Tara were widely feared by the Rahaa for as long as they dwelled in Rahakera. Each of the arms was covered in hundreds of small venomous spines. This venom, while not particularly potent, still functioned as a mild paralytic in large doses that acted quite fast and was useful against smaller creatures. These arms were also quite dextrous, being highly flexible and possessing retractable piston-like structures near the tip to enable more flexible gripping. At the end of each arm was a single eye with below average but still serviceable ocular capabilities. While they did possess effectively 360 degree vision, the Tara preferred to rely on their excellent hearing. Able to easily detect vibrations and sounds far fainter or higher frequency than what most other species could discern, hiding from a nearby Tara was effectively impossible. Though normally slow-moving and inactive, a Tara could briefly move at fairly high speeds as needed when engaging in combat against would-be invaders or chasing down prey by firing a jet of water from the mouth on their underside. The Tara were apex predators with a highly varied diet, but had a strong preference for eating coral polyps, especially the now regionally extinct variety of table coral polyp, which preferentially grew in the shallower regions surrounding Surunung, hence the historical Tara preference for the area. Being so large, even a sizable coral reef could only sustain a small population of Tara. Similar to real-life starfish, the Tara possessed exceptional healing abilities; broken off arms would readily heal, and only extensive damage to the core could kill the creature.

In their time, the Tara were renowned as fearsome warriors that the Rahaa never successfully challenged. The Tara were much less organized than the Rahaa, forming tribal societies at the base of Surunung, where food was abundant. They were fearful of outsiders and would instinctively try to repel any would be "interlopers" from their territory, be it singular visitors looking to make a pilgrimage to Surunung or invading armies of the local powers. Though they were powerful and militaristic, the Tara never invaded and expanded beyond regions where table coral grew, which as far as they knew, was only near the base of Surunung. There was no notion of a family unit in Tara culture, nor was any special attention given to the individual, be it good or bad, including leaders; what only mattered was the welfare of the tribe as a whole. As a result, Tara society was quite extreme; given that each individual required large amounts of food to sustain and Tara reproduced fairly quickly, each tribe had developed a practice of pitting young Tara against one another in a tournament style setting known as the Berji to kill off weaker individuals and strengthen gifted individuals.

The Suru are large, jet black cetaceans, averaging about five meters in length. Notable Surunese features include two rows of razor sharp teeth, three short horns on their heads for ramming other large creatures, and a distinct set of three dorsal and pelvic fins. The Suru possess long lifespans; around 100 years is not uncommon, though there are rumors of an individual living up to 200 years. The unique morphology of the Surunese respiratory tract allows them to emit high frequency sounds able to be adjusted to a wide spectrum of pitches, similar to other cetaceans which can use this ability for echolocation; however, the Suru have notably poor hearing, being unable to detect their own sounds, rendering any echolocation ability nonexistent. Instead, a handful for Suru have found a far more insidious use for these sounds; when highly specific patterns and pitches of the sounds are incorporated into a tune, the resulting song has the potential to elicit a specific emotion in a listener. Only listeners with good hearing at high frequencies can detect the songs, and highly specific tunes are required for a specific emotion for each species. These factors make this art exceptionally difficult to learn; only through extensive trial and error can a Suru learn to sing a song with any emotional effect on a listening species. Because they themselves cannot hear the songs, it is effectively impossible for the Suru to pass down their knowledge of this art to others. As a result, only a tiny fraction of the Surunese population is able to sing even a single song that can inspire one specific emotion in one specific species. These few individuals are known as the Nangka and have found these songs to be particularly useful in subjugating a target species through continuous exposure to the songs in addition to other conventional methods of control.

Because of their highly coveted abilities, the Nangka commonly rise to become leaders in Surunese pods. While the Suru are a particularly large and strong species, individual merit and intelligence are the most prized qualities in Surunese culture, so even small, weak individuals may find themselves in leading positions over individuals several times their size. Suru reproduce slowly and prefer to refrain from engaging in combat whenever other species can be manipulated into doing so on their behalf in order to ensure their own survival. Suru culture is highly clannish; rival pods never merge or form alliances, and due to having very low global population numbers dispersed across the oceans within a handful of pods with estimations of less than 1,000 individuals being alive at any given time, the Suru do not have a significant population presence in any region. Survival is the main priority of most Surunese pods as they travel the oceans as nomadic hunters and merchants, preferring to stay out of regional affairs and keeping low profiles to avoid drawing the attention of local governments, with the Keja Pod of Rahakera being one particular exception to this norm.

The Kejatara are the current dominant species in Rahakera and are a special type of Tara bred by the Surunese Keja Pod. Everything the Tara were, the Kejatara are even more; larger, faster, stronger, and wielding more toxic venom. The Kejatara were bred to be a highly obedient warrior caste to serve the Keja Pod and to be the means of enforcement of their law. A most notable difference between them and the Tara is their ability to swim. The Tara could not swim and were relegated to the seafloor; this was fine for Tara needs, but the Keja needed an army to engage more buoyant opponents; through extensive megafaunal tailoring, what resembles primitive swim bladders were added, satisfying this need. The Kejatara also have generally more powerful sensory capabilities than the Tara, especially hearing, which was augmented to make them more susceptible to the NangkaÂ’s songs. The Kejatara have similar cultural values to their Tara ancestors of old, though their tribal structure has largely broken down in favor of forming larger communities with greater authority at the top.

Spoiler: History

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Spoiler: Short Version

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The history of Rahakera is characterized by two time periods. The first, the Cycle of Peace, was a long period spanning dozens of generations characterized by the peaceful reign of the Holy Kingdom of Rahakera and the fact hardly anything happened at all. There were no calamities nor any conflict worth more than a footnote in the history books, and this was how the Rahaa preferred things to be. Above all, they desired for this peace to continue indefinitely and for all of their old traditions and methods to be maintained. However, this fervent desire would prove to be their downfall, for the Cycle of Peace would soon be replaced by the Cycle of Troubles. Within four generations, the Holy Kingdom of Rahakera had completely crumbled and was replaced by the tyranny of the Keja Pod as the Rahaa proved too slow acting and complacent to stop the destruction of their kingdom, choosing too often to not act and simply hope their troubles would blow over.

Spoiler: Long Version

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While no historical records of how the Rahaa first arrived in Rahakera exist, Kelamati tradition offers an answer; some time ago before the Rahaa began keeping historical records, the Rahaa departed from their ancestral homeland to escape overlords who sought to enslave them for their digging capabilities in order to unearth precious metals and gems. As the tale goes, the Rahaa were carried away by a current that did not flow naturally; it would suddenly change direction so as to keep the Rahaa out of danger. Eventually, the current carried the Rahaa to a vast, uninhabited basalt plain dotted with countless coral reefs and kelp forests that was surrounded by a wall. The current proceeded to flow clockwise around a central peak, forming the gyre. The Rahaa took this as a sign that the current had guided them to their destination and would remain there as if it were controlled by deity, so they too should settle in the basalt plains to honor their god's wishes.

Whether or not the Kelamati myth is true, the Rahaa originally lived in tribal communities of around a hundred or so individuals. Each tribe had different pagan beliefs and customs, but nearly all Rahaa had a generally peaceful attitude and the abundant resources on the seabed more than met each tribe's needs, eliminating any possibility for competition over resources. The Rahaa lived disorganized but content for generations until the rise of the Kelamati faith in the north. One of the largest tribes, the Rahakera, was centered around the belief that the rotating gyre itself was controlled by a god. The pagan faiths of the Rahakera were exceptionally well organized compared to the other Rahaa tribes and were known as Kelamati, named after the god they believed controlled the current. Seeking to unite the Rahaa under one faith, they sent missionaries out into the region and miraculously managed to peacefully convert nearly every Rahaa tribe. The tribes, believing it would please Kelamati, united into the Holy Kingdom of Rahakera, the first state to control the entire region and after which the region and its people are named. Upon establishment of the kingdom, the first king, who was also the head of the Kelamati faith, declared the mountain at the center of the region, known as Sunung at the time, to be a core holy site of the Kelamati faith and had a shrine constructed near the peak where the faithful would make pilgrimages to. The shrine, known as the Shrine of Cycles, became the most holy site of the Kelamati faith and was believed to be where the king could request a blessing for his successor's reign directly to Kelamati Itself, who would deliver the blessing via the currents of the seas. For generations, the kings would partake in the tradition of visiting the shrine before abdicating the throne to their successors and request a single specific blessing for their successor; every time, they would simply ask for peace.

Indeed, the Rahaa lived in peace for generations in a time period referred to as the Cycle of Peace; there were hardly any visitors, none being hostile, from the rest of the world and essentially no internal conflict, for resources were abundant and no Rahaa were too greedy to exceed their share of the ocean's bounty. However, it became apparent that the Holy Kingdom was quite poor due to a lack of desire amongst its people to exploit the region's resources for anything beyond basic necessity. While peaceful, the quality of life of the average Rahaa was low due to the financial situation. But this was not to last, for soon, the Cycle of Peace would come to an end and the Cycle of Troubles began. As the Kelamati legends tell, the final king reigning during the Cycle of Peace, Sawabantu VII, took notice of his realm's financial woes. Knowing his people would never accept reforms that would initiate operations for the principal purpose of monetary gain, Sawabantu never attempted to enact any law endorsing or permitting such ventures. Rather, at the time of his abdication to his son, Ketabantu II, he prayed at the Shrine of Cycles that the winds and the waves would bring prosperity to his kingdom instead of simply asking for peace like all of his predecessors; a sudden break from a longstanding tradition. In Kelamati tradition, this event marks the start of the Cycle of Troubles.

Ketabantu II's reign was initially peaceful, similar to all of his predecessors. Halfway into his reign, a merchant guild of Mer visited Rahakera and requested permission to set up a commercial mining operation for a few years in a remote area of the region, paying a fraction of their profits to the kingdom in exchange. Normally such a request would have been denied, but Ketabantu, whom his father had imparted his wisdom onto, was fixated on financially enriching his realm and agreed to the proposal. The guild hired some local Rahaa to work in their mine, which was widely protested and did not turn much profit. While the majority of Rahaa strongly disapproved of the operation, a handful took interest in the valuable minerals and gems that were unearthed. After the guild finished its operation and departed from Rahakera, these Rahaa began to set up their own mines to great public disapproval. These mines yielded little valuables, but one at the base of Sunung proved highly profitable and attracted a rush of miners to the mountain. Many Rahaa proceeded to begin mining under Sunung, creating a vast system of caverns and mines linked to the submarine canyons surrounding the mountain. Wealth from selling the mines' yields flowed into Rahakera, enriching the kingdom as whole, but noneso more than a handful of mining tycoons, where most of the newfound wealth was concentrated. As the mines under Sunung expanded, the mountain became visibly damaged with the base dotted with tunnels and large piles of overburden left behind. The public became outraged by this desecration of such an important holy site, but they lacked the arms or influence to challenge the tycoons. The Rahaa had come to believe their king was corrupted by greed by allowing the mining tycoons to gain so much power so quickly and began to demand his abdication. Ketabantu II, facing a crisis unlike any his predecessors faced, abdicated the throne to his son Ketabantu III. On the day of his abdication, he made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Cycles and is said to have simply asked for an end to the tycoons' dominance.

Ketabantu III was an adolescent when he took over the throne and was severely unprepared. The tycoons' influence only increased over the years and he did little to curb it. Enormous wealth began flowing out of Rahakera and rumors soon spread of a wealthy, pacifist kingdom with no armies or defensive capabilities. Eventually, a group of invaders known as the Tara crossed the Rim of Rahakera and moved straight towards Sunung, quickly taking over the mines and seizing control of the mountains, bringing ruin upon the tycoons. The Tara were excessively hostile towards outsiders and refused to allow any Rahaa in their territory, barring pilgrimages to the mountain and only further enraging the public. Some Rahaa began to call for the assembly and training of an army to force the Tara out of Rahakera to allow the pilgrimages to resume while others fiercely pushed back on this idea, believing training Rahaa to fight would open a Pandora's Box and make the Rahaa permanently more violent. In the end, the faction supporting the formation of an army won out with the tycoons throwing much of their remaining funds behind the movement, hoping to regain access to their mines. Ketabantu III haphazardly built an army and launched an assault on the Tara camped at the base of Sunung with disastrous results. The Rahaa moved onto the mountain, only to be quickly surrounded and massacred. Ketabantu III with his remaining forces made a last stand at the Shrine of Cycles where, before he was killed in battle, requested from Kelamati that his successor would see the end of Tara control of Sunung.

Ketabantu III, having no heir, left the throne to his cousin, Sawabantu VIII. Sawabantu VIII was largely under the dwindling influence of the tycoons but was opposed to further military action against the Tara, for they seemed to have settled at Sunung and did not appear to pose a threat to the rest of Rahakera. Sawabantu permitted virtually every single request to set up mining operations and quickly became widely despised, being known as "Sawabantu the Corrupt". Eventually, demands for military action against the Tara became too great to ignore, so Sawabantu responded by hiring mercenaries funded by egregiously high tax rates. He hired a large company known as the Peja from a nearby region. The Peja were a highly militaristic and expansionist group of Mer, slightly bigger and stronger in size than typical Mer. The Peja were sent into battle against the Tara and won an early victory, but quickly returned to the capital, Rahakota, with their job unfinished. As it turns out, the Peja realized their employer had no army and lots of money, and decided it would be a better use of their resources to storm the capital and take over the whole kingdom instead of getting their soldiers killed by some ravenous starfish. This plan worked quite well; Sawabantu's Dynasty was overthrown and replaced by a Peja Dynasty, though Sawabantu himself still maintained his religious authority. King Mengipeju of the Peja Dynasty assumed the throne and quickly asserted control over the rest of Rahakera. His Rahaa subjects demanded an end of Tara control over Sunung, so in response, Mengipeju assembled large, well trained, and well equipped armies of Rahaa to drive the Tara off of Sunung. After years of fighting, the Tara retreated into the caverns under Sunung and went into hiding, achieving Mengipeju's goal of securing Rahaa access to the peak of the mountain. Peace was only brief though, for the Rahaa armies' loyalty to the Peja Dynasty quickly wavered as they sought the return of the Rahaa Dynasty. Soon, a decades-long civil war broke out between the Peja Dynasty and a rebel Rahaa state with Sawabantu VIII as its declared king. Amidst the war, Sawabantu fell ill and, in anticipation of his death, made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Cycles where he requested an end to the Peja dominance of Rahakera.

Sawabantu left no heir and was succeeded by the leading general of the rebel faction; Rahumum. Initially, Rahumum proved to be a more effective leader than Sawabantu and made significant gains against the Peja, fully seizing control of Sunung. The Peja still put up a fierce resistance and after a major rebel defeat in an attempt to capture the Peja capital of Rahakota, a long stalemate arose. Neither side could gain any ground over the other and both had been depleted of their forces. It was at this time the Surunese Keja Pod crossed the Rim of Rahakera into rebel territory. The Keja only numbered in the dozens, posing no apparent existential threat to the rebels. The Keja leader, Penyumum, mysteriously approached the rebels with a proposal; in exchange for some Rahaan labor and control of Sunung, the Keja would build for the Rahaa an army that would force any and all Peja out of Rahakera. The glory hungry Rahumum, curious to see what the Keja could do with so few individuals, agreed to this deal, believing that he had little to lose from such an agreement to help him achieve his ultimate goal of restoring the Rahaan Dynasty. The Keja Pod proceeded to move onto the mountain with a few hundred Rahaa workers and began constructing what appeared to be a tower from the basalt at the peak. There was discontent within the public about the disfigurement of the mountain peak with the construction of such a tower, but little attention was paid to the Keja Pod's activities as the war raged on.

The Keja were not heard from again for nearly a decade; in that time, the rebels rallied their armies in preparation for a final campaign to end the war. The rebels, seeking to end the conflict in a single decisive battle, threw all of their remaining forces at the Peja capital of Rahakota and were met by most of the remaining Peja troops, beginning the Great Battle of Rahakota. Tens of thousands died in a brutal battle that lasted for almost a whole month. Near the end of the battle, the Peja began to gain the upper hand and started forcing the rebels out of the city. The rebels initiated a retreat, but in that moment, a terrible song befell them. From the tower atop Sunung, a tune was heard all across Rahakera that inspired uncontrollable despair in any Rahaa that heard it. The Peja were unaffected and used this opportunity to encircle the remaining rebel army to be ultimately destroyed along with their commander, Rahumum, eliminating the last Rahaa rebel army. But the battle was not yet over, for a grand army of Tara led by Suru commanders emerged from the submarines canyons of Sunung and moved onto the remaining Peja forces at Rahakera. The Keja Pod had discovered a handful of Tara survivors in the caverns under Sunung, and after a decade of megafaunal tailoring, had bred and built an army consisting of a new breed of Tara which would come to be known as the Kejatara. The Peja stood no semblance of a chance and were utterly annihilated with none surviving the battle.

Rahakota itself was nearly completely destroyed in the battle and had lost almost the entirety of its population, but with no remaining armies of Peja or Rahaa, the Keja were free to assume control of the region. The Kejatara fanned out over the entire region and forced every last Mer they could find into exile if they did not stay to be killed. Within days, Rahakera was once again unified, but this time, under the control of the Surunese Keja Pod. The Keja never had any intention of restoring the Rahaa Dynasty; they only needed from the rebels a base of operations where they could build a basalt flute to echo their songs across the region and assemble an army to destroy both factions and seize power in the war torn region. Sunung, under Surunese dominance, came to be popularly known as Surunung, a portmanteau of Suru and Sunung. There, the Keja built their new capital of Kejakota, as Rahakota lay decimated following the great battle. The Keja executed the royal families, putting an end to the bloodlines of the dynasties and heads of the Kelamati faith. Penyumum, the leader and only Nangka of the Keja Pod, went about building a new puppet government to rule the region on his behalf to represent his new state abroad and began the systematic erosion of Rahaa cultural values prioritizing nonaggression and passivity in addition to suppressing the rapidly declining Kelamati faith.

Spoiler: Government

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The Surunungese governmental structure is similar to that of a republic; each tribe or subregion selects an individual by whatever means they choose to represent them in a representative body known as the Peacekeepers’ Assembly, with each member being simply known as a Peacekeeper. While the Assembly itself has some legislative authority, most of the power falls to its leader who bears the title “Voice of Rahakera”. This leader wields dictatorial powers, able to override any and all decisions made by the Assembly or lower levels of government, while the rest of the Assembly generally serves as an advisory body and assists in executing legislation. Is it the role of the Voice to enact new laws, represent the Peacekeepers’ Assembly abroad, make decisions related to intelligence, and declare war on behalf of the state. While the Voice may seem like the final authority in the realm, the Keja Pod controls the government from the shadows and is publicly known to have absolute control over the Surunungese armies and the means of law enforcement. While the Keja do not fill any seats in the Assembly, the Pod leader is involved with the government in the process for choosing a new Voice, for they simply pick a member of the Assembly to assume the role as needed. The Voice takes “advice” from the Pod leader on a daily basis and is subject to be removed from their position should the Pod leader deem them no longer fit to serve the role. The process of removal is often done by execution. This happens quite often and has become normalized in Surunungese culture; the typical response to the execution of a Voice amongst the Assembly are its members clamoring to fill the role without care for their deceased colleague.

The Assembly maintains a tight grip on the regions and cultures it rules and utilizes a wide array of tools to control its territory and stamp out resistance. Simply stationing Kejataran troops in an unruly region is a common means by which the Assembly asserts its authority, though it usually uses more subtle methods. On a daily basis, the Keja Nangka will sing a song at the base of the Basalt Flute, echoing it across Rahakera. This song is tuned to elicit uncontrollable despair in the Rahaa. In conjunction with more conventional cultural erasure techniques, much of the Rahaan culture has been modified to align more with the Keja values of expansionism, militarism, and honor. Since the creation of the assembly, the Rahaa have become much more fixated on military conquest and commercial interests, interests that were previously the antithesis of their core beliefs. Most Rahaa lack the will to resist such cultural erasure or the assembly’s iron grasp due to their perpetual despair, despite the ideas lingering in the minds of a majority of the Assembly’s subjects. The Kelamati faith has also seen a steep decline, with most Rahaa having become too cynical to bother worshiping a god that has brought upon them so much suffering.

Spoiler: Resources

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Local Resource: Basalt Sculptures
The Rahaa are renowned for their sculpting abilities, creating great works of art from the basalt plains to trade abroad.

Desired Resource: Coral
Coral, once plentiful in Rahakera, has gone virtually extinct due to its overharvesting to sustain the Kejatara armies as a food source. Should the coral supply run completely dry, the Kejatara will be weakened by hunger and local Rahaan leaders may seize the opportunity to finally rebel against the Assembly.

Spoiler: Faith

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Since the Keja Pod came to rule Rahakera, the Kelamati faith has seen a rapid decline. Shrines and temples have fallen into disrepair, and general despair amongst the public has caused a general loss in faith of the god that was supposed to protect them, but instead brought waves in invaders that forever defiled Rahakera.

Holy Sites
Old Rahakota - A historical district in decent condition amongst the ruins of the city of Rahakota. The district contains numerous shrines and a small temple.
Shrine of Cycles - The most important holy site to the Kelamati faith where the old head of the faith would request blessings, these days it is rarely visited at all and has fallen into a state of disrepair.
Ingka - A mysterious dome shaped depression in the basalt seabed with a large basalt pillar in the center surrounded by a ring of smaller basalt spikes angled towards the center, believed to be a representation of the whole region itself.

Region 160 - Neralam

Spoiler: Geography

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Traveling eastward, the expansive basalt plains of Rahakera slope downward; initially, quite gently before rapidly descending into the darkness of the depths of Neralam. Rising from the darkness are numerous white rock spires around which the local species gather, feasting on plants and corals that grow the nutrient-rich rock face. It is around these rock spires, known to the locals as the Menar, that Neralamese society gathers and flourishes. The Menar were carved over epochs by the fierce currents of the region that flow between, carrying in detritus and debris along with the occasional unwitting visitor. They now serve as beacons around which the many clans of the region gather and live.

Spoiler: People

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The Neralamese consists of numerous clans of Pertlan and Bertuaga, each controlling its own Menar, though some larger and more powerful clans have expanded to seize multiple Menar. The dolphin-like Pertlan make up a small majority of the clans, though the porpoise-like Bertuaga make up most of the larger and more powerful clans, including the preeminent Kuasa Clan. These clans are in perpetual conflict, refusing to make any alliances and only settling for the utter annihilation of their rivals. As a result, no earnest attempt to look beyond the depths of Neralam has been made, for all attention is focused inwards on enemies near rather than opportunities afar.

The Pertlan physique can be aptly compared to a small dolphin, being on average one meter in length and sharing similar tails, pectoral, and dorsal fins to dolphins. They have jet-black backs and bright white underbellies, with both colorations extending from the base of their beaks to the tips of their tails. Their beaks are wholly black but vary in shape and size between clans. Other variations from clan to clan include differing patterns of yellow spots just above the pectoral fins and varying tail shapes, with some clans having smoothly curving fish-like tails similar to bottlenose dolphins while others have sickle shaped tails. These features are central to the clans’ identities; a newly born individual whose features deviate significantly from the rest of its clan or worse yet, bear resemblance to a rival clan’s features, will be exiled from its clan, leaving it to die or join one of few colonies of Pertlanic and Bertuagan rejects that have formed in the deeper waters, away from the conflicts above.

The similarly clannish Bertuaga bear resemblance to porpoises, with jet black backs and tan underbellies. They tend to be stockier and larger than their Pertlanic rivals, averaging about one and a third meters long and weighing twice as much. There is less variation from clan to clan amongst the Bertuagan ranks, with the unifying feature of each clan being its distinct dorsal and pectoral fin shapes. The Bertuagan clans will similarly reject individuals whose features do not match the rest of their clans’ well enough.

Spoiler: History and Government

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For most of its history, Neralam was ruled by the Pertlanic Republic of Neralam for which the region was named. The Republic originated as an ad-hoc decision making council amongst the Pertlanic tribes of the region; the Bertuaga at that time had yet to settle in the region. The council steadily gained influence over time as more and more tribes joined it until it proved more influential in the day-to-day lives of the Neralamese than their tribal leaders, at which point it was formally reorganized and evolved into the Republic of Neralam with the voting council becoming the Neralamese Senate. Control of the Menar was central to political influence in the Republic; each seat in the Senate of the Republic corresponded to a Menar, whose residents would elect a Senator to represent them. The Senators in turn would elect a Consul to serve as head of state. Though impoverished, the Republic was peaceful for a time.

However, clans would begin to emerge from the families of the senators of several of the Menar. These clans would intermarry into neighboring clans, creating larger clans controlling multiple Senate seats. The influence of a handful of clans would come to dominate the Senate much to the disapproval of the rest of the Republic. A string of tyrannical Consuls elected by the same dominant clan would eventually lead the rest of the Senate to pass reforms to reduce the Republic’s power as whole, returning authority to the tribal and clan leaders of each Menar. As the Republic grew more feeble, disapproval of it rose as the Neralamese believed its growing inefficacy to be caused by incompetent legislators.

At the height of the Neralamese animosity towards their own government, Bertuagan migrants began arriving in the region from the north and colonizing some of the derelict Menar. These migrants were peaceful, but the Pertlanic Senate deliberated on whether or not to grant them seats. While the small clans and tribes pushed for seats to be granted to the Bertuagan tribes as consistent with the law, the ruling faction, not wanting their majority hold over the Senate threatened, ultimately denied the Bertuaga any seats. At this time, the small clans and tribes abandoned their Senate seats in protest and withdrew from the Republic, believing it only now served as a means for the dominant clans to increase their own authority over their neighbors. Armed conflicts between the clans broke out, as larger clans tried to wrangle smaller ones back into the Republic. Some of the large clans began attacking the Bertuagan migrants, trying to expel them from Neralam, bringing the Bertuaga into the conflict. The large clans took this era of chaos as an opportunity to attack their other large rivals and seize their Menar. With all cooperation between the clans in the virtually defunct Republic breaking down, the last of the Republic’s influence disappeared from Neralamese life.

The Republic would continue to exist ceremonially for a while after it enacted its last piece of legislation, unable to exert its authority or generally function. It soon would meet its end, however, at the fins of the Bertugan Kuasa Clan. The origin of the Kuasa is unknown to the Neralamese; they are speculated to have been a powerful aristocratic faction in a sea to the north who unsuccessfully tried to seize power in their region, but were expelled. Regardless, they one day arrived in Neralam from the north, battle hardened and more experienced then their native opponents, and proceeded to seize numerous Menar, including the Grand Menar where the Senate resides. The Kuasa proclaimed the dissolution of the Republic with their conquest of the Grand Menar, but the conflicts between the clans continued despite there no longer any political bodies to vie for influence in.

This state of strife would continue for some time until the Surunungese invasion from the west. While some clans saw the threat from Rahakera coming and signed a truce to join forces and expel the incoming armies of Kejatara, others ignored the threat or even prepared to welcome the Surunungese, hoping they might prove useful to the clans’ battles. Despite a fairly determined resistance, the Kejatara swept over Neralam like a tidal wave and laid the clans low. The Surunungese captured each of the clans’ leaders and escorted them to Kejakota, where they were offered seats in the Peacekeepers’ Assembly in exchange for their loyalty. The Neralamese leaders accepted and returned home to the Menar, where they were quick to resume their squabbling under the watchful eyes of the Kejatara, for they would be free to fight to their hearts’ content so long as they maintained loyalty to Kejakota. To further incentivize loyalty, the Surunungese would provide arms and resources to clans who contribute greatly to the goals of the Peacekeeper's Assembly, turning the clans' animosity for one another into engines to forward the realm.

Spoiler: Resources

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With the preeminent Bertuagan Kuasa Clan being the dominant force in the region and posing an existential threat to every other faction in the region, its rivals have been forced to resort to desperate measures to ensure their own survival. As the Menar yield little resources beyond the food needed to sustain the region’s inhabitants, many of the Pertlanic clans have decided to offer their services as a resource to outsiders in order to bring in resources and money to the clans’ coffers. These Blackbeak Dolphins will prove useful when hired either as mercenaries or laborers by foreign powers.

Ever hungry for the downfall of their neighbors, the Neralamese clans are always searching for the means to bring this about. Any supplier of Military Equipment would be readily welcomed to assist in the clans’ constant skirmishing.

Spoiler: Faith

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Most of the Neralamese Clans adhere to local pagan faiths, whose most devout followers are known as the New Wardens. The New Wardens are believed to communicate with the Spirits of Menar, supernatural guardians each responsible for the protection of its own Menar. Most New Wardens believe their Spirit of Menar wishes for the doom of the other Spirits, driving much of the conflict between the clans.

The faith of the New Wardens originated from the seas north of Neralam where its previous incarnation, the faith of the Old Wardens, first appeared. Since that time, the Old Wardens’ faith drifted south into Neralam via the currents that carved the Menar. Much of the clans’ conflicts predate the arrival of the faith, being originally over resources or local control, but the moment the faith of the Old Wardens was introduced, the clans twisted and contorted it into the New Wardens’ faith to justify their conflicts with their rivals as being endorsed by the divine Spirits of Menar, demanding the destruction of the other spirit guardians and the clans that they protect.

[Feathersnow]

Region 108
The Shoals of Umbergy

Spoiler: Geography

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Umbergy is a series of barren mud flats with volcanic rocks sticking out at odd intervals. These rocks are oases of life, making up city-reefs for the inhabitants. They are the hubs of shrimperies that feed the people but provide little for export.

At times, the mudflats give way to kelp prairies. These have small tribes of archaic Otterians living among them undisturbed by the urban rock-dwellers.

There are also mines that provide the most notable resource if the area- mud diamonds, extremely hard volcanic crystals.

Spoiler: People

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The people of this region are giant spiders that survive indefinitely underwater by creating artificial air pockets out if silk and using them to respirate through their gills that inexplicably can't filter water in its unrarified state for more than a day or so at a time without physiological distress. This has led to a deep emotional attachment to specific places where they have access to "Sky ."

These Spiders, who call themselves simply "the Remainder," are about the size of a Mer and have a nasty venom that causes numbness and paralysis in other arthropods and anaphylaxis in most other orders of animals. Their legends say they once lived above the Sky, but were driven to the Sea hundreds of years ago. Archeological records are ambiguous on the plausibility of this. Surely the relics kept in their vaults seem to match Nacre designs, and there is nothing strictly impossible about their claims, but genetic links to other sea spiders and old settlements may indicate Remainder civilization came from. The seas and attempted to colonize dry land before being driven back.

Their culture is surprisingly compatible with Sakura-Jin sensibilities apart from a utter loathing of The Nacres. They use body paint instead of clothing and raise young communally. This may be in part because most Remainder are sterile workers, (females and sexually ambiguous individuals that do not develop pronounced characteristics) with the few drones and fewer fertile females suffering severe physiological distress from reproduction. They seem another prime ground for conversion if their theological differences can be overcome.

Spoiler: government

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The Finalists are a dark mirror of the Sakura-Jin. Apart from the many areas where they are identical, they are bitter opposites. They are ancestor worshippers who define their identity in terms of the "Queen" who spawned their "Clan". A Clan is a group of 100 or so peers that are likely full siblings, though the it is often the case that more than one Drone attempts to fertilize a female, and, by the numbers game, a few will succeed from each mating. These drones almost never survive to meet their offspring as sapient pre-adolescents, when they aren't simply ritually sacrificed on the death of their mate, whose life expectancy is tiny after laying her eggs. Non-Remainder Finalists are adopted into a Clan, and foresake their old families.

Each Clan has a Senator in their House of government, always a Drone who takes a Vow of abstinence to preserve himself as a leader of his Clan. The leader of this region is Senator picked among his peers.

Spoiler: Religion

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The Finalist Religion holds that the world will end again, and soon, and only those who are prepared will survive to the next age. They blame the Nacres in part. In any event, this is in direct opposition to Sakura-Do that teaches the World is on an upward, hopeful trajectory.


Finalist religion is based around worship at a temple, in the core of a reef city. Large civic ceremonial rites are held there regularly. These generally involve much singing but curiously do not involve feasting. Spider biology is such thst eating is a rare and deeply involved procedure that does not lend itself to group activity.


The one extant holy site in Umbergy is The Cenotaph, a great genealogical libraryof previous and current clans, containing tissue cultures of notable individuals. These are reserved for mass cloning should the Remainder ever need to repopulate the World following a secobd Cataclysm.


The Final Bunker is holy site 1, since destroyed. It is holy to The Finalists and they want it back!

Spoiler: Resources

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Umbergy has lots of valuable rocks, most famously Mud Diamonds, very hard shiny brown stones.

The people love spices. They eat as little as once a week, and each meal is a grand production. It is important it be as enjoyableas possible.

[Aerin]

The Cryptid Congress
Written by Lleban
Region 84

Spoiler: Summary

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Leader Honorebb Qualodias IV
region 84 Cryptoclysus
Resource Dragon Eyes
Desired import: foooooood

Holy Sites:
Holy Site 1 name: Open
Holy Site 2 name: Open
Holy Site 3 name: Open

Faction Support:
Aristocratic: Country supported
Clerical: Open
Mercantile: Country supported
Starting tech: Choose one (or none) of: None

Spoiler: Geography

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Cryptoclysus is a region fed nutrients brought from currents far away. Much of the region is the remnants of a once sunken island. Aside from the cryptids, the principal inhabitants of the region are the hundreds of species of ammonites, shellfish, and bivalves that dot the ocean floor. most of these are filter feeders that passively devour much of the zooplankton driven this way via the currents. Herring, Ice fish, eels, swordfish, rays, a wide variety of sharks, and lesser drake crabs are all patrolling the region. Most dangerous to the cryptids are the vast serpentine Ice Tyrants who routinely raid cryptid pods and attempt to devour cryptid young.

Spoiler: People

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The Cryptids are 400kg long-necked marine reptiles with short, stout heads and robust grasping teeth almost akin to interlocking railroad spikes. With four flippers they fly through the ocean at fairly impressive speeds. This makes them adept at catching both the many fish that inhabit the area and harvesting bivalves. A key to Cryptid digestion and communication are the enigmatic dragon eyes, which the Cryptids swallow to help them digest food. The Dragon eyes give them a faint glow, which when partnered with elaborate dances serves as their main communication mechanism. Cryptids birth some of the largest children within the animal kingdom, leading to strong family groups being the main Cryptid social structure. Cryptid Children remain with their parents long past sexual maturity.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Every Year these pods come together to form a Congress where the community votes on relevant issues of the day. All Cryptids have equal enfranchisement within Congress and all votes are settled with direct democracy. Leadership rotates between a random adult member of the community every congress.

History is often recorded via elaborate dances that cloak the actual events with metaphor and poetry. The most famous tale is Twilight of The Serpent King, where a plucky new pod must cross fang and flipper with the largest Ice Tyrant ever known, swallowing entire pods with a single gulp. Legend has it that the tyrant's corpse lies deep within the abyss.

Spoiler: Resources

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Dragon Eyes Strange rocks perfectly spherical stones that glow with an Amber light. Many legends belive they are gifts from the legendary long deceased Abyss Maidens. Though this would not explain the strange symbols engraved upon each stone.

Food is required by the pods as the population has grown to unsustainable levels.

Spoiler: Faith

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Open While there are many tales, there is little organized belief among the pods. Most begin and end with haunting respect for the Abyss, the pit from which all life rises and all life must return.

[Czard]

The Peacekeepers of Surunung (Part II)

Region 159 - Jyorjyuh

Spoiler: Geography

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What can only be described as quite possibly the most aggressively average sea in all the world’s waters, the sandy plains of Jyorjyuh have few if any remarkable qualities. The water is lukewarm; fairly comfortable, but not quite ideal. The water is clear, though the flat expanse offers few features to allow one to fully appreciate the benefit of the high visibility. Small coral reefs are scattered throughout where diverse communities of species from nearby regions gather, forming peaceful societies where minimal strife exists, though decadence and great wealth are nowhere to be found.

Spoiler: People

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The Jyorjyan population is mostly made of the local variety of Mer, as well as some groups of Pertlan and Bertuaga. Jyorjyan Mer are, of course, average size and physical ability for a Mer. Contrary to their southerly relatives in Neralam, no organized clans or groups of Pertlan or Bertuaga exist in Jyorjyuh. A general attitude of relaxation is prevalent throughout the region, with not an ounce of ambition to be found amongst its leaders. Most residents of the region subsist off a trade passed down through their lineage, be they artists and sculptors, farmers and ranchers, smiths and masons, or a whole host of other professions. Those who stray from their familial line of work are generally considered to be strange and rebellious by the greater community, so such divergence is uncommon.

The most common professions in the region are kelp farmers and anemone ranchers; the Jyorjyan Homing Anemone is an uncommon species with several desirable qualities that make it valuable to foreign traders. The Giant Jyorjyan Sea Snail, an ox-sized mollusk unique to the region, has been tamed by the kelp growers to pull their plows and clean the sandy seabed of algae and undesirable plant species that would compete with the growing kelp.

Spoiler: History and Government

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No powerful unified state or government had yet existed in Jyorjyuh prior to its invasion. Since the region was first settled, it has been made up of many small, independent, peacefully coexisting towns and villages ruled by a handful of mayors and city councils. Some small incursions from hostile neighbors would lead to the formation of a Council of Defense that would help plan and organize military affairs for the region’s defense, but this council held no power otherwise and only met in times of crisis.

Such a time would be during the Surunungese invasion of Jyorjyuh, where each town’s garrison was rallied together into a single, formidable army in an attempt to repel the invaders, but to no avail. Within a couple years, the Jyorjyan army had been nearly completely destroyed and the region largely occupied. The remnants of the Jyorjyan army surrendered, giving Surunung control over the region. The Surunungese had little intention of introducing any changes to the Jyorjyan lifestyle, much to their liking. Some of the mayors of the larger towns were given seats in the Peacekeepers’ Assembly and a Kejatara division was added to each town’s garrison, but Surunungese rule did little to make itself known in the public sphere otherwise. This afforded the Jyorjyan general public the luxury of simply not caring about the whole situation, for not much seemed to have really changed and it would take too much effort in their eyes to return to the way things were before.

Spoiler: Resource

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Many Jyorjyans have spent their whole lives as ranchers, herding exclusively just one singular species; the Jyorjyan Homing Anemone. This small, pale pink Anemone is highly mobile, frequently detaching from whatever surface it is clinging to and making a beeline for its prey, swimming at up to 20 meters per second in a short burst before catching and engulfing its target. The Homing Anemone wields some moderately toxic venom that makes it dangerous to handle, though because it only preys upon smaller aquatic animal species, it will generally ignore anything larger than a few centimeters long. While the Homing Anemone is valued for its usage in pest control, it sees far more use as a food. Homing Anemones grow fast, yield nutritious meat that can be easily prepared without risk of poisoning the consumer, and have a distinct and mysterious peachy taste.

Homing Anemones have a propensity to aimlessly wander and explore, much unlike typical anemone, and seek to cling to every hard surface they come across. If anemone ranchers do not provide enough of such surfaces to keep the anemones occupied, they will become bored and wander off their pastures and into towns and communities, causing havoc. As such, these ranchers are in frequent need of more Hard Minerals to serve as surfaces to hold the anemones’ attention.

Spoiler: Faith

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There are three prominent faiths of Jyorjyuh; the Faith of the Old Wardens, Fate Spiral, and the infamous Diverse Opinions. The Faith of the Old Wardens is a pagan belief with its core tenet being that the Giant Sea Snails of the region are the servants of the gods, sent to assist the Jyorjyan people as a blessing and reward for their lack of greed and ambition. While only a minority of Jyorjyans subscribe to the Old Wardens’ faith, it was, at one point, the preeminent faith of the region and its influence can be still observed to this day. Its core principles of generosity, humility, and being satisfied with one’s circumstances still permeate the greater Jyorjyan culture even as its religious teachings recede. It is called the Faith of the Old Wardens because the giant sea snails, which are at the center of the faith, are referred to as the Wardens and so as to distinguish it from its corrupted version to the south; the Faith of the New Wardens.

Fate Spiral is a religious philosophy that professes optimistic nihilism as its core belief. The soothsayers of Fate Spiral preach that the world is spiraling towards its final doom in the near future, and because nothing can be done about it, it is useless to despair or regret this final fate. The followers of Fate Spiral stress the importance of the present over the past or future, the harm and vanity associated with those who prioritize their legacy and reputation over the needs of the day, and that the primary focus of every individual’s life should be the happiness and comfort of themselves and their global community. Fate Spiral originated as the personal philosophy of a group of bargoing farming buddies who one day questioned the purpose of worshiping a bunch of snails.

Diverse Opinions is regarded as a cultist faith in Jyorjyuh. Its followers generally conceal themselves amongst the public to avoid persecution. The followers of Diverse Opinions believe that their creator god gave every rational organism its own soul and values, resulting in its own unique thought and beliefs that do not exactly match that of any other organism. However, the forces of evil have dispatched demons across the seas to possess and corrupt the souls of the people, turning them against their communities. This possession is imperfect, however, for when someone becomes possessed, they lose their values given to them by the creator god. To remedy this, the possessor copies the values from another person, creating an exact match of opinions between two people and inadvertently allowing their possession to be revealed when two people who hold identical beliefs are discovered. When a follower of Diverse Opinions meets and befriends someone who shares nearly all of their beliefs and or has very similar beliefs to someone else they know, that follower will sound the alarm amongst the Faithful. Some time down the line, the two people suspected of having identical opinions will be kidnapped and brought to a secret underground ritual known as the Dehomogenization. There, both will be sacrificed in order to purge the evil, for death is the only way to destroy the demon and determining which of the two is possessed is impossible. Disappearances in Jyorjyuh are commonly attributed to Diverse Opinions cultists, who are widely feared as a result.

Region 193 - Bertu Kuasalam

Spoiler: Geography

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The brackish waters of Bertu Kuasalam are dominated by expansive kelp forests blanketing gently sloping sandy plains that rise as one approaches the terrestrial wastes to the north and decline as one approaches a sudden drop-off to the south that marks Bertu Kuasalam’s border with the fathomless depths to its south. The whole region is quite shallow and brackish; the hardly noticeable regional currents do little to prevent much of the water from growing stagnant. Despite the overwhelming amount of kelp present in the region, large animal species are almost nonexistent, with the sole exception being the salt tolerant Bertuaga, which have long since controlled the region.

Spoiler: People

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The Bertuaga of Bertu Kuasalam are much like their Neralamese cousins; aptly comparable to porpoises with jet black backs, tan underbellies, and serrated fins. The Bertuaga are highly tolerant of saline conditions, enabling them to survive in the inhospitable conditions of Bertu Kuasalam. Their highly dexterous fins and uniquely shaped jaws and teeth enable them to work with the unique kelp species of the region, creating all sorts of useful garments and structures.

Spoiler: History

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The Bertuagan tribes of the region had long been ruled by the ancient Kingdom of Bertu Turulam, a powerful state whose influence once spanned across much of the continental shelf. The Kingdom found its origins in the region when the preeminent Turu tribe gained enough influence through diplomatic marriages and other means to unite most of the tribes into a single political entity before forcefully subjugating the others. From here, the Kingdom would expand along the continental shelf to the east and west, becoming the dominant power of the seas north of the fathomless southern depths.

However, it was not to last, for the Turu Family’s authority would soon be challenged by a rising star in the south of Bertu Turulam, the upstart Kuasa Clan, who had been swaying the southern tribes to support their attempt to seize the throne. The Kuasa launched a bloody assault on the Turu Palace, killing most of the royal family and several of their allied tribal leaders, beginning a civil war that would last for decades. The Turu called in their troops from seas abroad which proceeded to declare independence from the kingdom after years of being ruled from afar through force. For years, the Turu clinged onto the throne, barely surviving assault after assault from the Kuasa and their allies.

After over 50 years of fighting, the grandson of the king who reigned at the start of the war decided the conflict could only be ended by a swift and decisive attack on Kuasa territory at the southern border. With the last of their strength, the Turu launched a suicidal attack on the Kuasa Clan, headed by the king himself. The king died in the attack, but most of the Kuasa were killed, including the head of the clan. Much of Kuasa’s diplomatic ties through marriage were severed as a result, and with a power vacuum now open due to the king’s death, many of the Kuasa’s allies decided to try to seize the throne for themselves, betraying the Kuasa. The now solitary Kuasa found themselves surrounded by enemies who would rather not let such a threat as the Kuasa remained unchecked, deciding to launch a coordinated effort to destroy the Kuasa once and for all. Sensing an imminent and existential threat, the remaining Kuasa were forced to abandon their territory and go into exile, leaving Bertu Turulam a depleted region of squabbling petty tribes, a far cry from the proud kingdom that they had hoped to make their own one day. The Kuasa disappeared over the southern border, settling in Neralam far to the south, where they plotted to one day return to Bertu Turulam, earn their vengeance on those that had betrayed them, and achieve their goal of conquering the region.

That day would eventually come, for the Kuasa successfully orchestrated a takeover of the Surunungese government and used their now greatly expanded pool of resources and soldiers to launch an overwhelming assault on Bertu Turulam. Some southern tribes and magistrates resisted, but were soundly defeated. Many of the traitorous southern tribal leaders were captured and executed while the last of the Turu family was killed. The region was renamed to Bertu Kuasa in “honor” of its new leaders and Parapasa Kuasa took up the title Queen of Bertu Kuasa, but such a title was insignificant compared to the one she held as head of the Peacekeepers’ Assembly. The Kuasa’s dream spanning generations was finally realized, but they still hungered for yet even more.

Spoiler: Resource

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The most celebrated crafters in all of Bertu Kuasalam are the Bertuaga Kelpweavers. The local variety of kelp, the aptly named Nasty Nasty Kelp, seems to have adapted in every conceivable way to be as useless as a food source as possible. Nasty Nasty Kelp is absurdly fibrous and tough, has an eye wateringly high salt content and basically no nutritional value, smells pretty terrible, and worst of all, tastes like someone pickled lettuce, buried it in sands on the beach for a few months, and then poured a mountain of used road salt on top of it; truly nothing any sane organism would ever consider eating. But the Bertuaga in their ingenuity have yet found use for such a plant, for the high fiber content makes it highly difficult to tear and puts its durability almost on par with spider silk. The kelp stems are fairly thin and can be weaved together into a variety of useful products. The Bertuagan fins and tails are remarkably dexterous and flexible, and with years of training, a Bertuaga can become a proficient weaver of Nasty Nasty Kelp, creating a variety of durable products, from clothes and protective gear as tough as metallic armor to curtains no catfish, no matter how determined, could ever shred. Sadly, nothing can be done about that smell though.

While Nasty Nasty Kelp under normal conditions is very difficult to tear, putting it under some heat will cause a temperature sensitive protein that reinforces the fibrous structure to denature, making cutting the kelp much more manageable, albeit still fairly difficult. As such, the Kelpweavers are always in need of some Heat Sources to make their products.

Spoiler: Faith

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Infinite Connections

Infinite Connectionists believe that all living beings are connected simultaneously via some form of abstract energy. What kind of energy is this? Nobody really knows, not even Infinite Connectionists. Apparently, this energy governs everyone’s moods, with “positive” energy creating, well, positive emotions, while “negative” energy does the opposite. There is a fixed ratio of positive to negative connective energy in the universe; a sort of global emotional balance. Being as selfless as they are, Infinite Connectionists wish for others to feel positive emotions by causing themselves to suffer. How do they bring about their own suffering? By ingesting one of the most foul substances known to fishkind; fermented Nasty Nasty Kelp Juice. This foul concoction is guaranteed to revolt the beholder and cause the drinker to wish that not another grain of salt ever finds its way onto their tongue again. At religious ceremonies, the Connectionists will gather and take turns drinking shots of Nasty Nasty Kelp Juice from a grand cauldron, all for the greater good.

Webweaver’s Bane

Webweaver’s Bane is a cult of nutjobs that believe the Nasty Nasty Kelp is sacred. They refer to the Kelpweavers as Webweavers to paint them as villainous (to little effect at all), and title their own organization as the Webweaver’s Bane, seeking to bring down those who disturb the most holy Nasty Nasty Kelp forests. Despite their best efforts, the Kelpweaving industry is more lucrative than ever. This is likely due to the fact they have hardly any money, resources, or structure; just a single place of meeting in a remote kelp forest nobody visits because frankly, it just smells too horrible for even the most devoted Nasty Nasty Kelp reverers.

[bc56]

Region 105: Toxfall Gorge

Spoiler: Geography

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The Toxfall Gorge has two notable features: The gorge, and the so-called Toxfall at its bottom.
The gorge is a massive undersea rift which takes up the majority of the region. Toxic contamination leaks up from the depths of the gorge and fills the surrounding seas. Over the long term, this toxin is highly hazardous to organic life and the corpses of a vast variety of marine life have drifted down to rest in the rift.
The reason for the high toxicity is apparent when one descends at great danger into the depths of the gorge. Broken metal cylinders litter the bottom of the gorge, apparently damaged in a great fall. This, dubbed the Toxfall (a portmanteau of "toxic" and "fall") is the source of the contamination - it is mostly buried by a landslide triggered by Pfith soldiers sent to explore and cleanse the realm. Still, some of the compounds leak out.

Spoiler: People

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Due to its recent colonization, the Toxfall Gorge is settled by only a few Pfith villages around the upper rim of the gorge, outside the worst of the toxins, where filtration grafts will still be effective. They primarily engage in harvesting the Rotweaver Grubs deeper in the gorge. Some small number have turned to banditry to survive, targeting caravans bringing supplies to the isolated villages.

Spoiler: Resource

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In early days, prospectors thought the only thing of value was the poisoned corpses that litter the gorge, however a further search found something much more interesting. The corpses are hosts to the only life native to the depths of the gorge - the Rotweaver Worms. These scavengers have absorbed the toxins of their environment, and as a result are incredibly poisonous, lethal to consume for even the hardiest creatures. Each individual worm is as thin as a hair and anywhere from 3 to 6 inches long. However, they're never found alone - the worms form nest clusters within the corpses they consume, with a mer-sized body containing up to thousands of worms at any given time. When they consume enough of the corpses, the bodies are torn apart, where the currents deposit worm-laden chunks of rotting flesh onto other corpses in the gorge, spreading them throughout the area. There are 3 main villages set up to harvest the worms from the accumulated corpses, named Olgaddt, Slenl and Sidlsup
Due to the shortage of living creatures and the prevalence of Rotweavers, untainted Meat is in high demand. Storage methods for it must be highly protected both from contamination and from hungry bandits.

Spoiler: Faith

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The nascent society of the gorge doesn't have enough development yet to have established sites of faith, with one notable exception. On the site where Pfith soldiers gave their lives to seal the Toxfall, a steel statue has been erected as a memorial to them. The Monument of Martyrs is a holy site dedicated to Sakurado. A proper temple is under construction, but with the current meager development in the region, it will be years before it is finished: the Unfinished Temple is an open Holy Site. Finally, a few itinerant travelers with the trade caravans have been spreading advice and philosophy, but nothing particularly actionable. The Migrant Teachers are an open Holy Site.

[Corona]

Lojanese Republic part II

Aino Kava (13)

Spoiler: Geography

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The region is delimited by roughs in the west and wastes in the east. These inhospitable environments influence vegetation and climate across the borders, meaning the best farmland is in the middle of the region. Notable landmarks include great stone steles erected at the borders facing the four cardinal directions, which have marked the immutable borders of Aino Kava since time immemorial, bearing the sacred family tree of all of its rulers from the Ocean to the current king or queen.

Spoiler: People

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The Kucen nobility, present since an invasion or migration event that has been lost to the ages, rules over a diverse populace including Mer, crabs, Auros and Tobar. Although there are no formal castes, social mobility is very low due to the fact that the technological level of the kingdom has stayed approximately the same for centuries. There has been no demand for new products or services and so almost everyone carries on the work of their parents.

There is also a large importance placed on ancestral homes. Everyone is expected to know the place where their family name originated or where their ancestors lived for a long time, and visit it once a year, on the last week of the year, if possible. If an Ainokavian discovers someone shares an ancestral home with them, they become very friendly, as if that person were their family.

The Ainokavians consider nudity to be barbaric and they dye their clothes according to their social rank. Peasants wear brown; craftsmen wear as many as fifty shades of gray, yellow and red depending on their profession; nobles are clothed in blue-green. Only the reigning monarch can wear purple. Not even the ruler's children can wear purple, as it is not determined in advance that any of them will inherit the throne. The heir is chosen by decree of the monarch, who can choose anyone from their dynasty. This decree is typically conveyed in a sealed envelope that is opened after the king or queen's death, to stop other potential heirs from squabbling and plotting against the chosen heir during the ruler's lifetime.

Ainokavan dynasties are not patrilineal. Rather, children are considered to be of the more prestigious of the dynasties of their parents. Consequently, dynastic prestige is in a state of constant "inflation", as the most esteemed surnames slowly spread to the whole populace. To prevent the potentially disastrous de-stratification of society, once in a few generations the sovereign prunes distant branches of the royal dynasty, creating new surnames and titles for them that typically rank above all other non-royal families.

The weave and cut of a "najed", the main item of clothing that an Ainokavian wears, a fish equivalent of a long shirt, is also rigidly determined - almost everyone dresses in the style of their hometown, providing a social cue that is rather important, as detailed above.

Spoiler: Faith

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The King or Queen of Aino Kava is said to descend from the first being, a living embodiment of the Ocean. In the beginning, Ocean consorted with itself to produce many daughters and sons, the Seas, and gave each of them a part of the world to rule. It divided the whole world between its progeny, except for a small forgotten part of the globe. Ocean's children used their seas as playgrounds; they created all the various things seen in the world today, and at last they created mortals. Mortals were like a very useful tool or a very interesting toy at first, capable of thinking for themselves to a degree, solving complex tasks and producing an endless stream of entertainment for their masters. One day, the mortals got so smart that they figured out they were being used by Ocean's children. They rebelled. After an exhausting, bloody war that shook the foundations of the world, the mortals prevailed, killing every one of Ocean's children and putting the entire world under their rule.

Ocean grieved for its children. It resolved not to take revenge on the mortals, but it still wanted to leave behind at least one wise and righteous ruler leading one righteous kingdom when its time came, as it would soon come. Searching through all the seas, unseen, Ocean came upon the sea it missed earlier; it was still so devoid of any features or living beings that mortals failed to notice it as well. Ocean gave birth to one more child, assigned to it rule over that land, and oversaw the creation of mortals and the creation of a legal code that enshrined the social hierarchy, so that the tragedy of the mortals' rebellion might not be repeated. Ocean's child ruled in peace and prosperity for hundreds of years after their divine parent left the world, and when their time came, they passed the crown to their successor. The name of that last child of Ocean? Aino Kava.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Rocksplinter Stars.
Slow to act, the Rocksplinter Stars are single minded in their ability to perform tasks. Once shown what to do, they can repeat tasks almost endlessly, be it growing crops, moving things from place to place, or sorting fruits. It takes Rocksplinter Stars longer to learn for more difficult tasks, but they are eager to have a use, making them excellent for both Unskilled Labor.

Although a few thinkers consider the stars to be intelligent, the vast majority of people considers their capabilities to be simple muscle memory. They are fairly easy to hunt down ("collect" might be more appropriate) or farm. Their meat has a soft texture and an earthy, mineral-like aftertaste.


Desired Import: Preservatives.
The eastern streams carry corrosive chemicals from the wastes, which can damage food, tools, or even buildings. To prevent this, Ainokavians meticulously coat their possessions with layers of lacquer made with domestic and imported ingredients.

Region 12 - Wid Oe'masoar

Spoiler: Geography

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The seafloor is rather uneven, with terraces, cliffs and caverns a frequent sight due to the crystal eating into the soft soil occasionally. Thankfully, it does not eat all minerals. To the north, its expansion is inhibited by the White Mountains, composed of granite with massive quartz veins and not an inch of soil. In the south, the crystal cannot cross the endless deserts stripped bare by frequent natural disasters.

However, the crystal's path westward is clear. It could potentially grow into and devour all of tropics, which is almost what happened at one point in the past, as told by the oral myths of the people of Wid Oe'masoar. The stories differ on many details; they agree on this: when the precarious situation became apparent, and six kings from surrounding regions gathered to discuss how to stop the deadly crystal flood, an orphan prayed for the intervention of the gods more earnestly than anyone in history, offering his life in return. His prayers were heard out, and his body was transformed into Orphan's Mound, a strange lone hill in the west of the region. It is the only place or material that seems to actively repel the crystal. Chemical analysis of the rock has so far yielded no results that would explain the phenomenon.

Spoiler: People

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The Mer that inhabit this region have gray fur. Despite living in a tropical region, they wear thick, fluffy workclothes that protects against the corrosive crystals. If the crystals start eating into the clothing, you discard it and swim away. In the past, the locals used to organize into migratory tribes that lived on the fringes of the region or in neighboring regions for most of the year and only during a short season they ventured into the crystal-infected heart of the region to stock up on crystal to trade and the fruits and vegetables growing between the crystal lodes that are left uneaten by animals. Now, technology and modern safety procedures have enabled the specialization of labor. Crystal factory workers live in specially insulated towns amongst the crystal lodes, obviating the need for migration. Tribes have been reorganized into urban and rural counties, all ruled by a by a governor appointed from the Tairlav palace.

Spoiler: Resource

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(credit: Tychris)
Crystal Chips are an invasive and potentially ecologically devastating naturally occuring substance. A strangely mutated form of Aragonite crystal that grows in the region, it seemingly multiplies itself over and over again, and consumes all that unfortunately cannot get out of its way. Similar in nature to Kudzu this crystalline aberration is a goldmine for harvesting resources so long as you can move your cultivating operation out of the way and / or don't care about the safety or livelihood of your miners. This substance is sometimes thought to be sentient by those locals who have observed it over time, as it waxes or wanes and continues its inexorable tide onwards, and yet scholars vehemently disagree after researching it and instead ascribe the locals to simply anthropomorphizing a powerful force of nature that they can curb but not completely erase. Its name derives from the way that it grows, for the substance when not harvested is noticeably brittle, and can easily chip off fresh pieces which when left unattended will spread the Crystals even further. Careful processing after harvesting is required from these crystals or else the processing plant will become overrun by the very substance it wishes to reap benefit from.

Desired Import: Parasite Hosts
Although the crystal can consume almost anything, if it is fed a special diet, it has slightly different properties. In particular, if it eats the flesh of living beings, it is sharper and harder. In the past, even sentient beings - slaves were sacrificed to the crystal. Of course, this tradition is illegal now, but the region still needs to import masses of livestock to produce high-quality material and satisfy believers who practice sacrifice for religious reasons.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Prismatic Schismatics are united in the belief in the crystal's divine nature and of the existence of gods currently ruling the world that oppose the crystal's expansion, lest it could take over as the ruler of the waters and heavens of this world. However, they disagree among themselves on nearly everything else, including the fact of whether the crystal is benevolent or malevolent.

HC1: Orphan's Mound
The hill, a key piece in containing the crystal, is considered to be a holy place by the locals. They keep the seagrass growing on it neat and they restore the hill's round shape when a landslide occurs.

HC2: Cordial Lode
The Cordial Lode is the biggest contiguous area infested by the crystal, wide enough that its center remains hidden from the outside even during lowest crystaltide. The crystal here takes on a darker color and resists the usual treatment to make it safe to handle. It is where the crystal's consciousness is thought to reside... among the Prismatic Schismatics who think the crystal has a central location, rather than having its presence distributed evenly.

HC3: Pleasure Hall
The Hedonistic Cynicists, a sect looked on with suspicion, spend as much of their free time here in a mansion of luxury. They do not care about the crystal or much else in the world, believing that one's time is wasted by doing anything else than enjoying oneself to the fullest, and they have constructed the Pleasure Hall to serve this purpose. All spare income of believers is donated to the Hall, to allow it to serve food and provide entertainment suitable for royalty.

Region 15 - Loat Trau'eath

Spoiler: Geography

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Loat Trau'eath is a fertile and hilly land. In places where the dirt has been blown away by the currents, the so-called "Titans' Shaving Razors" can be seen - dangerously sharp rock formations, invincible to erosion, protruding from the ground.

The Sleeping Gorge is a landmark in the east, bordering the wasteland. It is uninhabited, due to scarcity of food and strong seasonal cuurents that would blow away most buildings. When the water is relatively still, it is a nice place to visit.
The Myriad Faces are a large cave system in the middle of the region in which a certain species of acidic snails has carved paths into the rocks over the centuries, creating the appearance of intricate reliefs with exaggerated faces and knot patterns.

Spoiler: People

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The Tluunshaaln, a horned people with very short fur suitable for warm climates inhabit the region. They have very strong swimming fins, to the point that even though they are slightly larger than Mer, they are able to jump into the air above the ocean surface by sprinting upwards. Their eyes are on the sides of their skulls, making it difficult to approach them unseen.

They are hard workers, and due to their swimming speed and endurance, many of them tend to live in remote mining villages, as they can easily travel to even a distant city when necessary. They are loosely governed by councils of representatives from close by villages that convene about once a month. This arrangement has been kept in place when the Lojanese Republic conquered the region, allowing the region a great degree of autonomy. However, taxes on the local populace in exchange for protection and development aid have been imposed.

Spoiler: Resource

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Granite Slabs
Underneath the region's rich soil there is a massif of yet richer rock. Although metal veins are not present in particularly big amounts, the chemical composition and structure of the local granite is such that it is resistant to all manner of corrosion and breakage. It is correspondingly difficult to mine. Miners' wages are high, but more than a few Tluunshaln have been found dead from working themselves to insanity and exhaustion, trying to make the slightest dent in the rock for hours. A cave-in usually spells death to those trapped inside. Granite dust produced in the splitting of the rock is also a health factor as it is dangerous when breathed in in large amounts, although it is also has its use, as an abrasive.

Desired Import: Drugs
The miners have been for a long time using natural drugs to steel themselves for their hard work, and some native ceremonies and traditions also call for the use of hallucinogens. It was unsurprising that when mass-produced drugs became available, the populace was quick to take them up.

Spoiler: Faith

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The locals have quickly adopted the Shimmers of Unseen Bane when word of it reached Loat Trau'eath. They view the SUB tenet of substance use as getting close with Nature. The Kelpies are worshipped as angels who came to reveal the true nature of the world to all people. Having revealed the true nature, the Kelpies departed for their home dimension, which hosts all souls after their death - there is no distinction between good and evil, or believer and unbeliever, but the sooner one accepts the truth of SUB, the longer can one enjoy and experience one's life in this world to the fullest.

HC 1: Holy Tluun
The spiritual leader of the Tluunshaaln - a living shrine - is the Holy Tluun. When the previous Holy Tluun dies, their soul, and the souls of all their predecessors, choose a newborn whose body they shall inhabit. This newborn becomes the next Holy Tluun. They are identified among all newborns through various tests, for example, letting them smell pungent seaweed - if they smile, they are in tune with Nature and a good candidate for the Holy Tluun.

HC 2: Arat's Pyramid
A large stone structure stands in the middle an enchanting park in the biggest city, Kueldara, not since time immemorial, but since about fifty years ago, when a wealthy noble from another land wanted to have a palace built in Loat Trau'eath, with the high-quality local stone. He employed a significant portion of the local population in the palace's construction, but as the date of completion neared, the noble lost his fortune and went into hiding due to a war. The Tluunshaaln seized the palace for themselves, naming it after the noble, Arat. In spite of defaulting on payment for the palace, Arat is viewed as a positive figure, as he got the Tluunshaaln to cooperate on making something beautiful that they would never have made otherwise.

[Minescratcher]

The Order of Knights of the Ironkelp of First-King John of Ruhum

[IMG]flag goes here[/IMG]

Waters post #1


Regions Part 2


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Region 123
Kral-Katena, the Leveled Seas

Spoiler: Geography

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The waters east of Cyph-Arel and north of the Emerald Tidelands are surprisingly barren for their proximity to such modern centers of power. The only landmarks in this endless expanse of sand are the hamlets and villages that dot the seascape. Even the waves above seem weak and flat, except in the east of the region, where the brutal teeth of Death’s Passage jut upwards from the sands and swirling storms batter the sea. No creature stirs up the sand, and the only disturbance overhead are the herds of Malruses, nibbling at the drifting plankton and seagrass.

Spoiler: People

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The people of Kral-Katena are divided into two groups: the native Katena villagers and the Greenwater Clansfolk settlers. The Katena are a sedentary people, resembling gobies with small eyes and a pinkish color. They have notable cultural and linguistic similarities to the Cyphiri, though the exact nature of their relationship is unclear. Large extended families form small hamlets where they can, spreading out as much as possible over the region, which are divided into baronies ruled by what is at this point, through generations of intermarriage, essentially a single, massive noble family. Specialization runs counter to day-to-day survival, and so the primary privilege of the nobility is simply the ability to devote themselves to a single thing at a time, for as long as they want.

The Greenwater Clansfolk are Mer, refugees from the silt wave that destroyed their home region, led by the Redtail Clan Speaker, Blaithin Redtail. They have made an effort to preserve all of their traditions in as exact a form as possible, and their life is not that different from that of the pre-collapse Greenwater, though the lack of any real kelp forests does impose some constraints.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Never a densely populated region to begin with, a series of devastating Reaver attacks left Kral-Katena teetering on the verge of collapse. The noble barons who survived the raids immediately began plotting to seize each other’s titles, but so few able-bodied Mer were available that they could barely fill their own bodyguards, much less even hire assassins to hunt down their rivals. When an army of raw Greenwater Clans recruits under Yura Darkwater marched into the region, it was left entirely defenseless, and most of the Katena villagers simply ignored the change in government – though the nobility was not so lucky.

However, the situation was not stable for long; in the silt-tide that destroyed the Greenwater, some of the clans fled north, braving the tumult of the kelp forests’ destruction and the dangers of the Deepheart to reach safer waters. A few other clansfolk had already settled in Kral-Katena after Yura Darkwater’s conquest, and together they formed a substantial exodus community. Even after Yura was captured by the Gotezhar force sent to secure their northern borders, the Redtail clan maintained the only meaningful retinue in the region, making the Clansfolk the de facto rulers. Speaker Blaithin immediately used his advantage to secure more territory for his Clansfolk, pushing many of the Katena out of their villages in the process.

His expansion did not last long either, its end coming at the fins of the Order of Orders, in the famed Knight Commander Amlaigh Tolmach’s last battle before his death. Despite their rough numerical parity, the Redtail forces broke formation after only a brief bombardment with Giantsbane missiles, and were quickly overrun and defeated. Tensions between Katena and exiled Clansfolk are at a peak with Blaithin having been left in power as Speaker, and for now the Order of Orders seems more interested in the region’s strategic value than in forming any kind of stable government, importing not governors but sages to investigate establishing a sapling of the Regalis Arbor. Only time will tell how Kral-Katena will weather the years to come.

Spoiler: Resources

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The Malrus is the largest creature in Kral-Katena. A nonsapient mammal with a somewhat disturbing resemblance to the Gloucesties, they are speculated to be the result of metabolic modifications designed to breed a primarily herbivorous species of walrus, and feed largely on seagrass and plankton. The Katena themselves have no memory of a time when the Malruses didn’t exist, and they provide meat, clothing, and – most significantly as an export - Malleable Blubber, an insulating material that is extremely flexible and resilient. The Cyphiri Union has long had contracts for blubber production, but the recent pillaging of the region by the Pojanese nomads has set their production schedules behind.

Though nutritious, Malrus meat is neither particularly flavorful nor texturally interesting. Imported Spices are necessary to find any enjoyment in the meal.

Spoiler: Faith

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Organized religion has never held much appeal for the Katena, but a stone ring outside the village of Shenet is commonly believed to grant wishes to those who perform rituals within it, the exact steps required varying with the teller; the place has been identified by Middish sages with the wish-granting ring supposedly established by Saint Jean of Akko. The Greenwater refugees have likewise begun construction on a large coral building based on the House of Shallow and Depth, though progress has been slow due to the lack of local building corals.

* * *

Region 112
The Hansea

Spoiler: Geography

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The plains of the Hansea are a relatively flat and shallow stretch of the temperate waters, though as one swims north to south the seafloor does gradually drop to more normal depths. Tangled masses of seaweed and kelp dot the waters, less dense relatives of the kelp forests of the Great Kelpland to the southwest; they are highly resistant to the currents, and landmarks retain a recognizable shape no matter how fiercely the waters rush by. Sponges likewise cover the seafloor, alongside urchins and clams.

Spoiler: People

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The inhabitants of the Hansea, who call themselves the Ineo, are Mer, and fairly average for the temperate waters. Ineo culture is fairly relaxed; they have no real gender- or age-based norms, and most Ineo are not particularly ambitious or fast-paced, though those who are tend to be extremely successful. They are primarily agricultural, and have developed hundreds of unique recipes, relying on the use of Fortified Bonemeal to ensure bumper crops year after year. The process of creating Fortified Bonemeal is a trade secret of the Fortified Bone Meal Guild, but it is known to start with the crushed and ground bones of several fish species believed to be unique to the Hansea and nearby waters, plus various secret nutritional additives.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The Hansea has always been a region with a distant relationship to its nominal rulers. Between Otterians, Gloucesties, the Monehganist Regime, and now the Middish, the region has passed through more governments in a finfull of decades than most places do in centuries. Throughout the constant background of war, the real power in the region is the Fortified Bone Meal Guild (or FBM) and its guildmaster Jo Soo, a beacon of stability in the Hansea. The wealth Jo Soo has accumulated through decades of reliable sales to foreign buyers, especially during the short-lived McTavish merger, has made him the most powerful Mer in the region. However, he is nearing the end of his life, and it remains to be seen how the FBM will weather his death.

Spoiler: Resources

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Jo Soo’s Fortified Bonemeal (Even invertebrates love it!™️) is produced in far more than sufficient quantity for the Hansea itself, and export means profit. The secret Guild additives cause crops fertilized with the substance to be far more productive and nutritious than those without.

Unfortunately Jo Soo has already bought out practically everything of value in the Hansea, and FBM desperately needs more Valuables to spend their profits on.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Ineo do not have a particularly religious history, but shortly after the Otterian conquest, the Hansea became home to a small outpost for Flowing Way pilgrims named Tallrock, though it was never developed beyond a middling travelers’ inn. Recently the Finalist movement found purchase among the disaffected local Mer, who rallied to smash the inn and drive out the weak foreign religion – a move that soon proved that the Flowing Way was not as weak as they had thought. Still, despite the Order’s restoration of Tallrock, the belief in the Final Peace remains strong, and the Finalists are still attempting to rally the Ineo to their cause.

* * *

Region 115
Leksandry, the Library of Lime

Spoiler: Geography

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At the northernmost extremes of the temperate seas, Leksandry is fairly cold and dry by Mer standards, though the water is still oxygen-poor. The seafloor is ridged and cut through with tunnels, home to various small fish, medium-size eels, and large turtles. But it is impossible to swim through the waters of Leksandry without observing the enormous green carpets of Miliari, which stretch for miles on end across the gravelly floor.

Spoiler: People

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The primary intelligent species of Leksandry is the Miliari, a type of large sea urchin. The Miliari have yellow-green spines and plates and move by rolling across the seafloor, though they are extremely social and live in massive colonies that can cover many square miles of seafloor. They raise kelp for food and also consume mollusks and worms if they can be found, though they generally eschew scavenging.

The Miliari are universally hermaphrodites. Children of more than one Miliari are looked down upon, and, during spawning season, colonies will disperse as each Miliari attempts to ensure it reproduces only with itself. They also hold a great respect for historians and loremasters, who are believed to be not only cataloguing the past but also prophesying the future.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Leksandry has been a petty kingdom for as long as the Library’s records show, having passed through several dynasties of self-fertilized kings before accusations of copulation destroyed them and raised up a new king. However, the king has very little real power, and the Miliari generally treat the position with something between disinterest and open defiance. The people’s respect is instead given to the historians, whose prophetic abilities are worth a lot more than the proclamations of a king in a distant colony.

The destruction of the Auxiliary Halls by the Reavers and the accompanying loss of life and lore threw Leksandry into a decade of chaos. In the end, a faction alternately called the Librarians or the Great Recovery openly revolted against the king, aiming to seize power and restore the sacred texts by force. Their leader, War Prophet Mizandir, used populist appeals and spurious claims of foreign document thieves targeting the followers of the Prophetic Histories to win widespread support from the general population, but it was not enough to prevent zir army from being smashed to pieces in the field by the king’s forces. The whole series of events would likely have been a historical footnote if not for the Librarian raid on the Sage’s School of Lombsol in Orope to the south, which drew the attention and ire of the Order of Orders. It was a fatal mistake for the region’s independence, and the few defenders remaining after the uprising were shattered and methodically dismantled in pitched battle with the disciplined and well-trained Knights.

Following her conquest of the region, Dame Commander Caitriona MacAlpein of the Scoshlangue has sponsored efforts to learn more about the region’s tradition of prophecy, noting its kinship to the Flowing Way. The great irony is that, had more efforts to contact the Miliari been made sooner, the war that finally brought them into contact with their southern neighbors may never have happened.

Spoiler: Resources

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The major export of the region is the native Liming Snails, a species of snail which secretes a lime-rich slime around its shell and foot. It only truly thrives in alkaline and brackish waters, but it survives acceptably outside its home region, and aside from the normal uses of snail shells, Costa Sereian chemists have found that the slime is useful both as fertilizer and as an ingredient in certain more malleable cement mixtures.

The study of the Prophetic Histories is plagued by instances of misinterpretation, linguistic error, and generally insufficient imagination. The historians therefore demand access to various Exotic Goods to expand their worldview.

Spoiler: Faith

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The massive colony at Oskt, the Great Library, is the spiritual center of Leksandry, doubly so since the destruction of the Auxiliary Halls by the Reavers. It stores thousands of scrolls and records, which are held by the Prophetic Histories to not only describe the past but also predict the future, as everything in reality is cyclical. The loss of a prophecy is the greatest disaster that the Histories can suffer, as its predictive power is thus lost until the event is eventually fulfilled and a new scroll is created to describe it, which may take centuries or even millennia. The followers of the Histories, especially the Librarians, are thus fiercely militaristic and protective of their lore.

* * *

Region 109
Camual, the Swarming Shelf

Spoiler: Geography

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Bounded on the west, north, and northeast by chains of islands, Camual is an extremely shallow and swampy region like many in the northern temperate seas, and one which is quite out of the way for most travelers. Still, though it has all the usual features of a brackish sea, lightly spotted with groves of seaweed, no traveler would ever mistake Camual for a “normal” sea. The seafloor surface is not sand, but a swirling, undulating mass of isopods, giving the region its nickname of the Swarming Seas. Grey dust thrown up by their movement rises towards the surface, at night illuminating the whole sea with a faint glow, while far off the songs of Mer are heard.

Spoiler: People

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The Innips are Mer in form, though their adaptations to the brackish conditions of Camual suggest they may be a separate related species, as they are capable of resisting desiccation for periods of up to a day and require substantially less oxygen than foreign Mer. They prize resilience and community and so have often been rather isolationist, treating occasional foreign missionaries or traders with respect but rarely forming close bonds. Most Innips do not leave their home clan’s claimed waters, relying on the bounty of seaweed and isopods Camual provides.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Camual had no centralized government until the Finalists invaded the region, being instead divided into a number of independent clans who mostly stayed out of each other’s business. Finalist rule was brief, as they were expelled by the Order of Orders within a few years, but the fledgling region-wide institutions they created proved valuable enough for the Knights to co-opt rather than replace them. The clans are now all officially ruled by the Defender of the Peace, currently an Insmiddish by the name of Oliver, who answers to the Order of Orders on matters within Camual.

Spoiler: Resources

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The constant churn of the seafloor brings the region’s famous deposits of Swarm Ash to the surface. A chalky, grey dust, Swarm Ash glows with an inner heat that lasts for weeks. Some believe this to be magical in nature, while others suggest it is a strange chemical property of the ash, but regardless it is extremely valuable for those in need of heat.
The region requires steady imports of Military Equipment, as its own domestic industries are weak.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Innips have long been followers of the Flowing Way, being among the first peoples reached by Middish missionaries before the region was made fully brackish by the Divine Nacres’ hydroforming experiments. Little changed in the decades since until the Finalists invaded the region in the desperate throes of their defeat, rapidly spreading the tenets of the Final Peace among the Innips. Though the Order was severely offended by this, it remains to be seen whether the Flowing Way can be restored.

[Torv]

Spoiler: Nanuuq (R82)

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Geography
Descending the cold waters of Nanuuq one goes from colorful Nudibranches to darkness and more darkness. Then at the very bottom a few scattered lights walking across the substrate. Following the light bearing creatures leads to ancient structures in vibrant colors. Few do more than meekly jut out of the ocean floor, the rest lost to time.
Ignoring the vast emptiness surrounding it Nanuuq itself is a grand constellation of such ruins, really when an inhabitant speaks of Nanuuq this is what they mean. Fallen spires reach for the surface, casting shadows of forlorn glories over a multicolored town.


People
The Bears are automatons held together in the size of a fist by the pressure of the depths. Made to trawl the seafloor for precious minerals, something clicked when their collection points had been left untouched for decades. Displaying erratic behaviors, fungi-covered bears began to sort through their work, sentience fed with artistic creativity. Bonded fungi and automaton began to work in strife - unsure where one's choices began and the others ended.
While compressed their shells are an opaque black with shimmering spots of mycolic innards visible through the seams. When as small as can be their shape becomes that of a quadruped from myths - the icebear, cast in black.
However most prefer to remain above their implosion limit, allowing for some manipulation of their appendages form as they expand. On the other end they grow near orca sized becoming translucent shadows, white veins of thin fungi running through. And then poof - mindless shreds as joints let go of one another, far from the depths of safety.
Should such an expedition be necessary the Bears don high strength tensile suits in the shape of their namesakes, with only a few still intact since their creation they have taken a liking to customizing them. White, brown, gold, black, and many more colors at their whim, preferably by attaching dyed fur.


Society
Their core function still running strong through spore synapses bears drift from collection point to collection point in tribes, scouring the ocean floor for minerals along the way. While well known that the minerals keep their shells functional the symbiotic relationship of their sentience remains a mystery. Going against their construction purpose seems to fray it at the edges, either ending in insanity or a return to mindlessness until a new symbiote is found.
Yet it is in the discordance between biology and machinery their thoughts begin to emerge.
Many still prefer to keep to the simple tasks while aware, only meeting occasionally at decade long sensitivity moots.
During the years of a moot the tribes merge into collective, breaking from habits while searching for an answer to their fragile consciousness.
No more than a few hundred tend to attend such gatherings as few leave in the same mental state they entered. Led by the Fraying Mind in search of answers and ended by the Preserver, no more than a few dozen tend to find their tribes after.

So far the moots have determined the following core functions of their mechanical shells:
Survey seafloor for minerals
Acquire approval
Collect minerals
Defend collection points
Repair self
Improve above processes
Communication is generally deemed safe while on the subject of core functions.


Resources
Owned - Silver Ore
The bottom of Nanuuq has bedrock rich in glimmering Silver Ore, gradually broken loose by the bears during their migrations.

Needed - Dyes
Deemed as one of few safe ways to express and differentiate oneself the bears crave dyes of all kinds for themselves and their suits.


Faith
Being a new concept introduced by rumors from the emerging light-dwellers many at the Sensitivity moot are eager to try this thing called faith. Tasked with contemplating how this new outlook might affect their symbiosis they try to adopt a variety of views.

Wings of the world
Fact, history, myth, it needs to live on but the memories of light-dwellers are so fleeting. Yet there are those among them since before the cataclysm under whose wings the Bear’s tale might still be remembered for centuries without dissolving into myth. If they just knew what that tale was.

The Blossoming Sequence (Open SEA)
Their loss of sentience previously thought a curse, now a blessing in disguise. As one symbiote burns out so do the spores of a new spread in ever more fertile ground. When building on the shells of those that came before innovation ekes out ahead of stagnation.

Eternal Communion.
Over past decades the Bears have collected vast amounts of minerals to collect dust. Perhaps it is time to use them. Perhaps others should do their work, answers bought instead of investigated. Spiritual ascension through material overflow. GREED.

[Grim ranger]

Spoiler: Region 62 - The Wandering Dunes

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Region 62 - The Wandering Dunes

Spoiler: Geography

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Stuck between the Dead Seas and the neighboring wastes, The Wandering Dunes are a desolate environment that seems to actively punish anyone seeking to set up proper settlements within it... and not only thanks to crop-growing being difficult and wild game being scarce. The environment is one of often shifting seafloor thanks to some large currents running through the area, proper cover of any sort being quite scarce and the few areas with rock formations or deeper caves being hotly contested between travelers and many hardy and vicious ambush predators still seeking to carve out a living in one of the most inhospitable environments one can find around the Polar seas.

With deadly temperatures, lack of cover from any harsh shifts in the currents and inhospitable fauna, the settlers of this extreme environment have been forced literally underground. The sole speck of civilization around the Dunes is presently a Nathi camp set up in one of the larger cave complexes, known locally as Shaded Alcove. Outside it, one is best off being well-armed and supplied to make their way through the region with all their fins intact... and apart from some routes through it that are marked down with coral light sources whenever possible, the local waterways are mostly uncharted, with casualties often to be expected among any groups of would-be explorers.

Spoiler: People

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With colonization of the region being barely in its infancy, the only real inhabitants of the region that are not simply passing through are the hardy explorers of Nathi and Gravetenders. with others having so far been rather unwilling to establish any sort of permanent presence in the desolate environment. The local fauna might hide some surprises, but so far the monsters lurking about have not shown signs of any sort to establish a functioning society.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Adhesive Urchins

Although the incredibly hostile environment of the Wandering Dunes has left relatively little of value to be gained from the area, the few brave traders willing to go looking did discover a lifeform that could have only been brought about by such pressures. Toxic, hardy and able to fix themselves in place on nearly any surface to withstand both predators and the unpredictable currents, they are certainly a trade good with many potential applications.

Requirement: Spices

While some of their early attempts at colonization were met with brutal response from the local beasts, the Nathi finally figured out a way to keep them away. Particularly pungent or irritating smells were able to drive away the hardy predators thanks to irritating their keen sense of smell, giving the colonists a simple way to guard major settlements and ways of importance... although they must be replenished quite often to keep up the repelling effect.

Spoiler: Faith

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While being best described as a "blasted waste" by most, one part of the Wandering Dunes has attained reputation as being touched by power beyond the understanding of most. The Everbloom (HS 1) is a large rock sticking out of the dunes like a massive spear, always covered in fresh undersea greenery despite the constant pressures of dunes slowly grinding against the surface of the mysterious edifice.

[farothel]

Write up of colony region 192 (updated after comments):

resource: metal (after ABS prospect)
desired import: Glass

Name: Raninoida

Spoiler: Geography

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An old waste region, the region still has the signs of the cleansing. Great holes into the earth were made to bring forth the cleansing steam and some lava that went with it. Lava still flows at times, changing the landscape constantly. The places where there isn't any lava are mostly mud. Around the ventroots the water is still scalding hot and will stay so for quite some time. The currents take the hot water away from the ventroots and mix it with colder water. Where the currents stop, minerals are also deposited.

Some bushes of Eye Weed have been moved to filter the air enough to place villages, but it would take a while for cities to form here.

Spoiler: People

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The settlers are people from the Hymenocera Expanse, from all peoples that make up the Expanse. As this region is also toxic, most come from Lupomata.

The main town in the region is at a spot where four of those currents meet each other. While conditions can be rough depending on the currents and other circumstances, this is the place where most minerals and metals are deposited, so here is where the biggest mining takes place. Most people here are miners working for and with the Abyssal Stewards, as well as supporting functions. A small garrison is also set up here, mostly for the engineers helping to set up the colony and the town, but later for regular troops.

Spoiler: History and Government

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There is not much government, although there are some nobles (mostly second and third sons and daughters) who went there, as well as some scribes. The government is set up just as in the rest of the Expanse

Spoiler: Resources

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The hydrothermal vents spew forth mineral rich water. The flow of water and the specifics of the meeting of cold and hot water condense some of these metals in small stones of magnetic metal, which look a bit like flowers. Where the flows of the water calm down, these flowerstones are deposited and are collected.

With the location of the basic military training facility in this region, there is a great need for armour to equip all the new recruits who get their basic training in the region (and to demonstrate how to bypass armour).

Spoiler: Faith

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The colonists have taken their Uplift Reverence faith with them. So far there is only one site, the starting point of the lava vents to make the region habitable. Although the Abyssal Stewards had done this, some of the techniques they used where so ancient they could have come from the ancestors, so a small shrine has been set up on that site.

[Grim ranger]

Spoiler: Region 53 - Soliana

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Region 53 - Soliana

Spoiler: Geography

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A region where great ice flats dominate the landscape while giving way to more pleasant and fertile seafloor spreading out around them, Soliana is a place of contrasts. As the ice periodically breaks from the mass of the flats to float upwards, it is gradually replaced by new layers while the now loose icebergs create gradually ascending, ever-shifting terrain. The currents and environmental pressures creating this peculiar sight are quite unique to the region, giving enough warmth for radiant greenery to still exist between the areas of permafrost. Having long been isolated from most outside waters, Soliana is almost its own self-contained world...but there will always be those capable of breaching the barriers of arctic cold.

While many smaller settlements are spread evenly across the length of the verdant areas of the region, the Living Fortress Besopus is the undisputed center of local politics and greatest focus of Unin colonies. While the temptation to join into the massive network of living fortification is strong, many Unin colonies still act independently, forming the ruling caste of the area while demanding tribute from any other inhabitants.

Spoiler: People

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While the Lacertis make up a large portion of the local population, the lizard-like people are generally the inhabitants of village communities rather than lords of entire areas... For the true rules of Soliana are colonies of Unin. There small creatures are individually little but odd mixture of worm and eel, but they rarely ever remain individual: Unin can link their vital functions and minds together by biting each other's tails, often creating colonies of increasing power and intelligence. These colonies use the combined forms of their members as muscles for locomotion and combat both, often weaving themselves through porous rocks and ice to create solid foundations for limbs and to protect themselves from environmental threats. These colonies can grow to be truly cunning and powerful in combat, with one of their number even credited to vanquishing General Kreel during the conquest of Soliana.

Of course, with the conquest of the area by Kar-Nath Hegemony, the combined military might of the Nathi has brought the native inhabitants to heel, although the Nathi are mostly present so far in military capacity.

Spoiler: Resource & Requirement

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Resource: Maltreed

A spicy type of reed cultivated by the local population, it makes for excellent spice that goes well with many sorts of food, an easy way to add excitement to even a boring diet.

Requirement: Light Sources

As sources of light are both a religious requirement and useful for growing larger harvests of Maltreed in Soliana, the acquisition of such is seen as an important matter by the locals.

Spoiler: Faith

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The local faith of Soliana is one of Veiled Mysteries, playing on the concepts of light, shadow and separation of the two with veils. Their ceremonies often include use of bright light sources and silken veils, the adherents seeking mystical truths that might help to manifest their will upon the world around them. The other prevalent faith of the area is that of the Shroud, hailing from lands of Kenaqua.

These two each hold one of the great spiritual attractions of Soliana. The Shroud has claimed the Ice Stair (HS 1), a slowly shifting continuous route of ice that seems to reach all the way to the surface itself. The Veiled Mysteries are based out of the Tower of Veils (HS 2), the structure generally safe atop one of the massive ice flats. Some say it is actually much taller than one can see, and extends deep into the ice to reveal some grand secret underneath the ice flats.

[Volthawk]

Colonies and Confederated Regions of the Cyphiri Union

Pyl-Garat (129)

Spoiler: Geography

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The terrain of Pyl-Garat is somewhat similar to that of Cyph-Arel, the rocky landscape continuing southwards. Down here, rather than the many smaller scattered patches of soil that form the cores of settlements in Cyph-Arel, there are a small amount of vast stretches of very fertile silt. Some are mostly clear for use, featuring a small variety of easy to handle or remove plant species and the handful of mostly herbivorous animal species that feed off them, but others are overgrown thickets, the silt patches dominated by two plant species - one woody species that rapidly grows tall to get as close to the sun as possible, and another parasitical species that forms long interwoven vine networks that stretch from trunk to trunk of the first species and feed off them (the appearance of the two together giving rise to the term "vine forest"). The two species together provide an ample supply of food for the animals found in these overgrown forests (although only their fruits are particularly edible for most people, unless one wants to modify themselves to eat something considered thoroughly unappetising), in turn giving rise to several predatory species, and various other plants that can find a niche not taken up by the dominant two grow where they can in the shade below (or above the vine layer, for some of the more interesting plants). The understanding of the Cyphiri that live here is that the only reason the other silt fields haven't become one of these overgrown silt forests is simply that the two species aren't particularly efficient at spreading themselves out of their native field to others, slowing the spread enough that even now there are unaffected silt fields.

Spoiler: People

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The population of Pyl-Garat is primarily Cyphiri. Various families are represented, but it is the Pylet family who are dominant here - they spearheaded the early colonisation attempts despite internal opposition, convinced other families to come along and more recently have put all their financial assets into the region, cementing their hold on it. They have great influence among the Cyphiri living here, and have grown increasingly aloof and independently-minded towards the rest of the Union Council (of which they are a member), despite having strong obligations towards the Hallus for their support in the colonisation. The other families present are much like those of Cyph-Arel - some are from families with presences in both regions, while a considerable number are new families created by those wanting a fresh start and new opportunities of their own. The latter category are those most loyal to the Pylet, who typically invests in all such families in Pyl-Garat to give them a head start, and Pylet family members frequently encourage those of other families who are considering going it alone to go for it and accept their support.

The Cyphiri who have settled here live in two kinds of settlements. The older settlements are found around the vine forests, the original colonies who relied upon what they could gather from the wilderness for resources - it was much faster than waiting for crops (although some farms have been established on the edges of the patches in the years since), the fruits are fairly tasty, and there was quite a lot else of interest there from a scientific and curiosity-driven perspective. These settlements have developed into the major towns of the region, and the places the Pylet are strongest. They're quite similar to the communities found in Cyph-Arel, with the major exception being the lack of a central farm to be built around - instead, they're set up in rows facing the overgrown silt fields, the closest being the most prestigious properties (particularly in recent years, with hunting being more controlled and formalised excursions into the wilderness becoming a status symbol) and newer buildings layering backwards from them.

With the growth the region has experienced in recent years, there have been more of the second kind of settlement cropping up - those based around the silt fields that are far enough away from the vine forests to be clear for the Cyphiri to properly utilise. While some have been built into farming communities to help secure a local food supply, the majority of these so far are focused around 'silt mining', gathering the silt itself and packing it for transport and sale elsewhere. These settlements are a little less well-built than the wilderness-edge settlements - the farmers aren't as well established yet, while the silt miners intentionally live in tents and other structures made to be easy to take down as they reckon that no silt field will last forever and they'll eventually have to move on to another one.

Not everyone here is a Cyphiri, of course - besides the usual gaggle of mercenaries and adopted family members from other species, the Sakura-Jin are here and have been here for years before the Pylet sent their first colonists here. Upon finding their missionaries across the region, the Cyphiri decided to leave them be and let them do as they wished - if any wanted to join one of the colonial settlements, they were allowed in, and those who wanted to stay distant were left alone. Over the years, many Cyphiri have begun to listen to the missionaries and accept their teachings and beliefs over the typical Flowing Way-aligned way of thinking of the Cyphiri, leading to a second group of Sakura-Jin arriving specifically to better provide guidance to their new converts.

Spoiler: Resources

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The main export of Pyl-Garat is the Nutritious Silt they gather from some of the silt fields found here - many are overgrown or used for other purposes, but enough are clear and capable of being harvested from that some Cyphiri have set up a brisk trade in gathering and selling on the fertile soil. After all, good nutrient-rich soil like this is something a clever merchant can make a decent amount of coin with, so they've already been sending sacks of the stuff north into Cyph-Arel to top up the lower-quality soil there and sending opportunity scouts out into the wider zone to look for other potential buyers.

A quirk of Pyl-Garat culture that those back in Cyph-Arel find quite fascinating is their taste for Meat. It started early into the colonisation of the region, as the initial colonists found that farming was taking too long to yield enough food and foraging from the overgrown patches wasn't enough, and so began to hunt the animals that lived in and around them. They found that they quite liked the taste, and enjoyed the act of hunting itself (a little unusual, given the normal Cyphiri attitudes towards getting involved in violence themselves, but then again these early colonists were particularly adventurous and willful Cyphiri). These days, the increase in the population of these settlements means there isn't quite enough hunting to go around, and the Pylet have begun to control and legislate around the practice - hunting is now usually the privilege of Pylet of good standing in the family, or those of other families on good terms with them, although some other Cyphiri still hunt anyway. The need for meat has remained though, the early colonists still wanting their supply and the Cyphiri arriving later being influenced by the culture and diet the former set into place.

To compensate for this, the Pylet have begun to arrange for imports of sea cows from the north through Tellan contacts to provide a source of meat that, while not as fun as hunting your own meal, is undeniably tastier than the things they were hunting before and it's proven quite popular - the northern farmers may raise a good sea cow, but it's the Cyphiri of Pyl-Garat that know the best way to cook it up, using special jars of hot ashes also obtained from the Tellan (eating it raw, while perfectly possible for them to do, is seen as a little uncivilised these days and cooking is preferable despite the large amount of extra effort involved).

Spoiler: Faith

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The Pylet family have never been particularly dedicated followers of the Way - in fact, Hapat Pylet (the current head of the family) has attracted scorn from several of the more prominent adherents to the Flowing Way in Cyph-Arel for his comments on the merits of the faith and the viewpoint it encourages. Many of those who came with the Pylet to settle Pyl-Garat were of a similar mindset, or at least weren't so invested in the Way that they avoided dealing with the Pylet. In the years since settling the region, many of them have begun to find themselves swayed by the words of the Sakura-Jin nuns, finding comfort in the answers they present compared to the endless questions of the Way. Widespread adoption of their mandates has been slow, even among those most convinced, but has been becoming more common in recent years after the arrival of a second detachment of missionaries from the World Garden. Few of the Pylet themselves have converted though, Hapat reportedly finding the tenets of Sakurado not much better than the lessons of the Way but seeing little reason to interfere in the religious business of other families.

The Chambers of Garat: Located in the largest of the forest-side settlements, the Chambers were originally built to house any Sakura-Jin visiting to spread their teachings, and have been expanded several times since - the first few times to provide a permanent residence for the Cyphiri that were converted to the faith and wished to directly contribute to the faith, and again in recent years to provide proper homes to some members of the second Sakura-Jin contingent and provide a proper place of worship for them to operate out of. It's grown to cover a good amount of space, situated on the very edge of the vine forest and its bounds including some of the silt field to provide a space for their gardening.

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Carr-Narin (121)

Spoiler: Geography

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As the name suggests (Carr-Narin roughly translates as "the desolate wastes owned by the Carral"), the landscape here is a lonely one - the seafloor itself is quite flat and featureless, particularly after the Trawling Beasts trampled through it, and after the disinfection protocols threw the ecosystem out of balance, there is little life on the surface. Survivable yes, if only barely, but just that. The salvation of the Carral came when they searched the region more closely, and found that the seafloor was not all this place had to offer. There were large cave systems here, and it was there that the Carral established their settlements, taking advantage of the ecosystems there having survived the disinfection a little better than those above, and the resources found down there.

Spoiler: People

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The residents of Carr-Narin are primarily Cyphiri, members of the Carral family who moved here from Kral-Katena in the southwest after attacks by the Shark People did significant damage to their businesses there and the family's leaders secured their claim to this stretch of ocean. There are also a large amount of Katena here, those that established ties to the Carral during the decades the family was focused in Kral-Katena and who came with them as they changed focus, and as always with the Cyphiri there are the Kalan hired to protect the family and its interests, and a mixed bag of other species adopted into the family to serve various roles ill-suited to the Cyphiri - most commonly, miners. The Carral have always been a very mercantile-focused family, one of the first families to really strike out into the waters outside Cyph-Arel and establish themselves, and so a great amount of effort has gone into figuring out how to make their unorthodox settlements work as trading posts. As such, small clusters of buildings have been erected around the main entrances to the below-ground settlements - built in the traditional Cyphiri style - a framework of structural poles with walls made of thick woven mats (and the occasional boarded wall where needed for actual structural support) - to serve as obvious places for visitors to go, and to better conduct business with them.

When it comes to the settlements themselves, the materials the Carral had brought with them were picked with the assumption that they would be used for the kind of buildings they have above ground, so the Carral have found themselves having to use them in unexpected ways as they've adapted the caves to serve as a home. The caves are large enough that the Carral can split them up into separate areas to provide privacy and organisation using their materials, with few actual buildings, using patterns woven, dyed or otherwise attached to the walls to indicate what each area is for and where private spaces are (the fact that one family owns it all has made the matter of allocating space a little easier). Natural light is valuable, and also where newcomers enter the settlement, so the areas that get the most sun are in high demand - as a matter of prestige for the wealthy and powerful, as the best spot below ground for merchants to do business they can't above ground, and by the Carral's retainers for security purposes - while those lower-ranking family members further out have to make do with various artifical light sources.

Spoiler: Resources

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One of the main reasons why the Carral have settled down below is the stone they've found down there - Unworked Serpentine. Dug out to expand the caves, it has an appealing colour to the Carral, and they've found that chunks of it can be fairly easily carved and shaped as they wish, and polishes up well. That, and it's also a lot of raw stone, and that sometimes has a use all of its own. For now, the Carral mainly focus on collecting it up and selling it on to artisans from elsewhere, rather than establishing an industry themselves, although some are arguing that their priorities should lie in using the serpentine themselves.

However, their lifestyle does have one major drawback - lack of access to crops. The soil here is not good for agriculture - while some suggest that the disinfection protocols ruined it, or a byproduct of the original microbial infestation, the main theory by Carral agricultural researchers is that it is just the soil itself, a side effect of the large amounts of serpentine in the area - so any soil used for growing is typically brought in, an occasional affectation by the high-ranking Carral family members being a garden in a sunlit area of the caves. As such, most prefer importing their food, leading to a great demand for Crops - the Cyphiri are naturally omnivores, but unlike the Pylet of Pyl-Garat the Carral have never gotten the taste for meat, instead preferring to stick with the vegetables they're used to as their main food, with animal meat from the area sometimes complementing but never replacing vegetable-based meals if they can help it.

Spoiler: Faith

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As with most Cyphiri, the Carral family is primarily made up of followers of the Flowing Way. The Memorial is the largest structure they've built above-ground, and serves as a focal point for those dedicated followers of the Way, trying to draw their attention to the land around them and the role it serves in the Way. After all, few places undergo quite as many changes as this place, and while there are no sentient souls here to tell the Cyphiri of the history of the region, it's still worth investigating - how the disinfection changed things, how the Trawling Beasts changed things, perhaps even how the original algae and mold changed things, and how things were in a distant past when the region was full of life (if such a time ever existed). The Cyphiri dedicated to investigating this have had to change up their methods a little from the normal asking questions and telling stories, but those who take up the challenge find the more scientific approach quite interesting.

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Swarmhome (126)

Spoiler: Geography

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Much of Swarmhome is dominated by the islands that dot much of the surface, establishing shallow canyons and the occasional obstructing walls of rock that dominate the underwater terrain. That, combined with the water here being stagnant and cloudy, low in salinity oxygen count, has always been a barrier to foreign explorers and visitors, which is just how the locals like it. The settlements of the swarmkeepers tend to be underground, in the underwater caves that are found in large quantities in the stone underneath the islands, tending away from long-term structures out in the open, the open water mainly being the domain of the hydra leech swarms that the locals cultivate, giving the region its name.

Spoiler: People

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Swarmkeepers are a strange species, appearing roughly humanoid but typically with somewhat misshapen forms that are hidden somewhat by their enveloping head to toe clothing, and displaying an odd degree of flexibility sometimes despite what their body shape would suggest. That's because a swarmkeeper is not quite a single organism, but also not quite a hivemind. Instead, they are made up of a core organism - related to the hydra leeches found in the region, but larger and highly adapted for its new purpose - and a large number of hydra leeches connected to the core through a mass of tendrils that grow across and integrate with the mass of leeches, forcing them to connect with each other and undergo physiological changes that, along with some of the core's tendrils serving purposes analogous to nerves and vessels, make the whole something that once was a large number of individual organisms but is now one interconnected system dependent on other parts of itself, much like how a more traditional organism is reliant on having all its organs carrying out their respective purposes. The way the leeches physically interconnect aren't a precise thing, hence the odd shapes of many swarmkeepers - the core knows to accumulate and structure leeches in such a way as to make a humanoid shape, but it'a not a precise task and so there's much variance, but at the same time the mass of leeches are able to flex and bend in ways that vertebrates cannot, while still working together to possess impressive muscle strength. These details are kept secret by the swarmkeepers as much as possible, preferring that outsiders don't see underneath their robes and choosing not to divulge the details of their biology to anyone, and even those that know what they are aren't told where the spawning cave of a swarmkeeper clan, where swarmkeepers without a sufficient mass of leeches to move and think freely are kept safe until they grow large enough to be named and given a place in society, are located.

Politically and socially, swarmkeepers are organised into clans, family groups hailing from the same spawning cave with older clan members governing and teaching younger ones. They're an insular people, each clan holding its own territory and preferring to stick to its own affairs. Naturally, that can't always be the case, and it's that need to sometimes trade and make agreements without entangling the clan as a whole that led to marriage becoming an institution. Entirely a political affair - it's unclear if romance is a part of their culture - married swarmkeepers act as a go-between the two clans, facilitating trade deals, conveying messages and grievances from each clan to the other, and mediating disputes (they're not expected to be neutral exactly, more that the two sides in the relationship should be able to keep each other in check and from that conflict a verdict eventually comes). When clans go to war against each other, the married couple acts as the means through which terms of peace or surrender can be negotiated, and it's a taboo for either person to get directly involved in the fighting, or for either side's warriors to attack them. After some of these wars, where one clan has subjugated another entirely, the married couple's role expands to facilitate the relationship between the ruling and serving clans, managing the tithe and other matters - traditionally, ruling clans are distant lords, the tendency to look internally meaning they tend to limit their demands to enforcing free access to the serving clan's territory and a yearly tithe of resources. Beyond the institution of marriage, however, swarmkeepers are significantly less honourable and their wars can involve quite a lot of subterfuge and betrayal (and even sometimes in peace within a clan - after all, in a gerontocracy it can be awfully tempting to skip ahead early).

Given all of this, it was a slow process for the Cyphiri to gain the trust of the swarmkeepers, and eventually bring them into the Union, and they only really gained the opportunity to do so because of the Reavers. The Cyphiri first arrived to Swarmhome as explorers, testing out their ability to survive in the brackish environment the swarmkeepers called home, and then as traders, the Telan family (as they weren't a House at that point) driving herds of sea cows to provide the locals with a fresh supply of hosts for their leeches. This uneasy relationship continued for about a decade before Lanit Hallus began her first attempt to establish deeper diplomatic ties. She failed, but business was going on just fine until the Reavers struck. Two rapid strikes in short succession led to the old priesthood, and the swarmkeepers the Telan had been dealing with, being devastated and the clans suffering, and both times the Cyphiri came to help. Restoring some of the old temples (some were sadly too damaged to repair), but teaching new ways with help from Middish missionaries, and restoring a steady supply of sea cows while also helping restore destroyed infrastructure, led to some amount of goodwill, and heralded Lanit's return. Soon, she was able to negotiate a marriage with Clan Rhyncrat (well, a pair of marriages - she settled down in Swarmhome with the clan, and one of the clan came to Cyph-Arel and claimed a seat on the Council and married a House Hallus member), and from there work with the clan's other married couples to improve relations with the clans Rhyncrat was married into, leading to most of the major clans being sympathetic to the Union. Some small wars and skirmishes happened as a part of this, and after a rival clan killed off much of Rhyncrat's leadership and the fighting settled down, the end result was someone who was well-inclined to the idea of joining the Cyphiri Union in charge of Clan Rhyncrat, and most of the dissenters obligated to obey their will. The process of bringing them into the Union didn't take long after that, although Swarmhome is still broadly self-governed outside of specific obligations between clan and families, and Clan Rhyncrat's dealings in the Union Council and contributions to the Council Fund.

Spoiler: Swarmkeeper Names (spoilered because it's a kinda long tangent)

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The swarmkeepers have three names - a personal name, privately chosen and only told to those who they truly trust, a clan name given by their kin and used among themselves, and a public name that can change over time and describes their position and status in a way that others can use but carries little personal weight. The practice of most people of just having two names that are considered one name, and that doesn't quite correspond to any of the swarmkeeper names (the typical [first name] [family name] structure corresponding roughly to [clan (but sometimes personal) name] [a fraction of the public name] in the swarmkeeper system), is a little odd to the swarmkeepers, but they accept it nonetheless as it's simple enough to understand. Personal names have few rules to their form and construction - after all, ideally the only people who know them are going to be people the swarmkeeper truly trusts, and should reflect how that individual wants to see themselves and be seen, so there's hardly a central organisation allowing or disallowing personal names, and there's little entrenched culture about how to choose them since it's so rarely openly discussed. Clan names do have a more consistent logic behind them - although many clans have unique idiosyncratic processes and histories behind their ways of choosing, intermarriage and the subsequent cultural bleedthrough has made certain kinds of name and styles of naming more or less popular among the clans. Public names, meanwhile, have a very consistent structure - after all, they need to have that in order to be of any use and tell others what they need to. It starts with the name of their clan as a whole, with various suffixes attached to the end denoting marriage (if in a marriage across clans) age (in rough categories corresponding to their life cycle), what job they hold, their status both within their clan and the community they live in, and so on. Swarmkeepers still often find themselves giving a shortened version of the public name at times, for those whose full public names are a little unwieldy (such as the more long-lived and entrenched leaders of the largest clans), some going so far as to just say the suffix corresponding to their job when they need to deal with someone they dislike. On top of that, some swarmkeepers have been experimenting with the fourth name, one suitable to dealing with the wider ocean that lets them reserve the third name to internal matters and lets them use a name that foreigners actually understand rather than expecting them to understand the details of swarmkeeper suffix structure, but that hasn't caught on yet and there's disagreement among those pushing for it whether dealing with the Cyphiri and Kalan should be on a third or fourth name basis.

The way they talk about their species is roughly analogous to this system - "Swarmkeeper" is their public name, one they present to any outsiders who ask, while "Hirdenin" is the name used within Swarmhome to refer to themselves (like clan names within a swarmkeeper family), and there are several other names for their species that vary from individual to individual, akin to a personal name, the term chosen showing something about the user's attitude towards the wider community and their place in it, and also often kept private. It's unclear whether they have names for their home region beyond Swarmhome though - by all accounts, considering the region as a whole as a distinct entity rather than thinking in terms of the smaller clan territories apparently being somewhat new to them.

Spoiler: Resources

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The primary resource of value in Swarmhome is, fittingly, the Hydra Leeches themselves. Their feeding goes beyond blood, taking in and breaking down all kinds of biological material from their hosts, secreting a variety of peptides from their many heads to break down proteins, prevent clotting and so on, and then converting those varied substances into food and other by-products. Their value to buyers (beyond their role in the swarmkeepers' life cycle) comes from those by-products, along with the peptides they produce to feed. When the leech is gathered after feeding and properly butchered, one can extract a variety of useful drugs and toxins from their bodies - particularly in modern times, with bioengineering allowing swarmkeeper ranchers to feed them hosts engineered to produce particular amino acids and proteins solely so that they'd be converted and reassembled into particular substances by the leeches.

This industry also presents the region's biggest need - Parasite Hosts. The hydra leech industry is a large part of life for the swarmkeepers (hence the name they chose to allow others to refer to them with), and outside of their pharmaceutical uses the swarmkeepers need them to reproduce, and by this point the region itself does not have enough viable host animals to satisfy the demand, one of the major things that led the swarmkeepers to grudgingly accept outside traders.

Spoiler: Faith

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Originally, the swarmkeepers followed the Thirsting Tenets, an old faith that had been passed down the clans since as long as anyone could remember. It was a kind of ancestral worship, the stories of the Thirsting Tenets detailing how the Hirdenin came into being, enlightened from the common hydra leech by divine forces, and laying down tenets from the first of their kind, who established the swarmkeeper clans. Accordingly, the tenets varied between clans, each venerating a different ancestor hirdenin, but broadly followed themes that shaped the nature of swarmkeeper society - the insularity, the acceptance of underhanded strategies, according to some clans marriage (although by all accounts the institution is far more modern than that, some clans would claim that their ancestor had ideas that would eventually become it), and so on.

That came to an end when the Reavers struck, old promises of protection from their ancestors coming to nothing, and one of their great temples fell. This provided an opportunity for the Flowing Way to be established here, working the stories of the original Hirdenin into the greater narrative of the Way, and contextualising the old faith in the context of recent events and the wider world. The swarmkeepers now follow an odd mixture of the established paths of the Flowing Way - the Middish Way has a lot of influence, from the wave of Middish missionaries that really established the faith in the region, but so does the Cyphiri Way, from the foreigners closest to them and who manage spiritual affairs day to day in the region, but their personal attitudes and tactics are more reminiscent of the Lux-Glossian Way.

The Second Temple: In the old days of the Thirsting Tenets, two great temples held the dedicated priesthood of the Thirsting Tenets, those who kept the records of all of the original Hirdenin and their wishes, and who the spiritual leaders of the clans went to when they in turn needed guidance. When the Reavers came to Swarmhome, they destroyed one of the temples beyond repair, and killed most of the priests of the others. This provided a mostly empty place (that was also in a good position and already associated with spirituality) for Cyphiri (and later Middish) followers of the Way to move into and base their efforts out of as they taught the Flowing Way to the swarmkeepers.

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Uln-Laton (191)

Spoiler: Geography

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Uln-Laton is...quiet. The waters are filled with toxins that would kill those not adapted to filter them out - the locals do this with grafts, while the wildlife has evolved such capabilities - and the terrain is rather flat and rocky, with the exception of the deep pit in the southeast of the region. Local belief is that the pit contains the cause for the poison in the area, and in a rather un-Cyphiri display refuse to go down there (a wise move, as the toxin count in those waters threaten to overwhelm most toxin filters). Schools of hammerhead sardines swim across the region, feeding on toxin-resistant plankton, and a few larger species of fish hunt the sardines, but otherwise the area is rather lacking in biodiversity. A strange, quiet place, which is just how the Ulnat family likes it.

Spoiler: People

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The occupants of Uln-Laton are almost entirely Cyphiri, with some Kalan, and can be split into two groups - the Ulnat family, and the House representatives.

The Ulnat family are the ones that originally came here to settle, travelling on reefback to the Protected Stratera alongside other Cyphiri with different goals and travelling here, following rumours of waters that were livable and unoccupied, willing to take ont he risks and stresses of surviving out here. Polite to a fault, the Ulnat try to stay out of politics (a wise move living so far from the Union and so close to those that have had grievances with the Union in the past), and instead focus on the simple things - survival, meditiation on the Flowing Way, and so on. They believe that the struggle of living out here, and the desolation of their environment, is important to unlocking some hidden secret of the Way, one their family has always been working towards. They're...not exactly regarded that well by the majority of the Union, with their strange beliefs and offbeat takes on the Way.

The House representatives, meanwhile, came later, and not all from one House of the Union Council. They came here legally, using obligations and agreements between the Ulnat and other families to justify their presence, and came here, both Cyphiri and Kalan, with rather more practical concerns in mind compared to the Ulnat. They were very close to dangerous tropical countries, after all, and even if the Ulnat don't want protection they're still going to get it. The representatives also manage the links back to the Union, the photospore networks and deliveries to and from home, leaving actual governance of the region to the Ulnat but making sure the family knows that the Council has a presence and authority here.

Spoiler: Resources

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Hammerhead Sardines make up a key part of the ecosystem here, hardy fish that can survive the toxic waters. They're edible enough if need be, but their main value is perhaps unsurprisingly their heads. Remarkably hard and durable, a properly butchered Hammerhead Sardine head plate can be used in a variety of tools, either as a whole or when carefully broken into smaller pieces with special acids for use in more precise tools.

The main thing the colonists require, meanwhile, are Parasite Hosts for the various organisms they employ to survive out here - growing a common crop for them all to eat is untenable in ground such as this, so they have instead all been adapted to feed off other living things. The sardines and other life found here are a little too small to serve as a good host and have accumulated all kinds of toxins that would accumulate in the tools if used as hosts anyway, but larger and less toxic creatures brought in from elsewhere and modified to not immediately diein the toxic waters serve as excellent nutrient banks for the Ulnat family's equipment, quite literally serving as the lifeblood of the community.

Spoiler: Faith

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Regardless of other disagreements with other Cyphiri families, the Ulnat have always been dedicated folloers of the Flowing Way, and have brought that faith here, albeit with a few quirks and a healthy amount of superstition unique to the family and those connected to them.

Ulnatish Epitaph: Perhaps a little morbidly named, this is actually a replica of a now-destroyed stone in Cyph-Arel (the original turned into rubble once this one was made - having two of them is seen as a bad omen to the Ulnat). Engraved on it is a record of the family's deaths, all those who were a part of it but have now died, their histories carved into the stone in small script. A few Ulnat maintain the epitaph, engrave new names when needed, and use it in their study of the Flowing Way, drawing on the grounded and certain past to try to ascertain the ephemeral and changeable future.

[Gengy]

Seguranca
(Region 170)

Spoiler: People

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Those of Seguranca consist primarily of Mer, but there is a small colony of Pygmy Mer. These are like Mer in all ways, except half the size, typically coming in at just three bubbles tall compared to a regular Mer’s six. Pygmy Mer are clever and quick, and all share the same trait of white scales on their tails, and their hair color is often bright colors.

Spoiler: Geography

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The waters of Seguranca are a mix of open spaces and large coral reefs. Mer tend to live within the coral reefs, where there is plenty of fish and shrimp for food. The Pygmy Mer colony – known as Imenzo Angra – is a large mountain, with an even larger cave system. Some of the cave holes are too small for regular Mer to swim through, but barely bother the Pygmy body size.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Sea Silk. (Textile, Clothing, Luxury Good) The Pygmy Mer colony has raised ‘Sea Spiders’ as pets. These eight legged creatures are small and easy to miss if not looking for them, but given a dark environment and plenty of food, can create entire webs that can be gathered and spun into what those of Seguranca call ‘Sea Silk’. Combined with Pygmy Mer hair, this Sea Silk can be weaved into a variety of colors, making it a wonderful textile and perfect for clothing… and it’s valuable rarity makes it very desirable by merchants and nobles alike.

Required Resource:The Mer of Seguranca, both of the typical and Pygmy variety, have a fascination for Megafauna. How something can grow so large amuses and delights them, and while Seguranca does not have the ability to grow such huge plant life itself, the stories of it growing elsewhere are enough to cause the people of Seguranca to become rather demanding that they receive a sample on a frequent basis.

Spoiler: Faith

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[Rabid Xenophilia] Seguranca does not have a faith per se, but rather a cultural calling: Make very nice with any visitors. This mindset was originally created back when Seguranca found itself, centuries ago, on a population decline after a random sickness washed over the waters. At that point, the Mer took anyone and everyone in and… well, a population boom occurred. And so did the Pygmy Mer. While this ‘calling’ doesn’t appeal to everyone in Seguranca anymore, those that do respond to the call are rather… fervent about it.

Holy Site: “Shadow Garden” – A long standing temple that has since been turned into a giant garden of small plants, with lots of shade. What goes on in Shadow Garden remains unseen, as though they have nothing to hide, the tradition is that no one speaks of whatever they’ve encountered.

Holy Site: "Pygmy Cove" – History states that there was once a single small Mer, but that this man was a skilled lover, and not everything about him was small. He became quite popular, so the story goes, when the population decline happened, and his legacy lives on in his many, many, children.

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Extenso Azul
(Region 140)

Spoiler: People

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Those of Extenso Azul are hardy folk. They like their sea fowl eggs boiled, their buildings to have purpose rather than be aesthetically pleasing, and by their very nature, abhor gossip. By and large made up of Mer, there are a few scattered Nuven of Gotezhar that have called these waters home for more years than have been recorded. Their system of rule is led by a Council of Reprehensibles; a selection of people who started out as a grouping of the worst, most self-centered folk in the region. The Council Leader would put forth a question of how to handle a situation, and based on the Reprehensibles answer, the people of Extenso Azul would do the exact opposite. These days, while the name for the Council is traditional, the actions of a Council Member have been curtailed: any Council Member found to be making decisions that are solely self-serving is put to death. This makes a Council position a less desirable post, except for that that truly want to help their people. Even the Council Leader position changes every new moon, so none can remain in power for too long. It is a confusing, if effective, style of governance.

Spoiler: Geography

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Great big mesas dot the borders of the land under the seas of Extenso Azul... But the majority of the region is one great plains, that extends for miles and miles. Locals call this the Big Blue. While most of the Mer lives within the mesas along the borders, a few roaming nomads follow the Sea Fowl that wander the Big Blue, following a peculiar fauna. Sea Fowl are individually harmless, and not prone to violence, but as they can lay large quantities of eggs that can make more and more of the two-bubble tall beasts, the nomadic Mer are essential to making sure that the Sea Fowl population remains curtailed. It helps that the Sea Fowl eggs are delicious, especially when scoured.

Gotezhar Nuven lives in sporadic locations throughout Extenso Azul, and are generally welcoming of visitors, but share the same cultural ferocity when anyone threatens their ancestral clouds.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Scouring Serum. (Fertilizer, Light Source, Bioluminescence) The Sea Fowl of the region are useful for their eggs, and the eggs are useful for the food they make… but it is what the Sea Fowl eat that is truly wonderful. The Scouring Jellyfish emits a strange blue light all over it’s body, and can be captured – and properly fed – to make light in even the darkest of waters, but training them to stay in play is an effort in idiocy. However, it’s their Scouring Serum that is powerfully fascinating. When provoked, the Jellyfish spits out a single line of deep blue ink that rapidly lights up the water around it, making it uncomfortably bright in the area, and even more uncomfortable on bare skin (causing itching), but when it comes into contact with plant life, this jellyfish poop is greedily consumed by the local flora as nutrients. The Sea Fowl are unaffected by the itching, making them natural predators… and a hint of how to properly gather the Scouring Serum. Mer bedecked in gloves lined with Sea Fowl feathers can quickly gather the Scouring Serum into an empty Sea Fowl eggshell, saving its light and useful farming properties for later.

Required Resource: Spices. Sea Fowl eggs are tasty, but as they make up the majority of Extenso Azul’s food source, things can get a little repetitive. Having new and interesting flavors, via spices, to add to one’s daily egg is a desire held by many!

Spoiler: Faith

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Two competing faiths exist in balance within the Extenso Azul: New Anastasis and The Old Currents. The former believes in the death and rebirth of the soul with every new and favorable action one takes on behalf of another worthy soul, while the latter does not believe in such balance in the now but rather upholds various traditions and ancestral worship. The Old Currents is far more popular with (Holy Site) The Nomads, while New Anastasis is a long held cultural understanding of those whom live along the (Holy Site) Regional Borders.

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Garza Feld
(Region 167)

Spoiler: People

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Those whom live in Garza Feld refer to themselves as Ghonites (Gone-ights). A single Ghonite appears as a grey scaled fish with colorful dorsal and caudal fins, while their pectoral fins are separated into lengthy tentacles at the end. Ghonites have piercing eyes that stare unblinking into the waters, and while the eye color of a brilliant turquoise remains true for all Ghonites, the distinguishing features for individuals of their almost tribal tattoos-like black scales help to tell one Ghonite from another.

Spoiler: Example of a Ghonite

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Ghonites have records indicating that they were once a type of creature that could soar through the skies, but exactly how that is true is much debated among the priests of the Hierarchy of Ghon.

Prior to the region coming under the control of the Builder's Union, Garza Feld had a very strict caste system; unlike the caste system of the Gotezhar, however, there were no choices and it was all a matter of which clutch of eggs a Ghonite spawned from. The Builder's Union was quick to understand that the higher levels of the Hierarchy were doing the choosing in ways that only benefited them, keeping the majority of Ghonites reliant upon their largesse... which was rare and only, once again, to the benefit of those in charge.

Spoiler: Geography

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Most of the more northern waters of Garza Feld are too cold for Ghonites to live, the more southern regions begin to get toxic, and the rest of the region is brackish. In short, Garza Feld is a terrible place to live, but the Ghonites have adapted. The brackish waters are now something they are more comfortable with, and though it leaves their otherwise resplendently colored dorsal fins often a much dirtier brown, the Ghonites have adjusted. Mostly.

There is a larger community of Ghonites who live in what was once their independent nation's capital to the the northwest, amidst a large coral reef full of Greenslate Panel-made houses. By virtue of the coral reef being closer to the water's surface and made of some unique organic flora that eats the particulates in the water, this is one of the few places in the region that is almost always clean compared to elsewhere. Called 'Ghonshome', this was apparently the place for all of the Ghonites when the species survived the Cataclysm, but after so many centuries, too many Ghonites have spawned, and Ghonshome can only hold so many. The Hierarchy was already corrupt by the time the decision was made that Ghonshome should only be for the Worthy, and the Unworthy should find shelter elsewhere.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Greenslate Panels [Organic Hard Material, Building Material, Megaflora]
Growing in select parts of the region are large sheets of algae, that are actually just one after another of the same rapidly re-growing enormous plant. This plant is referred to as Greenslate, as the algae forms up into large square sections that are hard as stone when fully grown. The more industrious of the natives take to placing guiding poles where Greenslate will grow, allowing them to shape how the Greenslate Panels look before harvesting. Harvests take between two to three years for larger sections. Something in the soil of Garza Feld makes it easy to grow Greenslate, but additional study would be required to make it grow elsewhere. Immediately after a successful harvest, the algae creates a Greenslate Sporing - a burst of green nutritious particulates, which is actually the plant releasing distressing sap - that attracts small fish, making it easy for the locals to have a source of food, even if previously this was horded by those at the top of the Hierarchy.

Required Resource: Textiles
As a formerly impoverished region, Garza Feld has many whom lack even the basic needs; while food is now more evenly distributed, and housing is being handled thanks to the Builder's Union, there are still quite a number of people whom need clothing. The stubborn nature of the natives, however, makes it hard to just give them clothes. Instead, they want the materials and Textiles that will allow them to make their own clothing.

Spoiler: Faith

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Hierarchy of Ghon - Many solutions and problems both have happened because of the Hierarchy. The corrupted portions of the Hierarchy - those whom were abusing their power - have since been removed, but the local priests who remain still teach of the histories of Ghon, the local Garza Feld hero whom saved his people from the Cataclysm and established their rule of law. The local Clergy are unhappy with the recent changes, but can see the visible improvements now that the corrupted leadership has been removed.

Holy Site: "Ghon's Seat"

A temple dedicated to the Hero of the Cataclysm, who found a way for his people to survive under the sea. Found in the center of Ghonshome.

Holy Site: "The Sunlight Records"

A temple and library close to the water's surface that shows the people the strictures and laws that allow them to remain underwater.

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Ahen Sjado
(Region 101)

Spoiler: People

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Those who live within the waters of Ahen Sjado are Merfolk. Unlike the Sereia Merfolk, the Ahen Sjado Merfolk are fairly uniform in looks. Fish-like tails that stretch to almost six bubbles long when fully grown, the upper torso is confusing to most underwater dwellers. Pink, unscaled skin, the flesh of the Merfolk is soft, squishy, and delicate. Their two upper fins are long, spindly, and jointed in the middle, with even more joints at the end where their phalanges seem to only bend in specific ways. And their heads are not the most aerodynamic, with their small mouths and two front facing eyes, not to mention their bright red hair. Overall, it is quite disturbing to meet a Merfolk for the first time.

Thankfully, this does not mean that those of Ahen Sjado are anything less than professional when meeting others. The Merfolk of the region are quite militant and organized, a staple of their culture. They pride themselves for being prepared for almost anything, and have back up plans for when they aren't prepared. It is this strict cultural adherence to readiness that sets them apart and makes them excellent at whatever profession they choose to make their life's work... though many of them prefer a life in the military.

Spoiler: Geography

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The ancestral waters of Ahen Sjado are clear and crisp, with smatterings of tall mountains that rise above the water's surface. It is from these spires that the Merfolk can remain vigilant, watching for threats, either above or below the waves. When above the waves, the Merfolk have taken to spending their time singing as a way to relieve the boredom. The best of these singers are called 'Sirens', which is why the mountains end up being called the Siren Spires.

Towns and villages pop up along the Spires, built mostly from driftwood and the Luxurious Hides that are unique to the region. The primary city of Ahen Sjado is a set of five of these spires, in a circle, that makes it easy to defend the center.
This gives the city the name Centro, and the Ahen Sjado Merfolk are proud of what they have built, even if other cultures might call it a bit sparse and utilitarian.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Luxurious Hides [Luxury, Leather, Textiles]
Oily, large whale-like creatures swim through Ahen Sjado and call it's waters their home. These beasts are not intelligent, and thrive off the fish and kelp in the region, but they breed quickly. If the local Merfolk do not keep on top of hunting them in a strict amount, the whale-like creatures - called Abhorrent Cimentos by the locals - will continue to eat and cause a food shortage. So every year, Merfolk in the area go hunting for Abhorrent Cimentos in large hunting groups. Centro keeps track of the number slain and orders a cease when the requisite number are reached.

Which is a good thing. Because when the Abhorrent Cimentos are oily on the outside, their fat is delicious to the locals... and the leather hides, when scraped and dried in the sun above the waves, become a luxury that is highly desired by merchants. Easily shapeable while it's drying, when it's wet it becomes stiff, making it great for armor or under-water wall paneling. The local aristocrats who can afford it use it for leather clothing, as it feels smooth on the skin and scales, but the method of producing it is a lengthy, time consuming process, requiring access to the sun shortly after the whale-like creatures are killed. This means merchants pay not just for the Luxurious Hides themselves, but the expertise of the tanners.

Required Resource: Tools
Ahen Sjado Merfolk like to be prepared. And the best way to prepare themselves for various eventualities is to have the correct Tools for the job. This means importing tools from elsewhere, if that will help them to maintain vigilance!

Spoiler: Faith

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Open - The militant minds of the Merfolk are not closed off to new ideas, but nothing has attracted their attention enough to be worthy of earning even a minority of religious preparedness. That said, as of the year 73, they are more willing to listen to the Cyphiri Union, as the Cyphiri have gathered together a group of wise-mer to at least advise on various matters of the heart and soul.

Holy Site: "The Rock of Thought"

It's a big flat rock in the middle of a town. Lots of Merfolk come here to talk about different things. And argue their points in debate.

Holy Site: "The Spear's Edge"

An entire village that is often thought to be the birthplace of many great leaders.

Holy Site: "The Pretty Swirl"

This underwater whirlpool is a confusing mystery of the region, and many come to stare at it's swift moving waters.

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The Riptide
(Region 202)

Spoiler: People

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Within the revived Leviathan Ship, given new life, an entire region's worth of people live. All the nuven of what once was Ezcorher have been moved into The Riptide, as it roams the new Hunting Grounds. Mer from other regions of the Stormcloud Conglomerate have also moved into the Leviathan Ship, and are quite welcome. In observance of the Gotezhar needs, scouts are constantly moving along the surface waters, looking up at the various clouds. Whenever rain is spotted, The Riptide moves to allow for Accumulation. While it took a lot of convincing to allow the sharing of water from various Clouds, it was the Mer whom finally hit upon the new truth: the Accumlation and Growth for the People of the Rain mentions nothing of Greed. "When you find yourself bountiful, share the bounty" was an old Afluente teaching, and it still holds true for those of the Middish Way within The Riptide. Now, the entire population of what once was Ezcorher has become officers, marauders, and arkwrights aboard the restored mobile fleet base.

Spoiler: Ship Design (Geography)

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The Riptide is a mighty beast of a mobile fleet base. Though it looks similar to Reavers' raiding vessels, in that it is of a titanic size, and made from materials that are difficult to define, it's specific shape is unique. If observed from far enough away, The Riptide is similar in shape to an unmoving, slightly malformed, manta ray. Certainly, the original builders must have been inspired by the uncommon animal, as the 'wings' of the ship make up the majority of the body, flaring in such a way as to be both defensive while still being aerodynamic within the waves. The 'head' of the ship is a long point to help with guidance, and the 'eyes' are actually the primary way to enter and exist the ship for quick forays to whatever target has caught The Riptide's attention. Multiple spots along the back and belly of the ship are actually weapon emplacements, but they further give the illusion of a manta ray.

From the interior, things are quite different. While the bulk of the ship is meant for military needs, the 'body' of The Riptide is a residential area. It is here that the majority of off-duty personnel swim and mingle. There are large, empty sections, just awaiting the appropriate... appropriation, but everywhere else is a carefully laid out design. The Riptide was a broken vessel before the Conglomerate began to work upon it, and they made significant changes to the interior to ensure that it follows a more logical sense, even if some of the things inside would not be considered conventionally 'pretty'. Roads and currents were the first things laid out in design, to ensure swift travel inside, and almost no deviations of any kind were allowed. Not even for the Alto Feytor's home.

The only exception was for the absolute center of the ship: The Gathering Tide Warehouse. It took years to move all the parts from the Wonder of construction alone, and figuring out how to get it to fit within the pre-laid out roads was deemed too difficult. Instead, the currents were shifted to go around the Warehouse, rather than try to rebuild the Warehouse in such a way that it could still be guarded and protected.

Spoiler: Riptide Far Away Image

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Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Pending Acquisition
While the interior of the Riptide has room for Trade Posts, none have yet been... acquired.

City Resource: Conglomerate Marauders (Skilled Labor, Mercenaries, Military Labor)
Currently just a trained strike team for eventual military purposes, the Conglomerate Marauders have hopes to expand someday...

Required Resource: Building Materials
Repairs to the ship are uncommon, but will become more frequent as The Riptide engages in combat scenarios. Add this to the natural inclination of the (former) Ezcorher Gotezhar to horde such things, and it is no wonder that Building Materials are still needed.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Flowing Way - Following the formed faith of the Flowing Way has allowed for many benefits and much development to the Gotezhar. There was no reason not to continue this trend within The Riptide.

Holy Site: "The Tail"

At the rear of the ship is an observatory, allowing many to see where the Leviathan Ark has been. Joontar have taken over the Tail, as it's called, to use as an administration, bureaucracy, and contemplation area.

Holy Site: "The Right Wingtip"

All the independent thinkers of what once was Kashowira have moved into the Right Wingtip of the Ark. They are still thrill seekers, but they are also devout followers of the Flowing Way.

Holy Site: "Fee-yuria's Fin"

The left wingtip was claimed by all the many nuven that once lived under the storm of Fee-yuria. They were the last to join, and the strongest hold outs, but are strong observers of their faith, and could not be left behind. They were promised a whole area of their own to ensure their cooperation.

[slimetrials]

The Carrion Traders

Spoiler: Summary

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Region: 197

Leader: Chhrrok-Lassyik of Golden Bones
Diplomacy: 2
Military: 3
Economy: 5
Faith: 5
Intrigue: 3
(Rolls)

Capital: The Gouge

Starting Faith: The Quivering Wake
Holy Sites: Lizou-Mavrai - The Swirling Vortex
Atin-Vosp - The Glow Caves
Omti-Avro - The Hall of Hoards

Resource: La'Pettra - a rare mineral that produces a faint blue glow due to latent radiation.
Requirement: Dead or Alivestock (meat or sufficiently similar organic material)

Starting Tech: Bioluminescent Navigation (access Depth 1 regions, requires: Photospore Signaling)
Bitter Tourism (cross black borders, requires: a Heat Source resource)
Filtration Grafts (cross red borders, requires: Composite Grafting, a Filter Feeders resource)

Supports:Aristocratic: Self
Clerical: Self
Mercantile: Self


Brief pitch: Greedy isopods determine leadership by who has the biggest, shiniest pile.

Spoiler: Thalassography

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The Yal-Aizo make their homes on the muddy base of the Gouge, a deep pit in the ocean where their bottom-feeding ancestors once scavenged for scraps. Once a flat, featureless plain it is now dotted with many funnels connected by subterranean tunnels where they make their homes along the walls and beneath the surface. These funnels are used to amass great piles of dead creatures and other rotting matter at the bottom for their various livestock scavengers to feed upon, as well as the Yal-Aizo themselves. Many of the funnels are bordered by makeshift bone walls, and the few that are used strictly for habitation and cultivation of plant material by great domes made of bones covered in various shiny, bioluminescent, or otherwise glowing material.
They dig tunnels deep beneath the earth, members of lower clans breaking their claws alongside "client-species" to mine out the precious La'Pettra deposits.

Spoiler: People, Government

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The Yal-Aizo are a species of giant isopods, ranging from five to seven feet in length when laid flat, though typically bent into a rough "standing" position at about four to five feet tall. They have thick grey to brown chitin, tall heads capable of "slotting" into a cavity around their neck, and silvery, sunken eyes.

They posses seven pairs of limbs, three of which serving as different varieties of "arms" and the rest as legs.
First, there are the largest and most powerful arms ending in sharp, hooked pincers. These are primarily used for digging, self defense, and dismantling meals.
Second, the fine manipulator arms, thin and highly flexible ending in four multi-jointed fingers.
Finally, the "hands" they use to communicate, soft and squishy, capable of producing flashes of bioluminescence they use in conjunction with movements to form their sign language.

Their body terminates in a broad, finned tail used to aide in their clumsy attempts at swimming.

Generally they are slow moving, and prefer to walk along the ocean floor as opposed to swimming at sea. However if threatened or in a hurry, they can swim quickly if without much coordination.

Typical Yal-Aizo clothing is made primarily out of bones adorned with small gemstones, lashed together with plant matter or stuck directly to the carapace with any manner of natural adhesive. Members of higher ranking clans often have capes fashioned of long strands of kelp stitched together only at the top along a frame that affixes itself to the "crest" where they notch their head in.
Yal-Aizo fighters typically focus on heavily armoring their backs and fronts with thick plates of bone or carved stone, often leaving their bellies uncovered to better facilitate movement.

The Yal-Aizo are governed by an oligarchic clan-structure, a sort of merchant aristocracy where the clan with the most wealth is considered the most powerful, and must trade that wealth among lower clans in exchange for services. Members of larger, poorer clans are reduced to menial labor tasks such as mining, soldiering, or tending their various beasts. Due to malnourishment they tend to be smaller, and have a weaker carapace.
There are many dozens of clans, all constantly vying for supremacy through often underhanded means.

Spoiler: History

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Their ancient ancestors once wandered far and wide across the sea floor, competing with other bottom-feeders for scraps of corpses and bits of flesh. As their intellect grew, they came to realize that many of their peer scavengers would make useful beasts of burden, and cultivated a number of beasts to aid in their labors.
Te'Sieia, large four-pointed star fish that serve as beasts of burden, and an emergency food source in times of hardship.
The Sko'Onchi, harpoon-nosed Nemertea (3 to 4ft long ribbion worms), became their hunting dogs, serving both as convenient pets for the wealthy and aids for low-clan hunters.
And the Cho'matt, domesticated Osedax (small bone eating worms) cultivated to dispose of unusable bone and provide a steady food source for the Te'Sieia.
What settled them finally in the Gouge was the discovery of a rare glowing stone, which came to be known as La'Pettra. This substance, being one of the only light sources in the dark depths that the Yal-Aizo dwell in, quickly became viewed as highly valuable to them as a decoration, for its utility, and as a status symbol, taking up much the same role that gold does in human society.
Each clan mints its own version of currency, shaping the La'Pettra into different geometric shapes marked with a sigil denoting the "minting" clan, purely for record keeping and identification purposes.

For the last 50 years the Golden Bones have remained at the top of the pile, their massive wealth naturally making it easy to continue to accrue further and further wealth, to the point that it would take some serious treachery to dislodge their grip on the reins of the Clans.

Spoiler: Resources

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Trade is a part of life for the Yal-Aizo. Their most valuable material is the La'Pettra, that they so eagerly trade amongst themselves, and so naturally when trading with the outside world they assume this rare and radiant mineral would be of some value to others as well.

Their strict diet of decaying flesh requires a steady stream of corpses, and they are willing to trade for any sort of dead creature be they animal or other sentient, as both they and their livestock require a substantial amount of fermented flesh.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Quivering Wake is the fundamental faith of the Yal-Aizo, the Wake itself envisioned as a god made of pure miasma, swirling with an oilslick of colors. The Wake is said to drive desire and progress, having been the raw essence of life that first seeded intellect and the knowledge of Value in the minds of the first Yal-Aizo.
The Faith is based around tenets of materialism and ornamentality, and general consumerism. The world exists to be consumed, and it is your righteous duty as an inhabitant of this world to chew and eat your fill.
The tenets lay out general rules for trade, including the arts of trickery and manipulation, and strict adherence to pyramidal power-structures.

Lizou-Mavrai, The Swirling Vortex [The Quivering Wake]: The Vortex is a unique Funnel, bereft of any practical purpose it only has one tunnel leading in and out, and a top that has been completely sealed over with decorated bones. The walls are covered in a swirling pattern of polished volcanic glass, different opalescent stones, and small beads of La'Pettra dot the surface like distant stars. According to their Codeices of the Wake, it is here where the first Yal-Aizo was enlightened by the Wake, and now it is considered an important rite of passage for heirs of more successful clans to enter the chamber and meditate on the complexities of commerce and hope to be enlightened with visions of economic prosperity.

Atin-Vosp, The Glow Caves [Open]: The mouth of the largest deposit of La'Pettra yet discovered, and owned by the ruling clan of Golden Bones, Atin-Vosp is a cozy cavern full of natural La'Pettra deposits, heavily guarded by loyal clan-warriors in order to prevent would be thieves from stealing any of the precious stone. Serving both as a display of the Golden Bones' incredible wealth, and a reminder of the natural beauty of the valued material. Any are welcome to come and pray and worship in the glow of the rocks, in hopes that they may see even a shred of the wealth on display pass on to them.

Omti-Avro, The Hall of Hoards [Open]: The Hall of Hoards sits just outside of the palace where the various Clan Lords hold their regular moots. It is a heavily guarded and incredibly ornate tunnel featuring a single vault for each of the wealthiest clans, where they are encouraged to pile as much La'Pettra as they can afford to behind the bars in a show of wealth and power, the amount presented being used to determine the Clan's ranking in the moot.
It is considered the ultimate taboo to assault the Hall or steal from any of the Hoards present, and it has only happened a few times in their recorded history. Depositing or withdrawing La'Pettra from your Clan Vault requires a lengthy and public ceremony, one of great shame on a withdrawal and a show of "piety" on a deposit.

[Skulker]

The Echinus of the Moss Coast claim space 92 of the subtropic region. MOS, the Moss Shore



Holy Sites:

The Cashe, The Town Cragg, and Stone Rock.

Stone Rock and The Town Cragg do not follow a religion while The Cashe follows "The Nomadic Path"

Faction Support:

Nobility, Clergy, and Mercantile are self-owned.

All basic starting technologies plus Mitochondrial Regulation, Bioluminescent Navigation, and Mamomachines.

Spoiler: Geography

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The Moss Coast is a mostly flat and rocky land covered in a moss carpet. The Moss Coast has many types of moss that come in a variety of colors, and the Moss Coast can be broken down into smaller regions based on what color moss grows there. Many organisms try to camouflage to the local moss while others stand out. Large rocks can be seen from distances and civilizations dot the landscape. Cragg is a town where thinkers gather in the shade of contemplative blue moss, the Herfil villages grow food out of the fertile green moss, Fallin is known for its darker purple moss where parliament meets, and Gora is a town known for its yellow moss and a giant rock people like to visit.

Spoiler: People

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The ancestral people of the Moss Shore, the Echinus, are humanoid in their shape with soft flesh for bodies adorned with venomous spines to deter large predators. They have spines on their head, backs, arms, and legs. The spines on an Echinus's head often resemble the hairstyling of punk rockers with the spines spoking out in a radial fashion, though the spines do not protrude in a way such that two Echinusses would be unable to press their foreheads together. The lifecycle of an Echinus involves external spawning where fertilized eggs grow into larvae that eventually turn into children. Larvae can be called using a chemical that Echinus mothers produce voluntarily. Mothers typically raise their children with a supportive partner that they are typically romantically involved with or other family. Echinusses that do not produce the chemical that attracts children may adopt children legally and raise the children with whomever they please. All Echinusses may go through the legal process if they wish. Sometimes people are drafted to become parents if there are too many children, though they are supported. Children are born without spines and are super cuddly and a joy to be around. During puberty, children develop their spines. An Echinus spends 1 year as a larva. They are no longer considered larva when they loose their swimming fins and grow arms instead. This is when they are considered 0 years old. A 20 year old Echinus is sexually mature and has its spines along with reaching their maximum size. A 30 year old Echinus is fully mentally and socially mature. This is when an Echinus is considered a full adult and typically when they leave the care of their parents, but often have close ties. An Echinus typically retires at age 90 and lives to 120 years of age. It is possible for a larva to grow and develop into a full adult in the wild, though if they do not learn to speak by age 10 from either a school or other hermit, they will have developmental problems. Many Echinus are nomadic. Part of the "Nomad's code" includes teaching other nomads how to speak among other traditions of the nomads. Echinusses typically have pink skin, but their spines vary in color from blue, brown, black, purple, pink, red, and golden. Each color has a royal family, but the royalty is mostly not a part of the Echinus's government. The Echinus govern the land with a democratic parliament with a prime minister that represents the party that has the most members of parliament. There is also a First Royal, either a King, Queen, or First Monarch if neither title fits the holder of the title. The First Monarch has the power to watch over parliament and holds considerable sway. The First Monarch used to be an absolute ruler, but after a calamity that a First Monarch mismanaged, parliament came to be to pull the people together again. Members of parliament can be any type of person so long as they are a resident of their district for enough time. The Echinus people value color, often decorating their homes with many colorful mosses, though the upper classes tend to pay servants to scape mosses from their homes to show off the rocky exteriors of their homes. Echinusses enjoy a varied diet of moss, ferns, seaweed, water cabbage, flounders, carps, crabs, and other local delicacies. Echinusses can ball up in defense when attacked, and can even protect their young when doing so. Some select Echinusses have arm spines that are fit for use as natural weapons, though they are not nearly as effective as the weapons they make due to a greater range of motion and leverage.

Echinusses make up 70% of the region's population with 70% of Echinusses living in towns or villages. 25% of the population are natives to the subtropical region that are not Echinusses, and the remaining 5% originate from outside the region.

Spoiler: Resource

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One thing that the Moss Coast is plentiful with are colorful, decorative moss known as Fairy Moss. It comes in many colors and is sturdy enough to serve as indoor and outdoor décor that clings to any surface. When heated and broken down, fairy moss becomes a sweet treat.

One thing that the Moss Coast does not have is access to is reliable access to good glass, as the people who lived in the Moss Coast have used up most the local sand in this rocky land covered in colorful moss.

Spoiler: Faith

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Older than the civilizations built by the Echinusses, the Nomadic Ways are a collection of oral traditions intended to teach a young Echinus without a family how to survive on the Moss Coast. Tales that teach one how to speak are also a part of the religion, as speech keeps the traditions alive. The nomads do have one sacred place, and it is a secret cave which they keep their most valuable and guarded treasures known as The Cashe.

In the civilizations, the Echinusses worship their ancestors at their hall in a town called Cragg, a site where some of the wisest scholars in the area are drawn because it was once the home of a scholar named Incurrus. Here,

The Stone Rock is a massive bolder. Many people come yearly to try and figure out its meaning, but no one knows what secrets it holds.

Spoiler: Prime Minister

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Prime Minister Wobb Storrin leads the orange party, a progressive, inclusive, and worker party that looks to develop the Moss Coast and other regions for the benefit of all life. Wobb Storrin is rather young for a prime minister at age 42 taking the lead.

Wobb's stats are as follows:

Diplo 4
Military: 3
Eco: 5
Int: 4
Faith: 2

Wobb will hopefully have a long career in parliament. The young PM is known to have a sweet tooth, is known to try and make people smile, and enjoys telling stories that are made-up on the spot. The skill for storytelling reflects the PM's background as a Nomad turned MP's meteoric rise in popularity.