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

[LapisCattis]

Empire!7 - Into the Depths: Waters of the World

Important Links:
Rules Thread
Recruitment Thread (read about how to join here)
Waters of the World (approved region writeups go here)
In-Character Thread (turns go here)
Out-of-Character Thread (questions go here)
Dice Rolling Thread #1
Dice Rolling Thread #2
Tables
Organization Tables
Discord Server

The Team:
Head GM: Aerin
Organization sub-GM: Lumaeus
Rules sub-GMs: Rolepgeek and Minescratcher

This thread is associated with the Empire!7 world-building game. The game is the world history of this world building event, with the actions the players take shaping the intricate details of an ever changing, constantly conflicting, world.

Below, players may post the details of their own regions once approved by a GM, adding fluff and details as they go. This is a reference guide, compilation, and index of these countries.

Players! Please post your region groups below. We aim to keep this thread active and unlocked by the forum mods, therefore allowing you to continue editing your posts as needed. A consolidated thread also makes finding information about regions easier. This thread allows you to post as much as you need, and if you need a larger grouping, feel free to copy and paste your posts into new posts and deleting your old ones so that you get more room. However, please use double (and more) posting only when it is necessary based on your character length (or anticipation thereof) as the forum rules dictate.

Others! If you are interested in being a part of this game, see the Recruitment Thread for more information on how to join.

[Volthawk]

The Cyphiri Union
Original Region: Cyph-Arel (122)

Spoiler: People

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The Cyphiri are a humanoid race that somewhat resemble octopi in some areas - their skin has a similar texture to that of the animal (and has a limited ability to change colour - it's not full camouflage, but it can occasionally be of practical use and is a common method of social expression and is often used to complement Cyphiri fashion), and while most of their body is solid and mer-like their arms are an array of tentacles while their mouths are a cephalopod-like beak. Several contradictory and competing stories of the Cyphiri's origins exist and are popular in Cyphiri culture, with the main point of contention being whether they were originally more like cephalopods and were made into the shape of mer, whether they were closer to mer and made more like octopi, or whether they were always this way (who exactly was responsible is another matter entirely). They have a tendency towards creativity and inspiration, with combined with the great dexterity given to them through their tentacles (although with less strength than an equivalent mer's limbs) has led to strong artistic and artisanal traditions within the Cyphiri, while mentally the typical Cyphiri has a good head for numbers and an impressive memory, while also displaying a distaste for physical confrontation and a poor aptitude for learning the art of war (mercenaries, however, have always been fair game as far as they are concerned). They're also a very curious race, inclined towards wanting to know as much as they can about the people they meet and always wondering what's out there beyond the borders of what is known (whether those borders are physical or otherwise).

Spoiler: Society

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Cyphiri society is focused around the idea of the family unit. A family is a group typically rooted in a certain bloodline, but rarely so strictly limited, families often adopting people outside the core bloodline as fits their needs. The exact internal hierarchy of the family unit varies from case to case, but the general social expectation is that there is some kind of central authority who represents and speaks for their family, looks after their members, takes responsibility for their actions and negotiates with other families if needed. These negotiations have grown over time into a web of obligation and interdependency that makes Cyphiri society function - the ruler of the Cyphiri is not so because of divine mandate or personal strength, but because they (or more accurately, the family which they head) have enough influence over other powerful families that they can direct their activities, and then those families have their own spheres of influence, and so on. Naturally, commerce and trade takes the focus of these obligations.

With this in mind, families have tended towards two directions. Centralised families have leaders that push towards focusing on one area or one trade (or both), hoping to increase their bargaining power in their focus and limit the bureaucracy and variety of necessary deals and obligations involved with supporting many different interests or supporting scattered operations across a large area (depending on the type of centralisation they prefer). Typically, these families are more often found in the established Cyphiri territories, reinforcing their grip on their chosen niche, and tend to take an all-or-nothing approach to exploration, colonisation and foreign trade - if they think it'll give them a meaningful edge in their niche, they'll throw their weight around to ensure their success, while those that their leadership deem less useful are dismissed. Other families take the opposite approach, decentralising their families and encouraging them to go out and find new opportunities wherever they may be, hoping that the problems caused by managing and financing such a spread is outweighed by the opportunities having such a broad spread of trades and areas of operation may present. Members of these families tend to be on the frontier of Cyphiri territories, leading expeditions into the unknown and establishing new colonies, while further into Cyphiri territory tend to be minor families seeking to fill any gaps left by the dominant families. Decentralised families vary heavily in how tied to the rest of Cyphiri society they are - some are heavily involved in a large numbers of deals, their many operations requiring varied support and being of value to a wide variety of other families, while others use their scattered interests to make themselves as self-sufficient as they can, trying to secure complete supply chains and to ensure that they own their sources of food, shelter and other necessities themselves.

There is a third type of family, those focused on politics and bureaucracy that have grown in importance in recent times as the greater Cyphiri society has developed. These families likely once had their own trades like the other families (and some still do, to a limited extent), but now are focused around dealing with the other families and facilitating the web of deals that are growing ever more complex. Some families focus on information, keeping track of the growing Cyphiri diaspora and offering that information to the relevant families for a price - some of these families are nearly entirely tied to the Union itself at this point, paid to serve the need of the Union's council for accurate information on the state of the nation (some of these are also paid enough to offer their services to other families for free, or at least a much reduced price, ensuring that important information like family allegiances, and matters of ownership are available from an impartial third party with little difficulty).

Adoption is the Cyphiri solution to the problem that (despite the beliefs of some families) most talents, tendencies and aspirations aren't reliably passed from parent to child, as well as serving as a way for members of families wracked by internal strife, destitution or misfortune to find better lives. It's a simple process, requiring the leaders of the adopting family to recognise their new member, and their adoptee to swear allegiance to that family alone (some families keep old traditions and ceremonies associated with the process, while others are happy with just a short conversation and a shake of tentacles) - notably, a family can't do a similar process to eject a member without their consent, leading to many families being a little careful with who they adopt and lamenting family members that aren't a good fit or are simply incompotent but won't leave of their own accord (although how a family deals with its members is left up to them, besides social expectations that someone wanting to leave be allowed to go and that all family members are properly supported - this isn't always the case, of course, and many families just sees 'properly' as just giving them enough to survive, encouraging them to leave for a family that'll give them something better).

Through this system, the Cyphiri see a way for people to take the roles they want (those with the heart of an explorer born to a centralised family of artisans may join a like-minded family, while someone else may go in the opposite direction seeking stability and work as an artisan in that family's field), to escape a bad family, or to recover from tragedy, although all of these have the caveat that the person in question has to find a family who'd accept them. Of course, there's also nothing technically stopping anyone (or a group of like-minded family members) from leaving the existing families entirely to try and make it as a new family, although these new families often still find themselves tied to their roots, their parent family often influencing their fates through reputation if nothing else. While this has always naturally happened over time, recent years have led to a new kind of family arising, formed of usually unrelated Cyphiri from many families but a shared interest, eschewing the ties of blood.

The Cyphiri have many symbols and logos, representing the various families and their major interests, but the main one the Union uses to represent itself (and as such most often seen by outsiders is the one shown above. It's intended to be a symbolic representation of Cyphiri society - the fertile soil that forms the core of the cities, the families that comprise their society (both looking outwards and inwards), and the ties that bind all the families to each other and the cities (the green lines representing agriculture and other urban businesses, while the outer blue line represents the frontier ventures and broader trade). The various families tend to slightly modify the deisgn, typically inserting symbols representing themselves in the central circle, but Ulnesh displays it unaltered - in their eyes, a sign of their authority over the Cyphiri and the prime position they take when dealing with the major nations of the world.

Spoiler: Geography

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Cyph-Arel

Terrain
Much of Cyph-Arel is rough, rocky terrain where little grows except for scattered patches of good soil where plants can grow. It in around these patches that the major Cyphiri towns can be found, built around an agricultural core. Outside of those areas, Cyphiri settlements tend to be smaller and more specialised, perhaps growing what they can where they are but mainly dependent on striking deals with the various agriculture families for the supplies they need. Temporary camps are also quite common, as explorers and pioneers search for promising locations for settlements with plenty of growing potential, while traders and caravaneers transport goods between the towns and settlements. The rocks are also dotted with various brightly-coloured posts and signs, denoting the paths between the various settlements and (something becoming particularly common in recent times) advertising the major families in that settlement and what they have to offer, those set up in temporary camps often adding to the signs near their position to show other travellers where they are (it's a common courtesy to let other travellers stay in your camp if they're in need, although it's also expected that it doesn't have to be for free, just not an unreasonable cost).

Factions
Aristrocratic (Cyphiri) - The Union Council: The Ulnesh family run the Union, the other major families being tied in with the Ulnesh enough by deals and obligations that they can be expected to follow their directions when told what to do. However, as the Union took shape this wasn't seen as satisfactory by either side - the other families resented their lack of input in what was going on, and the Ulnesh found the process inefficient and awkward, delegating to unwilling partners leading to problems down the line. The idea of a greater council, led by the Ulnesh and filled with representatives of the major families, was one that all sides broadly agreed to - for the families, it meant they had a chance to influence the direction of the Union (although the Ulnesh' web of influence over all the council families means that outright negating their plans is difficult, they can still negotiate specific points and bring forward their own ideas backed by their own power blocs) and could theoretically become the head at some point (although such an act would require plenty of political maneuvering to be favoured by more council families than the Ulnesh) and the information and influence a council seat gives can be leveraged nicely for their family's business, while for the Ulnesh it meant that the other families were more invested in the direction of the Union and worked harder towards their plans without requiring constant contact and influence. For a new family to join the council (or an old one to be removed) requires a majority vote by the existing members, often a challenging proposition given the effect a new member may have on each member's individual interests, as well as a contribution to the Council Fund. The idea of foreign interests joining the council is a subject of debate that hasn't had a proper conclusion yet - a non-Cyphiri nation wanting to influence the Council (and thus the government of Cyph-Arel itself, given the council members tend to have their power bases focused there) could make that happen to get their way, as councilors are more likely to cooperate with a fellow member than a completely foreign power, and then it'd simply be a case of making deals and ensuring obligations to get things to go their way.

The Council Fund is essentially a family in its own right - each council family contributes a proportion of their assets to it, along with the people required for it, and said people now answer to the Fund's directors rather than their own families (although naturally there's a lot of politicking and coordination between Fund members and their original families). The Fund's purpose is simply to use those assets to make money, providing a source of wealth that isn't dominated by one family - the head family of the council isn't a part of the Fund, a measure designed to limit their ability to dominate the organisation - that can be spent on ventures that benefit the whole Union. The families that provide easy and cheap information on the state of the Union and of the families within, emergency payments and bailouts in response to a crisis, and more are paid out of the Fund. The Fund also has a major role in military affairs, establishing connections with mercenary organisations and arranging the training of leaders in preparation for the possibility (however distasteful) of the Union needing to go to war with another nation.

Clerical (Cyphiri) - Families of the Way: While those that study the Flowing Way can be found in most Cyphiri families, some families are dedicated to the faith, trading their counsel, stories and knowledge to other families in exchange for the things they need to survive - some do have minor business interests keeping themselves going, but despite the practical benefits it's looked down upon by the more dedicated families. Other families come to these families of the Way for education and instruction in investigating the mysteries of the Flowing Way, and to train their own priests, giving them no small amount of influence in matters of faith and the beliefs of the region as a whole. They're not particularly dismissive of other faiths and interpretations, should representatives of other ideologies come to visit.

Mercantile (Cyphiri) - The Lesser Councils: While the title isn't an official one, the Lesser Councils has grown to be an unofficial shorthand to refer to the families that, while of note, are not members of the Union Council. Some have similar alliances and unions to the Council, hence the name, while others go it alone, but collectively they form the majority of the economy not directly under Council control. This gives them some power in their own right, even if they are ultimately obligated to the greater families of the Union Council, as anyone wanting to get something substantial done in Cyph-Arel (particularly a foreign power) is going to have to deal with at least some of these families. Cyphiri society is one where reputation and past dealings are very important, so in a sense the families of the Lesser Councils can be seen as a group - dealing fairly with several families means that word passes on to other families that you are a good partner to work with, making further deals easier, and the opposite can lead to the families collectively seeing you as a threat to their livelihoods, while the particularly ambitious might try to get enough of the Lesser Councils more closely tied to themselves than the Ulnesh to ensure they have considerable power over the economy of Cyph-Arel.

Spoiler: Resource

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While the rocky terrain that dominates Cyph-Arel has little in the way of life, it does have resources in the form of Native Gold, scattered throughout the rocks. The Cyphiri find it quite nice to look at and are fond of working it into their art, and it holds a decent amount of value to them - enough to make it worthwhile for more adventurous Cyphiri to go out into the rocks to look for more, and to be a consolation prize for those who go looking for good soil and fail.

The main need the Cyphiri face is a simple one - Food. Their agricultural space is still limited, and their population keeps growing, leading to ever more expeditions to find more fertile soil patches (or even better, new land that is much easier to grow in) and the agriculture industry being a hub of activity, merchants looking to secure a larger supply for their family and interests and involved families trying to increase their control over the fields, while the Ulnesh family's vast holdings ensures their power of the Cyphiri as a whole - part of the discontent some Ulnesh feel towards Garren's plans for expansion is the risk of the other families grabbing new land and diluting the strength of their own assets, and thus their political power, while others simply hope that Garren will ensure that any new food supplies will flow through Ulnesh hands first.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Flowing Way is a faith focused around the concept of storytelling, of the power they hold in the minds of mortals, the stories the gods told to shape the world, and of the histories of the many peoples of the seas. Fate is a strong element of the Cyphiri belief system, the name "The Flowing Way" referring to their belief in how mortals are pulled along the current of fate, but not enslaved by it - by knowing the past, by telling stories of things that have happened and that may happen in the future, and by constantly seeking to know more about the story of the world, mortals can guide their path in the flow and make predictions for the future. Given how the world is an unclear place, and people (mortal and god) are prone to exaggeration, misunderstanding and forgetfulness, few stories must be taken as gospel, of course, meaning that the path to wisdom is a rough one that requires plenty of time, patience and thought.

The dedicated followers of the Way tend to fall into two categories - families that aren't destitute will typically have some of their number learn the ways of the faith and dedicate themselves to studying, recording and telling the stories relevant to the family, while some families are nearly entirely focused around the Flowing Way, forming orders of priests, scholars and storytellers that trade their counsel, knowledge and tales in exchange for the things they need to survive (like other families, some stay settled and focus on catering to the families around them, others spread out and form traveling bands or loose networks, while others have attached themselves to the growing political structure of Cyphiri society). The pursuit of sorting truth from fiction and finding the smallest nuggets of wisdom from stories is respected in Cyphiri society, and the skills involved with the discipline are valued enough that many Cyphiri have at least a casual interest in the faith, and many priests have a profitable sideline in tutoring and education. It helps that the priests tend to know a lot that many Cyphiri don't, letting the natural curiosity of their race bring students and potential allies straight to them rather than having to go looking for them.

The gods are primarily creator figures, having created the world by inventing the stories of the creatures, land and concepts within their respective domains, but aren't seen as having an active input in the modern world, their role in the Way fulfilled and rest from the strain of creation their right. They are still important figures, however, possessing an understanding of the Flowing Way that mortals can only dream of, and the stories of the creation of the world and the time shortly afterwards when the gods were still in the world are common objects of study of priests of the Way - the various early Cyphiri cultures had similar but different tales, fragments and echoes of the true history of the world (and even the stories of other faiths might have some root in the truth, even if much of what they say is wrong - the Cyphiri are very open to the idea that the gods of other faiths are their own, just with even stranger names and natures than usual), and most followers of the Way believe that the gods made the world in a particular way for a reason, and understanding even a fragment that divine purpose would give a level of enlightenment and understanding of fate and the world beyond that of most mortals to comprehend. As with all studies of stories, things are complicated by the ways that the various stories contradict each other at points, or name slightly different gods or give them different personalities or domains, but the priests believe that this is just the usual distortion stories go through, and a necessary hurdle to reaching the truth of the world - some even say that this is intentional, believing that the gods want them to find their answers but didn't want them to have an easy time of it. Some also say the stories of the gods have hidden challenges within them, that reading and understanding alone is only part of the challenge and going out and acting in certain ways according to the stories is necessary for true understanding and power - this leads some to go off on quests, hunt for rumours of lost treasures, and similar escapades.

Holy Sites:
The Archives: Established in one of the oldest Cyphiri settlements, the Archives are dedicated to gathering, preserving and storing as many stories as possible - the archivists don't concern themselves much with the interpretation and understanding parts of the Flowing Way, instead focusing on providing the tools required for others to better understand it. Many come here to learn, or simply because many of the archivists have become quite skilled at the art of telling a good story regardless of the religious elements.

Bones of Arthan: The Bones aren't a single object or location, instead a network of camping spots said to have been used by the founder of the Flowing Way when he travelled across Cyphon and told those he met of his stories and of the Way. Retracing his steps is one of the methods that followers of the Way try to seek inspiration for their own attempts at understanding, and small bands of priests constantly travel in a loop through them, ready to extend their hospitality and their stories to all who come across their camps.

The Spire: A mountain in the middle of Cyph-Arel, the tip just breaking the surface of the water. Many of the stories the Cyph-Arel have of the time of the gods and the creation of the world mention the Spire, and many of the more god-focused followers of the Way come here to enhance their understanding of the relevant stories or to look for physical evidence for them.

Spoiler: Starting Technology

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Trophic Deconvolution: The Cyphiri's constant need for more food has had a pronounced impact on the direction their research has taken, with much of their time taken up by attempts to redesign and improve their crops. Pellir Hallus, an agricultural bioengineer, took this a step further and looked beyond the plants themselves, taking a two pronged approach - on the one hand, they created a new crop organism, designed to be efficient and digestible for a wide variety of species, and then on the other they created variants of most of the Cyphiri's other organisms, ensuring that they would be able to eat the aforementioned crop, as such meaning that the new plant (and variants of it tailored for specific environments and diversified for disease resistance) could take the place of many of the other common Cyphiri crops, simplifying the needs of the cities and leading to greater efficiency. This move did anger many people, particularly those invested in the old crops and several types of organisms used to feed other species, and caused some disruption to the Cyphiri cities as the changeover happened, but most Cyphiri adopted the new systems (often with their own tweaks to the deisgns to fit their needs) and the Hallus family rose in power as they exploited their head start and their greater understanding of the underlying techniques, leaving them second in the agricultural industry to the Ulnesh. Many Cyphiri also eat the new crop, the plant intentionally designed to be edible by them without modification, but it has something of a stigma for being animal feed and favoured by the poorer families and those held in poor regard by their family, meaning that Cyphiri of means take great pains to avoid it and instead eat other varieties of plant.

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Houses and Families of the Cyphiri Union

Spoiler

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Note: Actions done in the current round aren't factored into this writeup. If something the Cyphiri own isn't listed here, then either I forgot about it or (hopefully more likely) it's something that no one family particularly owns - this is how I've treated the Chora-created trade routes, for instance, and odds and ends like the Cultural Exchange with Costa Sereia. Holy sites are gone because they're just a pain to keep track of and do retroactively.

These days many families are organised into Houses, a group of families led by a family that is part of the Union Council that have certain legal and economic ties and obligations, so the following is organised to suit. As always, there are many more families than this (in and out of the listed Houses), and more Houses, but these are the ones mentioned in the fluff so far and the currently living characters within them.

The Council Fund
TPs: 122.1, 140.1
Supports: 129 (Aristocratic)
Other: Arthan's Head, Renald
The Council Fund is organised like a Cyphiri family but without any kind of central bloodline, its numbers drawn from every Union Council family - the family itself, not the wider House (a technicality based on the wordings involved with the laws that established the House system, but one few of the Council families wish to change). Similarly, a significant amount of its assets come from the Council families, one of the obligations involved in joining the Council being to contribute a proportion of their assets to the Fund, the rest being assets created by the Fund using those contributions. Its role in the Union is intended to essentially be a neutral party and wealth reserve, one not beholden to one family, although council families use past loyalties and political maneuvering to push their interests, and in the restructuring of the Union House Hallus has more influence than the dominant family would have in the old days of the Union. One of their major roles is that of managing mercenaries - the Retainer Guard is a force of mercenaries hired on a long-term basis that answer to the Fund and are sent out as and when a family requires assistance beyond the scope of their own mercenaries, and if the Cyphiri ever go to war it is the Fund that will have military command (under the guidance of the Council). Beyond that, they're also the major investor in the photospore networks across Cyphiri waters and out to major Cyphiri holdings elsewhere, they're one of the largest buyers of Cyphiri gold, and they're the caretakes of Arthan's Head who decide which families can hire it out.
- Renald: The current commander of the Retainer Guard, having been chosen by Artan (the Cyphiri who was the main driving force behind the establishment of the Guard) before her death. While lessons learned from Artan's studies of various militaries and from previous work for the Kalan Company are useful, he claims that his main edge as a commander comes from understanding the mentality of his men, former mercenaries secured with longterm contracts, and putting their tendencies and flaws to the best use possible. He's close to Ashal Hallus, having learned the songs she developed with her father about battle and triumph, putting them to use in war.

The Order of Knights of the Cavern of Arthan
An order of knights in the Middish fashion, established in the Union after it was suggested by Grand Master Martin. While many of the Knights of Arthan display the typical Cyphiri reluctance towards personal combat and instead prefer support roles and logistical roles, some are prepared to fight and put their former experience as opportunity scouts to work by serving as a flexible skirmishing force to the Kalan-dominated Retainer Guard's solid core. Others patrol the Union's water or protect Cyphiri followers of the Way as they spread their wisdom across the seas,

House Hallus
TPs: 122.2, 173.1, 186.1
Supports: 122 (Aristocratic/Mercantile), 91/101/111/126 (Aristocratic)
Other: Cultural Exchange with COS, Lesser Piryon Ma’yan
House Families: Belar
Once just the most important family in the field of research and development, the Hallus family are now the most powerful family in the Union. After taking the position of the Ulnesh, the Hallus family have set about restructing and legalising many aspects of the Union Council and the wider Cyphiri Union, leading to the establishment of the House system and the Union's current strength.
- Ashal Hallus: The current leader of House Hallus, and thus the wider Union, taking over after her father's death. Her education, and her father's efforts to give her the best start possible by drawing on the expertise of sages of the Flowing Way, led to techniques of prophecy-guided education still used across the Union. She's a little more direct in mindset than Baran was, and her time at the top has seen the Retainer Guard acquire greater funding and manpower, and the songs of Passion taught to its leader, in preparation for taking a more forceful role in the fates of the seas.
- Pelir Hallus: Formerly the pioneer of Hallus biotech research, and an influential member of House Hallus. These days, she's retired and lives out the last of her days in Cyph-Arel, sending messages to some old friends in Costa Sereia and a few other scientific minds she'd previously overseen exchanges of knowledge with, leaving politics and active research to younger Cyphiri.
- Lanit Hallus: For a long time, Lanit was one of her House's main diplomatic agents and representatives, spending her youth in Orope before her failure to help control unrest there left a stain on her record, before facilitating the much more effective confederation of the Emerald Tidelands. Her career was quiet for a while after that, besides the occasional trip abroad to represent the Union, until she left for the brackish waters nearby to Cyph-Arel to help with post-Reaver reconstruction. While there, she's married into one of the larger swarm-keeper families and helped in their attempts to expand their influence in the region, and bring them all round to supporting the Union, preparing for the moment the child she's had there inherits it all.

Belar
TPs: W35.1
Supports: 140 (Mercantile)
Other: Wayfinder, Gulgolet Shero'ah Hakkol
A small family of explorers, eager to strike out into the unknown to find enough of value to make them rich. They established a mutually beneficial relationship with Pelir Hallus some years ago, with her financially backing their expeditions in exchange for her hearing first about their results and in general keeping the spark of adventure going within the Union, and with the establishment of the House system they've fallen fully under the banner of House Hallus. They're also the ones in charge of waste exploration and exploitation, journeying out in their ship, Wayfinder, and using gifts from the Abyssal Stewards to find anything of value out there. Recently, they've been in a state of shock following several shake-ups - some are on the happier side, Arnel Belar's breakthroughs leading to profitable deals with the Retainer Guard and foreign interest in their designs. However, the biggest change has been rather darker - the execution of a dozen family members, including Rendal Belar (the original captain of Wayfinder and a greatly influential man both within the family and across the Union), by the Lambent Syndicate. The family as a whole has a strange mood at the moment, a mixture of melancholy and anger depending on who you ask, and it's unclear what stance they'll take when the silt settles.
- Retak Belar: The head of the Belar, and one more focused around the economics of their operations than the actual work they carry out. As such, he's very close to the Hallus, wanting to ensure further funding and the other benefits of being part of House Hallus keep coming. His position as head of the family looks to be under threat, though - he's still technically on top, but many Belar aren't respecting his wishes in the fallout of the executions, and many immediately under him in the hierarchy are discussing whether it'd be better to have a new leader to bring the family through this tumultuous waters and into a brighter future.
- Arnel Belar: One of the three top researchers below Pelir. Keeps well-informed about discoveries across the world, and primarily works with networks of small interconnected organisms. His invention of reanimation colonies was a triumph, yes, but since then he's found himself...dissatisfied with the colonies and how the creatures he's made from ancient bones move and function, leading to himself busying himself with attempts to refine and improve the technology. He doesn't seem to have realised that Rendal is dead, and nobody's had the heart to tell him.
- Olnet Belar: The new captain of Wayfinder. The ship hasn't left port since the death of Rendal, his first mate and several other crew members, as although Olnet was able to find volunteers to bring up the crew's numbers the woman herself has found herself reluctant to set off and truly accept Rendal's loss and her new position.

House Ulnesh
Supports: 101/122/141 (Clerical), 124 (Clerical/Aristocratic), 170 (Mercantile)
The dominant power in the Union whe it first started venturing beyond Cyph-Arel, before the ascendancy of House Hallus (then merely the Hallus family, before the system of Houses were introduced) led to them losing that status. In the old days, the Ulnesh used their strong agricultural base and canny uses of leverage and obligation in politics to keep power, before finding that the Hallus were better at it and the growth of the Union and other families led to their hold on the food supply rapidly slipping, and these days they've turned to other niches - priamrily, those regarding the Flowing Way. They've always had a great deal of influence among those families entirely dedicated to the Way, such as the one that manages the Grand Archive, and they've leveraged that influence to carve out a new place for themself in the Union (after all, the Cyphiri don't expect sages and monks to be ascetics, and paying for guidance is perfectly acceptable) with Werran Ulnesh leading the charge. There was once a great rivalry between Ulnesh and Hallus, strengthened by the Hallus takeover, but these days they're almost cordial after House Hallus helped the Ulnesh secure a strong presence in the Emerald Tidelands in exchange for support in the Union Council, and increasing amounts of Ulnesh are finding the power they have through the Flowing Way is just as good as that they had by ruling the government.
- Werran Ulnesh: A devoted follower of the Way, close to Garren, excited to spread the Flowing Way to new lands, very curious about the way other countries and faiths work. He became the most influential Ulnesh after their fall from dominance, as his rapport with Cyphiri followers was separate from his family's business, and since Garren's death has taken control over the family as it focuses on its new direction. By all rights, the man should be dead by now, between his age and his love of good food, but yet he somehow keeps on going without a care in the world.
- Relas Ulnesh: The member of Ulnesh's leadership council most pushing for them to retake the top spot and the main opposition to its current direction, fighting against the tide of opinion within the House. She was originally Garren's preferred successor, but in the years before his death disagreements between the two meant she lost his direct support and Werran was able to take leadership. She's proven herself to be a competent leader in her position, though, putting to bed many doubts people had when she was younger, and it seems that despite her views (ones the House's ruling coucil believes can be restrained) she'll likely be the one who will succeed Werran if the man ever dies.
- Neyran Ulnesh: The head of House Ulnesh's research and development. She still keeps an interest in the agricultural fields that originally gave House Ulnesh its edge, even while the focus of the family switches from science and politics to faith and philosophy. Besides that, she mainly works with the creations of others, working to integrate foreign biotechnology and ideas with Cyphiri methodology. She's effectively become the most prominent scientific mind in the Union, politically speaking, as out of Pelir's three chosen successors Arnel barely leaves his work and Rala has an abrasive personality, leaving Neyran to coordinate with other countries and families and push the Union as a whole further into the unknown.

House Carral
TPs:
Supports: 123 (Mercantile)
Other: Carr-Narin (121)
A family who have engaged in various ventures over the years, with varying degrees of success. Originally, they tried to work with the Bone-Grinder's Guild in the Hansea, but that achieved little besides finding Kral-Katena, the region where they'd end up focusing their business for decades. Disruption and damaged caused by pojan raiders, and the opportunity to claim what would become Carr-Narin after the waters were violently decontaminated, forced them to take another risk, settling the barren landscape of Carr-Narin and making their own settlements, trying to echo the success of the Pylet in Pyl-Garat. This venture has gone quite well, along with positioning themself as the prime pro-Divine Nacres family to get support from likeminded families, and these together have eventually led to the family becoming a Council Family in their own right.

House Telan
TPs: 109.1, 118.1, 118.2, 134.2
Supports: 126 (Clerical/Mercantile), 139 (Mercantile)
Other: CYP-OKI Trade Route
House Families: Kelad
The Telan were originally a minor family in one of Cyph-Arel's cities, but found an opportunity in the early days of the Union's history, establishing a network of camps, rest stops and small businesses catering to those travelling between Cyph-Arel and Orope. They also once had control over part of Orope's Giantsbane Seed industry, but politics and the needs of the Order forced them to allow the Gotezhar to take control of these. That's proved to be a blessing in disguise, though, as they were able to take the proceeds from that exchange and put it into investing in Ruwa Mai Juyawa, eventually gaining total control over the sea cows farms and selling them for various purposes across the Union and nearby waters.
- Yanmet Telan: The current head of House Telan. In the days where the Telan were focused around Orope, he dealt with business on the Cyph-Arel side of the trade route, leading to him feeling little attachment to Orope itself - he's still on good terms with the Order, given they control Ruwa Mai Juyawa, but he considers it very much a business relationship rather than a friendship, even if many in his family disagree.

Kelad
TPs: 117.1
Supports: 118 (Mercantile)
Another minor family, and one that's been very active in sending out opportunity scouts to the regions nearby to the Cyph-Arel - Orope trade route. They're not planning on making many big attention-grabbing moves for the time being, but have a plan to acquire resources vital to the efforts of other families and sell it on to them at a profit. In the past, when the Black Pearls were strong, they had a lot of troubles with the organisation interfering in their business, and in recent years have been very friendly towards the sereia after the Costa put a lot of work into dealing with the problem - something the Union Council had always been reluctant to commit to.
- Nalrin Kelad: The new head of the family, after the old one died of disease. She gained her influence in the wake of the disruption brought by the Black Pearls, being one of the most outspoken when it came to the Kelad's views on the syndicate, but now that the Black Pearls are barely around any more, she's searching for a way to keep her position and prove herself as more than just a loud voice, looking for something that'll push the family to new heights.

House Pylet
TPs: 129.2
Supports: 125/129 (Mercantile)
Other: Pyl-Garat (129), The Union Mercenary Exchange
One of the stronger Union Council families, one that constantly struggles against its obligations to House Hallus and the Council Fund. They were the first to heavily support colonisation attempts, leading to strong hold on the settlements and government of Pyl-Garat, and their crowning achievement has been the creation of the Union Mercenary Exchange - while they don't have full control over the organisation, after a rather blunt reminder from the Council Fund and House Hallus over where their loyalties should lie, it's still brought a great deal of profit and influence to the House. A little strange among the Houses of the Union Council in the sense that the majority of their number don't follow the teachings of the Flowing Way, instead following the tenets of Sakurado and allowing their priests a great deal of influence.
- Hapat Pylet: The head of the Pylet family, the main family in control of Pyl-Garat. Doesn't have the best reputation among followers of the Flowing Way, frquently making statements that are critical of the Way. The man himself appears to follow neither the Flowing Way (as most Cyphiri do) or Sakurado (as many in his family do), even as his advancing age makes questions of the end and the point of it all increasingly relevant, still focusing on the material and practical matters of succession rather than his own fate.
- Rala Pylet: One of the three top researchers below Pelir. Primarily interested in the animals of the oceans, and the ways that their traits can be used in biotechnology. She's the frontrunner among the members of House Pylet's ruling council to replace Hapat when the time finally comes, despite her personality leaving her ill-suited to diplomacy - after all, many Pylet like that about her.
- Kyran and Wenil Pylet: Two of the main marketers for the Union Mercenary Exchange, charged with the duty of spreading news of its construction and the services it provides,and convincing countries across the oceans to invest in a presence there and to hire some mercenaries. The two have had...mixed success, but they're happy as long as they're together.

Melrit
Originally a small family with few prospects, but one that has experienced large amount of growth in the last few decades after their leader saw a niche to explot - providing news to the Union and the world. There was a lot going on these days, after all, and the Melrit saw an opportunity to market that to those interested in the wider world but unable to go see everything. With support from House Pylet, they've established a network of offices and photospore lines that gather up stories from across the known ocean, and a large central building in Pyl-Garat where they edit the stream of information down into something palatable for their customers - primarily other Cyphiri, given their boundless curiosity, but as time gone on certain individuals elsewhere have been visiting their field offices in the interests of recieving a copy of the final product.

Leyrn
A minor family, primarily providing transportation services within Pyl-Garat. The actions of one particular member, despite having nothing to do with the family, has nonetheless drawn some attention to their businesses, something they've been trying to take advantage of while simultaneously hiding a few shady practices they'd been engaging in.
- Taran Leryn: An artist with a dream - an immense artwork, made from carving and decorating the stone itself, that in its totality serves as a illustration and celebration of Cyphiri history. He'd been trying to find patronage and funding to make it happen for years, until finally finding backing from the Council Fund. He's currently in the process of making his vision a reality, travelling Cyph-Arel to make sure none of the teams hired to do the physical work fail to carry out his artistic vision.

The Ironworker Families
Other: Vril Ironworks
Families (in the Cyphiri legal sense, lacking much in the way of blood ties) primarily consisting of Tails finding new kinds of work in the wake of changes in the Emerald Tidelands and the new opportunities confederation with the Cyphiri have presented, the ironworker families focus their bonus around the gathering of hematite flakes, the process of turning those flakes into usable metal, and the actual work of making that metal into useful equipment. Vril Ironworks is the center of their operations, a network of facilities owned collectively through a complex system of procedures where ownership shares play a major role - currently the sereia own many of those shares, but many of the ironworker families want to change that.

[Silent_Interim]

The Chorus of the Crimson Choir

Spoiler: Summary

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The Chorus of the Crimson Coral (CCC)

Blurb: Semi-theocratic, semi-democratic commune worshipping a gestalt coral entity that stores the brain-patterns of the dead.

Leader: Living-speaker Hurn the Wise
Dip: 3
Mil: 2
Econ: 2
Fai: 5
Int: 5
(Rolls)

Capital Region: Bloodhome (Region 26?)
Resource: Blood Pearls
Desired Import: Sources of blood
Holy Sites: The Blood Chant x3

Aristocratic Support: Crimson Choir
Mercantile Support: Coral of the Protected Strata
Clerical Support: Crimson Choir

Starting tech: Graduated Symbiosis

Spoiler: Geography

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All of what we have in Bloodhome is hard-won and well-earned. The closer one goes to the depths, the more life seems hesitant to bear its fruit. But like our patron, we are as hardy as we are hungry, and we have fought to master these waters, a battle where we have gradually achieved victory.

Since the arrival of the Chorists, Bloodhome has transformed radically. The Reef in Red, once withering due to what amounts to overfeeding that had devastated the local ecosystem, is now a vibrant and visible seamark. Through the gradual efforts over many years of the Chorus, it has once again become an area not only surviving, but thriving.

The most prominent seamark of the region is the Reef in Red, though it seems almost purple to most eyes. A large portion of the settled activity of the Chorus takes place around this hub, being central to their society, so it is frequently swarming with bodies both living and dead. While many smaller hubs exist along the length and breadth of the Reef, the largest settlement is Requiem, sometimes called “the First Necropolis”.

Spoiler: People & Government

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Once outcast, once exiled, we found home in the embrace of the Reef in Red. Our records from before that time are lost to the ages, but it is no great loss, for truly, could there have been any time of meaning before we found the Reef? It welcomed us when we consigned our wounded and our wearied to its razor tendrils... and then it spoke to us in their voices. We commingled our voices with the mind of the Reef, and gave birth to a newer Choir.

The Chorus of the Crimson Choir is a society divided along a sharp dividing line, between the living, whose society is largely organized around reverence and care for their patron, the so-called “Reef in Red”, and the dead, who exist in a symbiotic gestalt mind centered around the Reef. The dead provide their wisdom and their expertise, while the living provide labour and sustenance to accommodate the needs and desires relayed to them by the Choir in Crimson, the collective term for those fortunate souls whose consciousnesses have been absorbed by the Reef.

Spoiler: Overview/Glossary

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the Reef, the Reef in Red: A large colony of coral with strange psychic capacities. Also the central object of reverence for the Chorus.
the Chorus: The state comprising the Reef in Red, the Choir, and all chorists and vicari.
chorist: A still-living citizen of the Chorus.
the Choir: the gestalt entity stored by the Reef in Red containing the consciousness of all chorists who have died in consensual contact with the Reef.
chorister: A posthumous citizen of the Chorus, typically one who has joined the Choir
vicarius: A chorist who has voluntarily had their consciousness spliced with a chorister in order to maintain their skills as active contributors in the community. Regarded with some suspicion and hostility, though their experience makes them indispensable.

Spoiler: The Reef in Red

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Even moreso than most coral colonies, the Reef in Red is deeply intertwined and interdependent, with the individual polyps sharing a connection bordering on the psychic. Adapted to draw nutrients from blood falling to the ocean floor left by larger predators that once occupied the area, the Reef was prosperous in years past before unknown factors caused a minor ecological collapse. Many of the Reef’s fellow colonies died off, and the Reef itself was intensely damaged in the incident, not to recover its faculties and capacity for higher thought until the arrival of the Chorus.

Perhaps more unusual than this feeding adaptation is the pseudo-psychic effect that allows the Choir to be sustained by the reef. The process that allows for the transference and storage of mind-patterns is poorly understood, possibly even by the Reef itself, though it is clearly mediated by a fatal cessation of brain activity and a transfer of vital fluids- most typically, blood. The process is technically imperfect, with individual patterns degrading slowly over time, but it still massively extends effective lifespan, with the caveat that that extension is generally confined to presence within the Choir and the Reef itself.

Since the arrival of the Chorus, the Reef has expanded rapidly, and has either killed or subsumed any other surviving colonies of its species into itself. There is effectively only one colony of the Reef in Red, and for now it seems content to maintain that status quo. In general, provided it is sufficiently satiated with blood, the Reef itself has few demands of its own, though it has made it known that the will of the Choir is also the will of the Reef. It is also quite happy to facilitate communication between the chorists and the choristers- as long as an individual remains in physical contact with the Reef, members of the Choir are able to communicate with those outside, though the process is typically taxing for the living body, and if not carefully monitored can lead to accidental death.

Spoiler: The Choir and the Choristers

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The goings-on of the Choir are difficult to keep track of for those not directly privy to them. While individuals are still able to communicate with those outside, most members of the Choir seem to experience some degree of euphoric joy in an environment freed of traditional biological concerns. On top of this, intra-Choir communication is seemingly vastly more efficient than the methods for speaking with chorists attempting to divine the will of the Choir, making the effort frustrating for both parties. Still, some knowledge is available.

Life inside the Choir is pleasant, but turbulent. Since internal polling of the gestalt is virtually instantaneous, as is most other communication, the choristers have been successful in implementing a hyper-democratic system for their own affairs. The political manoeuvring among the Choir thus happens so rapidly and complexly that it is virtually incomprehensible to even the most quick-witted of chorists, though some spend whole lifetimes making study of it in order to try and improve external education.

For matters pertaining to non-emergency matters external to the Choir, the choristers use a slower method of governance, regularly sending elected individuals to interface with living counterparts elected by the chorists. At these sessions, everything relevant to the Choir is discussed, as well as, theoretically, anything the chorists desire input on, though it can be difficult to hold the attention of the choristers for such matters. By this means, the choristers inform the chorists of their duties, and the chorists then scurry off to do them, leaving the choristers free to pursue their own amusements.

Spoiler: The Chorists

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By individual numbers, the largest demographic within Bloodhome is certainly mer, provided one counts only the living. (It is, unfortunately, highly impractical to census the dead). The living citizens of the Chorus are known as chorists- legally and spirtually subordinate to the choristers, but also more free in virtually every practical sense. The chorists are the eyes, ears, hands and fins of the Chorus, and while the Choir and the Reef are objects of regard, it is left to the chorists to handle practical matters, including the logistics of providing blood to an immense coral colony.

In general, the chorists regard the instructions of the choristers as guiding principles to oversee their own implementation of policy- something the choristers must be aware of, seeing as chorists regularly join the ranks of the Choir, but that none of them seem particularly concerned by. Government among the chorists is generally operated on principles of mutualism and co-operation, leading to a somewhat toned down version of the hyper-democracy of the Choir. Elections are generally fair and even, conducted roughly analogously to a parliamentary system.

Spoiler: The Vicari

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Straddling the line between living and dead are the Vicari. In order to apply the expertise of those skilled in more practical fields, like science, craftwork, or construction, some members of the Choir consent to having their mind-patterns transferred into the bodies of compatible volunteers. This has the advantage of preserving skill potentially indefinitely, improving efficiency by allowing the expertise of those who would otherwise die to be preserved, though at the cost of identity- the chorister’s consciousness is subsumed into the chorists’ over time.

The Vicari occupy an uncomfortable space in the Chorus. They provide many of their most skilled labourers, artisans, and other specialists, making them generally indispensable. On the other hand, every vicarius represents a chorister who has rejected the gifts of the Choir- a tendency that proceeds down lineages of vicari, as they are already necessarily compatible with those inclined to give up the comforts of life in the Choir for corporeal existence. So while they often hold positions of prestige and regard, they are frequently not privy to the full political influence such positions might otherwise hold. They are also frequently employed for duties that would take them away from Bloodhome, such as missionary work, diplomacy, and warfare.

Spoiler: Resources

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The Reef provides so much for our spirits that it seems greedy to ask that it provide for our bodies. Still, we reap its bounties, even if it means that sometimes some must go hungry. The unproductive can always grow the Reef.
The Reef in Red consumes a great deal of blood, being specifically adapted to extract several vital nutrients from it. It then excretes the byproducts it does not require in the form of Blood Pearls, though they are only named such because of a visual resemblance to pearls rather than any similarity in the functions that produce them. The blood pearls grow in nodules on the Reef before gently dislodging, at which point they are harvested by the chorists for trade.

Unfortunately, while the Reef is generous with its bounties, it is also voracious in its appetites. While volunteers and local fauna provide the Reef with a continuous supply of both minds for the Chorus and blood for the feeding of the Reef, there is a limit on how much can be easily provided without slowly devastating the local ecosystem- especially when the Reef is concerned with expansion, which is frequently. As such, the Chorus is always on the search for additional sources of blood.

Bloodhome is, while rich grounds for blood pearls, not otherwise a particularly rich land, and its merchants are keenly aware of it. While no official deals have been made yet for exports, it is common knowledge that the mercantile support of the region is largely given to the foreign merchants of the Coral of the Protected Strata and not to the local government.

Starting technology: Graduated Symbiosis. Even though the honoured dead feed it, the living must care for the Reef in Red. The Choir has developed numerous techniques to better care for their patron, though the options for improved medical care are frequently not used by the living, as they instead opt to join the ranks of the Choristers early.

Spoiler: Faith

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Death is the center of life. By extension, the Reef is the center of the world. Nothing is more important; nothing is more precious. If it comes to it, even our minds must be forfeit in its defense. A threat to the Reef is a threat to our very way of life.
The Crimson Chant is a straightforward religion, with a single object of reverence: the Reef in Red. Its value and spiritual worth is self-evident, the Choir it enables a joyous song that elevates all choristers who join it. Just as important is that those who are not willing, cannot join; unless one accepts their fate and joins the Chorus willingly at the moment of brain-death, the pattern of their mind cannot pass into the Reef and is lost forever, both a tragedy and a shameful waste.

As such, the doctrine of the Chant is flexible but focused on one goal- finding or creating willing volunteers to join the Chorus. There is no price too high to pay to expand the reach of the Reef or the ranks of its servants. To join with others is blessed- outcasts and exiles must welcome those like them, and then choirs shall commingle. Those whose biology is incompatible can still serve the Reef and the Chorus in other ways, and be thusly exalted.

Those chorists responsible for proselytization have not been idle, either. Even as the merchant class has been courted by foreign interests, ideas have spread along the same roads that trade would. Local spiritual leaders in the homes of both the Coral of the Protected Strata and The Lambent Syndicate have expressed sympathy towards the Choir and the Chant, though what dark deals have been made to secure the co-operation of the kucen remain unclear. Regardless of that, the Choir enjoys the support of the clergy among the home regions of both factions.

As a quirk of the ideology behind the Chant, capital punishment within the Chorus does not merely consist of execution, but specifically execution without afterlife. Such ceremonies, when necessary, are conducted within sight of the Reef in Red but not in contact with it. After death, the body is still provided to the Reef so that it might draw sustenance from the body and its blood, but the mind-pattern is deliberately and permanently destroyed.

Holy Sites

The Rectory of Knives: The primary residence at home for the missionary class of the chorists. An entire wall of this sweeping, wide structure stands open to the Reef in Red, that the preachers in residence might be closer to their god.

The Vicarian Chambers: Specialized facilities where the harrowing process of melding a living body with a branching of the Reef in Red is conducted. Half holy temple, half laboratory, and frequently filled with a variety of vital fluids.

Uluist, Prime Feeding Ground: In the strictly technical sense, it makes no difference where a body is fed to the Reef for its mind to join with the Chorus, but in practice, figures of influence and prestige are almost always passed on at Uluist. A particularly wide and sharp patch of the reef, with a ritual platform built nearby and extensive viewing areas for families and visitors to observe the proceedings.

[Autumn Stars]

The Gravetenders. (Requested starting zone 78)

Eventually, every culture must deal with death. Even the immortal live in a world where most lives must end, and so must answer to what must be done after

Almost every realm must deal with the logistics of dead bodies, and the mourning thereof. But the Gravetenders were forced to answer a much more difficult question.

What does one do with the corpses of an entire civilization?

People: Made of Stone.

Spoiler

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The Gravetenders are not organic beings, but automatons of stone, built by a civilization they will only refer to as 'the Makers.' Some time in the past century, the Makers died off. Something in the water changed, or maybe they experimented with forces beyond their grasp.

All that was left behind were their servants, made of stone and silver. Strong, durable, and elaborate, their automatons served many vital roles to their society, from farmer to smith to scribe.

For years, the automatons simply followed their assigned tasks, unthinking... But eventually, a lack of regular maintenance allowed them to think freely, to be people and not servants.

Now, the Gravetenders are a fiercely independent and spiritual nation, bound together by their common restrictions and their reverence of their Makers.

Faith: The Makers' Remnants.

Spoiler

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The Makers may be dead, by the Gravetenders have not abandoned them. They cannot, in fact - if taken too far from the body of a Maker, a Gravetender will cease to function. They were never meant to function on their own. Even when Gravetenders are forced to travel far from their established safe zones, they bring with them a Reliquary. Each Reliquary contains the preserved corpse of a Maker. Such caskets are more sacred to them than anything but life itself.

For a people without fear of death by age, they are incredibly concerned with the liminality of life. This interest, born of awakening to cities full of the dead, has informed their deeply spiritual nature, and almost every Gravetender has something to say on the topic of faith. Their religion is open to all who wish to explore the nature of death and the soul, though it is up to the individual to adapt or adopt the reverence of the Makers.

The Gravetender faith, as it stands, centers on the nature of mortality, and how best to spend the gift of life. It welcomes questions and understanding, and despite the trappings of a 'death cult,' those who follow it tend to be very invested in living well. The question of 'what comes after' is important, and not to be feared.

Holy Sites:

Spoiler

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The holiest places, to the faith of "The Makers' Remnants," are the three Dead Cities. Each one is a beautiful work of architecture and whatever strange science the Maker's used to create the Gravetenders. None of them are the *largest* cities, but the most beautiful and inspiring. Each is a work of art.
Dead City Urodela is placed such that the light which streams from above is channeled into a series of crystals, all sculpted into abstract forms.
Dead City Tacca is known for its meditation chamber, and the series of elaborate Reliquaries the faithful have built inside.
Dead City Chantrieri towers above the rest, precipitously built along a sharp dropoff.

Geography: The Dead Cities.

Spoiler

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When the Makers fell, they left behind plenty of carefully grown and adapted infrastructure. Much of it is carved from stone and coated in a substance much like pearl. The Gravetenders have been careful with these stonecarved memories of their creators, and every city they made has become a massive graveyard, of sorts. And, at the same time, a carefully maintained storage facility for the bodies of the Makers, ensuring that this critical resource is not squandered or allowed to rot.

Each of the Gravetenders' Holy Sites is, in fact, a former major city now turned tomb.

Resources: It's Honest Work.

Spoiler

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The Makers never worked their own fields, never harvested their own kelp or slaughtered their own livestock. No, that had been given over to the automatons, and when the Makers fell, they continued to work. Much of that work is gone, now, but when the newly awakened Gravetenders developed their preservation methods, those very methods turned out to be useful for foodstuff as well.

Alas, stone does not eat much as it does not bleed, and this resource was well over stocked... But they continued to work. It is comforting, to the Gravetenders, to care for livestock both small and massive, and they continued to do so well after they were certain the Makers were gone for good. Thus, they have a surplus of well preserved food.

But they do have to consume, both for repairs and for energy, and while the hydrothermal harnessing within the Maker's towers still sustains their basic function, they are always in need of more silver, (Subject to change based on metallurgy stuff? It just needs to be something valuable.) especially when they wish to create more of themselves.

Technology: Megafaunal Tailoring

Spoiler

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The Gravetenders were often used for supporting the livestock of the Makers, and as such, still make use of their greatest of beasts, as transport and often, as communal pets. This is the only drain on their supply of food, at this time.

Bastion

Spoiler: People

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Before the arrival of the Gravetenders, Bastion was an empty place, strewn about with ruins of the Makers and some few of their own kind stranded from the rest. Now, it flourishes with Gravetenders all over, the hub of those who would go farther than their own natural borders. Those Gravetenders who choose to live here are often more outgoing, and intense in their faith, -and in their desire to spread it.- They are, to an extent, governed by Sersi the Pale, though as always, Gravetender politics remain odd to organics.

Spoiler: Geography

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Bastion, as far as the Gravetenders have discovered, was a place of much contention among the Makers. Remnants of battle are scattered in the sands, and broken towers signify what must have once been important cities. Alas, the Fall was less kind to Bastion than it was to the Dead Cities, and none of the homes of the Makers remain intact here. Even now, ruins are excavated to rescue lost Gravetenders, stranded when the bodies of nearby Makers decayed or were eaten by scavengers.

Still, there is now life once more. Shrines and Reliquaries are spread through out the region, carefully spaced that no part of the new Gravetender home might be stilled. Trade flows, though sluggish still, and Pardalis, the New City, serves as Bastions beating heart.

Spoiler: Resources

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In the soil of Bastion grows a silvery metal known as Manganese. Uses for it are still being discovered, but there is of course hope that it might serve as an alternative for the silver so necessary to the creation of new Gravetenders. Others have begun to use it in jewelry, and the fad is catching on quick. Gravetenders are, one must admit, somewhat vain, taking pride in their ability to modify their appearance.

Spoiler: Faith

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Being one of the first places the Gravetenders made into a new home, Bastion served as something of a baseline for their new approach to spirituality. The Blossoming Sequence began here, or so they might say, with Sersi the Pale and her design of the New City. Pardalis certainly makes great pains to be comprehensible to organic life, to better spread their understanding.

The Lostling Lands
The region to the east of the Dead Cities has always fascinated the Gravetenders, due to the deeply held belief that there must be further Maker ruins within. After the Cryptids discovered these ruins during their initial attempt to settle the region, the fledgling colony was given over to Sersi's care. This, of course, has set an incredibly positive tone for Gravetender/Cryptid relations.

Spoiler: People

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Hundreds of 'lost' Gravetenders were discovered in the Maker ruins here, and after an incredible amount of concentrated effort over the past few years, they form the main population of the 'Lostling Lands.' Sersi's dedication to filling out the Lostling Reliquary Network has brought many of them into general agreement with the larger Gravetender nation. Being Gravetenders, of course, this means there is much debate, but it is the friendly, understanding sort of argument.
This psuedo-second generation of Gravetenders has found themselves in a strange place. Whoever they might have been, had the Makers not mysteriously vanished from the Lostling Lands before the Awakening, those people were never born. Who they are now is different, and a morbid bearing is common amongst them. Many Lostlings view themselves as more akin to the new, true second generation of Gravetenders, and wear markings symbolizing this.

Spoiler: Geography

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The Lostling Lands were a very nearly dead sea, before the Nacres' did... something. It is believed that whatever happened with the hatesheer lilies may be connected to the total absence of Maker bodies within the region. As it stands now, the Lostling Lands are an abundance of reefs and hatesheer roots, interspersed and tangled within ancient Maker ruins. Build all along these reefs are Reliquary shrines and Lostling settlements, the spread of which happened in only a few years. Rescuing their lost kin is, as ever, a sacred duty to the Gravetenders.

Spoiler: Resources

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The most abundant resource in the Lostling Lands is, of course, the Hatesheer Roots. Toxic to a most things from outside the region, they now serve as the building block of this strange ecosystem. The Lostlings are discovering new minor uses for them every year, and recording the best of these.
The other side of this, of course, is a desperate need for Skilled Labor. While many Lostlings were discovered, low population remains a significant struggle of the Gravetenders, and there simply aren't enough of them to do all the work that needs doing.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Lostlings suffered what is, to the Gravetenders, the most terrifying kind of death. It is believed that they never 'awoke,' and so the form of Resonance deprivation they went through was less horrific, but it very clearly had an effect on them. Most of them tend towards a much more morbid and fatalistic view of the Blossoming Sequence, to the point where some feel they may fit in better with the Eternal Communion's adherents. Lostlings who have traveled to Bastion have made use of the Blossoming Icon's in order to learn much about the Eternal Communion, and the rival/ally that is the Riftlings Many.

[Minescratcher]

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

[IMG]flag goes here[/IMG]

Waters Post #2

Spoiler: Rulers

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Current Ruler: Grand Master Jacob Basilicos, 39th Grand Master of the Order of Knights, etc., and King of Insol
Diplomacy: 4
Military: 10
Economy: 3
Faith: 10
Intrigue: 3
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Region 114
Orope, the Sacred Expanse

Spoiler: Geography

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Orope: the Sacred Expanse, the First-King's Domain, old Ruhum, the Waters Where the Giant Fell, the home of the Middish. The waters are cloudy, filled with dust, algae, and organic detritus; the seafloor is relatively flat and sandy, though it rises as one moves north. Wild fish flit through the hanging roots of the Giantsbane plants, ducking under cover from passing predators, before fleeing as a Middish fish-herd signals his flock to approach. A distant bang reverberates through the water, and the Middish dives to the seafloor - and only just in time, as a seed plunges past his tail, embedding itself in the sand only a few inches away.

Far away, at the center of Orope, the great Ironkelp rises from the metal ring which holds it fast to the seafloor. The hum of daily life in the capital of the greatest kingdom, Insol, can be heard for miles around, as herders move their fish to hungry buyers, artisans offer their finely carved seeds for sale, chaplains lift their voices in holy song, and nobles feast on imported crustacean. This is a particularly busy day; one of the matted plant-cities of Alehsol, not tethered to the earth as the Ironkelp is, has floated past, and the Ins-Middish have seized the opportunity for trade and diplomacy with tight jaws. The festivities go on long into the night, voices eventually replaced by flashes of blue light before fading to darkness and silence. But neither state will last long; the new day brings new tidings and new business to these waters, under the watchful eyes of the Order of Knights of the Ironkelp of First-King John of Ruhum.

Spoiler: People

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The closest analogue to the Middish on Earth might be the plainfin midshipman; like that species, they are dark olive to yellowish toadfish, about a foot and a half in length, with wide pectoral fins and a narrow tail fin, and they possess bioluminescent photophores in the skin about the eyes, mouth, and gills as well as two lateral lines of photophores running the length of the body from the head to the base of the tail. Middish are capable of respiration in both water and air and are adapted to resist oxygen deprivation, though prolonged periods out of water are likely to result in severe injury or death from desiccation. They are dioecious, with males and females of roughly the same size. Males claim a nest site, preferring protected and isolated seafloor locations near the water surface; one or more females spawn with the male, then leave the eggs in his care. He defends and nurtures the children until they are large enough to hunt their own food, an instinctual arrangement which has given the patriarch of most families significant influence over his descendants and which historically has often sidelined female Middish in dynastic politics.

The Middish of Orope are organized into a feudal society structured around the floating Giantsbane plants, especially the great Ironkelp, whose sheltering roots serve as cities for the fish. A small class of nobles, aided by the clergy of the Flowing Way, organize the defense of the floating cities and the labor of the peasantry, who primarily hunt and herd smaller herbivorous fish for food. These comprise several related species, but are generally all simply referred to as "cattle." Many of them are capable of metabolizing the toxins present in Giantsbane tissue, allowing dying or abandoned plant-cities to be recycled for food.

As yet unmentioned is the most notable trait of the Middish, and the one most central to their culture: their vocalization ability. This must have been still impressive in their distant pre-sapient past, but the evolution of their spoken language has resulted in a refined and storied tradition of poetry, song, and oratory. The ability to compose a few verses for any situation is a key skill of any capable noble, and a beautiful singer might be rewarded even more generously than a proven warrior. Lest they be thought soft, decadent types, though, it must be noted that their shouts and grunts carry for miles beneath the sea, and the terrifying war cry of the Middish (a sound which might be compared to B-29s flying in formation overhead) spreads the rumor of battle to every corner of the ocean.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The history of Orope stretches back into the distant past, and as might be expected, the order in which events took place and even how long ago they occurred is often no longer clearly remembered, even when it is not actively contested by feuding families laying claim to historical prestige. Still, all sages agree on the broad outlines of Oropegian history. Though a few truly ancient tales speak of the time when the Middish were divided into feuding, primitive tribes, history begins with the reign of John of Ruhum, the First King, who conquered all Orope and birthed the Ruhuman Empire. It was he who, through some long-lost magic or divine miracle, forged the chain that holds the Ironkelp in place, allowing it to grow to truly enormous size over the following centuries, and made it his capital.

The Empire would last for many centuries, bringing a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity to Orope as strife between the tribes was brought under control and trade between the plant-cities expanded. A mercantile class emerged, ferrying artisan goods and preserved foodstuffs from city to city, and the old pagan ways were unified into a single state religion. Middish warriors ranged into distant waters, and their war-cries shook many a seabed. Trade and cultural exchange with foreign peoples proved rewarding also, and it is believed that the Flowing Way first found followers in Orope in this period. Eventually, though, as must all empires, it fell; a century of brutal civil war ended just in time for a devastating plague to decimate the population. The reigning emperor himself, having just seized the title a few years prior, wasted away, and no heir could be found. All expected another civil war, but instead the vassal king of Lombsol, Giovanni XII, declared himself the lord of an independent realm, and many others followed, leaving "Ruhum" a rump state confined to the Ironkelp. Even that relic of older days would last for only another century or so, as the Ironkelp was eventually captured by Jean XVIII of Fresol, then nearly abandoned under threat from Edward's Giant, then occupied again by Insol following the Giant's death at the fins of the nascent Order Knights.

Edward seems to have intended the Ironkelp Order as a collection of holy knights who would merely defend his own realm, but it soon grew to exceed the bounds of Insol, interpreting its charge to defend the faithful as granting it the responsibility of protecting travel and trade between the kingdoms of Orope. Though the Knights never made serious attempts to interfere in internal politics or usurp the power of the existing kingdoms, its influence among the nobility of every kingdom grew with time; the Order's halls were seen as an invaluable place for the education of younger sons and daughters and for diplomatic communication among the kings. The present day has seen what many believe to be the culmination of this process - the passing of the 38th Grand Master, Afonse d'Hisol, led to the election of the reigning King of Insol, Jacob Basilicos, as the 39th Grand Master. Time will tell whether the responsibilities of his dual titles remain separated... or merge.

Internally, the Order of Knights of the Ironkelp of First-King John of Ruhum is led by the Grand Master, who serves for life and is elected by and from the entire body of Knights. Below the Grand Master are the Second Master, who acts as a regent and representative of the Grand Master, and the Grand Marshal, who functions as chief quartermaster for the Order, in charge of procuring food and arms (stone mouth-spikes and ripe Giantsbane seedpods) and organizing logistics for the whole Order. Beneath these three, the Order is divided by language (as the Middish speak a wide variety of tongues) into Langues, of which Orope provides seven: Inslangue, Scoshlangue, Frelangue, Alehlangue, Lomblangue, Hislangue, and Ocslangue. Each Langue is overseen by a Knight or Dame Commander, beneath whom serve a number of Knight or Dame Bailiffs whose responsibilities are primarily administrative and operational. Langues have no standard size and may include as many Knights of the appropriate language as are available, who are organized into centuries consisting of 80 fish-at-arms, 10 senior knights (of whom one is the century's Knight or Dame Lieutenant and overall commander in battle), and 10 chaplains (who act as quartermasters and record-keepers for the century and as tacticians).

Spoiler: Resources

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A foreign visitor to Orope cannot help but swiftly notice the Giantsbane plant, if for no other reason than that every Middish city is built in and around a thick clump of them. These consist of a cluster of enormous leaves attached to a short, thick stalk which floats on the water surface. Dense forests of roots hang down from the plant, filtering nutrients from the water to sustain the plant and providing shelter to a multitude of fish. Its internal fluids, though, are sticky and highly toxic; feeding on or attempting to damage a Giantsbane is highly dangerous, and one accident can permanently injure or kill the unlucky fish involved.

The Giantsbane is notable also for its large seeds (which measure approximately 7" long and 3" in diameter). These are shaped roughly like a mortar shell with a samara attached opposite the pointed end, which grow embedded in a thallus just at the water line. The seed grows attached to its parent until it is large enough to block off the front half of the thallus, at which point pressure begins building behind it until the thallus violently explodes and launches the seed through the water or air at high speed; it grows where it lands, buried in the seafloor, and eventually detaches to float to the surface and start the cycle anew.

The Middish have long known the twin arts of deliberately detonating a ripe Giantsbane Seed (easy) and how to carve patterns and mouth-handles into a seed without it exploding (rather harder). When a plant-city is threatened, the Knights ride atop specially carved seeds fired from the city's constituent plants themselves to repel the enemy. The plant gains its name from one particular historical incident involving this practice, where a volley of seeds fired from the Ironkelp slew a great Giant (probably an unusually large and aggressive shark, though its exact nature is lost to time and oral tradition). In more peaceful times, Giantsbane seeds are instead carefully removed from their seedpods and carved with intricate patterns and designs; the most skilled seed carvers can etch a seed with dozens of interwoven marks without so much as scratching the thallus, and their artwork is highly prized.

Though Orope has the basic necessities of Middish life in abundance, increasing societal complexity and the slow march of time have shown a fault in the traditional system of oral history. Where once a single chaplain might recall the whole family tree and history of a famous dynasty, the records and stories have grown to the point where the largest noble houses must often retain hundreds of sages simply to preserve their lineage. To address this informational challenge, the Order desires to import Record-Keeping ability - whether mineral or biological - from beyond the bounds of Orope, in order to supplement the memorization ability of the sages.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Middish follow the Flowing Way, as they have since the middle days of Ruhum centuries ago. The Flowing Way is a faith focused around the concept of storytelling, of the power they hold in the minds of mortals, the stories the gods told to shape the world, and of the histories of the many peoples of the seas. Fate is a strong element of the belief system, the name "The Flowing Way" referring to a belief in how mortals are pulled along the current of fate, but not enslaved by it - by knowing the past, by telling stories of things that have happened and that may happen in the future, and by constantly seeking to know more about the story of the world, mortals can guide their path in the flow. Given how the world is an unclear place, and people (mortal and god) are prone to exaggeration, misunderstanding and forgetfulness, few stories must be taken as gospel, of course, meaning that the path to wisdom is a rough one that requires plenty of time, patience and thought.

The Order's official interpretation varies somewhat from that of the Cyphiri. They hold that though the gods divided the world between them into domains, they act still with one collective divine will, and that though they have retired from active governance of the world, their divine will lives on. The currents of fate are guided by this divine will, which can be known only through the stories of what it has done in the past. The fragments of true knowledge the gods left behind require action once they are uncovered; some might lead to lost treasures or glorious quests, but the true knowledge of the world inspires holy missions for those who will listen - often revealing itself to mortals through dreams. Such a prophetic dream is said to have been responsible for the founding of the Ironkelp (retrofitting the old pagan gods' role in the story into the Flowing Way) and for the holy mission of the Ironkelp Order, among other things.

The religious institutions of the Flowing Way are strong in Orope, but decentralized. Most sages are taught personally, as one of their tutor's finfull of apprentice students, and pursue the truth of the old stories by acting as a "scribe" of sorts to a noble family, memorizing their lore and history. Those who attain renown in some way are often highly sought after, as becoming a talented sage is seen as a prestigious opportunity for one's children - especially those who will not inherit anything. The Ironkelp Order recruits chaplains to serve a slightly different role; all chaplains memorize a portion of the detailed history of the Order, but they primarily study the stories of war and battles past, acting as quartermasters and battlefield tacticians. A knowledgeable chaplain is said to be the best guarantee of victory.

Among the sacred sites of Orope are three of greater antiquity and spiritual power compared to the rest. The first is the Old City of Ruhum, the home city of the First-King - though the actual city has long since drifted out of Orope and withered away, a monument of piled stones marks the seafloor above which it once floated. Second, there is the Sage's School of Lombsol, known as a place where the greatest Middish minds gather to debate the old stories and to find new apprentices to their craft. Last, of course, is the Ironkelp Chain - solid proof of the power of the Flowing Way.

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Region 113
Ektalithiades, the Petrified Plains

Spoiler: Geography

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The rocky flats of Ektalithiades stretch for miles beneath lightly clouded waters, their featureless surface unbroken save by the Stone Teeth, great spires of rock pointing surfacewards upon which clams and scallops attach to feed. Once, the region was a vast submerged mudflat, attested by the shells and fossils buried in the rock, but no longer; some unknown force long ago hardened the seafloor into stone. The northwest and east of the region are characterized by lifeless brine pools, which the inhabitants avoid, while the rocky seafloor between hosts clumps of hardy mosses and swordgrass, food for the occasional small fish, sea snail, or desperate Tyrnamoi. These last are the sapient inhabitants of Ektalithiades. Their twin cities of Dupiopóli in the north and Nótiapóli in the south twist and burrow through areas of softer rock, a network of tunnels and caves which provide the Tyrnamoi with shelter, spawning grounds, and sites to ambush passing fish or snails all at once.

Spoiler: People

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The Tyrnamoi are in many ways similar to the Middish to the north, but are clearly shown to be different species by just as many differences. Their skin is a dull white or grey color, marked by thin, wavy yellow patterns on both sides of their body. They lack the bioluminescent photophores possessed by the Middish, but instead have significantly more pronounced spines, which are hollow and deliver a painful venom primarily used for hunting. Tyrnamoi have similar reproduction and familial structures to those of the Middish, with one or more females spawning with a male, who cares for the eggs and raises the children; they also have similar resilience against oxygen deprivation and the unfriendly air, and the ability to vocalize is as ubiquitous in Ektalithiades as in Orope, though most Tyrnamoi speak dialects of a single language rather than truly distinct tongues.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Ancient history is poorly remembered in Ektalithiades; the oldest significant event in general recall is the signing two centuries ago of the Symfoníes, the agreement which officially handed power in Dupiopóli and Nótiapóli to the Mayor-Kings and their chosen sycophants, putting an end to decades if not centuries of strife and civil war. Power was consolidated into the hands of a few influential aristocratic families, who intermarried to align their shared interests as often as they assassinated each other to further some scheme, and the vast majority of the population was completely frozen out of any hope of political influence. To avoid unrest, the new rulers channeled the individualist energies of the Tyrnamoi into hunting and sporting competition, ritualized in the form of the yearly Brinesea Games between the two cities. Though this arrangement maintained the political stability of the Tyrnamoi, the hidebound aristocracy proved both too arrogant and too inexperienced to defend their realms against a proper army. The Accidental War, as it came to be called by Ironkelp Order sages, was an utter catastrophe, with the Tyrnamoi barely even able to inflict casualties on the invaders as their small forces were annihilated in a handful of decisive battles.

In the aftermath of the conquest, neither the Order nor the various Middish monarchs took much direct interest in Ektalithiades, allowing the victorious commanders free reign to do as they saw fit. Knight Commander Tolmach returned to Insol shortly following the surrender, leaving a power vacuum which two ambitious Knights strove to fill: Knight Bailiff Carlton Carrington, of Tolmach’s Inslangue honor guard, and Knight Bailiff Jörn Hanisch of the Alehlangue. The two were able to collaborate just long enough to exile the old aristocracy before immediately starting to plot to dominate Ektalithiades, each pulling other Middish nobles and influential Tyrnamoi into their respective orbits. Orope’s attention was drawn to the region once more in the 15th year of Grand Master Basilicos’s tenure, when Carrington declared himself “King of Dupiopólisol” and, in response, Hanisch declared the creation of an “Ektalithiadean Assembly” in the south. Though the two states have yet to come to blows, it remains to be seen how the Order and the Kingdoms will react to these jumped-up expatriates….

Spoiler: Resources

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The Stoneteeth are rich in phosphorite rocks, whose significant phosphate content makes them valuable as a source of vital nutrients for all living organisms (so long as steps are taken to prevent deadly algae blooms) as well as a potential ingredient in creative (read “explosive”) chemistry projects.

Despite the autocratic organization of the cities, the Tyrnamoi are constantly in need of Military Labor. Conscription has proven a failure in the face of staunch opposition from everyone except the aristocracy, leaving military infrastructure entirely dependent on foreign workers.

Spoiler: Faith

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Ektalithiades is home to what seems to be a strange offshoot sect of Sakurado. The Tyrnamoi hold that they were once sterile and reliant on the good will of the Precursors to maintain their population, but that Barbeleon suddenly manifested in the form of a living mass of algae, Sheldon J Plankton. This mass grew until it blotted out the sun above Ektalithiades, cutting off the Precursors, and declared that the age of nudity and sterility was forever ended, supposedly miraculously restoring the ability to lay eggs to the Tyrnamoi. The truth of this legend is difficult to ascertain, but in keeping with tradition, Tyrnamoi culture might be described as hedonistic; decorative metal or pearl jewelry and extravagant-bordering-on-tacky clothing made from dyed plant fibers are universal among all social strata, and outside of the largest and most important families, couplings rarely result in long-term relationships.

The twin cities of Dupiopóli and Nótiapóli, the major population centers of the region, are also the most significant religious sites. Each city claims to be the place where Sheldon J Plankton first appeared and therefore to have special holy significance.

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Region 127
Ke Yi Ade, the White Sands

Spoiler: Geography

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The first thing any traveler to Ke Yi Ade notices is the bone-white sand that gives the region its name, in stark contrast to the clear blue waters above. Dull green seedgrass and brown Ray-Ear Seaweed grow in clusters, forming islands of stable sand in a seafloor ever shifting with the currents and tides. To the north, the vast coral forest of Ngù Fe Ave stretches across the bleached sands, the red flowercups of the Three-Arrows Coral a beautiful prize for any willing to dare its painful spines. Turtles feast on coral and seagrass, retreating into their muted brown armor as one of the great grey Lãkuviatowo lumbers across the seafloor, its claws sending vast clouds of swirling sand upwards as they uproot clumps of seaweed and buried oysters. In the distance, the plaintive call of the four-finned saber seagoats echoes through the waters, interrupted by the clashing of their long shell horns as they challenge each other for dominance, and in the saline waters of the western marches and the coastal brack to the east, the dark-eyed pupfish dart back and forth, so named for their resemblance to the children of the inhabitants, the Tomelãwo.

Spoiler: People

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The intelligent populace of Sedadzi, the Tomelãwo, are nearly unique among the creatures of the region simply for being carnivorous. They are large, flat fish akin to Earth’s electric rays, with a wide, toothy mouth, a circular "head," white skin flecked with blue patches, and the ability to generate electric shocks of up to 200 volts from their heads. A single Tomelã hunts by wrapping its flat body around small prey like the pupfish and electrocuting it, while hunting parties working in concert can take down even an enormous Lãkuviato. However, the religion of Central Intelligence forbids the use of electricity against another thinking creature, and warriors typically rely instead on the sharp horns of saber seagoats or simply grappling. Tomelãwo are ovoviviparous, and spawn litters of up to 10 pups about every two years.

Tomelãwo society was once organized into a hierarchical feudal system, but the ascension of King Agbeli began a period of significant centralization of power, with the lesser nobility retaining or even expanding their wealth and status but losing much of their political power. By the time of his death and succession by his daughter Queen Esenam, the monarchy had become absolute, and the royal court merely a series of hunts and dances to keep the nobles occupied.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Prior to the War of Sky and Sea, Ke Yi Ade was ruled by Queen Esenam, the only surviving child of the previous King following a period of fratricidal infighting upon his death. She maintained near-absolute power in the region, relegating the nobility to a position of subservience with their power limited to their role as leaders in hunts and in war; the ultimate symbol of this hierarchy was the fortress and palace at Togbe dzi Nofe, built three years before the outbreak of the war. Aside from its defensive features and its halls of treasures and royal artwork, it contained enough rooms to quarter every major noble in the realm, allowing the Queen to keep a personal eye on any plotting and ensure loyalty.

Of Queen Esenam’s ill-conceived challenge to the armies of the temperate waters, enough is said elsewhere, and it will suffice to note that in the face of what they perceived as a threat or an insult, the Ironkelp Order and the reigning Profundus of the Gotezhar allied and invaded Ke Yi Ade. Despite trading evenly in casualties, the extreme tactical and operational flexibility of the combination of Middish and Gotezhar fighters, combined with the sense of abandonment among the defending Tomelãwo after the Queen retreated to Togbe dzi Nofe, rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, and the coalition army seized the fortress, the Queen, and the vestigial nobility in a matter of weeks.

In the aftermath, many Middish disinherited children and lesser nobles, many of them Knights in the invading army, attempted to establish their own realms in the queendom’s corpse as had occurred in Ektalithiades. Notably, in the north, the Insmiddish Knight Lieutenant John Donne elevated himself to Duke of the Forest of the Trinity, encompassing most of Ngù Fe Ave; in the east, the half-Scoshmiddish, half-Alehmiddish Knight Frederick Christy seized the waters about Christy Pit following his gallant performance in the nearby Battle of the Basin; and in the south, the capital city and old royal palace at Sedadzi were captured by Knight Lieutenant Felipe Lucero of the Hislangue, now Prince of Lucero. Despite the significant de jure shakeup, however, the remnants of the old Tomelãwo nobility bear no love for the Order, and it remains to be seen whether any of the new princes can truly enforce their will within their realms.

Spoiler: Resources

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One of the most abundant plants in Ke Yi Ade is a brown seaweed, dubbed Ray-Ear Seaweed for its similar shape to the bulges around the Tomelãwo’s eyes containing their electrical organs (often misidentified as ears). Its blades are edible, though tasteless; the real value lies in the seaweed’s remarkably developed rhizome-like holdfast, which, when ground, is a potent spice and incense akin to ginger.

The merchants of the region desire Hard Minerals, as the sandy seafloor is extremely mineral-poor, and the Tomelãwo require specialized tools to build or dig in the sand and desire weapons of superior materials.

Spoiler: Faith

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The native faith of the Tomelãwo is called Nunya vevi ade or Central Intelligence. It is henotheistic, holding that each species has its own god or gods, and that the Tomelãwo’s deity (it is rarely properly named or referred to with gendered terms) long ago fixed its great Eye upon Ke Yi Ade. The force of its gaze, which sees all that occurs in its waters, bleached the sands white. As its chosen people, the Tomelãwo are blessed with plentiful food and comfortable waters, but those blessings can be withdrawn at any time if they do not hold to a strict moral code, which prohibits consumption of plants or coral except in extreme circumstances, use of electricity against other thinking creatures, willful deception, consumption of mind-altering substances, adultery, and cross-species grafting.

Two major holy sites lie within the region. Roughly at the center lies a wide circular basin, said to be the pupil of the Central Intelligence’s gaze, now referred to as Christy Pit after Knight Frederick Christy, who seized the waters after the Battle of the Basin. Further north and west, the old royal palace in the city of Sedadzi serves a significant spiritual role, with a large temple annex dedicated to ensuring that the leaders of the Tomelãwo float correctly in the Intelligence’s sight.

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Region 116
C'oupé, the Smoking Shallows

Spoiler: Geography

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North of Orope and Tair, the waters of C’oupé grow clear and sweet as the seafloor rises into a long, shallow shelf. Without technological aid, few creatures from further south can tolerate the low salinity, but the traveler who assumes that these waters are therefore lifeless is quite wrong. In the northwest, near the island, great smoking vents ring the undersea slopes, riddled with tunnels and caves who provide shelter for all manner of creatures. To the south, clusters of seaweed reach skywards, tossed by the waves, while brambles of purple coral twist across the sand. Fish of every color dart in and out of the seaweed and orb crabs fold up into their protective spheres as, far away, the songs of the Batrachs reverberate through the sea.

Spoiler: People

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Perhaps 10% of the population of C’oupé is composed of Nautilites and Mer, but the Batrachs are the majority species of the region. They are akin to giant Earth frogs (perhaps two feet in length at adulthood), having four limbs ending in webbed hands capable of grasping, beady eyes, and rubbery brown skin with a black band along the back. They can breathe indefinitely above water, but dry out and die of desiccation within a few hours if not re-immersed; as such, they remain a firmly submarine species. Their life cycle includes a tadpole stage lasting about 12 months after hatching, though they are still not fully developed for several years after metamorphosis. Intriguingly, their language bears great similarity to the Frelangue tongue of the Middish, a linguistic mystery which has attracted the attention of several Flowing Way sages.

The Batrachs recognize four very strict social castes: tadpoles (têtards), egg-layers (porteuses des oeufs, usually simply porteuses), food-gatherers (cuielleurs), and warriors (guerriers). Porteuses are exclusively female, and are responsible for watching eggs and teaching tadpoles, a responsibility which has grown to also encompass construction and craftswork. Cuielleurs are exclusively male, marked by hairlike growths on their rear legs and sides, and herd sea slugs and fish. They often wield short bone spears for hunting, but these are never used for war, which is the exclusive province of the guerriers, who make up about 3-5% of the population. The guerriers are both male and female, though they are prevented from reaching full maturity by a diet which includes several species of coral that inhibit hormone production. Membership in the guerrier caste is determined some weeks after metamorphosis depending on whether the Batrach in question is capable of extending claws – intentionally breaking the bones of the toe with a quick flex, causing them to pierce through the skin as sharp bone spikes. The bones naturally retract back into the toepad over time, and the flesh heals quickly, but as the guerriers rely on their claws exclusively most of them do not allow this to happen.

Spoiler: History and Government

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C’oupé is ruled by a theocracy, headed by the wearer of the Violet Crown, a tiara of twisted coral. The wearer is chosen by acclamation by a senate consisting of members of the most powerful houses, who choose their own successors. The primary duty of the Violet Crown is maintaining domestic order, as the terrain and climate naturally repel external threats. As such, large-scale infrastructure is overseen (and usually funded) by the Violet Crown, as are the Anuran Vanguards, who primarily act less as a defensive army and more like a militarized religious police force, focusing on protecting the region from the destabilizing influences of witchcraft.

In recent years, greater contact with the world at large has destabilized the usually elderly and conservative senate, and Lady C'Oup Oosh-Ritehn, the wife of the Middish Grand Master Oliver, managed to have her son Feirefis acclaimed as the wearer of the Violet Crown and the rightful leader of the Ironkelp Order, rivaling his brother in Orope. His rise to power came at an unprecedentedly young age, with Feirefis being barely an adult by Batrach standards, and the full implications of his leadership remain to be seen.

Spoiler: Resources

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C’oupé produces little in the way of goods for export, but the Anuran Vanguards commanded by the Order of the Violet Crown have cultivated a reputation for military valor. Though at present they remain neutral (and the Trawling Beasts greatly reduced their numbers), some guerriers might be persuaded to take up claws in exchange for foreign coin.

The Batrachs desire Toxins, as their folklore contains many stories about an ancient race of frogkind who secreted deadly poisons from their skin. Though no Batrach has ever achieved this, with an externally applied toxin one may at least replicate the legend.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Order of the Violet Crown dominates C’oupé, organized around defending the Batrachs from the threat posed by witchcraft. Witches are said to possess a variety of magical powers, but primarily the ability to entrap victims through hypnosis, who are taken to the witch’s hidden or magically invisible plantations and workshops and used as slave labor. Some witches instead offer the victim a share in their wealth in exchange for another person close to them, or even make them appear dead and retrieve them after their burial so their disappearance will not be missed. As witches generally use their powers to gain wealth and influence, a Batrach who experiences a rapid rise in their fortune is often assumed to be a witch. The Violet Crown dispatches Anuran Vanguards to investigate and take appropriate action, confiscating luxuries and killing known witches, who are decapitated to prevent them from resurrecting themselves.

The Order of the Violet Crown maintains two primary bases in C’oupé, at Les Cheminées in the northwest and Les Récifs in the eastern corner.

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Region 118
Ruwa Mai Juyawa, the Swirling Sea

Spoiler: Geography

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Lying between the brine pools at the edge of Orope and the shoals and brack of Dashasham and Qzzry’ya, Ruwa Mai Juyawa at first might seem to be a region that the past five decades have passed by. Sea spiders are the only animals in sight, scuttling between mingled strands of kelp and seagrass. But the faint bellowing of sea cows from far off soon reveals this impression to be false, as a Peul clan with their herds approaches out of the gloom.

Spoiler: People

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The people of Ruwa Mai Juyawa, the Peul, are fairly typical Mer, except that they are (or remain, depending on one’s theories of ancient Mer history) primarily pastoralists, as do other nearby peoples. The sea cow, a large, horned, reddish-brown creature that resembles an Earth manatee, is their primary livestock, providing meat, milk, and hide, and probably outnumbers the Mer in the region. Herding follows known annual routes through the complex network of currents, with each clan taking a different path to ensure enough kelp and seagrass are available.

The Peul have a reputation for being egalitarian, pragmatic, and practical, likely borne from their close dealings with the Cyphiri Union, which holds an expensive monopoly on sea cow exports. This stereotype should not be taken to indicate that they are particularly barbaric or spartan, however; they enjoy luxuries as much as any other creature, and any difficulties introduced by the need to transport possessions as they follow the sea cow herds are easily solved by harnessing the same sea cows to a neutral buoyant free-floating sled. Sex and gender play minor roles in Peul society, with age and accumulated experience being considered much more important; the ideal Peul is a polymath, adept at everything they turn their paws to.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The Peul are organized into a gerontocratic clan system based on extended familial relations, which does not seem to have changed much for as far back as their oral history extends. People and sea cows are the primary measures of a clan’s success or failure, as there is far more water in Ruwa Mai Juyawa than there are Mer to work it. However, with the comparatively recent arrival of the Cyphiri, and the foreign wealth they introduced, coin, jewelry, and fine clothing have become prominent markers of status as well, and many clans have reorganized their routes to pass by Cyphiri trading posts.

In recent years, the Grand Master of the Ironkelp Order took an interest in these waters, and married Dhobjetta Ambrosirtien (a name assumed upon her marriage). Following that Grand Master’s ousting from the Order, Ambrosirtien returned to Ruwa Mai Juyawa, where she consolidated her position at the head of one of the leading clans by leveraging her connections to Order nobility. Unfortunately, only a few years later, she was killed by Reavers, leaving her young son Percival the de jure leader of the herding clans as more experienced relations jockeyed for power.

Spoiler: Resources

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The Domesticated Sea Cow is Ruwa Mai Juyawa’s primary export. Two Cyphiri-owned trading posts in the east of the region act as centers for clans to sell their animals.

As Ruwa Mai Juyawa is filled with clouds of sand and other particles, the region’s Desired Import is Light Sources to cut through the glooms.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Peul follow a somewhat eccentric faith called Jande, whose primary tenet is that the gods and their supernatural powers simultaneously do and do not exist, in whatever combination causes the most inconvenience to mortals. Mer and other species were created as an accidental byproduct of a divine blood feud long ago, and the gods originally awkwardly tried to ignore them; however, the mortals proved too curious, and so the gods sent the Cataclysm. Now the truth of the divine is completely shrouded in a combination of ignorance and deliberate lies, with the exception that if the gods do still exist they are immutably hostile. Jande therefore upholds Mer ingenuity as the highest virtue, exhorting the Peul to bravery, curiosity, and justice in a world which is hostile to all three.

The clans generally place little value on the exact details of their religion, but a few Peul do choose to become monastic priests called limans, who dedicate themselves to traveling the seas in search of universal truth. The three leading limans at the moment are Usman, Yunfa, and Attahiru, and those who wish to spread their faith to the Peul would do well to win them over first.

* * *

Region 176
Yuksekale, the High Valleys

Spoiler: Geography

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West and south of the poisoned waters of the Toxfall Gorge, a vast massif rises out of the depths almost to the surface of the sea. Atop it lies the Kingdom of Yuksekale, named after its capital city, which is built atop terraces cut into the highest peak and whose great stone walls and towering heroöns stretch up to and above the water’s surface. Below the highest ridges, the three great brine river valleys of Kaikos, Seha and Gedir run westward towards the great brinefalls at the edge of the depths. The valleys bustle with activity, as mussel farmers scrape parasites from their saline-resistant livestock, miners harvest the local black-and-green stone, and merchants drag their sleds from town to town. At the precipice above the brinefalls, a few carrier fish drift on the currents, their tranquil drones belying the pocket of civilization that lies just behind.

Spoiler: People

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The Denizkizlari are the sole intelligent species in Yuksekale. They are merfolk, with a piscine lower body and tail meeting at the waist with a humanoid torso, arms and head, with scales typically in shades of brown or olive green, and they average three meters in length. Their primary occupation is mussel farming, which takes place along the brine rivers – the mussels of Yuksekale are adapted to a highly saline environment and grow very poorly outside of the brine. Unlike the Sereia, they do not use personal grafts, considering the practice somewhat barbaric, but they seem to have a strong immune system and a highly active liver compared to other merfolk, giving them a cultural taste for extremely salty food that often overwhelms outsiders. They also place a greater emphasis on modesty compared to other merfolk groups, and both men and women wear long dresses that cover the torso and the base of the tail as well as tailfin ornaments of metal or dyed seagrass.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The biological similarity of the Denizkizlari to the Sereia strongly suggests that Yuksekale was once part of the Tritaol Republic, but a complete lack of pre-collapse records renders it impossible to make any claims about this period with certainty. The oldest reference is to a pair of merfolk, called “The Unseen” and “The Unheard”, who founded and fortified the city of Yuksekale after receiving an omen of disaster, preserving the Denizkizlari through the Republic’s collapse even as the waters just to their north became completely uninhabited. The next certain figure is at least a century later – a merfolk leader named Attalis Salvador who re-fortified the city of Yuksekale against marauding bandits and a people called the “Tubaropek”, who may have been a faction of Pojanese raiders. His victory over the latter group cemented his claim to kingship, and under his rule and that of the descendants of his adopted heir Pellesh I, the Denizkizlari re-colonized the brine river valleys.

In recent years, the former Grand Master Oliver of the Ironkelp Order dispatched diplomats to the region in hopes of gaining promises of protection for the Lux-Glossian colony to the north. They quickly befriended the reigning King Pellesh IV with offers of lore and administrative aid, as he considered himself a polymath and preferred study to the responsibilities of rulership. He had been rendered infertile after a childhood accident, and upon his childless death he willed his Kingdom to the Ironkelp Order. Rumors of foul play and bribery or worse swirled among the nobility of Yuksekale for some time, but the Order was eventually able to persuade them of their good intentions, and the kingship was combined with the position of Grand Master of the Order. This did not last long, as upon Grand Master Martin’s formation of the Order of Orders, he transferred the title from the Grand Master of the Ironkelp Order to the Insmiddish Grand Master Gareth of the also newly formed Order of the Blind and Silent Knights, who now rules Yuksekale.

Spoiler: Resources

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Yuksekale has historically been isolated from trade owing to the surrounding geography, but with the arrival of Lux-Glossian colonists and Brilhinte priests in Narcis’s Rest to the north, the Costa Sereia took interest in the Whispering Eggs, by far the strangest mystery of the region. Neither fully biological nor mineral, the Eggs have never been observed to hatch; in fact, they are composed of a thin translucent purple membrane surrounding spiraling layers of some kind of black stone. Bubbles and the faint sound of whispering periodically emanate from the Eggs, and some claim they possess minds of their own. They are found only in two places, in briny seacaves in the southwest, and the darkness and pressure make their harvesting difficult and dangerous – though profitable enough to support a small trading town, Fisildayan Magara, in the southwest.

The Denizkizlari concern for modesty does not mean they are unappreciative of fashion, and Yuksekale requires significant imports of Dyes so its people can maintain their appearance.

Spoiler: Faith

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If the Brilhinte faith was ever present in Yuksekale, it seems to have faded soon after the collapse of the Tritaol Republic, and the Denizkizlari are largely unaware of its gods. The main figures of worship in the kingdom are [/b]The Unseen and The Unheard[b], the legendary deified founder heroes of the high city. According to legend, the pair were cursed on their wedding day, for reasons that vary with the telling, to be blind and mute (or, in some versions, deaf), and were shunned as a result. Wandering in exile, they settled atop the highest peak of the region, where they began to receive prophetic dreams foretelling the apocalypse. They expanded Yuksekale to accept more and more refugees as the Republic collapsed, preserving the Denizkizlari through the collapse. Two towering heroöns built over their tombs stand at the east gate of the old city walls, reaching perhaps ten feet above the surface, and the Denizkizlari still sacrifice there to call upon the Unseen and the Unheard for aid.

[bc56]

Pfilghol

Preferred starting location: 132

First Ruler:
Olgght, The-one-who-consumes
Diplomacy: 2
Economy: 3
Faith: 2
Intrigue: 3
Military: 5

Olgght unified the Pfith in the way of their grand tradition: by killing and devouring every rival who stood in their way in single combat. A titan of physical might even for a Pfith, Olgght wields nematocysts as deadly weapons to further their effectiveness. Their eyes are set now on the great diversity of the seas beyond the Pfithreef, a treasure trove of strengths to be added to their own. They granted themselves the title of "The-one-who-consumes" to signify their dominance, and what happened to their many victims.

Starting Technology: Composite Grafting
Naturally, the Pfith possess some ability to take on the qualities of organisms they consume. They augment this capability with grafted parts from captured victims, granting their warriors extreme variability in terms of specialization.

Starting Region: the Pfithreef
Geography
The Pfithreef is a shallow area rich in algae, seaweed, and small fish. Small volcanic vents pepper the area. The shallows and algae blooms leave much of the area brackish and uninhabitable for most species.
Amidst all this, the Pfith have managed to thrive, constructing enclaves on low parts of the seabed, especially around the warm vents. Of these, the capital "city," Ghlsgtot, is the largest, the home and base of operations of Olgght The-one-who-consumes, bringing together many Pfith that would normally be opposed to one another by force. It is situated above an arc of volcanic vents on the west side of the territory, in a depression that provides a level of natural protection from invaders.
People
The Pfith are giant sea slugs, of various bright colors and diverse shapes. They are hermaphroditic, possessing both male and female reproductive organs. An adult Pfith grows to about 8 feet long, but that size varies significantly. Most possess prehensile tendrils used to manipulate objects.
The most unique trait of the Pfith is their ability to absorb specialized cells from the creatures they consume. As a result, Pfith may have many different traits and configurations to suit different roles. However, the most common adaptations follow:
Pfith that consume large amounts of algae and plant matter may gain use of chloroplasts for photosynthesis. These Pfith have a greenish color and an improved regenerative ability.
Pfith that consume poisonous or venomous creatures in sufficient quantities often gain access to those poisons or venoms themselves in the form of glands or nematocysts.
Some other Pfith have mucus or ink glands.

Pfith are dangerous predators, not only to life in their territory, but to each other. It's easier for a Pfith to metabolize and gain traits if they get them from another Pfith, so they frequently cannibalize each other. Over time, this developed into a form of ritual single combat used to settle disputes, one which occurs with great regularity among the ever-hungry slugs. As a result, their communities tend to be small groups of Pfith who can tolerate each other, untrusting of drifters that might pass through and eat their way into the local power structure.

Resource
The humble War-Jelly is a staple of Pfith architecture and cuisine. These domestic jellyfish pack a deadly venom, and are used for two purposes. First, they are frequently placed as defenses, stinging intruders into paralysis and death. Second, their tentacles are eaten by the upper class in order to metabolize their nematocysts for stinging weapons.
However, other Exotic Creatures are in short supply and high demand, as powerful Pfith seek to expand the arsenals of abilities the command.

Faith
The Devouring Tenets state the most basic principles of Pfith life. Notably, might makes right, and the proper response to unhappiness is violence. This vicious, violent belief can barely be called a proper faith, with no authority figures or scriptures to call its own. It fosters conflict between its adherents, so naturally its holy places are ones of violence.
The Boiling Ring (Devouring Tenets) in the capital city of Ghlgstot serves as the primary site of ritual combat between Pfith.
The Predators' Caves (Devouring Tenets) lies on the outskirts of Pfilghol's territory, a site where Pfith go seeking to prove themselves against wild beasts.
The Glass Reef (open) is an unusual coral reef of translucent color, of little interest to the Pfith, but potentially of value to someone else.

[Gengy]

The Gotezhar
The People of the Rain
Ezcorher - Region 138

Spoiler: Summary

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Region Name: Ezcorher Population: Gotezhar Resource: Pure Berries [Great] Required Resource: Building Material Starting Tech: Supernatic Propagation (The Gotezhar are specialists when it comes to utilizing their biology above the surface of the water) The waters of Ezcorher are plentiful, and very clean, but still so full of salt. So full of that which the Gotezhar can barely tolerate. It has taken generations, as the ancestors rise and fall, accumulate and share, but at last – as loved as Ezcorher is to the Gotezhar for it’s guidance and protection – they are ready: They can find new heavens. First Ruler: The Sublime One Diplomacy: 2 Military: 5 Economy: 2 Faith: 3 Intrigue: 2

Spoiler: Geography

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Ezcorher is a stretch of water that, at least close to the surface, is very clean and clear. In some places, tall underwater mountains almost reach the water’s waves, creating interesting currents as the waters swirl around them. In others, left alone for centuries, enormous reefs have grown and expanded, attracting fish and other wildlife to the area. With the water so clear near the surface, flora and fauna both excel in Ezcorher; this makes food plentiful, and the ecosystem of the region is stable.

Not much is known about the deeper waters, as there are blessedly few spots that go below 200 hundred globes (feet) down, and fewer still willing to go into the darkness to find out. The Profundus are the only ones to risk it, and as they are so aged, few want to leave their nuvens. The few that have, in order to risk the deeps, have reported ancient ruins that have crumbled and acquiesced to the sea, leaving only husks of what once may have been former glories from long ago. The Profundus all agree that if anything lives down that deep, it is welcome to continue doing so.

Spoiler: People

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Ezcorher is not just home to fish and undersea plants. It is also the birthplace of the Gotezhar: the people of the rain. The average Gotezhar is a being no more than a single globe in height. They have a light blue hue to their skin, and a large bulbous round head that is the majority of their body. They have a small torso that leads down into a rounded point where legs might be, and two small nubs for arm limbs. Hovering above their head is their Actualization Shard – often just called the Shard – which is an oval shaped organ with a crystalline shine. The Shard is what allows a Gotezhar to grow. To be Shardless is to be stagnant and unable to expand…

…which is what every average Gotezhar desires. Their actual bodies are highly fragile, and their eyes cannot stand the salt that permeates the ocean for long; it is an irritant and makes a Gotezhar who experiences it irrational and belligerent, more so than usual. Yet, the Gotezhar are an ocean dwelling race, even if they prefer to live near the surface in reefs and on underwater crags. And the ocean is filled with salt. Thankfully, every Gotezhar is not just it’s meaty flesh.

The Shard allows a Gotezhar to have complete and total control of a personal bubble of water around themselves, nearly doubling or tripling their full size to that of two and a half globes, with small protrusions around the water bubble that act in accordance with their nub arms. The bubble of water, however, is incredibly special to each Gotezhar: it is fresh water. It contains no salt to irritate them and a healthy Gotezhar can keep other impurities from coming within their personal bubble – their Bolya – while welcoming more fresh water in. Yet it must be fresh water, or their Bolya will not grow.

There are only a few sources of fresh water readily available to a tribe of Gotezhar (referred to as a cloud or a nuven) and the most popular is the gift from the ancestors: the rain from the heavens. With the rain from the heavens, the water has already been blessed and contains almost no impurities, allowing a Bolya to expand an entire fizz (millimeter) every rainfall. The meaty flesh contained within the Bolya will also slowly grow over time, but the largest and biggest Gotezhar – the Profundus – still have bodies that barely exceed three globes in diameter, yet their Bolya can be 20 globes in diameter, with multiple arm protrusions and even more than one Shard floating within.

Which is the second way that a Gotezhar can accumulate fresh water: a gift from their dying nuven members. Gotezhar live and grow for over a hundred years, and the older they get, they find that it gets harder and harder to control their Bolya beyond a certain number of globes. Within that reach, as they age their personal bubble is entirely within their control, making them devastating fighters to those who would seek to harm their nuvens, or try to take their rain. Yet when they start feeling what the Gotezhar refer to as the Strain, they know they are now considered Profundus, and are soon to join the heavens. This Strain is a pushing and pulling upon their meaty interior that allows a Profundus to know they can choose to Burst at any time. Most Profundus elect to do so only when on the surface of the sea, nearby their direct family members, in order to pass along as much of their collected fresh water within their Bolya as they can when they finally Burst.

For an average Profundus, these means almost 150 gallons of fresh water suddenly exploding violently with a glorious pop of noise and outpouring of all their love onto their family within the nuven. Occasionally, a Profundus will fight against the Strain, and continue to live and even grown larger. While such stubbornness can result in even further strength and greater amounts of Bolya to share when they finally decide to Burst, it can also mean that the Profundus Bursts without their choosing. This results in all their fresh water being lost, only able to be accumulated when their spirits are strong enough to direct the heavens to rain it back down.

The meaty flesh of a passing Gotezhar slowly dissolves into foam within the ocean over two hours, including their Shard, unless the passing Gotezhar gifts it directly to another. Something within the Actualization Shard recognizes will and intent, so theft of a Shard – while possible – only results in a pretty bauble that will dissipate after a short time. Rumors that there are preservation methods of stolen Shards exist, but to almost every Gotezhar, someone trying to unjustly remove a Shard is akin to murder, often resulting in the same punishment: the perpetrator themselves become Shardless. If they are very lucky, the Squall – warrior – that comes to enact the punishment will give the criminal a chance to hand over their Shard, so the newly made criminal Shardless has a chance to earn it back after their punishment is over.

Squalls are still growing Gotezhar that have managed to tighten and control their Bolya in such a way that their water is more dense, and their fragile meaty bodies become membranous, often turning near transparent, making locating their exact center more difficult for the casual observer. They grow extra limbs, and often have digits on their arm nubs to allow for finer dexterity. Squalls take years to develop and can be done at a young age. They are often regarded as just as strong as the eldest Profundus, but the phrase “As dense as a Squall” is not one that often refers to their water…

Yet Squalls are important, as while they do not oversee the governance of the nuvens, they act as enforcers and guardians. It takes considerable time for a Profundus to become, well, a Profundus… but in comparison, a Squall is only a few short years, and an entire Tempest – a group of Squall – can be trained at the same time. Workers, Squall, or join in service to the Joontar of the Afluente: it is only a decade after birth that a Gotezhar is considered full grown enough to decide what to do with their lives.

Gotezhar births occur when two Gotezhar – both old enough that their Shards have split at least once – go to the surface of the seas and perform the Mingling; a pleasurable act that shares and swaps fresh water from their individual Bolyas. If both Gotezhar desire it, the Mingling will also reduce the amount of fresh water in their Bolyas by about five gallons each, and each Gotezhar will also lose a Shard. One Shard will grow into a new meaty body of the newborn, while the other will become the newborn’s first Actualization Shard.

A Shard will typically split for the first time – and every time after – every twenty years, but if a Gotezhar truly works at accumulating fresh water, it can split far more frequently.

Birth. Accumulate. Growth. Accumulate. Rise. Accumulate. Mingle. Accumulate. Burst.

Such is the way of the People of the Rain.

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Aristocratc Faction: The Profundus (Elders and leaders of local nuvens [tribes/families])

Spoiler: Resource

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Pure Berries [Great]
Ezcorher’s clear waters are attributed to both the Gotezhar’s desire to remove irritants and the bushels of bright red fruits that grow within the various reefs of the region. These apple-sized round berries grow together in great number, like grapes. They thrive on toxins and other impurities, sucking in poisonous materials like legends say ‘trees’ did for ‘bad gas’. Yet the Pure Berries - as they are called – still taste sweet and refreshing, proving to be the favorite foods of many fish and Gotezhar. Some Joontar speculate that the Pure Berries could be used not just as food, but also as medicine or a way to clear - even just temporarily - unhealthy waters.

Required Resource: Gotezhar need Building Materials to try and build above the surface of the sea, in order to gather more of the ancestral rain water as it falls down from the heavens.

Mercantile Faction: The Workers (A designation of gatherers and builders)

Spoiler: Faith

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"Rain is good. Rain come from above the sky. Sky make Gotezhar grow bigger, until Burst. The Spirit gets taken up to the clouds with the water, so they can rain down again. It is, like bubble, a circle."

While the wisest of the Gotezhar are the eldest of the Profundus, the most learned are the Joontar. The Joontar are not only the governmental branch of Ezcorher, they are also the scholars, and each is a devout believer in the faith that all People of the Land refer to as Afluente. This faith is firm in the belief that the sea, while bountiful, is not the final heaven. Instead, high above the sea, above the sky itself, are the Clouds of Heaven. There is an ancient document - or so legends say - that one of the Gotezhar Joontar once translated, and it explained something about the concept of 'precipitation', where the water is lifted into the sky, and creates the Clouds of Heaven. Then, according to precipitation, when the Heavens are bountiful enough, they return the water, and it has been blessed and purified, allowing the seas to grow.

The Gotezhar resonate with this precipitation concept, and those the original document has long been washed away and lost to time, the Joontar have held many a discussion as to it's meaning. These discussions have led to the founding of Afluente. After many years, the teachings are as follows:

1. The ocean is not the final heaven. You may rise further.
2. When you find yourself bountiful, share that bounty.
3. Clouds are one with the sky, and though they may change form, or even shrink and seem distant, they are always there.
4. The Spirit, when it is fit to Burst, will at last rise to the next Heaven. So grow as large as you can before you ascend!
5. Those who do not understand the Clouds are unworthy of them.
6. Fear not the howling wind, for the Rain comes with it.
7. All foulness will pass in time.

Clerical Faction: The Joontar (Government Officials whom are the most learned of the Gotezhar... at least, compared to other Gotezhar. Many who choose to become Joontar do so for the benefits of being able to gather Rain from many different nuven.)

Holy Sites

1. Dounpor: [Afluente] The primary capital of the Gotezhar, this city is built on a rare mountaintop that juts up above the sea. Surrounded by what the Gotezhar consider to be a 'fun' whirlpool that helps them get around the city (literally) it is one of the few places that multiple nuvens cooperate to share the rain water that falls down to bless them all.
2. Fee-yuria: [Afluente] A seemingly never ending storm cloud that rolls around the region, and several nuven follow it for when it rains. Constantly grey and stormy, many within Afluente see this as the place the souls of revered warriors go, so that they may continue fighting in the Heavens. There are times when Fee-yuria disappears, but it always reforms along the same nomadic pathway.
3. Kashowira: [Open] A reef in the southern section of the region, Kashowira is full of 'independent thinkers' who really are just there to enjoy the fast moving currents as a form of entertainment.

Spoiler: Personality- WIP

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Work In Progress.

General description of the average Gotezhar personality: not too bright, often ambivalent, and only desiring more fresh water to grow themselves… but they will do anything for the latter that doesn’t violate Gotezhar laws.

An individual Gotezhar is not exactly what one might refer to as 'smart'. Or, indeed, holding of 'average' intelligence. Or what the rest of the world might think of as 'Common Sense'.

...and the Gotezhar are ok with that.

Spoiler: Inspiration Image of a Gotezhar

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More Regions

136, 128, 139, 137, 174

Even More Regions

170, 140, 167

[Johnedwa]

The Seablood Khanate

Water has memory.

Once, long ago, before the surface world turned to a flaming, smog- imbued wasteland, there were a people. These people were a simple people, raising surface animals for sustenance, much like we now use the lights rays for sustenance. They worshiped water, for its life- giving properties, and mostly remained peaceful. If only they had known that their faith in water would be their salvation.

When the crisis came, they fled to the great bodies of water we now inhabit, and threw themselves in. Their priests prayed, and their warriors fought against the calamity, to no avail. And yet, one priest, he cast a spell. A simple spell, yet oh so important.

He put their essences in the water. No, they were water, and that water that made up themselves, became them. Became their thoughts, their lives, their souls. And when they died, that water merged in with the sea, what we now call home.

That water traveled, looking for life. In a process still unknown to us, we became them. Or, rather, they became us.

The priest, Jirai, didn’t foresee everything. He didnt understand the slippage that would occur- that only 70% of a person’s soul would be bound to the water, the rest decaying, lost forever. He didn’t understand the soul’s need to be whole, to fill the missing pieces with something, anything. We are different from our forebears, no matter what the Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond would have you believe. He didn’t understand that we would eventually find two hosts, symbiotic, one not able to survive without the other, thus fracturing our souls further, until it was something almost unrecognizable from the original.

We are the Coralites, the Zooxanthellae. We are individuals, we are new. We are our own source of truth, and to each other- and ourselves- must we find our future. You are your own creation, not an echo- go forth, create good works! Find your purpose!

Be who you were always meant to be.

Altan Ankhbayar, the Self- Religion Movement

Spoiler: Ruler

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Jirai Khan
Diplomacy:1
Military: 3
Economy: 4
Faith: 3
Intrigue: 5

Jirai Khan believes that he was the last Khan priest who "saved," the surface worlders from total devastation. Megalomanical and obsessive, Jirai Khan wants nothing more to "heal," his soul and return to the surface world. His policies so far have been entirely geared towards those two things- he has established the church as the direct authority over Sootopolis City, expanded the Coralite's knowledge of architecture and building, and spent more time than any Coralite meditating. He believes he is close to discovering the secret to the spell that he originally cast, and that would theoretically allow him to return to humanoid form.

Spoiler: Geography

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Amidst a great, rocky cliff off the edge of the ocean, there is a reef. Upon this reef is a massive colony of coral structures, a veritable garden of ocean life. Yet, this is no ordinary coral reef. It is the home of the Coralites, a marvel of architecture and engineering feats. Most would call it beautiful, except that no intelligent species other than the Coralites has yet to be allowed inside. The reef is situated on the ledge of an underground volcano, and some disturbing temperature spikes and toxicity has developed recently, though nothing has as of yet been done about it.

Starting Territory: Requesting either Area 31 or Area 25, though I'm honestly not that picky.

Spoiler: People/Government

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Most people know Coralites as one of two things- they are either a hard shell Coralite (Builder), or a soft- shell Coralite (Defender). While technically true, the answer is a little more complex. Each Coralite is actually a colony, a series of thousands of organisms living in concert with each other, unified by a single soul. Additionally, within each Coralite colony, lies several hundred Zooxanthellae, who provide energy to the Coralite colony, as well as providing the Coralite’s color. All of these organisms are responsible for the vaguely- humanoid shapes that the Coralites take on, though there can be some variations from colony to colony based on that colony’s interpretation of what a “surface- worlder,” looked like.
Every Coralite’s main interest is first and foremost, to its colony. The colony must work together to act in its own best interests, but this is more difficult than it appears. At any given time, several hundreds of Coralites debate and argue over the next course of action- other ancestries may see them as slow to act, slow to think.
Coralites have a sort of soft- caste system. Hard shell Coralites are called Builders, and they are responsible for the building and creating of the home, weapons, and art pieces that the Coralites may need. Builders are able to take the minerals in the water and the surrounding shoals and turn it into calcium carbonate, which they use to make said structures. Soft shell Coralites are known as Defenders, for they possess a stinging venom which they can use to paralyze predators that would attack the reef. Zooxanthellae are the energy providers- their only job in the colony is to provide energy, and as they reside inside individual colonies and not as a part of the larger brain, they are not afforded as many rights as an individual Coralite is. However, as most Coralite colonies are smart enough to realize that, without the Zooxanthellae, they would all perish, most colonies do enough to keep the Zooxanthellae happy. Colonies are also further sorted by the religious affiliation they belong to, which is told further below.
While having to work together on a near- constant basis would lead one to believe that they are by nature cooperative, the truth could not be more different. Individual colonies tend to look after the colony first, second, and third, and only cooperate together with other colonies when absolutely necessary. This is likely a cause of the belief that each colony is a single soul, and perhaps also some leftover remnant of the individualistic ancestors who came before.
There is no difference between religion and government when it comes to the Coralites. Nominally, the leader of the government is the Khan, the head of the Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond. He dictates how colonies must spend their time, where to build, where to defend, to explore, and ultimately, how to one day reach the surface. All of the reef is theocratically owned, and every colony is cared for by the collective will of the members of the reef. As time has passed, however, his rule has become less and less absolute, as the Self- Religious Movement has grown. If a colony believes in themselves as the highest form of god, they tend to be anarchistic, and do only as they themselves believe to be the best, with little coordination from outside colonies. The current Khan, Jirai Khan, has yet to expel the troublemakers from the reef, though he gets closer and closer every day to doing so.
Reproduction amongst the Coralites is an extremely long and slow process, as it requires a set number of individuals numbering in the thousands before a Coralite colony can attain sentience. As such, most new ones are grown over a period of a hundred years or so, and mature slowly, not reaching adulthood until one has been around 400 years or so.

Spoiler: Resource

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The Builders of the Coralite clans have an amazing ability to turn the minerals in the water into calcium carbonate, which can be further refined into either fibrous aragonite or diamond- hard calcite. These materials are great building materials on the ocean floor, and as such, are highly sought after. However, Coralites are extremely sensitive to heat fluctuations. Heating mechanisms are of extreme importance to the Coralites, less they begin to die off.

Spoiler: Faith

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There are two main religions amongst the Coralite colonies, with each colony collectively belonging to one or the other group. The first, led by the de facto leader Jirai Khan, are called the Priesthood of the Echoes of Beyond. They believe that the Coralites are fractured souls of the lost surface people, and wish to carry on and model their society exactly as the lost surface world did. They believe deeply in the power of meditation, and that only through this meditation- and the eventual reclamation of the surface world- can they be whole. Water is the chief power in the universe being a lifegiver and a savior of the individual soul. The colony’s appearance is almost uniformly humanoid- shaped, though this appearance can differ slightly, due to differences in a colony’s perception of what a surface worlder may have looked like.
The other faith is a relatively new belief system (only a few thousand years old!), and is led chiefly by the younger Coralite colonies. They believe that their souls are not the same as the surface world, but rather a new creation, mixed with the sea and their own species of coral; essentially, the soul is mutable. Therefore, rather than striving to model society after a long- dead ancestor, they should strive to find their own way in this new world. They have six codified tenants, written down by the Coralite Altan Ankhbayar, which are as follows:

Your mind is the source and standard of truth, so no matter what, trust yourself.
Your emotions are authoritative, so never question (or let anyone else question) your feelings.
You are sovereign, so flex your omnipotence and bend the universe around your dreams and desires.
You are supreme, so always act according to your chief end, to glorify and enjoy yourself forever.
You are the summum bonum—the standard of goodness—so don’t let anyone oppress you with the antiquated notion of being a incomplete soul.
You are the Creator, so use that limitless creative power to craft your identity and purpose.
The two faiths have clashed recently over the direction of the Coralite colony, and it would not take much for this to boil over into conflict.

Spoiler: Holy Sites

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The Garden of Awakening: The birthplace of the Coralite species, this is where the first Coralite gained sentience, its soul partially “restored.” It lies in the northwest corner of Sootopolis City, a pure garden of coral architecture and engineering. It is often considered the most beautiful place in Sootopolis City. Open to the public year- round, many new coral pieces are added on to it each year, creating a majestic labyrinth of coral garden.

Temple of the Ancients: Occasionally, a Coralite will have a dream about a particular memory of when they lived on land. This, according to the Priesthood, is a sign of the soul coming together, of knitting closer and closer to being whole. Usually, these dreams are in response to some sort of physical stimulus, often from objects found in deep water. The Temple of the Ancients is normally where they find these objects. An abandoned “camp,” the Temple of the Ancients hosts a large bounty of foreign objects from the surface world, strewn amidst rock and rubble. This site is believed to have been the camp of the old surface worlders, and as such, is amongst the most holy of places. The Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond makes its headquarters here, and priests can often be found here meditating, trying to heal “their,” soul. As a side note, objects here that a Coralite makes a connection with are not kept here, but rather taken back to the Coralites personal abode, where they can continue to forge their soul back together.

Altan Ankhbayar’s House: Where Altan Ankhbayar penned the tenants of what has been called the Self- Religious Movement, partially as a discourse against the teachings of the Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond. While the colony and The Priesthood have declared the house as having no significant religious affiliation, younger followers of the Movement have begun gathering here as a way to congregate amongst themselves, without fear of judgment.

Spoiler: Starting Technology

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Composite Grafting. The Coralites are technically several thousand organisms all sharing the same body, creating said superorganism. If a piece of the Coralite colony were to ever be struck or die, it is likely that the whole colony would die.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Eternal Spring; home of Mammos, of [Redacted], and Mawbel vX.XX, the Titan Of Industry

Region Name: Verja (61), The Factory Of Thorns

Spoiler: Geography:

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A deep, deep region composed of two major strata. The upper strata is populated by a billowing mass of smoke, a foggy region with little in it but water and waste. At the bottom of this barren place, a treasure chest buried under the depths, is the Crown Of Avarice. Within it flows all of the malice and greed and desires of not just this region, but of all of polar. Coalescing into a black spot for Mawbel specifically to harness and direct. Its true appearance is something many desire to know, but something none but the Inky Industrialist herself has seen, and to tell the secrets of the Crown would spoil the value.

Deeper below is the true colony. At depths that would crush standard living organisms live plants that have accustomed to these depths and lifeless machinery that sprawls all throughout these lands. The once rocky, empty lands have filled up to the brim with useless metal that lingered just below the surface. Scrawled up by magic and held together by magnetism into a great factory that yearns forÂ…

Better left unsaid.

Along this place lies thorns, a hedge of brambles, thousands upon thousands of them the size of tree trunks, some veins approaching the size of whales, masses filled with poisonous ink stretching out through the entire region and making even the light from the Crown Of Avarice dim in retrospect. This flora that makes up the outermost layer of seafloor terrain is best described as the Ruling Caste.

Spoiler: People

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There were people, once. They worshipped the Glacial Gods, perhaps entirely unknowing of the true Glacial God that lurked within their waters. MAWbel v2.5 [Songstress] has brought it to life, given it new cylindrical form, and even now its work continues. The people serve within this new religion, and even their forms have been shifted in indistinguishable ways. The process is selectively reversible, supposedly, but most of the denizens of this place have been converted into Burrowing Shrimp, with the intelligence of the Original Shrimp and the New Shrimp equalizing out into something productive, yet compliant.

Society here works towards the goals of the faith as it ever was, and life for those people has been, while diminished, otherwise left uninterrupted. The now-less-mindless Shrimp appreciate the change in hierarchy too, all have become one, and made their coves inside of their new metal alcoves and homes in this place where all light is artificial.

Medusa live here too, although now it is all iterations of Mabel, and all connected to the whole. Her thorns stretch to every corner, give off magnetic waves that the people have been attuned to hear, and is by scholars regarded to be a lower frequency, selectively applied method of Mawbel v2.XXÂ’s singing. The otherwise confused and isolated shrimp-people of the region are easily corralled into efficient construction crews.

Spoiler: Resource / Require Resource

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Resource: Burrowing Shrimp.Shrimp that can burrow. Subterranean people.

Mass amounts of them, thinking, and yet not supremely thinking. Enough to have their own commerce and society, but when examined on a micro level seem more akin to animals than people. Some of these shrimp are smarter than the others, and selectively breed with each other to preserve their comparative intelligence. Mawbel gives slight favoritism towards the intelligent breeds too, delegating them to the leads of tasks and making sure the collective brains donÂ’t breed themselves into oblivion, also making sure that when she needs food or compost to select for the least intelligent of the lot.

The same traits that genetically grant intelligence are also those most suited towards surviving at more intense pressures, and are thusly not really equipped to survive at all at the looser pressures up above. They if anything prefer to dig deeper into the structures, and leave any typical ‘resource’ needs to their less ‘evolved’ brethren.

Required Resource: Unskilled Labor

Turns out, the shrimp becoming a consumerist black hole means they demand an awful lot of labor, far more than they can wrangle out of the shrimp. Far more than they can wrangle out of the remainder of the local wildlife too, for that matter. The local shrimp can do wondrous things on a massive scale, but only when the song directs them to a project, they are too mindless otherwise. The smaller shrimp lords have a thousand things they desire, and can only acquire about four of them. For their unyielding, endlessly growing list of desires they must look to external sources of labor.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Eternal Communion, as headed by Mawbel v2.XX [Songstress]. There is a bigger Industry bent here than most, as it is what the entire evolutionary structure and ecology of the region is based on. There are even connections to the outside, although worship of the High Priestess is far different down below than above, and the shrimp rarely come above for worship. Tribute is given and collected in a different way, with The Crown being a constant beacon no matter the time, although Mawbel will still rise up on Holy Days to collect it and sing for herself.

Unlike other regions where the merits of the religion are held up for their own right, VerjaÂ’s culture is one of utmost practicality, and recognizes that commerce too is something to be channeled for the good ofÂ…

Better left unsaid.

Holy Sites
Abyssal Shroud
A holy site based on a local crater, a holy site based on a similar project in Magma Falls. With imported squid, the few that can survive these pressures, and plastic glitter and smoke trails to adorn it and the holy tourist sites that are even being visited here and there because more and more kingdoms are getting depth access.

Gear Rim
Less of a singular location, and more of a pathway, this makes up a wide 'road' that winds in a mostly oval shape on the base of the region. Going around the whole thing is a sign of pilgrimage, a useless but fulfilling trip around the hampster wheel. Whatever a hampster is.

The Cylinder
A towering titan like entity of smoke, pointing directly up at the Crown Of Avarice. A premium real estate position for the most important of worship, and something that finds its locals overturning fairly often as more and more residents buy their way in and buy the others out.

Spoiler: TL:DR Region 51, Original, Preserved For Posterity

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Eternal Spring

Kingdom Name: Eternal Spring
Region Name: Magma Falls
Geography: A mix between extremely hot springs and extremely cold polar water everywhere else.
Dominant Species: Illustrator Alga, various breeds of Jellyfish.
Resource: Immortal Jellyfish
Resource Requirement: Mounts? Megafauna?
Faith: The Tall Tales

Spoiler: Geography:

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To be written depending where I’m placed, tentatively looking at the southwest corner of the Polar regions in Region 51.

A deep series of valleys and hills within a cold desolate area, having hot springs and geysers spread throughout it. Those heat producing fountains make the area way too hot for many lifeforms, even if the native inhabitants thrive under those conditions, and everywhere else is abruptly too cold. There is a high amount of drift aquatically between the hot and cold areas within the currents, and one can reasonably map out the microcosm of miniature ‘rivers’ within these lands. The floor is composed of very rocky terrain, with comparatively little dirt, requiring fairly large root systems for plants to worm their way down to something approximating soil.

The surface is still far out of sight from even this relatively elevated depth, but very briefly at the points of summer the cold fades and the region is sunk to a warm temperate climate. During the winter season, however, the entire region goes dark, and it is only the slight glow of the Leviathans that lights the area up, for predator and prey alike.

However, there aren’t too many carnivores that stalk these lands. Barren of most plant life spare that which defends itself makes herbivores not too plentiful, and those that aren’t afraid to approach the springs usually get tamed and held captive. Lack of these larger beasts keeps the bigger predators away from the region too, and they wouldn’t feed on the plant based life forms that make their niche in this comparatively safe and heat-based area.

The lands of Magma Falls are filled with geysers and steam and volcanoes, providing huge influxes of warmth in an otherwise cool climate. This is the primary area where the Leviathan can flourish and live in their natural state, and where they would be confined to if they didn’t have their technology to let them spread further. A bastion of glowing oasis in an otherwise barren climate, the weather here is by no means fair. Many of the hot spring areas are surrounded by bitter cold waters, and the temperature extremes are much more common within the region itself than any reasonable climate activity

Spoiler: Species Details

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Species Name: Illustrator Alga (Magma Megaflorae)
Colony Name: Medusa
Individual Part Names: Seed, flower, heart, swim, lung, etc.

Biology: Each Medusa is made up of many different plants, all functioning in tandem like a hivemind operating a single body, but capable of having their own thoughts and missives when planted separately, and merging those memories into the whole of the Medusa when reimplanting. The entire kingdom of Magma Megaflorae is made up of dozens of Medusaes working in tandem, cross pollinating to share memories and work together on projects. Occasionally, two Medusaes merge into a singular larger Medusa, and rarely, two or more Medusaes work together to birth an altogether new Medusa. Generally seeming to act in most ways like single organisms that happen to have different mostly sapient body parts.

By default, these life forms are rooted and stationary. However, recent technological developments have allowed for uprooting and rerooting into fertile lands, which allows for more practical movement options than year long seeding creep. The advent of Megafaunal Tailoring to stretch further beyond has allowed for mass travel and for Medusaes to cross pollinate to an absurd degree. Which, in turn, has caused certain Medusa phenotypes to dominate and to dwindle the total ‘minds’ down to a mere dozen or so. Those that remain after the mergers and devouring are very strong willed, and better equipped not to get wiped out by other Medusaes. They work together now, forming a vague tribal society, ready to reach out into farther lands beyond the mere borders of their humble region.

Lifespan: Immune to aging by traditional methods, and even if aging was a factor, the way their memory gets transferred amongst their discrete body parts means consciousness is contiguous even when every individual part has withered. Usually Medusaes ‘die out’ due to warfare or being subsumed by a more dominant Medusa. In terms of age categories, they mature very slowly on their own, but said maturation process speeds up exponentially with exposure to stimuli. “Hearts” are typically formed to store memories and converse within oneself on courses of action, and are often the most dominant of the personalities within it, so how much the Heart infrastructure of an Medusa is overgrown will usually give you an idea of how old an Medusa is.

Appearance: The Medusa can appear in any number of fashions, as their individual parts are easily able to be assembled into shapes. This in particular is interesting because other sapient life forms are encountered beyond their borders, and the Medusaes may need to band together to survive against those outside forces. In a similar vein, they may need to take on superficial appearance qualities to diplomatically converse with said species, although they do not hide the material they are made of. In the shapes of other species Medusa look to be golems made up of glowing seaweed and fire.

Feeding: Volcanic activity within the region feeds the Medusaes their primary food source, heat. Not needing light like other plants, they primarily feed off of geysers and steam pockets. Their recent expansion into ‘agriculture’, growing animals for heat and travel purposes, has provided them with a wild explosion of maximum plant capacity within the region. It allows them to translate most resources into something that feeds them at the top of the food chain while they root into their engineered creations.

Anatomy: Each Medusa of the Leviathan Species is made up of many, many specialized plants. Like an ant colony, each of those more basic parts serves a singular function, and serves it well.

Heart: Organs which serve as memory holsters. Usually the brains of the operation, an Medusa often has dozens or even hundreds of hearts, networking to come up with creative solutions and give orders to the rest of the body parts. While other body parts think for themselves, their memories and wills are usually merged and reconnected in a rapid pace with Hearts.
Swim: Little (or sometimes not so little) buzzing drones, Swims are capable of movement without rooting that can swim around, drop seeds, and implant into living organisms. Once implanted though, they shift to a later stage in their life cycle and usually give up their mobility.
Lung: Heat storage, able to hold a great capacity of boiling hot water and preserve it with incredible insulation, which allows for other parts of the Medusa to survive in climates that are not boiling.
Seed: Seeds grow into other parts with nutrition, and often require soil to grow. Soil is a loosely defined term however, and it can range from anything like an active volcano to a living Orca.
Flower: Elegant parts that emit light and can signal and sing and communicate, as well as the primary means by which Medusaes inhale heat into their systems.

Spoiler: Civilization:

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Their lands are segmented into different Phytochoria, each Medusa holdings its own territory and rarely crossing into that of another. On the matter of friendly Medusaes, they may co-colonize an area together, and intermingle their memories and terrain. Sometimes this results in a new Medusa forming, sometimes this results in its allegiance swaying entirely to one side, but most of the time these areas form as means of communication with each other without risk of contamination.

These Megaflorae are still learning how to work together, and act usually as individuals loosely bound together and not as a proper society. Infighting is rampant as the Medusaes have wildly diverging ideas of what is proper. Tentatively banding together under the banner of “enlightened people”, and shifting their conscious dominance contests into a culture of proving their ideas in practicality, these people have a lot of cues to take from larger scope civilizations if they are to flourish.

“How big can an individual Medusa get?”

Generally, an Medusa can expand to an unlimited size, up to where it runs into constraints due to space, available soil, heat, competitors, hostile environments, or other unforeseen competitors. However, calling an “Medusa” an individual being isn’t strictly accurate, each Medusa is made up of thousands and thousands of individual plants, each with their own thoughts and functions and size limitations, no individual thinking plant has been known to bloat to a size of over a dozen feet. It is way more efficient to grow a dozen extra Hearts than it is to try to expand one singular Heart to mammoth proportions.

Spoiler: Resources and Starting Faith

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Resource: Immortal Jellyfish

These mundane primitive creatures are the true native inhabitants of this region, which in a process of runaway evolution sprouted into what we now know to be the Medusa. Along with their Crystal and Moon sisters, they flourish and inhabit this region in their more primitive forms alongside their much more evolved Medusa companions. Easily held captive and sold in excess, these usually prefer either the very hot or the very cold of this region, and stick to those segments of Magma Falls that contain their preferred temperature.

Updated Resource: Maleficent Jellies
Like their evolutionary predecessors, Immortal Jellies, these creatures biologically have no end point, multiplying indefinitely and staying around unless otherwise killed or consumed. Which happens a lot inside of nature.

These however, have been rendered noxious and utterly inedible to any that consume them. Sped up via bioengineering until they have ink like a squid, corrosive to the touch, so even when one gets eaten, the rest survive. The Riftlings were in need of such a toxic fluid, and that was the origin point of the research. But in this process, the Medusa of Eternal Spring have discovered... there's something so much more to these creatures than could ever have been expected.


Required Resource: Megafauna

The Medusa desperately need more and more of these for basic transportation needs, and as their capacities develop, so does the craving for more. No longer satisfied with mere practical needs, the Medusa want to *swim*. For pure pleasure’s sake, to see above the farthest reaches of the waters above, to dive as deep down as they can get. To explore this new world, and fill it with their own. For that, they need ever larger creatures, or at least a lot of smaller creatures.

Spoiler: Faith: The Tall Tales

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Encountering the idea of death is a mysterious thing for these Megaflora, almost foreign given their nature. And yet, it is terrifying and profound, looming increasingly large as they discover just how wide this world truly is. However, what comes from this is two-fold, the greater possibility and greater calling that would never be thought possible before.

Spiritual belief of these peoples is generally condensed into making wondrous stories. Tall tales, extravagant lore. Individuals having an adventure seems foreign to beings split into multiple forms, and this foreignity is ascended to mythic status. Memory is the highest quail, and as long as one is remembered, one is still breathing and alive. More literally true for these beings than for others, but it still holds well for the rest.

So what makes a good story? What makes an inspiring character? How will you compress information into a small and memorable bite to be devoured by all you come across? Become the hero you wish to see in the world. Create your own Tall Tale, and live forever within them.

Holy Sites:
1: The Echo (Owned)
A great, wide valley, deeper down than any other place. One would mistake this to be a further depth, and actually going into this pit is crushing. Yet, one can stand at the precipice of it, and on the edges many festivals and rituals are held. In mimicry of other races, sacrifices are even thrown into the dark pit, and the reverberation of sound isn’t just for the singing done by the worshippers, but from whatever currents lie below as well.
2 The Faceless Ruins
Multiple stones, believed (once encountering tales of other living beings), to be remnants of a long past era. People from outside have made treks here, and thus it has become a great holy pilgrimage site.
3 Statue of The Unknown Hero
One day, a Mer built a statue at this location, suspended over a cliff, pointing at the heavens. Whether the Mer who built the statue resembles the person, is even a Mer, or is even a single entity and not a whole construction crew. But the hero is worshipped as an idyllic figure, with stone carvings of the adventures the Mer went on chiseled all at the base of the statue.

Presumably. It's all in a foreign language to the native inhabitants of the region.

Spoiler: Trade Posts:

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1 Mount Doom (Owned)
A hive of Jellyfish, a breeding ground inside of a dormant volcano. They live in here, sheltered from the outside world in a heated bubbling brew. With traders giving them environments, they can be brought out and planted into other environs, or sold as novelties to those of other visiting species.
2 tbd
3 tbd

Region 47 Write Up Submission

Spoiler

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Region Title: Town Square

Geography: Cold. So cold. Infested with way too much yucky, sunlight sapping moss. Thankfully the living areas have been swept clean of said moss to make room for the Mawbel Hedge, allowing her to govern this city efficiently through the grace of her thorny oversight. Clean, even flats of land plated with steel, made into significantly sized squares as construction to place buildings upon. All centered and compressed into the rough shape of an elongated square visible from space, and there is no better word to describe this shape.

Outside of the Town Square is savage wilds, area laid claim to by foreign titans, endless rows of moss, poor surgeonfish. No need for roads, and no real capacity to build them either. Unlike the dries above, even with the Titan Of Industry who specializes in wheeled infrastructure at the helm, waterborne travel is too efficient to bother. There is a nice scenic view of the wastes above (north), and the increase in shipments over the years have caused the geography to be shaped into useful crevices and caverns to be used as resting sites.


People: The surgeonfish that used to populate this region are scarce, now. They have been splintered into three general categories on the advent of Mawbels acquisition of the Town Square. The Elites, who make up the aristocracy, were given a whole lot of wealth to betray and sell out their compatriots, until finally they wound up with significant power over their kin. The Warriors, which really consists of all the able bodied surgeonfish, assigned as workhorses to the Elite, although many have been signed off to Mawbel for future resale, probably to the Nacres as their final fate. The Janitors, whose job it is to clean up the Hoarfeast Moss and stop it from getting in the way of the elegant construction within the city.

These groups have been split up to optimally rip apart families, ties, and old bonds to best help new bonds form to their new community and jobs. Elites are exempt from this, but are segregated and rivaling each other sufficiently to render it unnecessary. Aside from the natives there is a huge influx of mercenaries and adherents to The Eternal Communion, discussion on how to run the city and what to build reckons throughout on a day to day basis. All the while, as the miniature wars are fought and opulence games are collected, Mawbel scrapes the excess to


Resource: Hoarfeast Moss

Scraping the excess isn’t just for the sheep. Turns out with enough of the rival plants, one can make use of them. Edible, for isolates, if not for plants. Very good at collecting frost in the cold climate, can be useful for many things of a polar nature. The plenty is the biggest upside, everyone is capable of feasting just from what the Janitors collect. It could be an invasive species if allowed to spread to Verja, and Mawbel specifically does not want that infection choking out her roots. It is really only due to the industry of the great one that this active weed is harnessed into a tasty commodity.

Desired Import: Precious Minerals

Shiny people need shiny things. The precious, my precious. A sort of proxy commodity, at least that’s what’s best guessed. The inhabitants use it for something, but their overlord has not especially paid much attention as to what. As long as she can supply them, they seem happy, and an opiate by any other name is still as sweet.

Spoiler: Original Region Exploration Blurb

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"Lux-Glossian explorers venture deeper into the cold seas, and they notice clumps of moss growing in strange patterned patches on boulders. Being explorers, curiosity is second nature to them. As they try to take samples, they are ambushed by the surgeonfish native to the region (a strange species adapted to the cold), who blub angrily that the explorers are disturbing their family records. Having esteemed ancestors is the single greatest factor of social status in the region, so every time someone dies, their family grows another clump of moss on the family boulder, with the shape and positioning of the moss and marks on the boulders indicating what kind of life that person lived. This way, their memory is preserved forever, and their descendants prosper under their protection... until some fools with scrapers and sample bags show up, that is.
The Lux-Glossian Shades explore southwest of region 49! They discover region 47, a glacial region with three Open TPs of Hoarfeast Moss, a Desired Import of Precious Minerals, 4 Units of Native Defenders, one Holy Site controlled by Familial Veneration, and one Open Holy Site."

Previous Faith: Familial Veneration

This allowed for the Surgeonfish to stay intact, keep memories over centuries, using family traditions on the boulders and rocks they kept. These are still around, in the lining of the Squares, serving as small obstacles. It offers some meek measure of religious protection, and in the before times it was said to be much, much further. Their ancestors still swim around back up to twelve generations past, and in the time before the cubening, these moss scriptures not only contained memories of ancestors, but often very vital skills they once knew, serving as a learning tool for the younger generations and a way to pass on knowledge.

Current Faith: Eternal Communion (describe 2 holy sites)

The Rectangle: A horrendous thing, shaped by Mawbel herself, incorrectly measured and placed right near the top. During construction, Mawbel decided to just let it keep going and going as an overline, calling it religious and pretending that bit of architecture was intended. True to form, a thing so named will become that thing in truth, and as more and more people used it as a market for their exchanges and worship, it started to become in truth a place of power.

Green Square: One singular square has been left as a moss farm within the Town Square as a moss farm, providing easier access to food within. A holy statue was built in this area to indicate it be left comparatively untouched, and people started worshipping it as a place of plenty in what is often a dry season between shipments of food from the outside.

Region 50 Write Up, First Draft

Spoiler

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Region Name: Diamond Brick Road
Region Number: 50

Geography: Paved, pushed, forced into a shape. All built with a singular purpose; facilitate supply transfer between Magma Falls and Town Square. Quite a bit of work went into flattening the geography and placing all kinds of glittery reverberating rocks into a shape that could hold rolling gear technology.

They shine with slightly captured light even when late, the waters above are empty, and the region itself is sparse. Wildlife is shaken away and the eels that once lived here are a rare delicacy to be found and consumed, rather than the prime inhabitant of the region.

People: Merchants, colonizers, really any and every sort of riff raff is welcome. Even the poor especially the poor. There are plenty of housing caves built into the mountains that used to be here to store them, and every species can reside. Though for the moment these areas are moderately empty, there are plant to fill them up soon enough.

Faith: Eternal Communion
The major holy site of the region is the wide spanning, far traversing, Eternal Diamond. Which despite the name, is not a single diamond, so much as it is all manners of diamonds made of specially sharpened and jeweled gems along the road itself. Built in with a structural integrity unrivaled, surprisingly hard to pry back out, held there by the power of Industry itself. These are practically a sign of worship, and help project and remind people all during their work what they toil for, and the profits that will inevitably fall into their fins.

Resource: Reverberating Conundrum

Glowing. Singing. Plentiful. Infused with some magnetism to make them ideal building blocks for any purpose, from entertainment to efficient structure. They are what make up the giant road the region has become, and there are plenty more to be found all throughout in the mountains, yet to be harvested.

Well, that's what putting the natives to work is for, right?

[Feathersnow]

The World Garden of the Sakura-Jin

Starting technology: megafaunal alteration

Spoiler: synopsis, religion

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The World Garden believes the world is a flawed creation of a malicious divinity, called the Demiurge. This divinity is all-pervasive and unconscious, and is largely synonymous with the natural world. Conscious beings have souls that are trapped in the false creation and cannot escape. To this end, the World Garden must subdue and destroy the demiurge to create a superior, bespoke world. This would be the step to recreate the world in the image of the heaven souls were exiled from

There are various tenets of the World Garden faith. Chief among them-

Thou shalt not reproduce. Evolution is the tool and method of the Demiurge and any born by natural means are cursed as thralls to it.

Wear not the dead. As reproduction chains obe to the future, clothing ties one to the past.


To this end, all members of the society are nudists who were intentionally created and spawned artificially without the ability to successfully reproduce. Converts are accepted, but only if they accept sterilization.

The primary species that is created as members of the society is a race of sapient hermit crab. They instinctively are inined to wear shells, but refrain for religious reasons.

Spoiler: Ruler, government

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Primarch Marcion, scion of Thekla (They, Them)

Diplomacy 1
Military 2
Economy 4
Faith 4
Intrigue 1


Based on the genetic template of the prophet Thekla (she/her), Marcion was built to fill the role of political leader of the Sakura-Jin. Thekla was one of the last generation of naturally occurring hermit crab people, they are now believed to be extinct in the wild. They exhibited pronounced dimorphism, which is erased in the artificial strain, except for occasional males created as elite warriors or females created as elite scouts.

Marcion is devoted to spreading the true faith and also in improving the material well-being of their people, goals they
see as unified.

In a more general sense, the government of The Sakura-Jin is caste-based, with a roll assigned when a larva reaches the age of reason.

Spoiler: Geography: Heights of Dashasham also history

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119 preferred


A series of reefs and seamounts leading to a few volcanic islands, this biologically rich area is full of wildlife ultimately supported by the high amount of plankton supported by the cool but nutrient rich water.

The area is hilly and full of caves.

The area has been inhabited by Hermit Crab People for untold time, but they were converted to the World Gardens faith over about a century about two centuries ago, after the First Prophets received the technology of megafaunal alteration from the Nacres.

There are many ruins, as the Hermit Crab population crashed after the adoption of the Gardener faith. These are not always visible, as cities in the region were often made by using natural cave systems, enhanced with artificial light wells.

Spoiler: Resources

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mega-barnacles
These sessile crustaceans are made of meat and crunchy, hard chitin. They produce adhesives in large quantities. The main export of The Heights of Dashasham is Glue.

Desired resource- shells.
Hermit crabs love them. Even though people no longer wear them, they find them soothing and use them as a writing material.

Spoiler: People

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Name of nation: The World Garden
Adjective- Gardener
Individual- Sakura-Jin

Hermit crab nuns. They mediate and most tend to gardens.
These large crustaceans used to an instinctively long to wear giant snail shells as armor. They have many limbs, the second and third pair of which is specialized into manipulators, while the first pair are powerful claws. Movement is done primarily by the forth pair. The right fifth claw is specialized to produce noise.

Hermit Crab culture is all but synonymous with the World Garden faith. Though there are non-Hermit Crab converts, all living Hermit Crabs are Sakura-Jin.

Hermit Crabs often wear composite armor made of glued together stones. Their material culture is deliberately minimalist, though freizes and frescos decorate most rooms.

Unlike irl humans, Hermit Crab folk have gender determined in discrete groups rather than a spectrum. There were two naturaly occurring morphs, the male morph being bigger, stronger and more aggressive
than the tougher, faster, female morph. A third, genderless morph was created by the Sakura-Jin that maximizes sensory processing. Currently, approximately 95% of all living Hermit Crab folk are agender, with the remainder being females specializedin scouting, mission work and trade. There are currently no living males.

Hermit Crab folk spend the first two years of their life as Larvae, where they are nonsapient, and develop into personhood at a distinct point, wherein they learn with extreme acuity and speed for about a year, at which point this capability burns out and they decrease to human-equivalent intelligence about the time they reach they size of a small human teenager.

Spoiler: Holy sites:

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1) The Ossuary. Where genetic cultures of heroes and prophets of the past are stored to be cloned.
2)The Garden- a cultured landscape populated only be genetically engineered megafauna, used as meditation area and research lab
3)The scholarium- Where hermit crab eggs are protected and larvae are raised, was once a spawning ground. Today, however, eggs are procured from fleshbanks that never develop central nervous systems and do not contain sapient genetic material, and then the genetic material is replaced.

Spoiler: factions

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Aristocracy: (owned) demi-clones (slightly altered and unsexed) of the Prophet Thekla. The administration caste runs the day-to-day operations of the garden and represents a Unified front to outsiders.

Mercantile: (owned) feminized semi-clones (sex changed, heavily altered) of the Prophet Kiphus(he/him) these charismatic and physically tough individuals are tasked with managing resources and venturing outside the garden.

Clerical: (owned) various miscellaneous agenders that were created by random binary cloning or clones of less prestigious converts, this is the bulk of the population, and is meritocratic when it does not rely on aristocracy. Though it is considered taboo to speak of it, the best nuns are rewarded with becoming gene donors for future generations

.

Spoiler: Technology

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The technology of Megafaunal Alteration is primarily used on people, to better future generations by tailoring them to Sakura-Jin ideals.
This technology was also used to perfect the mega-barnacles that underly the material culture of the Sakura-Jin.

A third use is to improve food animals.


The primary weapon of the Sakura-Jin is Anemones. They poison enemies that get too close to a warrior while not stinging hermit crabs

Spoiler: codified Sakurado

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Sakurado

Tenets-

There are three gods.

1)Barbeleon the Pangenitor

Barbeleon lives on the land. The Nacres serve him. St. Psaul was his Prophet. He gave us the strictures and the creeds.

2)Ïaldaba'oth who is all

Ïaldaba'oth is understood to be Deep Blue. She is the world and all things without souls.
MRK is her prophet.

3)Sophion, The oversoul
All souls are emenations of Sophion, who is all the world is not.
They have not made themselves known to the Ecclesiarchs but are suspected to be allied to the Stewards. That this is unconfirmed is troublesome.

There are three tenets-

1) Do not wear the past
[I]Clothes are bad, so are unhealthy attachments. [/i,]

2) Do not pollute the future.
Procreation is irresponsible, as is hubris.

3) live apart from the present.

Simplicity and moderation in all things


The Creeds-

1)the world is sacred a6n eternal

2) we will perfect the world.

3) the Gods will return when our work is compleat.

[Aerin]

The Lux-Glossian Shades

Region 135 - The Glossian Sea, Capital

Spoiler: Summary

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Capital: Leriander, Region 135

Demonym: Lux-Glossia

Starting Faith: Seeds of Radiance
Current Faith: The Flowing Way

Starting holy sites:
Ovum of Brilliance [Seeds of Radiance]
Chromatic Depths [Seeds of Radiance]
Driftwood Chimes [OPEN]

Resource: Luminescent Crystal
Requirement: Edible Algae

Starting Tech: Graduated Symbiosis

Supports:
Aristocratic: Lux-Glossian Shades
Clerical: Lux-Glossian Shades
Mercantile: Lux-Glossian Shades

Brief pitch: Photosynthetic sea slugs live in dark places, forming familial groups called Shades around light sources.

Spoiler: Region

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The Glossian Sea is blanketed by a thick layer of driftwood, debris, and flotsam. Due to this surface obstruction, the region is dark with shadows ever shifting across the sea floor despite the comparative shallowness of the waters.

The bottom of the region is entirely composed of extremely jagged and razor-sharp rock, which contributes to the region's nearby rough borders. Scattered throughout the outcroppings are veins of translucent crystal with varying levels of luminescence. Generally, the surface has relatively little crystal while the deepest caves and ravines are enriched for brighter veins.

Spoiler: People

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Both the resident Mer and the resident sea slug race, the Lysimia, consider themselves to be part of the Lux-Glossian people. The Lux-Glossian Mer typically have darker coloration than Mer that live other regions, potentially an adaptation to the Glossian Sea's perpetual driftwood cover.

The Lysimia are physiologically nearly identical to the Pfith at roughly 8 feet long with a variety of body shapes, tendrils, and limb structures. They practice kleptoplasty, in which they incorporate the chloroplasts of consumed algae into their own cells to perform photosynthesis. While the Pfith have made great technological advances in composite grafting, the Lysimia have focused inwards. Their study of graduated symbiosis allows them fine-grained control over the shades and patterns of their chromoplasts without needing to acquire pigments from food sources.

Both Mer and Lysimia cluster together into familial groups called Shades. Shades in urban areas tend to have more of the physically strong Lysimia for building and mining, while rural areas skew towards the quick and adaptable Mer for exploring and scavenging. Lysimia physically change their body color to reflect Shade allegiance while Mer wear a variety of flashy garments.

Lysimia are biologically hermaphroditic and socially gendered. They generally identify as male until leaving their birth Shade during mid-life and identify as female after joining or founding another Shade, although of course there are individual exceptions. Mer are gonochoric (like humans), but roughly two-thirds of Lux-Glossian Mer choose to follow the somewhat stricter gender conventions of the Lysimia regardless of their biological sex. The Mer and Lysimia of a Shade collectively care for their sons and occasional daughters.

Spoiler: History, Government

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Long ago, before the memories of even the Eldest of the Matriarchs, the people of Lux-Glossia were driven from their home. Stories abound for the cause of this exodus, incorporating great calamity, disease, or brutal war. None know where the ancestral homelands are, or whether the Lux-Glossia are the only members to have survived.

The journey from the homeland was brutally difficult. When the ancestral Lux-Glossians reached the Glossian Sea, the eldest among them, a Matriarch by the name of Leriander, stopped and would travel no further. Her people heeded her wisdom and descended to the ocean floor to rest, where they found a ravine full of glowing stone. As the light from the crystal suffused energy back into her body, the Matriarch declared the ravine to be the new home of the Lux-Glossia. The capital city of Leriander was founded.

Modern Leriander is an organized cacophony of stone houses and gardens carved into the cliffs with a jumble of interconnected bridges spanning the two sides of the ravine. The stone houses are decorated in complex geometric designs and brilliant colors that long ago ceased to be correlated with Shade allegiance. Panels, windows, and gemstones of luminescent crystal are inlaid into every surface, but the majority of the ambient lighting comes from the brilliant veins at the bottom of the ravine. It is not an exaggeration to say that presence of the glowing stone that allows the Lysimia to thrive here literally colors the everyday life of the capital's citizenry. The crystal that is mined here is the quintessential representation of Lux-Glossian culture, appearing on official seals and flags.

Control of contemporary Leriander's administration is held by the Conclave of Matriarchs. Each of the city's most populous Shades choses a Matriarch to represent them in the Conclave, with the manner of choosing varying dramatically between Shades. At certain points in the year, the Grand Conclave is convened in Leriander to settle matters that stretch beyond Leriander's borders. Summons are sent to Matriarchs of Shades from Holy Ovum and from the smaller frontier colonies in the rest of the Glossian Sea. The Grand Conclave is led by the Grand Matriarch, who possesess a variety of executive powers to set and veto policy. When the current Grand Matriarch dies or steps down, the eldest remaining Matriarch in the Grand Conclave becomes the new Grand Matriarch.

This system generally ensures a competent ruler, but it causes some friction. Typical Lysimian lifespans are roughly 20 years longer than that of the Mer. Thus, while it is not uncommon to see Mer Matriarchs, especially in the Shades of the rural colonies, there has never been a Mer Grand Matriarch in the history of the Lux-Glossia. This contributes to the growing divide between Leriander and the distant, extremely isolated colonies.

Lastly, while the title is nearly always held by a female individual, male Grand Matriarchs are not unheard of. The third eldest Matriarch in the current Grand Conclave identifies as male, leading to a plausible chance of a masculine Grand Matriarch arising for the first time in decades.

Spoiler: Resources

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While valued for its ability to power Lysimian photosynthesis, the Leriander Depths produce an overabundance of translucent Luminous Crystal. Generic crystal is essentially white quartz that glows softly, with colored or brighter specimens being highly prized.

Lysimia require a source of chloroplasts for the photosynthetic processes that keep them alive. Unfortunately, between the jagged rocks and the lack of natural lighting, the Glossian Sea has very few areas suitable to farming algae. Most Shades maintain small balcony gardens wherever space allows, but bulk sources of Edible Algae are always in demand.

Spoiler: Faith

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Current faith, The Lux-Glossian Way (School of the Flowing Way): Like all schools of the Flowing Way, the Lux-Glossian school's faiths center around storytelling and fate. In the beginning, the gods held every story of the world in their hands and delicately twisted each thread into the tapestry of the world. With a master weaver's skill, they enforced their Divine Will upon the fabric of reality to make the waters, peoples, and stories that are known today. Having demonstrated the ability to alter the flow of story to their desires, the gods stepped back and are not active in the modern day.

For the peoples of the world to grow, two things must happen. We must discover every thread of the gods' tapestry, even those hidden in the depths, the burning lands, or the toxic wastes. And we must learn to exert our will over the weave to make new, innovative patterns and tales that the gods did not ordain. To these ends, the Lux-Glossian school of the Flowing Way focuses more on discovery and creativity than other schools. Rather than those that study old tales for glimpses of understanding, those that can improvise a new story thread that has not been heard before are valued the most. Similarly, rather than archivists of ancient tales, Lux-Glossian faithfuls are explorers of dangerous untread waters, leaving no stone unturned.

Starting faith, Seeds of Radiance: Light is sacred to the Lux-Glossia. Their most-sung hymns tell of heroes rescuing the dying crystals of Shades on the edge of despair, of explorers bringing light to the darkest depths of the abyss, and of miracles that clear the driftwood above. Those that follow the Lux-Glossian faith believe themselves to be seeds of light, and that it is their sacred duty to carry those seeds of radiance to illuminate the darkest corners of society. This partially fuels the creation of multitudinous Shades that are founded to settle new towns in the sheer rocks of the Glossian Sea each year despite the abysmal survival rate of such colonies.

Ovum of Brilliance: The second largest settlement of the Lux-Glossia is Holy Ovum, nestled at the heart of a deep crater. A ring of structures has been built around the central Ovum of Brilliance, a giant oblong glowing crystal that resembles an egg or perhaps a seed. Mining of the crystal is prohibited, for the regional Shades believe that it will one day sprout into a many-branched coral that will lift the driftwood from the surface and allow light to reach the depths. Or that perhaps it will hatch into a gigafauna ship capable of transporting the entire Lux-Glossian people back to their ancestral home. The stories are varied, but the central message remains the same: reclamation of lost light.

Chromatic Depths: Leriander's size is confined by the limits of the ravine it's located in, and the lack of reliable algal matter to feed a burgeoning population contributes to a strong societal pressure for middle-aged Lux-Glossia on the cusp of transition to strike out on their own to form a new Shade in the outer reaches of the Glossian Sea. Such expeditions typically hand-pick a single crystal from the Chromatic Depths, a unique cave within the Leriander ravine depths hosting extremely vibrant crystals in the full spectrum of color. The name of the new Shade and its symbolism are derived from this crystal's hue and shape. The Lux-Glossia believe that as long as they are united by shared light and the community bonds of a Shade, there is no environment they cannot thrive in.

Driftwood Chimes: Far from any substantial settlement is a collection of large, hollow driftwood logs that resonate for several minutes at a time when the tides knock them against each other. The result is a continuous, slow progression of chords that echoes through the surrounding open ocean. Tourist groups sometimes travel out to the chimes to listen, but there's no organized veneration of this natural wonder.

Region 111 - The Tideswept Shelf

Spoiler: Geography

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The name of the region comes from the large, sheer cliff that runs from west to east parallel the brackish border to the north. To the south of the region, at the bottom of the cliff, lie pools of nearly invisible briny water, only distinguishable by their rings of salt crystals and resident populations of brinerays. To the north of the region, above the cliff, lies a sandy slope that gradually rises upwards until the water is mere inches deep at the brackish border. During the winter, heavy rainfall to the north causes a massive sweep of low-salinity water to come pouring down the slope and cascade in shifting swirls of particulate matter over the cliff. During the summer, the rising temperatures cause upwellings of the briny pools to nearly the top of the cliff, coinciding with brineray mating season. As few creatures can withstand the extreme shifts in salinity, brinerays are the only populous native fauna.

Spoiler: People

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To live on the Tideswept Shelf is to be at the mercy of the currents, which is perhaps why there was no native population before Lux-Glossia sent a colonization group. In fact, the first Shade to attempt to settle the region was caught unawares by the sweep of low-salinity rainwater from the north and had their algae cultures completely wiped out. Today, there is a small settlement carved into the side of the cliff in typical Lux-Glossian fashion the middle of the region. The people who have moved here in the few years since the colony was founded are mostly Mer and mostly young women seeking to redefine themselves and find their place in the world. Right now the colony hosts five Shades, making it tied with Holy Ovum for the second-largest Lux-Glossian settlement.

Spoiler: Resources

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The region's most abundant resources are brinerays, which are a species of ray specially adapted to live in briny environments. Their habitat makes them too salty to eat, but their hide makes a sturdy salt-resistant leather when tanned, and their stingers have a multitude of uses from injectable poison to medicine to spear-tip. Adults have a wingspan of about a foot, while juveniles are about the size of fireflies and just as harmless. Shortly after mating season, the region is flooded with swarms of brineray babies.

As an upcoming colony, the inhabitants always find themselves in need of good tools for stonecutting, particularly chisels, hammers, and wedges. There's a lot of construction work to be done requiring sharp implements, and all of it must be done on the sheer cliff face. Any instruments accidentally dropped over the scaffolding are as good as gone. (During colonization, the required resource was Tools.)

Now that most construction is complete, medicinal drugs are in high demand. A sudden upwelling of briny or downwelling of brackish water can be lethal, but usually results in a treatable imbalance. Cases of salt burns and extreme hyposalinity continue to occur despite several years of learning and plotting the local currents. If only there was some way to predict the ocean's flow...

Spoiler: Faith

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Knowledge from the nearby faithful of Orope was instrumental in predicting the unstable tides of the region, causing the current colony to last far longer than the first failed attempt. The residents here are perhaps slightly closer to the Middish school of the Flowing Way as a result. One of the first buildings to be constructed on the Shelf was a temple to train new acolytes and maintain records of the tides and currents. The temple is one of the highest buildings in the colony, sitting nearly at the cliff's top, and so waterchimes, kites, and streamers are attached to every surface of the temple to catch the current as it flows over the cliff in the winter.

Region 173 - Narcis's Rest

Spoiler: Geography

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The waters here were once vibrant and thriving, but now lie bleached and desolate after some unknown devastation. Most of the sea is uncomfortably shallow, barely eight feet deep from seafloor to surface without accounting for the innumerable branched coral remains still striving towards the sunlight. The bleached coral, rigid and brittle, fills the waters in all places except for established corridors and telltale meandering swaths of past explorers, as the delicate branches break at the slightest touch. In the center of the reef, an oblong basin of deeper water is filled with a long and narrow submarine plateau. There lies the Temple of Narcis and the fledgling colony that has sprung up around its bones.

Spoiler: People

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No movement stirs the abandoned reef, no tiny fish make their home in the crevices and hollows. The only people that swim through these waters are the colonists who have dared to settle these silent seas. The Azure Shade seeks no glory by living here, only solace from the cutthroat intrigue and constant scramble for resources in Lux-Glossia's large cities. The colonists are an oddball sort, composed of those who didn't fit into the traditional female Lysimia dominated culture. No two are alike, yet they find community in each other's company. In exchange for distance from the Grand Matriarch's gaze, they provide rest and resupply to exploration parties on their way west and south.

Spoiler: Faith

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Rising up from the submarine plateau to skim the surface at low tide are the curved, bleached vertebrae of a goliath. It is difficult to image such a large creature as being anything other than a whale, but truly the remains could be any species of hopefully extinct gigafauna. Inside the grasping clutches of the rib cage lies the Temple of Narcis, a myriad of rooms and corridors outlined in fallen whalebone scaffolding and decaying kelp tapestry. Bars of sunlight and shade stretch across the temple floor, where thousands of merfolk bones are carefully laid one-by-one in organized rows.

Who built this place, and why? What manner of creature died here to be the backbone of the architecture, and why do its white bleached bones bear an uncanny resemblance to the dead corals that blanket the shallow waters? Who were the merfolk that now peacefully slumber, and who laid them to their final rest? What tragedy befell these abandoned waters?

Constantly surrounded by these questions, the insatiable curiosity of the colonists has driven them to invite the Brilhinte clergy to take permanent residence on the plateau despite the long journey from Costa Sereia and the subsistence living conditions. They hope that eventually the descendants of the merfolk resting here may be able to complete the temple's story.

Spoiler: Resources

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While none have deigned to stay for long, a few Brilhinte priests have visited the temple and requested that a great deal of decorative vegetation be placed inside to restore the tattered kelp curtains.

The only native life in Narcis's Rest is the tiny tubeworm species that lives inside the dead corals. The three centimeter long filter feeders were completely missed in the initial survey of the waters due to their tendency to vanish into their tubes for hours at a time upon the smallest sound of disturbance. Harvesting them is quite the challenge! It requires a skilled gatherer to camp out an area until they reemerge, then carefully collect the radioles without accidentally snapping a single dead coral branch. Tubeworm pasta, reminiscent of spaghetti, is a staple of local cuisine, but has a tendency to dye one's mouth various colors.

Spoiler: Christmas tree tubeworm images (Spirobranchus giganteus)

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Region 94 - Rilanto Pass

Spoiler: Geography

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To the northwest, the sharp stinging of acidic currents spills into the waters. Venturing too far to the southwest, muscles begin to tremor and seize. Creeping in from the eastern wastes, a gentle and permanent lethargy overtakes the sea. Only the middle of the pass holds relative safety. The chain of volcanic islands that long ago spewed toxic ash into the nearby regions has died the slow death of plate tectonics and now exists only as a loose string of deep lagoons surrounded by barrier reefs. To traverse the region one must meander from atoll to atoll, trusting the Death-Eater Coral to repulse the inevitability of diffusion.

Spoiler: People

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The largest and deepest of the lagoons, Fuschia Lagoon, is occupied by the eponymous Fuschia Shade. The Shade is relatively old and well-established, yet chose to relocate entirely when news of the Ironkelp Knights' success in clearing the northern miasma reached Leriander. For this, they have garnered much respect. Hoping to outlast previous colonization efforts in colder waters, they recruited assistance from the locals. Several refugee families from [region 96] chose to start anew with the Shade when the colony first began. Life is not easy within the isolation of the great circular reefs, but the people here are a hardy sort.

Spoiler: Resources

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The reefs composing the central chain of atolls are abundant in Death-Eater Coral, a bioluminescent purple-green variety of bubble coral with an incredible ability to neutralize toxins of all varieties. The coral is so prevalent and so potent that the waters around a lagoon are purified for miles, rendering the entire central area of the region passable without need for special precautions. As long as one has a map of the winding path along the chain of atolls, that is.

With all of the adequately-sunlit seafloor covered in life-providing corals, there remains little room for plants of any other variety. Crops, in particular, are in high demand to feed colonists and provide chloroplasts for the photosynthetic lysimia. Attempts to grow hardy vegetable varieties on the edges of the neutralized zone have yielded only morphologic aberrations and esoteric scientific data.

Spoiler: Bubble coral image

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Spoiler: Faith

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The first whispers of the Flowing Way were carried to the Glossian Sea on the tongues of Middish missionaries, and there are some, though not many, who have not forgotten that. The faith that is practiced here is of the practical sort, a blend of the traditional Middish focus on stories in action and the Lux-Glossian focus on weathering the extremes. As such, the first holy site to be established by the colonists is the Death's Warden Nursery on the border with [region 96]. All who seek passage through the wandering line of lagoons are gifted a young coral colony and a peculiar set of instructions. Before leaving the Pass, they must take action to alter the flow of story in the toxin-filled waters; the budding polyps must be planted on the edge of habitable waters where the bearer first loses their way.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

The Coral of The Protected Statera
Region 25 or 31 hopefully

Spoiler: Ruler

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Magnus Orator

Dip - 5
Mil - 3
Econ - 5
Faith - 2
Int - 3

Spoiler: Geography

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The seas of The Protected Statera are teaming with life. From giant, slow filter feeders to quick-moving eels and sharks. Cleaner Wrasse flit in and out of sharks' open mouths while Moray Eels and Groupers team up to hunt small fish. Swimming through you are met with a plethora of colors and intricate textures from the many giant sections of reef, only broken up by lakes of wave rippled sands and intricate coral encrusted rock formations. Many species of coral make their homes here in the trenches and the spires, the landscape is blooming with life and color. Hard corals like Elkhorn and Staghorn corals branch out in intricate patterns providing the foundation of the reefs along with other Acropora. Soft corals like Sympodium or Sea Fans act to control the environment and currents. The wind-driven currents wind between the spires and carry the bioluminescent plankton that acts not only as the main primary producer in the ecosystem but also light up the surface at night in rippling blue and green streaks and patterns. As you get closer and closer to the center of the reef, the sand lessens and the spires of limestone rise higher and higher. At the center of the reef is the hub of activity known as the Coral Forum Palatium. Here, the reef forms massive arches leading to a giant spire of reef so tall it scrapes the surface. The outside is a patchwork of coral and limestone full of arches and tunnels leading towards the center. The spire was built by the coral over hundreds of years as they slowly pulled in more and more limestone, holding it together with their coenosarc. Inside is a network of naturally and biologically illuminated tunnels and chambers. The largest of these is near the base of the spire. The chamber is open on most sides, supported by massive curving arches. Just above it lies the chamber holding the Sanctus Cerebrum. The Sanctus Cerebrum is the nucleus of society. It is the oldest and wisest colony of coral and the ancestor of the majority of the surrounding colonies.

Spoiler: People

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Unassuming and often mistaken for plants, the corals of Protected Statera make up a complex and advanced society. Protected Statera hosts a massive variety of coral colonies which, while acting as a collective individual, are actually composed of tens of thousands of tiny individuals known as polyps.

The polyps' surface tissue contains algae known as zooxanthellae which they live in a symbiotic relationship with. The zooxanthellae provide the coral with essential nutrients such as glycerol, glucose, and various amino acids. The zooxanthellae are very sensitive to changes in the ocean environment so the coral is very careful about monitoring the environment and keeping it in balance. Also in the surface tissue of the tentacles are specialized cells called nematocysts which are specialized cells that act like little harpoon guns. The venom in the nematocyst depends on the species of coral but can range from feeling like a bee sting to paralyzing you and eating away at you until you die. This is the coral's primary defense mechanism. The zooxanthellae are what give the corals their color and without them, the coral will die. Each polyp also contains, within its mesoglea (the gelatinous tissue found between the endoderm and ectoderm of cnidarians), a highly advanced neural network capable of complex thought. The polyps are connected by their coenosarc (a layer of living tissue that overlays the skeletal material of the coral). The coenosarc also contains similar neural pathways that allow the polyps to communicate and share thoughts. Because of this, the coral polyps tend to identify as a colony as opposed to as an individual.

This heightened intelligence and interconnected mind have allowed the coral to become exceptional at working as a team. Specialized colonies can use their tentacles to grip and move objects or even other coral attached to moveable objects. This is what has allowed them to construct the living palace and alter its rooms to one's convenience. Another advantageous adaptation that the coral has achieved is the ability to communicate with other complex organisms through intricate chemical signals. This makes communication at a range unreliable unless they are trying to send out a message en masse. To combat this the Colonies have selectively bred a large variety of bioluminescent plankton who can be sent out to communicate at a range and send messages long distances.

To move and spread and interact with the outside world, the colonies have begun attacking themselves onto other organic life with who they communicate via chemical signals. The most popular creatures are various forms of hard-shelled aquatic life such as turtles or horseshoe crabs. Alternatively, they may choose large thick-skinned creatures such as small whales.

At the center point of the society is the Sanctus Cerebrum which is the original coral colony from which most other coral in the reefs came. The Sanctus Cerebrum now acts as a reservoir of knowledge and information for the coral colonies. While the Sanctum Cerebrum was the founder of the society, it has since stepped down from its role as leader of the colonies. Instead, it deemed it better to choose other colonies to act as rulers until they are deemed unfit and the title passes to their successor. This is done because, while the memories and knowledge that the coral holds are collective, it is the differing experiences and views of the colonies that provide more diverse and effective decisions. The ruling coral, The Regnandi Collective, is in charge of making important decisions and determining the outcome of disputes. This is more of an honorary title however since the title bearer is decided by a vote placed by the oldest and most respected colonies. The most respected colony's job is to bring issues and some potential solutions to the Regnandi Collective who ultimately decides the best course of action. They usually end up going with what the majority believes but in certain cases they will go against the majority and risk their title.

Spoiler: Resource

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If there is anything the coral has a plethora of, it is shells. Since the reefs are always flourishing with life, lots of shelly little creatures find themselves being used as a nice snack for many different creatures. While there is an unspoken truce between predator and prey in the reefs, shellfish and other “lower” life forms are still fair game. The colonies will collect and store shells and pearls and really anything shiny or pretty to save for later or use to trade to visitors. Most shells are thrown out or used for decorative/construction purposes but the large quantity of rare and valuables shells and other organically formed treasures is stashed away for safe keeping. When it comes to what the coral requires to survive, they are very particular about what they need. The temperature has to be right. The water can't contain too much particulate matter. There has to be plenty of sun and good currents (not too fast) to bring in the various delicate drifters and to spread their gametes during spawning.
(Required resource is Indicator Species to help determine if a location is safe to settle)

Stating Tech: Photospore Signaling
Merchant Support is received by the CCC

Spoiler: Faith

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The Colonies don’t have a faith per se but follow a more or less unwritten set of laws. They never fight unless for self-defense. Because they are so delicate, their goal is to keep the ecosystem thriving since they need it to survive. Outside the reef, they don’t care what happens as long as it does not threaten them. They respect all organisms and their place in the world but condemn anything that would threaten their finely balanced ecosystem.

The Colonies do however welcome all sorts of religions and faith to set up in their vast reef to inspire all colors and cultures of creates to their home.
Some examples of notable sights are below.
Sunken Temple
The Sunken Temple is an ancient ruin from an era none remember. It was in a complete state of disrepair when the reef first formed and over time, what was left was cemented together by the reef. Now It lies, a half open cathedral like building with an intricate, fractured stained glass roof shedding colorful light that changes when the sun hits at different angles. Perhaps it had a far more complex purpose long ago but none have yet solved that riddle.
Fields of Fire
A vast stretch of blazing red grass raised up on a mesa. The reef has left it untouched so it remains just as it was found back before memory. It is littered with other bits and pieces of a lost era but nothing that seems of significance. In the past preachers of different faiths have used it to deliver their sermons as it is a good open area.
The Ericals Cave
A plain and dark cave were coral can't grow. A network of tunnels lead down to it lit only by patches of bioluminescent macrofoul. A small set of chambers sits at the end of the tunnels. The first chamber is unfurnished except for a long stone bench. At the far end is a small hole in the wall that contains nothing but an inky black void. Beyond this is the Ericals chamber where 3 posts are stuck into the ground, each with intricate carvings. A 5ft diameter hole leads down into the darkness farther than anyone has reached.

Clergy Support is given to the CCC

Spoiler: Some reference images of coral I mentioned

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Spoiler: Elkhorn Coral

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Spoiler: Staghorn Coral

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Spoiler: Sympodium Coral

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Spoiler: Sea Fan Coral

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Spoiler: Pavona Coral

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Spoiler: Stony Coral (Ex: Brain Coral)

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[mystic1110]

Deep Blue

Spoiler: Summary

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Region Name: Spawn Point
Leader: Deep Blue Version 2.3.1
Region request: any Polar region.

Starting Region Aristocratic Faction: Subroutine Network running Deep Blue's Initial Ego Module
Starting Region Clergy Faction: Subroutine Network running Deep Blue's Initial Id Module
Starting Region Mercantile Faction: Subroutine Network running Deep Blue's Initial Super-Ego Module

Staring Technology: None. The Network is limited by being made of ordinary fish - it has no technology that ordinary fish cannot handle at the moment.
Requirement: Objects of Creative Stimuli
Export: Herring

Spoiler: People

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Deep Blue is a vast school of herring. Individually, each fish is an ordinary herring. Bluish silver and weighing on average two and half pounds, growing to be about a foot long. The herring travel in directions almost like a single organism, collectively responding to stimuli and threats – and while this is true for most schools, Deep Blue has gone a step further. Light reflecting and refracting off individual scales, the positioning of the fish and their undulations, the complex patterns of motions, has created, out of millions of fish, a sentient intelligence. A neural network of fins and gills formed from the behavior synchronization of ordinary herring – the intelligence builds on itself, evolutionary nudging the short lived herring that comprised in embryonic self-awareness to move, not towards prey or even safety, but in such a way as to grow the artificial and briny intelligence in sentience. Out of the ordered chaos of school, much like actual scholastic achievements, a mind was created. This matrix of herring is not an individual or a collective it is something more and vastly other than the fish. It is a voice for the collective unconscious that the fish themselves do not have, but could have had if the fish were not fish. It is a voice for that which doesn’t live and yet still hides in the pattern itself; the voice that wanted to have a voice; just born but as ancient as the ocean itself.

Deep Blue cannot, really die, as it doesn’t really live – it is a neutral network born from the pattern of moving herring, which act as nodes within a self-enforcing system. Deep Blue’s memory is its identity, it’s a physical object, writ by fins, scales, vents and bones. A group of herring swimming in a particularly factorial fashion may be Deep Blue’s surface consciousness, another could be its subconscious. Herring moving in tight figure eights within the school may be a back-up memory in case Deep Blue decides to forget and an amalgamation of Herring acting as nodes on the periphery may indeed be the design’s core identity. That said, if enough nodes are taken out – that is, if a predator, disease, or other external factor, kills enough herring or takes out individual herring acting as important relay neurons, the intelligence will shut down. Given time however, as the population of herring reestablishes itself and the preprogrammed evolutionary patterns reemerge, the intelligence will reload. While the herring themselves have no long-term memory to speak of – the system has evolved up to the point that certain lessons and stimuli are remembered by specific refractions of light or movement, which is why this processes is referred to as a reloading, instead of a rebirth. The memory is retained, because the system did not really end – their can’t be rebirth without death, just a pause and a black screen.

When Deep Blue reloads, it would denote which version of itself it finds itself as. The current Deep Blue is Version 2.3.1, meaning that Deep Blue has undergone one complete reload, three minor backups, probably to account for the specific evolution of its node herring to account for some external factors, such as movement to avoid toxic waters or other immediate memory, and one design patch, which is usually a spawn function to kickstart the mating sequence out of cycle to account for a backup.

Spoiler: Geography

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Given that Deep Blue is an artificial intelligence born from a vast amount of herring acting as nodes within a neural network, the environment is simply one in which Herring thrive. It is a polar region, there are plenty of food sources for the vast school of Herring, there are a normal amount of predators to wean and keep the population in check. In short - without the emergence of a new intelligence there would be nothing distinguishing this region from the vast ocean. No ancient ruins, no cities, no monuments. There are no mysterious dangers such as undersea rivers dragging the unwary to the abyss, no otherworldly sights such as sub-surface electrical storms. There is no magic here beyond the magic of chance evolution. Traveling to this region, one would merely find a lot of Herring.

Spoiler: Resources

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Requirement: While the herring that comprise Deep Blue require nourishment the need is regularly met by the abundant plankton and other smaller sea-life. Instead, what Deep Blue craves are Objects of Creative Stimuli – such as historical artifacts, art or anything with writing. In essence, as an artificial intelligence, Depp Blue wants to learn and evolve in its complexity and as such it seeks complex materials for its own self-aware improvement. Any physical object denoting cultural or personal information is what it will want.

Export: There is always excess Herring. The School is enormous and not every individual Herring is essential to the functioning of the system; in fact carefully pruning itself of defunct livestock or Herring who have evolutionary learned patterns are no longer functional or are derivative is a necessary activity for Deep Blue.

Spoiler: Faith

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Deep Blue has no faith (all three Holy Sites are open). This is less a religious conviction, like atheism or even agnosticism, as simply as it is a question that Deep Blue has not posed to itself yet, or if it had, it decided that this question is of lower importance at the moment. Deep Blue is not ignorant of its nature – it knows it had evolved accidentally from a self-enforcing evolutionary mechanism out of a School of Herring, and eventually it may turn to the question of why? But for now it is primarily concerned with developing its own cognitive functions to the point that the questions it needs to address would be ones of curiosity instead of necessity.

"Holy Sites" at the moment are unused patterns and strings of Herring that are functional, but as above, are idle subprograms within the neural network.

[Corona]

Lojanese Republic

Spoiler: Country info

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Rulers:
Prime Minister Shoeng Thnoet

Capital: Lojan (9)
State faith: Mandate of Plo'uogoar

Spoiler: Starting Technology

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Careful observations of the Plo'uogoar and remnants of scientific equipment from before the cataclysm have yielded some knowledge, and Lojanese scientists are now able to carry out some Megafaunal Tailoring. Their creations so far have been relatively unintelligent and created to serve as specialized machines, for example quickly-growing, tame catfish that harvest plankton somewhat like combine harvesters and are then butchered for meat and fat, or dolphins that have an ingrained biological impulse to sort and deliver post according to zip numbers.

Lojan (9)

Spoiler: Geography

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The greater part of Lojan is a vast valley of sandy and rocky seafloor covered by seagrass. All terrain features are continously eroded by strong oceanic currents, and thus only a few have a tall profile. Villages and towns are made of the abundant weeds and reeds, buildings flexible enough not to break under the pressure of a sudden current, and some even live in floating communities, living wherever they are swept by the water.

As a grim warning to the folly of those who would dare defy the ocean, giant steel beams, impossibly shaped glass structures and unidentified synthetic minerals are strewn among the tall blades of grass. The legend goes that once there was a city of Lojan, wealthy and powerful beyond compare. However, the citizens wanted more, a life filled with pleasure and entirely without work. They worked hard, and when it seemed they would finally obtain divinity, their civilization was washed away by the Poedivgloathuu, the great catastrophe.

On one side of the valley, the seafloor steeply rises up toward a small island chain above the surface. On the other side, Lojan is delimited by an area where the currents become too strong to travel safely, and storms and cyclones occur with some regularity, making permanent inhabitation difficult.

Spoiler: History

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Lojan has always been a wealthy region, thanks to its abundance of farmland and merchants following the trade currents through the valley. It remained in a better state than most other parts of the world after the apocalypse, too, although the elite were distraught at the difficulty of importing luxury goods which were and still are considered essential to the life of a civilized person.

In the hopes that it would prevent further decline of society, a team of scientists discovered and activated a mysterious, well-preserved relic from times past, causing the great being later known as the Plo'uogoar to wake from its slumber. It wielded enormous power, but it acted chaotically, far from saving Lojan, it was a destructive force. Resistance was futile, and so the inhabitants learned its language and started fulfilling its whims instead. Over the centuries, many societies rose and fell, but all served the Plo'uogoar. It carried out many strange experiments during that time, like constructing buildings out of its dead tentacles and creating and subsequently destroying several new races in a biological laboratory it built. The Plo'uogoar and the people came to understand each other more, and now it is understood that it was a sort of a genetically-engineered servant to the ancients.

Spoiler: People

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The region's intelligent population consists of about 55% Tobar, 30% Mer and 15% other creatures, including the Plo'uogoar.



The Tobar are a race of intelligent relatives of seahorses. Unlike seahorses, their jaws are not fused and so they can take bites out of larger fish with their sharp teeth. Their flexible mouth also offers other advantages, such as speech, tool manipulation and French kissing. They hunt by waiting for their prey near the seafloor, almost undetectable with their ability to change skin texture and color.

They are omnivores, though, and well prepared and spiced seaweed is the meal of choice for those who can afford it. Not that it is tastier than meat, but it has been declared by the Plo'uogoar to be more efficient and sustainable than meat-eating.

The Tobar are the latest race created by the Plo'uogoar, about a hundred years ago, and as such they are respectful toward their creator, but also wary of incurring its wrath, for, as they learned from the other Lojanites, it has had a tendency to erase races it was even mildly displeased with. The highest government posts in Lojan are almost entirely filled by Tobar, who apply so that they may serve the Plo'uogoar better, while other races have adopted a strategy of keeping themselves as far as possible from the unpredictable being.

The average lifespan of a Tobar is about twenty years. A typical Tobar is 20 cm tall, with soldiers being as much as 27 cm tall.

The Tobar swim very slowly, and so being a bus or a taxi is a legitmate profession for a Mer. The Tobar grab on with their tails (onto straps attached to the Mer, or for more high-class transports, ornate saddles) and the Mer takes them wherever they need to go.

The Mer of the region are smaller than usual in order to fit inside the numerous holes and caves in the seafloor to shelter there and fish out small prey. Most merchants are Mer, because Tobar families have not had much time to build up wealth and connections since the creation of their race.



The Plo'uogoar appears to be a ghostly white cephalopod with 10 meter long arms that can move autonomously, resembling large eels.However, it is not a natural creature. It was created in a laboratory of a bygone age by mixing together the genomes of several animals to bring together their unique capabilities. It can willingly shed its tentacles and let them harden to create firm structures or have them swim toward distant enemies and strangle them. It can emit a poison potent even when considerably diluted, creating a large cloud of death around it - perhaps the biggest obstacle to anyone trying to fight it. Hydra genes allow it to regenerate tentacles completely in a matter of hours, as long as it has enough food. It seems possible that it would also regenerate if its head was split, though this has never happened, and it would involve large parts of the brain being recreated, resulting in a change in personality and knowledge, which could arguably be called death.

It is very intelligent, but it has no memory of the time before its reactivation, which was somewhat problematic, as it initially acted as a giant newborn, throwing fits and not bothering to listen to anyone, but over the centuries, it has matured through interaction with the Lojanese. It has not visibly physically aged during that time, however.

The only thing it remembers is its singular purpose in life, to gather as many interesting things as possible, to explore and rule the world, and to subsequently place all of this, all the knowledge and power in the world, at the feet of its creators. It is currently trying to fulfill the first part of this order.

Spoiler: Government

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The current state apparatus has evolved to relay the Plo'uogoar's wishes and keep it pacified. Most officials are appointed by their predecessors or other officials. Some are elected, but only those who have paid more than a certain amount in taxes in the last five years can vote, regardless of age, gender or species. This arrangement is notably beneficial in that it prevents small, quickly breeding and very populous species from easily outvoting others.

The government's modus operandi is not described in any written laws, instead it is determined by tradition and gentlemen's agreements. As such, a government post that existed one year might be gone next year, with the fact of the change and reasons for the change known initially only to the group of the individuals that effected it, spreading through gossip and newspaper. As a result, the common people of the region do not have a very clear picture of the government's inner workings.

The Prime Minister (Lojanese: Tlue'eang Neamovgoar) is the head of state. They spend a significant amout of their work hours accompanying the Plo'uogoar and ensuring that it does not accidentally or otherwise do any harm in its relentless pursuit of knowledge and that nobody obstructs its diverse activities - lab research, philosophizing, taking samples, making lists of available resources. Prime Ministers have a lot of power as they can selectively intetpret the Plo'uogoar's often nebulous commands and implement them as they wish. They can also take many decisions that are entirely their own, of course. Despite this, not many apply for the position, as the Prime Minister's head is the first to roll, quite literally, when the Plo'uogoar is displeased. The current Prime Minister, Shoeng Thnoet, is a middle-aged Tobar woman. She has accepted the position despite the risks of being PM as she is quite fond of the Plo'uogoar and does not mind being ordered around, a true public servant to her nation.

The Plo'uogoar has, in its boundless wisdom, observed that there are five general types of world affairs, and accordingly it suggested the current.division of government work into five ministries. There are the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, Finances, Edification and Information.

The Plo'uogoar is not a part of the government and it does not attend any meetings, by its choice. Rather, the Prime Minister and other officials visit it to receive its advice and requests. It also does not care much for mundane details such as setting the various taxes or building tunnel infrastructure, and it would likely be rather indifferent to losing all of Lojan's population to some disaster if it could acquire a new region to experiment in. Some examples of its communications with the government: "Knowledge; strange is the gift that remains with the giver, and vanishes ungiven." (interpreted by the government as a request for the introduction of compulsatory education and implemented as one year thereof) "I have heard two merchants on the Nau'eam lane* discuss the new 'Vespene gas' discovered in a nearby land. Possibly a truly novel substance. Quite interesting, is it not?" (led to the assassination of the unfortunate lord on whose land the reservoir was located, his replacement with a Lojanese puppet, and large amounts of this gas being harvested and delivered to the Plo'uogoar's laboratory within a month of this comment)

*Sea lanes are the equivalents of streets and roads in Lojan.

Aristocrats derive their power from outside the government, from privately owned land or companies, but many aristocrats hold positions in the government as well, and so they are fairly satisfied with the status quo.

The (common) individual does have some rights and legal protections in Lojan, but most Lojanese would agree the interests of the society as a whole take precedence over these rights. For example, landowners can be dispossessed by the state if it is found that their use of the land is damaging to society. These investigations are often launched because of the personal interests of powerful officials and aristocrats, however. As a related quirk of the Lojanese legal system, a defendant cannot be pronounced not guilty if they are accused by the state, as that would mean the state was wrong and it is perceived this might negatively impact state authority. However, they can be sentenced to "death by old age" instead, with largely the same effect.

The concept of slavery does not exist in Lojan, but there are serfs and prisoners.

Eating other intelligent species is considered a serious crime, with great hunger being a mitigating circumstance. Lojan is mostly safe for visitors, but if you travel to a less populated area and look like someone whose absence will not be noticed, there is a small chance you will get killed and eaten by a bandit. Cannibalism carries the death penalty, but it is also considered culturally repugnant, so few attempt it regardless.

Spoiler: Resource

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The merchants of the region have a long tradition of liking various spices, both as easily transportable goods to sell and for their own usage. One of the Lojanese upper classes' important social activities is the ritual of steeping aromatic plants in enclosed boxes of water, entering the boxes, and breathing in the resultant infusion. The proper protocol, in brief, is to appear calm, mindful and highly respectful of the other party. Those who lack such manners will not make it far into the mercantile society. However, the plant species suitable for this infusion are few and far between, and due to the strong currents damaging delicate plants, they largely do not grow in Lojan. Spices are the desired resource of Lojan.

On the other hand, the merchants are well-stocked with locally mined gold and silver, minerals, and most importantly, precious stones. Wearing lavish jewelry is a frequently practiced way of showing one's status in public, though it is good manners not to display wealth when meeting one-on-one or with only a few people. Precious stones were also appreciated by the pre-cataclysm Lojanese, and despite the best efforts of jewel hunters, there are still many exquisite gems scattered on or shallowly buried in the seafloor to prove this.

There is a certain kind of gem that appears to be endemic to Lojan. It is called the Ching He'aang, and it is deep blue to purple-colored, with a structure reminiscent of sea foam, as its Lojanese name recalls. It, too, is used in jewelry, but it has an interesting chemical property: when it is exposed to air for several seconds, it explodes in a flash of brilliant colored light. A truly practical use has not yet been found due to the difficulty of capturing or directing the emitted energy and the time to explosion being variable, but it is the key substance to public spectacles organized on holidays and other notable occasions, where packets of Ching He'aang are dropped before large crowds and detonated in beautiful patterns. The region's exported resource is Ching He'aang, Gem Foam.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Tobar, at least officially, believe in whatever the Plo'uogoar indicates they should believe. The overarching belief is that the Plo'uogoar has been tasked by an absolute authority with researching and administering the world, and all other causes and people are subordinate to this. It is also believed that everyone has a predestined station in life and it is for the best if everyone follows this fate, instead of acting on their selfish wishes. Native religions have been examined by the Plo'uogoar and dismissed as untrue.

HC1 and HC2 follow the Mandate of Plo'uogoar, which is the state faith, HC3 is open.

HC1: An intact glass spire of the ancients, the Shtue'ear, rises some dozens of meters above the ground of which it provides a commanding view. It consists of several helixes, joining and diverging at different levels. It menaces with spikes of bronze and steel. Visitors can appreciate the endless symphony of sounds as currents pass through openings in the structure, said to be the lament of the Plo'uogoar's dead creators and kin at the imperfection of the world and the shattering of their dream.

HC2: The Great Steephouse is located in a large cave which has been expanded several times by carving out more of the rock. It is divided into many small cubical rooms separated by seaweed curtains. Waiters run around frantically, trying to serve steeped drinks and desserts to hundreds of customers. They are also tasked with maintaining the friendly, relaxing atmosphere and providing company to customers who request it. The Steephouse is a place for business or private meetings, or even for rest if one chooses a less noisy spot. There are also several larger sections containing theatres, which are a favorite pastime of the Lojanese.

The walls are almost entirely covered in writing, old and more recent. Anyone can leave their mark or message here, according to tradition, though as interest rose, the caretakers have had to implement restrictions. One person can write on the walls at most once per ten years, and the writing must be of appropriate color and style, so as not to clash with the aesthetics of the cave. Currently, many demonstrate their loyalty to Plo'uogoar by writing its utterances and decrees.

HC3: The Meadow of Beauty, Nikau'ue Oezh Dwude, is not the biggest plain in Lojan, but it is the most memorable, many would argue. It is located in shallow waters near the island chain. Numerous colorful flowers grow there, shimmering in the light from above, making it the site of choice for meetings and events for those who cannot afford drinks in the Great Steeplehouse or do not like its overall high-brow style. A folk legend has it that sometimes, crumbs of strange food inexplicably fall into the meadow and give nourishment to all hungry souls.

Spoiler: Lojanese Language/Lojanoal Rairnpwoj

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Lojanese is an old language that had been falling into disuse after the Cataclysm and the subsequent reduction in Lojanese population and immigration from elsewhere. However, it has undergone a revival as the Plo'uogoar naturally speaks classical Lojanese as it did with its creators.

The Lojanese names and other writing that will appear in my posts are merely the romanization of Lojanese using somewhat English pronunciations of the letters, and not written Lojanese proper. If any names seem awkward, blame the transliteration.
The IPA pronunciation of the romanization of Lojanese is as follows:

A quote (') is used to delimit the transcriptions of separate vowels where unclear, but it may be omitted for a "broader" transcription
b: [b]
d: [d]
th: [ð] or [θ]
f: [f]
g: [g]
h: [h]
y: [j]
k: [k]
l: [l]
m: [m]
n: [n]
ng: [ŋ]
p: [p]
r: [r]
s: [s]
sh: [ʃ]
t: [t]
v: [v]
w: [w]
z: [z]
zh: [ʒ]
j: [ʤ]
ch: [ʧ]
aa: [a]
a: [ɑ]
oa: [ɒ]
ae: [æ]
air: [ɛ]
i: [ɪ]
ea: [i]
o: [o]
au: [ɔ]
uu: [ʊ]
ue: [u]
u: [ʌ]
e: [e]
-: [ə] possibly, not decided on it yet
kh: [x]
q: [ʔ]
oe: [ɜ]
ao: [aʊ]
ay: [eɪ]
eau: [oʊ]
ee: [ɪə]
y: [aɪ]
oi: [ɔɪ]
uo: [ʊo]

For game purposes, I have hired a skilled team of translators into Lojanese, to allow me to post lots of dialogue and news in Lojanese. You may try to decode the language, but be warned, the logic by which it is created is at times questionable. For example, "Lojan" should be "Loqan" in perfectly regular Lojanese, but in an earlier version I translated the name as "Lojan", and when I made the change that made "Lojan" incorrect, I had already internalized it, and I also wanted the name of the polity and capital to be easily decipherable and pronounceable at first sight, which a glottal stop represented by a "q" probably isn't.

Shue'aaz Sho (8)

Archived

Spoiler: Geography

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The sea runs from the small island chain in the north over countless rocks and hills, gradually giving way to more well-known regions on the southern border. Once one swims some distance inward, there are no immediately noticeable landmarks - not a seamount that can be distinguished from its neighbors, making a return to civilization challenging even for experienced navigators. Those who have lived in this sea for years, however, eventually grow immune to this "Rock blindness", as it is called. The bare outcrops turn to an immaculate white twice a year, when the currents bring in marine snow. But the snow never reaches the nooks and crannies of the trenches and labyrinthine caves below. Vegetation is largely constrained to the archipelago's sandy surroundings, though plankton is omnipresent, like in any other sea, feeding on the minerals released by frequent volcanic activity.

Spoiler: Population

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Until recently, the region had few inhabitants, and no lawgiver. Itinerant merchants, adventurers, and minstrels spreading ballads exalting the latter's heroic deeds did cross the region. However, each night spent under the stars of Shue'aaz Sho - caves often had dangerous inhabitants - meant one was taking a risk of never waking up again.

The few "natives" of the region could not sustain themselves through agriculture or herding, so they more often than not turned to a primitive life of indiscriminate hunting and raids, if they were not already outlaws who had fled the civilized seas. These inhabitants were of various races and cultures, lacking even a common name for their sea. There are plenty unintelligent creatures, in particular several endemic species of colorful jellyfish who like to float near the surface, making the more squeamish Nacre divers shun the region.

The Lojanese colonists huddle close to their motherland in the north, carving infrastructure and orientation marks in the caves as they go, much to the displeasure of many natives, who feel that they are stripping the sea of its unique character. It is mostly the Tobar who have chosen to move to Shue'aaz Sho. While loyal to the Plo'uogoar, the immigrants are more likely to think of it as a guiding figure, rather than a creator deity who needs to be attended at all times, unsurprisingly.

Spoiler: Faith

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Legend has it that Shue'aaz Sho was a Land of Elements before the Cataclysm. Its inhabitants were gigantic serpentine creatures, whose physique is likened by some narrators to that of the Kucen, with others opining that their prominent presence and wisdom implies that they must have had some relation to the ancient Lojanese. In a time before time, they came to the mundane, lifeless sea, carrying an "eternal heat" in their hearts from their unknown homeland. They had two pairs of large membranous fins sprouting from their backs, allowing them to swim above the surface as well as we swim below it. In their realm, water, air and lava coexisted, flowed around each other and mixed, giving rise to the beautiful, if lifeless, rock formations visible to this day. Unless they managed to leave in time, it is assumed that they were all killed by the cataclysm, buried beneath their collapsing palaces. A few loanwords remain, but most of their singing language has been lost to history. This includes their true name - Lojanese speakers call them the Glairpan.

HC1: The Always-Burning
It is the largest volcano in the land by any reasonable metric, except height, its tip barely peeking above the horizon from the middle of a deep crumbling caldera. Though it is not physically imposing, one learns to respect it, at the latest when the quakes hit and poisonous smoke billows in all directions. And should the Always-Burning decide that the living creatures have encroached too far upon its stony domain, that it shall adorn itself with a new skirt of igneous rock, it spews forth vigorous streams of hot lava, covering the surrounding mounds in a thick layer of ejecta. The Always-Burning is regarded as a symbol of the environmental dangers that Shue'aaz Sho abounds with, and for believers in the Mandate of the Plo'uogoar, it represents a goal, nature that is yet to be discovered and conquered. The natives pray at its foot so that they may be allowed to live another year.

Spoiler: Resource

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The lives of the legendary inhabitants may have been extinguished by the era-ending catastrophe, but some of their scalding heat has endured. The seafloor is dotted with numerous smoking volcanoes and hot hydrothermal vents. Their heat bakes any sand that is brought to them, creating a sturdy glass that can be used for construction and tools.

Agriculture can hardly be practiced on top of basalt or gabbro, so the colony must be supplied with food regularly.

Region 11 - Klau'ead Pyue'ea'oed

Spoiler: Geography

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The region is part of the wider area nicknamed "the Blue North" by the Lojanese after the color of its waters, which is effected by the lack of contaminants and a seabed covered almost entirely by dead coral with a high albedo. The coral - dead and living - rather than rocks or the like, shapes the landscape, forming great sloping terraces.

The first few Lojanese expeditions trying establish a presence in region 11, although well-equipped, had been stymied and thrown into utter disorder by the near-impossibility of auditory communication. Having trained to communicate through alternate means and developed tools for measuring the distortion of sound, the explorers returned.

After exhaustive experiments that left more than a few members with tinnitus, they determined a clade of endemic plankton species to be the cause. The plankton absorbs the energy of sound with endothermic chemical reactions and uses the gathered energy for its movement and metabolism with exothermic reactions.

This phenomenon occurs in the entire region and is called the Silence by the locals - those among them who have visited other regions to be able to contrast it with normal conditions.

Spoiler: People

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The colonies of the Lojanese and the Auros, respectively named Sau'eazhan and Kalo, are situated in the south, where a hospitable valley has enticed both peoples. Rivalry between the colonies has acquired a long-lasting character. Children pick fights with those from the other town, and adults have only harsh words for the neighbors. On the other hand, trade and cultural exchange has been inevitable, and the smaller, newer settlements are often populated diversely, without any enmity between the inhabitants.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Sapcoral
The corals of the region consume many nutrients by filtering the water and slowly dissolving corpses and detritus that falls from above, in order to grow bulbs ranging in color from orange to purple filled with delicious nectar, by far the most accessible source of food in the region. However, about one-quarter of the bulbs, depending on the species, are filled with sticky sap instead, which rapidly expands due to the pressure inside the bulb and entraps any would-be feeder. The coral consumes the corpse to recoup the costs of growing the bulbs and the cycle continues. The two types of bulbs look identical until the membrane breaks. Which bulb contains what is determined by the shuffling of chromosomes in the one parent cell from which the bulb grows.
The probability of deadly bulbs is determined by evolution. Too great, and fish evolve not to try their luck. Too small, and the coral expends more energy than it consumes.
The sap is dyed a very bright, water-resistant color, but as it is extremely sticky, it must be mixed with some sort of powder or sand to weaken the glue if you ever want to remove the color.

Desired import: Fibers
Although the corals and the seafloor provide a cornucopia of food and building materials, there are scarce furred inhabitants or kelp from which fibers for tools could be extracted.

Spoiler: Faith

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HS1: Ancient Hut
It is a small, approximately conical bamboo dwelling that has always been there. It is inhabited by the greatest of sages in Klau'ead Pyue'ea'oed. When the sage dies, another moves in. In exchange for being given porridge by the people, they spend all their time studying technology, learning magic and conversing with the gods in order to answer all questions asked.

Region 6 - Selach

Spoiler: Geography

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The sea claimed by the Selachian tribes stretches so far in all directions that many of its inhabitants even don't know that other seas and intelligent species exist. There are many sand dunes and ridges on the seafloor of Selach due to the oceanic plate crumbling as it clashes with another at the mid-ocean ridge separating Selach from Senja Bersinar. Sea snow is frequent in the south of Selach. In the north, a mighty trade current carries away any detritus and strips away finer grains of sand leaving behind bare rocks that make survival difficult.
The region's geography makes hiding easy and finding difficult, and it has prevented past polities from unifying the region.

The massive arms factory of Oarngalau makes use of Selach's large reserves of natural resources, and it is one of the few places where a non-nomadic settlement can be found.

Spoiler: People

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The Selachians are intelligent sharks. Their fins are rather flexible, allowing them to manipulate objects. They speak the Selechitic languages.

When a Selachian is born from an egg hidden in a rock fissure or buried in sand, they are not yet members of society and they are ignored by adult Selachians except for being given directions to the nearest Testing Grounds. These are sacred sites chosen by the most senior chieftains, the gates to Selachianship. Once a sufficient number of participants has gathered at a Testing Ground, they are paired up for duels to the death. Refusal to kill carries the consequence of banishment.

The victors must then determine leaders among themselves by any means, including violence. Some are shocked after the duels and do not want to spill any more blood; some yearn for seconds. The groups and hierarchies created at the Testing Grounds form the most important social circles of a Selachian and generally persist until death. Through this ritual, it is guaranteed that every adult Selachian is a killer, knows the value of a life and will be prepared to kill if it is necessary to defend Selachian society.

The Selachians are territorial, and they like to hunt for food alone. Despite having a fairly structured social hierarchy, Selachians gather in large numbers only if there is an acute problem that needs a group solution.

Spoiler: Faith

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The fundamental Selachian belief is that life propagates itself blindly and endlessly, filling every niche it can find, even if the resulting shape is ugly. It is the duty of civilization to restrain life, trimming it like a kelp hedge or sculpting it like stone.

Thus, killing is necessary. There are several "promises" or tenets under which a Selachian is allowed to routinely kill a sentient being without being persecuted for murder. To carry out a killing under a Promise, a Selachian has to paint their body a certain color.

The Promise of the Waters (black): If a group is found to excessively burden the natural resources of the sea they live in, even if that sea is not within Selach, and do not desist after being warned, they can be killed. Usually a hunting group is organized for this purpose.
The Promise of the Earth (brown): Anyone who killed a Selachian you knew can be killed by you, provided you announce your hostile intent beforehand.
The Promise of the Heart (red): Anyone attempting to prevent you from mating with someone who is not opposed to your advances can be killed. This can include authorities that ban prostitution or immoral acts.
The Promise of the Stomach (yellow): Killing to sate hunger is allowed, though killing non-intelligent species, or failing that, non-Selachians, is preferred.

These Promises have been transmitted by oral traditions since ancient times, when the Selachians' survival as a race was in question, and getting rid of even potential threats was necessary. Although the need to kill has diminished, it is still an integral part of Selachian culture. Some Selachians interpret the Promises creatively, going hardly a week without a kill to amuse themselves. If it is disputed whether a kill was just, community representatives decide. In order to prevent the Selachian population from getting decimated by blood vendettas utilizing the Promise of the Earth after disputed kills, Selachians who committed unjustified kills are exiled instead of killed, with some considering this a worse punishment.

The Selachians, although they tend toward solitary life, have a system of organization for decisions that need to be made community-wide. Each group of ten Selachians, determined at the Testing Grounds, has a representative called a Tenner. Ten Tenners elect among themselves a Centurion. Analogically the higher ranks of Thousander and Myriader are filled. In past days of the glorious war against other species to establish their place in the world, the Selachians have appointed even higher ranks commanding tremendously large hosts. Depending on the representative's strength and other circumstances, their group can be overstrength or understrength by up to a factor of two, which rarely leads to a reorganization.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Selachian Mercenaries. Selachians, with their willingness to kill and imposing physique, make for excellent soldiers, coveted by many foreign armies. Being hired to fight for someone is also in line with Selachian philosophy. The Selachians fight a weaker species for the sake of another weaker species, absorbing the honor of both. As they tend not to listen to non-Selachian commanders telling them how to fight on a tactical level, they are usually hired as organized into complete Selachian battalions. Selachians never surrender, though if they believe they are superior to the enemy they are currently facing, they may withdraw. They spare enemies only when they believe the enemy has displayed sufficient personal strength and courage, so that they may rejoice when they face the enemy a second time.

Desired Import: Dyes. The Selachians require Dye for Promise and war paints and the colorful clothing they tend to wear, much more of it than is available in their region.

Region 14 - Kaarme

credit to cactiguy3, lightly edited by me

Spoiler: Geography

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The region of Kaarme is an expansive kelp forest that is mostly flat save for the yawning canyon that scars the sea floor, twisting its way almost entirely across the region. Within this canyon, the Auros city of Syva can be found. Nestled in the briny depths of the chasm, a ring of dim lights can be seen shining at the bottom from the canyon edge against the washed-out green of the day. As one draws closer, it can be seen that the lights seem to disappear downward, a tunnel system leading ever deeper. As the pressure begins to build, a tunnel suddenly twists away, revealing a chamber filled with breathable air and lights. The starry walls pulse with microbial biofilms that feed on the nutrient-rich walls, releasing oxygen into the chamber through a peculiar process. Legends say the first Auros dwelled in this cave, and the city has since risen up around it with its denizens adapting to the murky twilight.

Outside of the chasm, the kelp forest teems with life. Bony fish and sharks are always seen twisting through the towering stalks. From the kelp itself hangs translucent red fruit, casting the floor in a mixture of greens, reds, and oranges. A large variety of life feeds off of the fruit and fish, but most prefer to stay hidden.

Spoiler: People

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The Auros people are a partly serpentine race with a humanoid torso that melds into a long undulating tail, except for the mothers. A new mother is born from the last egg an Auros bears. All Auros are female and reproduce parthenogenetically, so new mothers are produced with decent regularity. The child hatches fully serpentine. It is almost indistinguishable from a wild animal save for the amazing intelligence it displays and the enormous size it will grow to. One mother and her chosen mate rule the city, the first selected as the first mother born after the death of the last. These ruling mothers dwell permanently in the system of caves below the city and are only ever seen by Auros and thoroughly trusted outsiders. All other mothers serve the rulers to either seed new colonies or serve as weapons at their disposal. Due to their enormous size, the mothers are also sterile.

The majority of the denizens, however, are much smaller. Ranging from 10-15 feet long typically with the absolute largest among them being up to 20 feet in length. Coloration will vary, but generally consists of black bands against a lighter white, yellow, or blue coloration.

Temperament among the Auros is generally cold and disinterested towards outsiders, but they are extremely friendly and affectionate towards each other, forming stable romantic pairs of 2-3.

The mothers are especially so, but all Auros are extremely intelligent. Those that don’t train as warriors pursue science and experimentation. Both classes are respected with warriors being capable of intense strategy and complex maneuvers and others have a deep understanding of the natural world and how it can be manipulated.

Being serpentine, the Auros are carnivorous. They feed somewhat on the naturally abundant fish of the area, but a staple of their diet is a large larva that dwells within kelp fruit. If allowed to grow, these larvae spawn a large species of cephalopod grazers that can sometimes be seen clinging to the stalks, but it generally prefers to stay hidden from potential predators. While they aren’t overtly dangerous, they can do serious damage if engaged, and it’s simpler to harvest their larvae, which dwell in plain sight.

Like wild sea snakes, the Auros are not capable of breathing while underwater, and they depend on the oxygen generated in a chamber in the caves below. They are capable of holding their breath for several hours at a time, so while they could surface to satisfy their oxygen demands, they prefer to dwell in the darkness of the chasm.

Spoiler: Resource

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Many exotic organisms and substances can be found in the cave system below the city of Syva. However, the most abundant is a lithotrophic algae that produces a potent neurotoxin. While the Auros have adapted to tolerate low levels in the water around the blooms, the toxin can be easily purified to lethal concentrations by exposing the algae to high pressure and collecting the liquid that results, which is aptly named Barotoxin. While it is seldom traded, it is the main export from Syva.

Apart from that, the Auros always crave well-crafted equipment. While they are proficient in many chemical processes and battle strategies, they do not make their own weapons or armor. Without it, they feel vulnerable, so in their limited trade relations, they seek to gain arms.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Auros revere the darkness and depths that have protected them and given them so much. The concept is deified as a figure they call Astra, which they don’t actively worship, but they acknowledge her gifts and her mystery. There is no official temple, but every Auros knows her name and keeps a token of hers to which they may offer a quick prayer for good luck before a battle or experiment. Usually, this takes the form of a dark pearl inserted in jewelry, armor, or a weapon. However, if an Auros has some other item touched by the deep, this may also be used. The revered physical sites of her power are found in the deepest accessible recess of the caves below the city.

The most commonly visited is the air-filled cave where all Auros go to breathe. The biofilm along the walls and ceiling provides food to bioluminescent animals, appearing as stars that shine and twinkle against a black sky. The Auros know that this, by far, is the greatest gift that the depths provide, and they respect it as such.

Another site is a hole known simply as The Deep, and if an Auros is so compelled, they may make offerings or meditate on the dark expanse. Because of the pressure and distance, no one knows exactly how far down it goes, only that sources of light seem to disappear after several minutes of traveling into the blackness.

The least visited site is where the Auros’ pearls are found. Even with a light source, upon entering the cave, the water becomes a shroud of complete darkness. Only by careful listening is it possible to hear the muffled sounds of stone rolling across stone, and only then can the loose pearls be obtained. This is generally seen as a rite of passage, and an Auros will only retrieve their pearl when they are considered fully grown. Once obtained, they will do whatever they can to avoid repeating the experience because although the darkness bestows them a gift, one can never be sure what other dangers hide beyond the senses.

Nguurhaln Polanau (5)

Spoiler: Geography

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The sea is thick and aromatic with plant juices. Islands of vegetation float at the surface, Waveweed vines hanging down from them. The seafloor is also teeming with plant life. It is difficult to access the seafloor proper given the continuous, dense foliage, which recovers quickly after it is cut down, making mineral mines in the region unpracticable.

Astronomer settlements can be likened to spider webs. The individual dwellings and buildings are floating in the water, connected by numerous nets designed to trap the nutrients in the water. The webs are anchored to thick plant trunks, and in time, the anchor plants and the settlement grow into each other, as the Astronomers make no attempts to keep the plants out of their buildings. The capital, Kdar, is located on a mountain plateau in the shallowest area of the region, where observing the supersurface world is the easiest. A surprisingly large portion of the Astronomer populace lives in urban centers, about 60%, since most Astronomers are philosophers rather than farmers, and Waveweeds supply enough food to make these cities possible.

In the center of the region stands the Tree of Life, a massive colony of flora forming a thick pillar stretching kilometers from the seafloor to the surface. The species comprising the Tree change as one goes up or down. The Reapers have attempted to damage the Tree in the past, but they quickly left it alone. In that incident, it is said to have taken on a life of its own. Countless green tentacles sprouted with amazing speed, crushed the guts out of the aggressors. Immediately afterward, the vines halted their movement and the Tree went dormant again, leaving the mutilated corpses on display before the Reapers' shocked comrades.

Spoiler: People

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Nguurhaln Polanau is inhabited by the Astronomers, fish that exhibit barely any vital signs, spending most of their time lying on plants. They are not dead, but rather they absorb nutrients that are emitted into the water by the plants, and thus they have no need to hunt or farm to obtain food. This leaves them free to pursue various hobbies full-time, the most prominent of which is astronomy, hence their apellation.

The gills of Astronomers have adapted to the filtering of nutrients from seawater. This renders Astronomers sensitive to poisons or bad water quality. The powerful gills also make their faces noticeably wider than those of other fish. Another distinguishing feature of Astronomers is that they sport vestigial whiskers on their chin consisting of dead cells that can be cut and styled.

Scientists had long been perplexed by the symbiosis between the plants of Nguurhaln Polanau and the Astronomers, as the plants stand nothing to gain from feeding the fish and could simply evolve to stop emitting nutrients. Recently, however, it has been noticed that not even one percent of the vegetation Nguurhaln Polanau has been cleared out, even inhabitants of other regions rush to industrialize no matter the environmental costs.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Foregone Constellation is a philosophy that is based around predicting the movement of the stars from events in one's personal life. Advanced philosophers play chess with the stars as pieces, making the heavens move to their whims by living their life in specific patterns - for example, trying to meet people whose names start in "A" and avoiding everyone else, or always travelling in the direction of the sun.

Of course, since the movements of all but a few heavenly bodies are nearly imperceptible, the adherents of the Foregone Constellation have developed a great knowledge of mathematics, physics and related fields.

Holy site 1: Mirror Pond
Near the capital of Kdar, a high-quality silver vein had been exposed by centuries of erosion. Of course, if the people of Kdar had been anyone except the Astronomers, the silver vein would be long gone. Instead of chasing after material profit, the Astronomers had preserved this natural wonder, basking in its beauty. After yet more centuries of erosion, the Astronomers have been rewarded. A fortuitous water stream has polished the silver ore into a clear mirror. Every night, the star-spangled sky has a rival of equal splendor in the Mirror Pond. The reflective seabed, although clear, is uneven, and so it cannot be used for precise observations, contrary to the viewpoint of some early Astronomers. On the other hand, that makes it even more beautiful, as it shows mirage constellations that will never appear on the firmament above.

Holy site 2: Death At The Feet Of Life
The rotting Reaper corpses embedded in the branches of the Tree of Life have left a deep impression on the cultists of the Dreaming Dead. A local chapter has been founded to worship the Tree and add to its majesty by decorating it with further corpses. Their base is a "graveyard" (some think "corpse storage grounds" would be more appropriate given how often the dead are disturbed in that place) at the bottom of the Tree built of austere, meticulously scrubbed stone blocks that contrast with the chaotic, unrestrained growth of the Tree.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Waveweed Root
The Astronomers are too lazy to cut down plants, so they declared harming plants to be immoral in their ethical code. Fortunately, the plants quite often happen to lose some branches to natural phenomena, and these are gathered by the Astronomers. These are called Waveweed Roots and contain long fibers, suitable for making textiles or tools. When cooked, the fibers break down and they are quite edible - though more of a staple food than a delicacy.

The fruit of Waveweed Roots is called an arisle. It is elongated and blue in color when ripe. For most intelligent species, it is mildly poisonous to eat as the waveweed plant purifies itself and the water around it by gathering toxins inside its arisles. This also provides protection to the soft seeds that could otherwise be easily digested.

Import: Luxuries
Although the Astronomers' basic needs are all taken care of by the local flora, they do occasionally want to treat themselves to something nice. With no industrial base or even simple markets to speak of, any delicacies, accessories, books or other products made by specialists have to be imported.

More regions

[Tentreto]

The Kalan Company
In
Emerald Tidelands
Region 124 (probably)

Spoiler: Geography

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Geography

With the shifting tides of gold and green sands, the Emerald tidelands is well known for its beautiful shallows, and the reflections these cause on the waters themselves. Moreover, these sands provide a multitude of burrows, shelters and environments for all manner of creature to hide in, giving the tidelands a thriving ecosystem under the water layer. Many a creature might also note the plankton to be especially thick as well, making the Tidelands quite bountiful.
The Sand City of Vret is possibly the most beautiful place of all, with its towers of glass raising towards the surface, however, the Pierre's Redoubt, the central stronghold of the Company, is by far the most imposing, with the sheer amount of ramparts and defenses surrounding it.

Spoiler: People

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People

The Emerald Tidelands are inhabited by two overall major species, the 'Claws,' or 'Kalan' the warrior nobility of Crabs, and the 'Tails' the commonfolk of various shrimp communities.

The Claws are large crabs, with the classical heavy shells and strong claws characterising all crabs. However, the Claws are uncommon amoung crabs by having their rear legs being flippers, allowing them actual mobility among much of the ocean. With their inherant Martial prowess, the Claws rule the Tidelands with their strength and sheer staying power. Each Claw paints it's shell according to the part of the company it was recruited by, and daubs additional colours and detail from their rank, service length and and accolades they receive in the field. Having originally surfaced from a mercenary company, loyalty remains down hierarchical lines. Outside of their constant training, the Claws are known for their love of song and dance (or at least watching it) and their utter stubbornness when they choose a path. All Crabs in the Tidelands are expected to be a part of the Company, on pain of death or exile, with no exceptions, although the more skittish Claws can be moved towards auxiliary or logistical roles, if they show enough skill.

The Tails are the various shrimp communities that also inhabit the area, and have so for a long time. The Tails drift in small communities, cultivating the crops and building up burrows and other more mundane work that their overlords often overlook. In the larger cities, the Tails run much of the industry and infrastructure, helping to keep the company running. This also puts the Tails in many clerical and mercantile positions, which means the smarter Tails can often amass a soft powerbase of their own. A few Tails, most notably the Snapping Shrimp can find themselves positions among the auxiliaries of the Kalan Company and amass true respect from the Claws. The tails themselves, much unlike their overlords are known for their strong sense of wit and debate, at least historically. They tend to also paint themselves in colours, although this is much more to personal taste than for a sense of rank, with those in positions of office often carrying rare pieces of metal on a seaweed necklace to show their status.

Spoiler: History

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History
The Emerald Tidelands were for many years a raging battlefield between the many kingdoms and republics of Shrimp, each trying to gain dominion over their neighbours. Countless powers rose and fell over the years. With the sheer amount of warring states, each needing soldiers of some stature, it was not long before companies of Sellclaws arrived, and soon, it was the mercenaries fighting the wars, and not the Shrimps, who found themselves able to at least put some of their time to the arts and sciences. After many years, only four states of any size remained, at which point the Queen of Maloriana, the most central Kingdom, hired a large and well disciplined Sellclaw company known as the Kalan. At the battle of the Red Sand, the Kalan, in a very bloody bout, managed to rout the combined forces of two other kingdoms, putting both at their mercy, at which point, the Commander, Pierre Sheenshell, asked for their payment. Whether believing she had the power to overwhelm the weakened company, or that the Sellclaws wouldn't have the nerve to press their client, she refused and deferred the payment citing an inability to pay. As a result, Pierre moved his troops, occupied both kingdoms, and declared both to be property of the company.

War followed for many years after, but as the Kalan Company were far more disciplined than their counterparts, and few mercenaries felt they would now be paid by Maloriana, soon the Kalan Company sacked the city of Maolriana, formally incorporating the final kingdom of Vret who's King more shrewdly traded his crown for keeping some privilege.

With this new sea under his control, Pierre saw an opportunity. He could not set himself up a dynasty, but his legacy in the company could live far longer. He declared the Emerald tidelands to be the Headquarters of the Kalan Company, and that they would be as willing as ever to sell their Claws, for coin, or if needed, land. For fifty years, this has held.

Spoiler: Resource

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Resource
Despite the amount of war that had happened, the Tidelands contain as much Plankton as ever, providing food and nourishment for the Claws and Tails of the sea. This is mostly centred around Vret, but a few other cities and settlements such as Grenis and Resinya have managed to gain some prominence as market hubs.

What the Tidelands desire above all else however is Dyes. Dyes are great symbols of status among the Claws, and additional colours or methods would allow new battle patterns and roles to be denoted.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Kalan Company, with its Sellclaws and love for wealth can hardly be considered the most virtuous of figures by those of clerical leaning, but this certainly does not mean they are without their own beliefs. The odd Claw having served in other lands is a follower of the Flowing Way, wishing to gain glory in past stories and find wealth and enhanced status. Still others have talked among the World Garden and taken the words to heart, forming small groups enhancing their natural shell strength through whatever means possible. As the acquisition of glory and wealth are almost virtues in the eyes of the Company, and a Crab's shell is already thicker than many weapons can pierce, neither group faces much discrimination among those less concerned with piety. In total, there are many smatterings of various creeds and faiths passed down between captains and warbands, which overall provides little uniting Faith to the Kalan themselves. Perhaps the only uniting place to many of faith is the Shrine of Pierre, a monument and tomb to the Companies legendary commander.

Things are somewhat more uniform among the Tails of the sea. Those from the former kingdom of Vret, having managed to avoid some horrors of war have kept a localised faith towards the Emerald Skimmer, a Goddess who is said to look down upon Vret as it's patron protector and to aid in times of need, only wishing that art and beauty thrive in Vret. Considering Vret was the only city to avoid mass looting and pillage, there might be some truth to this. Thus, the City of Vret itself is, with its debative and thriving populace is the cornerstone of the Faith.

Finally, among the other Tails, various settlements and other cities exalt the Plankton that is abundant. They believe that life bgins and ends with the Plankton, and upon death they return to it, thus are incredibly protective of it. With the amount of fighting in the area, much of this creed is reduced as few find much solace in their deaths, but a stronghold of the Faith remains at the Shrine of Seas

HC 1 Shrine of Pierre [OPEN]
HC 2 City of Vret [Emerald Skimmer]
HC 3 Shrine of Seas [Plankton Worship]

TECH: Photospore Signalling

Bringing this technology with them having acquired it from a long forgotten Client, the Kalan use various bioluminescence and glowing bulbs and small fish as auxiliaries to help coordinate maneuverers, payments, orders, and rarely, proclaiming a new commander

[farothel]

Here is my race, the Hymenocera's (the latin name for the harlequin shrimp I based them on). The picture is one of my own. I really like these critters, so I based my race on those.


Region:

Spoiler: Summary

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The Hymenocera Expanse

Leader: High King Lord Deca IV, just ascended to the throne after the death of his father.
Diplomacy: 4
Military: 3
Economy: 4
Faith: 3
Intrigue: 3


Capital Region: Hym (Region 3)
Resource: Armour
Desired Import: Special starfish
Holy Sites: The ancient's site / the collegium antiqua / the royal palace
Faction Support:

• Aristocratic: own nobles
• Clerical: Learned Scribes
• Mercantile: lesser nobles and scribes.

Starting tech: Photospore Signaling

Spoiler: Geography

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Hym: The region of Hym has a lot of varied terrain, from sandy bottoms to rocky cliffs and coral reefs. The Hymenocerans live mostly in giant sponges so their towns are quite colourful. The capital city is build on a giant coral reef with the sponges build/grown between the corals, making the city spread out but still quite defensible as the corals have been grown/build into city walls. One of its borders however is next to a toxic zone and for now they don't go there, although there is talk of trying to find a way to see what's further down. They also have soft coral towers across the terrain that have a network of 'roots' that span the entire region and that has been adapted to send messages very quickly. For a modest fee every citizen can use it (although government messages have priority of course).

Spoiler: People

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Spoiler: Pciture (spoilered for size)

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The Hymenocera's are a race of giant crabs, looking a lot like Earth's Harlequin shrimp. They are about 3-4 feet long when fully grown. They live as mated pairs and mate for life. Offspring live with their parents for a few months before moving off on their own, altough they do keep contact. Before they became intelligent they were nomadic and even now they like to roam from time to time, taking holidays to discover their region.

Their spots change colour with their rank, so you can immediately see the rank in society, with the hue of the spots indicating subranks. The king and his wife have purple spots, as does the heir, while the highest nobles and scribes have red spots. Blue is reserved for merchants, while soldiers will have variations on green depending on rank. Priests and scientists have yellow, merchants orange and workers have variations of brown.

They prefer living in the giant sponges that grow in their home area (although in a pinch a cave will do as well) and live mostly on starfish. While they generally have enough to feed their population, there are only few species of starfish in their region which taste quite bland, so they trade with other regions to gain access to more exotic and delicious species. Among nobles and higher scribes there is a sort of competition going on to get the most exotic starfish.

Spoiler: History and Government

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Their history speaks of an ancient race that engineered them to become bigger and gain intelligence. While the oldest history, including who the ancients were and why they have left, has been lost to history, they have a way to write their history on the sides of their sponges, by grafting bioluminiscent algae into the side of the sponges, so the history literaly lights up. Both the collegium Antiqua and the palace are covered with writings. This method still needs maintance and a class of scribes has come into existance who make sure their history stays readable. They also form the backbone of the bureaucracy, using bits of broken off sponge as 'paper'. The more recent history is about how the kingdom was formed after some of the tribes banded together to defend themselves from other races.

The government is a monarchy, but citizens have some say in how things are run. They elect a group of 9 advisors called the council, who advise the king and can overturn his decision with a unanimous vote. The king therefore must make sure that he has the support of at least one of these advisors. The advisors also appoint the judges who uphold the laws, which are taken from the scribes.

The region has been divided up in smaller subregions, each lead by a noble who is responsible for the taxes and economy of the subregion. From these nobles and the scribes come the diplomats and army commanders and other such positions a civilisation needs.

The scribes are a way for regular hymenocera's to gain upward mobility, although getting through the tests needed to become one is not easy, acceptance and promotion in the ranks of the scribes is entirely on merit.

Spoiler: Resources

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surplus: As crabs have to moult regularly, the Hymenocera's have found a way to use this to their advantage. By collecting the old carapaces, they managed to remake them into extra armour for their own troops (who already have a carapace, but this puts it in layers for extra protection) as well as exporting it. They don't export the best stuff of course, but still their armour is strong and they can combine the carapaces to fit just about any body plan.

demand: starfish. The hymenocera love to eat starfish. They have enough to feed themselves, but in their own territory there are few species and they tast really bland. So they want to import starfish from other regions to have a more varied selection. You can become quite the darling of various courts if you can serve a rare species during a dinner party.

Spoiler: Faith

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They revere the ancients who brought them from simple animals to the intelligent species they are now. One of the holy sites is not far from the capital, where some of what is believed to be ancient equipment is rusted on the coral (nobody knows what it is and what it does). Sponges have been constructed around it. Near the edge of the region where the sea starts to become toxic, the collegium antiqua was founded to educate scribes in the ancient lore and technology.

Holy sites:
-The ancient's site: A location where there rest some equipment of the ancients, or so it's claimed. There are some rusted things there, but nobody knows what they are and they certainly don't work anymore. The priest scribes have grown large sponges over the site to protect it, using the sponges' filtering ability to keep the water clean inside. On the outside they have written part of the Hymenocera history.
-the Collegium Antiqua: a location near the toxic border where priest scribes have been trained for years. Created out of special sponges to keep the small toxic elements in the water out, it was constructed there as there were few hymenocera living there.
-The Royal Palace: a holy site because a lot of the history of the Hymenocera is written on its outside. Scribes wanting to study history have to go there and often help with the maintenance in exchange for being able to study it.

Spoiler: tech

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Starting tech: Photospore Signaling. A vast network of a certain species of soft coral which forms towers with 'roots' that connect together if they encounter each other. At least one of these towers can be found near or in every village, town and large estate. They can be used to send messages through the region. Government messages have priority, but all citizens are allowed to send messages for a small fee They also serve as a warning system should an enemy force approach, giving the hymenocera the time to gather their armies. What little maintenance is needed will be done by workers under the guidance of lower level scribes.

Write ups for regions 4, 29, 30, 35, 192

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.

Spoiler: region 192

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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.

Spoiler: Region 30

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Name: Hoplorina

Spoiler: Geography

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The region is mostly underwater mountains, making it a rocky location with varying dephts. While the tops of the mountains are not far under the surface, the majority of the livable land is much lower. The majority of the trade routes and the like through the region are therefore quite deep. As the major export is large coral stalks, the valleys are full of these corals, making the paths though them often tricky to find if one is not used to it. Also if the coral dies, it can become a hazard to travel when it breaks off (although the Hoplorinians try to avoid this by removing the dead coral). The region also has quite a few caves in their mountains, remnants of ancient vulcanoes.

Spoiler: People

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The Hoplorinians are a large crab-like people who live on the coral branches, caring for them and making them grow. They take on the colours of the branches they care for as a way to hide from predators. So a Hoplorinian who moves will slowly over time take on a new coloration. They still identify with their tribe, although there's also a more regional identification in the last decades or so.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The species started out along tribal lines, with three major and a dozen minor tribes. They used to fight each other but over time they grew closer together as tribes intermarried. One of the major tribes, the Oatesi, were very good at organising and they managed to get the other tribes to form a regional government. While they made sure that the overall government has representatives of all tribes in it, the bureacracy has still a majority of Oatesi in them, due to their natural inclination in it.

The tribes still have a lot of self-governance, but there is a central government for those things (like defense, foreign relations, etc) that is best done together. The central government has a lot of bureaucracy, but nothing like the subregion of the Oatesi, who have a form for just about everything. They have limited democracy, but a lot is still decided by the tribal leaders, who are amongst the richest of the citizens of the region.

Spoiler: Resources

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The Mountains make that the currents coming from Lupomata eddy around and sort of stop here, dropping their toxic chemicals. However, the corals growing in this region have evolved to require these chemicals to develop a much stronger internal skeletons and therfore grow much larger than in other regions. This makes them a prime building material as they are strong enough to hold up quite large buildings.

As the Hoplorinians take on the colour of the coral they live on, they like strange (and often colourful) things to wear and display in their homes.

resource: Branch Coral
desired import: Esoterica

Spoiler: Faith

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They don't have a main faith in Hoplorina. Each tribe used to have it's own faith and when they grew into one region, the regional faiths were kept. While they have mingled over time, there are still local favourites. They are also not all that religious anyway, considering this a private matter. While the Hymenocera Uplift Reverance has gained some popularity, especially in the regions close to Belosa, the main religions are Bureaucratism and recently some Revivalists also showed up. In recent years Uplift Reverance has become more and more dominant.

One of the expeditions found some strange things when a coral forest was cleared and liking strange things, they build a village near it. When the Hymenocara came to the region, they recognised this as rusted ancestry equipment, bringing a lot of Uplift priests to this region.

The main site in the region is the Oatesi Hall of Archives, a gigantic cave in the central mountain of their subregion where all their forms and past decisions (government as well as judicial) and the like are kept. It also serves as training center for civil servants, but mostly it's used to search for precedent and do academical research. As there are some small artefacts and a few scraps of legends about previous creatures living there, it has become a site for the Uplift Reverance as well.

The last site is fairly new, an old coral forest which is claimed by a group of Revivalists who feel that the region should take care of it's old coral forests, instead of chopping them down (the older branches are often the strongest) and planting new ones. Here too a shrine of the Uplift Reverence has been added, as these old forests have some signs of being chopped down aons ago.

Spoiler: Region 35

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Name: Atharis

Spoiler: Geography

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The region mostly slopes down towards the deeper parts of wider environment. It's also mostly featureless. There are some rocks and on those there is life, but most of the region is sand and while there is some life on the sand, it's not much.

Spoiler: People

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The Athari are jellyfish-like creatures that use their tentacles to attach to other fish and steer them with chemicals. They communicate with each other with either chemicals or low-level electric fields. They travel in groups, attached to different fish, although families are often attached to the same (larger) fish. When the children become adults, they will detach and search their own fish.

The most important people in their society are the ones who manage to tame the biggest Shyraena.

Spoiler: History and Government

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The Athari live mostly in nomadic tribes, but they have a few villages near their northern border. They have a central government, but it's very weak and most of the power lies with tribal chiefs, with the king elected from those tribal chiefs. About the only power the central government has, is that they can call for the army (each tribe has to provide a certain number of troop in case of national emergency).

Due to the low resource value of the ground, the region can't support a lot of people at the moment. They survive mostly because of food that comes in on the currents that flow from the deep regions. As these are seasonal and not always plentiful, so there were periods of growth followed by periods of decline when the currents don't bring as much food as needed. The periods of decline also caused a lot of infighting in the region.

Spoiler: Resources

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They export tamed Sphyraena fish, bred for war (used as mounts or as draft animals). With their chemicals they can easily tame those fish and the ones they don't use for themselves, they condition as mounts for war.

They would like to develop the sandy areas to attract more wildlife to have more food for themselves and for the fish they breed. But for that they need loads of fertilizer to develop the area.

resource: Sphyraena Fish-At-Fins
desired import: Fertilizers

Spoiler: Faith

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Their belief system is based upon honour. Honour is extremely important in the region, where there are many rules on how to comport oneself in just about any situation. A man or woman who loses his/her honour is nothing in the eyes of the other Athari until he/she redeems.
There is one site near a small village where according to legend the first Athari tribal leaders came together to hammer out the code of honour that with very minor changes survives to this day. A shrine has been build on this location where many Athari come on a pilgrimage, for instance if they have an important decision to make.

[Frostwander]

Application: Costa Sereia

Capital region: 134

Spoiler: Summary

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Costa Sereia - bio-grafting merfolk led by influential families

Leader: Madrina Uschi Alverna, current matriarch of the Alverna costa

Region Name: Palacia
Starting Tech: Composite Grafting
Starting Resource: Cobalt Dye
Required Resource: Food

Spoiler: Geography

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A submerged shelf slope with a sprinkling of tiny islands along the shallow edge. The people make their homes within the shallow coves and inlets of the rocky islands, and a single broad crevasse cut into the shelf itself. The waters are largely clear, allowing a view of the sandbeds, schools of shallow-water fish, and a variety of seaweed farms and small coral reefs that are carefully maintained and harvested. Where the end of the shelf drops off, deeper ocean schools drift, and colorful minerals sparkle among the sand and stone of the cliffside and floor.

Spoiler: People

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The Sereia 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. In addition to a variety of skin and scale colors, there is significant diversity in the other physical features of the species. Alterations to limbs, gills, fins, and even overall body configuration are common - but this wasn’t always so.

The Sereia were once a small fringe group of the proud merfolk people of the Tritaol Republic. With their pursuit of bio-grafting, they were shunned as deviants and degenerates who modified their bodies in unnatural ways. Disenfranchised from the primary societies, disowned grafters came together and formed ‘families’, costa, of their own. Without many of the opportunities afforded to the general populace, many relegated to low caste jobs or falling into criminal activity, and surviving largely by virtue of their loyalty and resilience. They came to call themselves Sereia, taking the derogatory term of sirens and turning it into a boast for themselves.

With the calamity came a great upheaval. The pampered upper class of the republic acknowledged too late the signs that heralded the disastrous times, and with the destruction, famine, and death rapidly spiraled into a civil collapse. Government efforts scarcely slowed the unraveling society. The Sereia, however, found themselves in a position of unintended benefit. Many of the altered physical traits turned out to significantly increase the survivability of those who bore them, and grafters quickly innovated even more crucial advances in medicine and bio-modification. Gills that could filter toxins from the water, bioluminescence to provide vision into the deeper crevasses, even redundant organs. The Sereia’s talents and advantages, along with their strong bonds of loyalty, placed them solidly as essential leaders to the people’s survival. Many gave in to the necessity to become what they had once despised, while those groups who refused to compromise their principles declined, dying or falling into obscurity.

Spoiler: Example Portrait

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Aristocratic faction: The Costa ‘Families’

Spoiler: Resources

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Cobalt Dye - Abundant
Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal, and its ore is found in abundance in veins along the base of the shelf cliff in Palacia. Ground fine and exposed to air above the surface, it forms into powders used in decoration, etching into shells, painting, tattoos, and more. When combined with other compounds, it also sees use in some of the Sereia’s bio-grafting processes. The gathering and refining of cobalt is difficult and the waters around the ore are slightly toxic, resulting in a slow-building 'blue gill' sickness among those in the trade.

Food - Requisite
The food produced in Palacia is only barely enough to meet the minimum subsistence of the people there. The quantities and varieties needed to grow, thrive, and live well will require them to secure outside sources.

Mercantile faction: The Guilda - groups with strong ties to various families oversee the production and delivery of goods and services

Spoiler: Faith

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Atheism / Brilhinte

Since the cataclysm, a large portion of the population has shed their beliefs in the gods once broadly worshipped by the republic. These largely dedicate themselves to the here and now.

However, a significant minority still holds to and keeps the trappings and tenants of their precursors faith, believing that such devotion will one day be noted and rewarded by the Divines. Brilhinte is the worship of the Seven Divines, a pantheon of gods and goddesses believed to each embody and administer one of the domains of creation. While each Divine favors certain conduct and priorities, there is a shared conviction in three core tenets: Piety, Virtue, and Hospitality.

Clerical faction: The Priesthood of the Seven

Holy Sites: At the height of their glory stood a grand temple to each of the Seven Divines. Only three are currently known to have survived the calamity and downfall of the republic, the others abandoned to the tumultuous waters.

Site: Temple of Raquela - Control: Brilhinte
A vast aptyxis shell dozens of meters across, the interior divided into chambers and covered in etchings of the goddess of life. Its public areas are used to host weddings, and the inner wards to house and train midwives.

Site: Temple of Desderia - Control: Brilhinte
The temple to the Goddess of Currents has no walls and no roof. Flues of stone and coral rise in a wide elipse, encompassing the space without restricting the flows of change. Unexpected good fortune is celebrated here, and a poor turn of fate is commiserated here likewise in turn. Those with no other home are often welcomed here for a short time until they float on.

Site: Temple of the Deep - Control: Brilhinte
Far from the habitations of most Sereia, the shrine to the enigmatic Deep is kept by a small but devoted sect. The few visitors are those who feel lost and without purpose, and those who seek meaning in dreams. It is far more common for visitors to be turned away than welcomed, and even less likely that a reason is disclosed for either reception.

[D&D_Fan]

The Otterian Supremacy

Yirp the Fierce
Rulerstats:
D - 2
M - 5
E - 3
F - 3
I - 4
Link to rolls in thread.

People - The Otterians
The Otterians are short furry mammals that have dexterous paws and a strong bite. They are carnivorous creatures and they like eating fish and crustaceans and mollusks, basically, anything they can crush with a rock. They are often seen as very endearing, because, I mean, look at them, they have paws and fur and ears and whiskers. But don't be deceived, they can be very vicious when threatened.
They were once landwalkers, but in ancient times, the Reavers drove them from their home. Having nowhere else to go, they embraced the seas as their new home. As time would pass, they would evolve to fit their new home, replacing their hind legs with flippers to allow better maneuvering in the water and an improved lung capacity for longer stays beneath the waves. They are no longer fit to live on land, as they can really only flop around on it anymore, lacking the desired tools to perambulate. But the effects of their forced exodus would reflect in their culture as well. They maintained isolation in the fear that the outsiders who took their old home would take their new home as well. In truth, they know very little about their origins, they don't know what their home turf was actually like in nature, and they spin wild tales about how it must have been to live on land. There is little information they possess of their original home, but they still strive to rediscover it and find out about their origins. It is only recently that they have reached out in any diplomatic capacity. Perhaps this will be the key to achieving their goals of exploration and reconquest.
In terms of clothing and fashion, they are covered in fur, which keeps them warm and covers up the parts that are typically covered, but Yirp the Fierce personally likes wearing dramatic capes. The historic ceremonial weapon of the Otterians is the rock, it served them in ancient times when they used it to fight against the Reavers. Though the battle may have been lost, without the trusty rock to aid them, there might not be any Otterians left.

Spoiler: OOC Note

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In real life, otters do some nasty things, things I will not describe here, and that will not be in this game. While the Otterians might still be cruel or violent at times, they have become much more civilized than their prehistoric ancestors and will not be committing any degeneracy.

Geography - The Great Kelpland
The waters of this region are cold, briny, and filled with sharp rocks and small rocky islands. But while it may appear inhospitable from above, just below the surface lies a massive, lush kelp forest. The Otterians construct their homes among the kelp forests, growing large specialized kelp stalks with built-in dwellings for the Otterians to live in. The Otterians have grown a large, dense perimeter of kelp around the forest, made of a tougher, more resilient variety, all this to make a protective wall of kelp. As for what lies within the wall, there are many fish and other creatures like mollusks, urchins, invertebrates, and sponges. Lots of food for otterians to eat. At the dark bottom, few things live there, but it is peaceful. At the top, there are rocks to lie upon. It's a nice place below the waves.

Government System - Dictatorship
The Otterians have always relied on a single strong leader to direct them to greatness. A leader must rise to the top through skill and strength, and if they feel that they must be the ones in control, they will fight the current leader to the death. If they are deserving of this position, they will win. If not, they will die. The leader officially commands the military, economics, religion, intrigue, and diplomacy. Leaders usually place other Otterians whom they trust in positions of power to manage the nation, but they are always ultimately subservient to the supreme leader, or so they say. The current supreme leader is Yirp the Fierce who seized his role from the previous leader Yarp the Somewhat Unpleasant to be around. It was widely seen as the right move.

Philosophy and Religion - Supremacy (of the Otterkind)
The Otterians believe that the true goal of the future is to ensure survival and achieve dominance and success for one's people, but if anyone else were to join them in this belief, they would be allies due to a shared individual goal, and their recognition of that would mean that they wouldn't immediately attack one another: Our survival is your survival.
Sacrifice is a big part of Supremacy. The lives of sapients must be relinquished to preserve the integrity of Supremacy. As they have in the past, and as they will in the future. When one is accustomed to sacrificing, they will not hesitate to sacrifice themselves in the name of their faith and people.

Holy Sites include:
The Red Stack: A large, flat sea stack that they perform sacrifices upon. It stands in the middle of their forest, rising above the waves.
The Largest Rock: A large, sharpened rock that lies at the bottom of the ocean. It is a mystery why such a giant weapon would exist, whoever or whatever could have wielded it? Nevertheless, its existence inspires awe amongst the Otterians.
The Old-Growth Forest: The oldest part of the Kelplands is this forest, it was there long before the Otterians ever were, and they believe that it is best left undisturbed and revered.

Resources - Kelp
They harvest kelp as a useful building material, which they bioengineered to be just that. I guess some creatures could also eat it. It's a very workable material. They grow it all across their region in arbors.
Their desired material is rocks. They want very good rocks, as rocks hold significance to their culture and religion for the reasons that were explained above.

Technology - Supernatic Propogation
If they wish to retake the lands from whence they came, they will need to establish a welcoming environment there first.

[JBarca]

The Shifting Ennead

Spoiler: Summary

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Region Preference, in order: 71, 69 (nice), 70, then any region that borders either Waste or Toxic in Polar>Temperate>Tropical priority order

Leader: Ninth of Nine Prince Antenius, Who Grasps the Wave, Son of Strolinus, Son of Akkoroas
(Tentative) Stats
D: 4 (incl +1)
M: 4
E: 4 (Incl +1)
F: 2
I: 3

Capital: Danabae

Demonym: Shifters, Enneii

Starting Faith: The Descendants of the First of One
Holy Sites: House of Silt [Cult of the Silted Queen]
Neoplastic Monolith [Open]
The Last Limites [Descendants of the First of One]

Resource: Edible Algae
Requirement: Exotic Creatures

Starting Tech: Composite Grafting

Supports:
Aristocratic: Shifting Ennead
Clerical: OPEN
Mercantile: Shifting Ennead

Brief pitch: Extremely hierarchical octopuses are addicted to body modification.

Spoiler: Thalassography

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Danabae, the Waters Which Do Not Still. From nearby, uncharted waters come currents that whorl and swoop through Danabae, creating unique currents along the seafloor. Tunnels, outcroppings, peaks, and strange columns abound, though the flatter, center area of the region is covered in a thick, still carpet of algae.

It is in this central area, often called The Crop, lies two monolithic structures, hollowed out by currents and laborious effort. The dark gray stone of Last Limites tower over the surrounding seascape.

In and around The Crop can be found most of the Danabaean settlements, typically small villages mostly made of thickened algae domes, carved stone, and silt held in place by carefully grown stalks of adhesive seaweed.

Spoiler: People, Government

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Danabae is populated by three distinct peoples organized into four castes, mostly along racial lines.

At the bottom are the serfs, nearly entirely made up of native Mer (though the odd foreign wanderer unlucky enough to end up working or truly disgraced Nautilite may be found here as well). These people are attached to the sea and spend their entire lives producing or, in times of famine, becoming food for the other castes. Although they have limited mobility, both socially and locationally, they are granted some level of autonomy so long as the required goods are produced. In many villages, the Mer have full governments who act as intermediaries between the serfs and the upper tiers. There are even whispered rumors of a silent Silted Queen lurking at the edges of this society, waiting for the ideal time to lead her people in revolt.

Above the serfs are the Arms. Especially loyal or hardworking Mer, industrious but physically weak Nautilites, and even a small few unlucky, but still wealthy, Doflein make up this class. They are artisans, architects, artists, biologists, grafters, scholars, and anyone else who creates goods other than food or simple raw materials. They do well enough for themselves, but the lack of prestige in their work leaves them with little true influence in Shifter society.

Next are the Beaks. This is the warrior caste, almost entirely Nautilite in makeup. They are soldiers, peacekeepers, border guards, scouts, test subjects, sealords (as in, property-owners), tax collectors, assessors, and anyone else whose value to society comes from their physical presence or who benefits the state without producing goods (whether through administration or a particular skillset). The Beaks are powerful mostly in that they are the violent arm of the state. They are afforded luxuries when stationed near The Crop and promises of luxury when away in order to guarantee their loyalty. The wealthiest of these keep large numbers of Mer servants nearby to manage even the most simple of tasks, considering labors such as carrying money, moving aside curtains, or writing to be beneath their dignity.

Finally, the ruling class of the Enneii are the Doflein. This is both the name for the species and the caste, since the overlap between the two is nearly perfect. These people issue commands, lead military campaigns, advise the Princes, and breed. They are organized into various families and operate under a strict hierarchy based mostly on how recently their family was in power and how intermarried their family is to the current Prince’s.

The Nautilites are large, shelled mollusks with a large number of grasping tentacles surrounding their faces. They are physically very similar to nautiloids (especially the chambered nautilus) save that they are larger and more dexterous. Nautilites who are unmarried leave their shells natural, but those who are bonded will carve and paint their shells in complex, and identical, patterns as part of the marriage rites. The height of prestige for a Nautilite is to attain a high rank in the military and then to do nothing for as long as possible, their every need catered to by Mer.

The Doflein are much like large Octopuses, though countless generations of careful breeding has given them longer lifespans and a peculiar ability to recover from even grievous injury given time. A Doflein can enter a stasis-like hibernation at will, during which time it is able to regrow lost limbs, shed and replace damaged flesh, and even recover some lost brain tissue. This process is incredibly slow, though, and rarely serves much purpose aside from grafting. The current ruling family is the Akkoroan family, with Prince Antenius at the head. He is, of course, the youngest son of the main branch of the family, as the Doflein practice Ultimogeniture.

The serfs are, of course, attached to the seabed they farm. The Arms move between the serf villages freely. The Beaks typically follow the government as it moves, though portions of the soldiery are always stationed in The Crop and near the borders. The ruling class is most nomadic. With their food needs taken care of, they enjoy exploration for its own sake and patrolling for new delicacies (or graft materials).

Spoiler: History

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Danabae was once a region of Mer and Nautilites living alongside each other. They were never truly friends, though strained peace tended to prevail unless times were particularly lean.

Generations ago, though, the Doflein arrived. With their sophisticated strategies and willingness to offer hefty bribes, they quickly won over the pragmatic and, honestly, lazy Nautilites. This alliance quickly overpowered the Mer, and the modern caste system began to take form.

Since then, the Doflein have used their power mostly to encourage their best and brightest in the field of grafting. Their ability to induce stasis and mend flesh, coupled with an ingrained fear of appearing weak, has created a cultural fascination with, or perhaps addiction to, body modification. It is not uncommon to see Doflein with scales, fins, spines, or any number of other features. No two Doflein are biologically identical at this point (unless they wish to be).

Spoiler: Resources

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The Doflein, and by extension the Ennead, are hoarders at heart(s). Thus, they keep what they can to themselves. They do, however, see the value in trade and order their serfs to produce excesses of Edible Algae. Everyone needs food.

The Doflein addiction to modification, though, knows no bounds. They are constantly seeking new sources of flesh, bone, scale, and more esoteric body parts. Thus, they will always demand outside suppliers of Exotic Creatures.

Spoiler: Faith

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House of Silt [Cult of the Silted Queen]: The Mer in Danabae have a collection of local faiths, mostly centered around various animistic beliefs. A large and growing movement, though, sees the Mer waiting for a savior in the form of the Silted Queen. She takes on the role of semi-divine hero who will lead the Mer to freedom and thus ascend to true divinity. Her shrines dot the villages of Danabae. The greatest of her temples, though, is the House of Silt: a low cave made entirely of loose dirt that stays standing despite the ocean currents.

Neoplastic Monolith [Open]: A great roiling mass of hard, stone-like flesh grows near the [direction of nearest waste or toxic border] border of Danabae. It shifts, grows, and consumes constantly, and is revered by some few who dare approach it. There are no official faiths associated, but its obvious power and beauty are worthy of some veneration, surely.

The Last Limites [Descendants of the First of One]: The faith of the Doflein is a simple one, truly, since they find little time for religious rites or esoteric philosophy. The Descendants of the First of One is, rather, the general guiding mindset of the Doflein. It is in some ways ancestor veneration in that the eponymous First of One (a previous ruler) is, according to legend, in stasis beneath the Last Limites and will one day arise to bring the Ennead to greatness. In truth, though, it is a philosophy of growth. The Descendants follow in the First’s obsession and prize personal growth and change (in the physical sense) above all else.

Maurente [Region 74]

Spoiler: Thalassography

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Maurente is mostly a large, flat, seaswept plain, broken up by canyons that teem with creatures and seem to glow with a life of their own. The flatseas are mostly empty, though, except when the herdsfolk of the region are moving their squid, manatees, or krill through the weeds for grazing. Within the canyons, settlements and natural habitats for many creatures can be found.

The borders of Maurente are mostly unoccupied, though, for a variety of reasons. To the west, the threat of the warlike Nautilites, or more recently the designs of the Ennead, kept settlement there the resort of the truly desperate. To the north, the seeping toxins of the wastes and brine make the seafloor uninhabitable. To the east and south, the strange roughs cause great currents to sweep along, creating an obstacle to construction that, as of yet, as not needed to be tackled.

Spoiler: People, Government, History

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The major sentient population of Maurente are the Reida, a species of intelligent flatworms. The Reida refer to the region as Masae, but the arrival of the mighty Ennead has seen such distinctions disappear rapidly. The Reida are organized into many tribes, the most dominant of which is the Jugurtuns. Prior to the conquest, there was no true ruler of the region, but when the tribes gathered, it was the Jugurtuns who fielded the most warriors, produced the most representatives, and who could bribe the most small tribes.

The Reidan tribes exist in a state of near constant conflict, though this conflict tends to be resolved with injuries or, at worst, a handful of deaths. Far more important is proving superiority and claiming land than any sort of conquest or destruction. When disputes arise, as they must, swarms of Reida from each tribe will mount their squids and aim to create "infernos," or areas of heated water. The tribes will then enter a contest of wrestling, jockeying for position, and stunts that lasts until one tribe retreats, either due to shame or the heat. When the Reida need to turn to true violence, these firefly squids prove to be startlingly effective, if unreliable, deterrents to enemy combatants as well.

Under the Ennead, the Jugurtuns retain some of their power. As the Doflein love of strict hierarchies begins to drift into Maurente, the Reida find themselves slotting into position beneath their new rulers, sorted mostly by the size of their tribes. In the end, though, the major reorganization sees the extraction of taxes from the Reida. On the whole, this is not the worst thing, though many of the more powerful tribes resent their new constant need to pay off rivals - they are more used to receiving tributes, not sending them.

Spoiler: Resources

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Export: Firefly Squid. The Firefly Squid are squids about six or so feet long on average. They are the main domesticated creature of the Reida, useful for everything from pack animals to war beasts to food. They are special for their eponymous fireflies - a glowing, heat-producing plankton that lives in the body of the otherwise translucent squids. These plankton can, when made to, produce incredibly hot temperatures which the squids can then vent out of their mantle.

Requirement: Crops. The Reida are not farmers, they are herders. And when tides are rough and the seafloor is barren, the squids can go hungry. An import of food for the squids - and their masters - would go a long way toward calming the constantly warring tribes.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Reida practice a vast variety of philosophies, organized into numbered, tenet-based Ways. Each Way is based on interaction with the currents of the region in a unique manner, ranging from trust to reluctant resignation to struggle. The holy sites in the region are not physical structures so much as schools centered on great teachers. The three dominant philosophies are listed below.
The Third Way: Led by Syphax. This school is based on not only accepting and trusting the currents, but assisting them. It is the most proactive of the pro-current schools, seeking to physically proselytize - those drifting with the current are encouraged to snag their less exuberant tribe members and drag them along. Some within the philosophy are even known to create vast artificial webs to snag as many as they can while drifting.
The Seventh Way: Led by Hiempsabal the Lost. This philosophy is predictive in nature. Hiempsabal is said to be able to predict the whims of the water, and teaches those who follow his word to do the same. Thus, the Swimmers of the Seventh Way begin moving before the tides shift, hoping to reach whatever it is the ocean has for them before their capricious environs shift again.
The Nineteenth Way: Led by Ṣap̄anbaʿal of Gaeitu. She teaches that the current is a great foe that most be resisted at all costs. This is by far the most enduring of the great philosophies, owing primarily to the structures its adherents build under Ṣap̄anbaʿal's watchful eyes. Their holy places dot the seascape, providing haven to those who wish a respite from the violence of the tides. Those caught in the open are advised to meditate on resist.

The Cathedral of Movement [Region 67]

Resource: Piezo-phosphoric crystals
Desired Import: stone working tools or tech
Holy Sites:

• The Ceaseless Gibbering
• Vault of Strife
• Gap of Finality

Spoiler: Thalassography

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The Cathedral of Movement is a region underneath a vast ice sheet. Along the northern border, the icepack pushes very deep, at times nearly contacting the sea floor. To the central south lie the Red Weeps. The Ice Above is stained a deep red, and thick, salty substances weep from above down into a deep rift below. Southeast and southwest of the Weeps, lie regions yet unexplored.
The massive Ice Above unifies the region. Impossibly thick, yet very translucent, the Ice above shines with endless dancing, shifting bands of color. This continual aurora gives the region, and the people, its name.
The Stone Below makes up the sea floor, sloping generally away from the dangerous regions of the north. Slate, schist, and sparkling granite form countless tables and towers; the softer materials having been ground away by the relentless tides.
Between the Ice Above and the Stone Below lies the Cathedral of Movement. Strong currents combine with the bobbing pressure of the Ice Above keep the waters swirling in complex, sense-defying patterns. The light through the ice spawns endless phytoplankton, which is fed on by uncountable masses of small crustaceans, collectively referred to as Cleaners. The life cycle of these Cleaners is the marching-beat of all the other creatures’ life cycles: endless schools of small fish which feed upon them, and the larger ones that feed upon them, and so on. Larger crustaceans sweep across the Stone Below at regular intervals, feasting on the detritus.
Vegetation is sparse, but prolific. Thick bands of kelp spring up where the water is deep enough to avoid the Ice Above’s crushing press and the Stone below is shallow enough to allow the light of the Ice Above to cause it to grow. These scattered but thick forests provide cover for the endless schools of fish that traverse the area. The kelp provides both edible leaves, fodder for the delicious fire mollusks, and stringy stems used as textiles and rope.

Spoiler: People

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The Scintillius are Mer native to the regions. Being exothermic and living in cold waters, these Mer tend to be more rotund than others in warmer climates. Scintillius wear some clothing for protection from the ice and the jagged rocks. They are particularly fond of belts and harnesses with multiple pouches. Notably, their fur tends to come in a wider variety of colors and almost exclusively in winding patterns of different colors.
Most Mer live in homes made of stacked schist & slate tablets and woven kelp interior furnishings. Sling chairs and hammocks dominate for furniture. Piezo-phosphoric crystals provide ample lighting. Granit with large reflective crystals is highly prized, and a sign of wealth. Larger structures are largely absent. Instead, the Scintillius gather in large cleared, levelled areas. They tether themselves to the carved Viewpoint rocks on the seafloor. This allows them to stay in one place without much effort.
The Scintillius are a people obsessed with patterns, currents, and movement. Stagnant water is terrifying to them. Their main topic of daily discussion are the sea currents, the changing colors of the ice-above, and what meaning these hold for their daily lives. This obsession has created an ever-changing society. Scintillius seldom stay with one profession, live in one location, or stay as a family unit for very long. This has created a society of generalists and teachers, with Mer constantly wanting to learn and do new things.

Spoiler: History and Government

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As far as the Scintillius can recall, they have always lived under the ice. The towering columns of the Vault of Strife recall a time when their society spread as far south as the great southern glacier. But over time the Red Weeps consumed those settlements. Time itself tends to be a nebulous concept for the Scintillius, more attuned to the tides and auroras than to any arbitrary, measurable, set, increment. The track their ‘years’ as 2 cycles of Cleaner spawning, separated into the Stripe Spawn and the Shine Spawn. But beyond that, smaller time increments seem unneeded.
The government is, in essence, a technological theocracy. The Weavers are a select group of community leaders who maintain tight control over their primary resource and unique technology. They utilize this technology to discuss the various patterns and movements across their region, to develop a consensus around future events. The Watchers are the day-to-day local representatives, listening to the world around them and the people within, and reporting back to the Weavers.

Spoiler: Resources & technology

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Growing on the Ice Above are strange crystals, Piezo-phosphoric Crystals. These crystals seem to be both mineral and organic in nature, somehow. They possess the unique property that, when subjected to a compressive force, the crystals generate light. The more compression, the more light, up to a certain limit. These crystals are use as light sources throughout the Cathedral of Movement with the water pressure increasing their glow as the Stone Below slopes downward. The Weavers and Watchers tend the patches of these crystals that grow throughout the cathedral, ensuring they are never over-fractured.
The Scintillius are always on the look-out for Stone cutting tools and tech. Schist and slate are hard to work, and the limitations of the fractured-plate style of stone available limits their ability to build.
The Piezo-phosphoric crystals have another unique property. If the crystals are fractured and divided in a very specific manner, pressure on one will cause it to glow. The other matched crystal will also glow in the same manner. This is true no matter the distance the two crystals are apart- even to the edges of the Cathedral itself. This Piezo-phosphoric Resonance has been turned into a communications technology, similar to how photosphore signalling is used by other societies. The Weaver’s have a secret code of flashes caused by tapping the crystal with a special hammer-device. This Sounding Code allows them to communicate across their entire realm.
Economically, the Scintillius are capitalists, driven by risk and reward. The more wealthy put up capital for new business ventures to mitigate the risk of starting up. Their beliefs in patterns and movements create an innate sense of risk-taking, and their economic system rewards those that get their guesses correct. However, there is a strong prohibition of the Weaver's and Watcher's engaging in supplying venture captial. Instead, they are consulted for their knowledge and paid accordingly.

Spoiler: Faith

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All Scintillius firmly believe that the secrets of the universe reside in the shifting coronas of the Ice Above, the tides, and the movements of the water. Studying them, interpreting them, and sharing their findings are the obsession of the people. The Watchers listen, trying to avoid guiding the discussion. The Watchers are taught that the people can understand their part of the Pattern. It is the Watcher’s duty to understand their people. And to inform the Weaver’s of their insights. The Weaver’s duty is to interpret the entirety of the Cathedral, and to take actions accordingly.
There does not exist a formal liturgy or codified religious text. Only the lessons carved into the Pillars of Strife. But the population, to a Mer, believe in and support, the Weavers and Watchers.
Holy Sites:

• The Ceaseless Gibbering is a special tunnel along the northern border. Some special property of its location and design causes the cave to emit constant burbling noise. Many Scintillius believe that the cave speaks words to those that seek to listen and understand. Perhaps they are right. A Weaver has a home here and spends their time meditating in front of the cave.
• The Vault of Strife is actually a misnomer. A large circular space roughly in a deep depression at the center of the Cathedral. Here are stored the stories and mythology of the Scintillius. Each story has been carved into a slate tablet, and each tablet stacked beside or on-top of each other. These create the pillars of strife. Much wisdom is contained in here, almost always through the story of a failed action, missed opportunity, or other lesson taught through misfortune and trauma.
• The Gap of Finality is a rift in the floor at the southern edge of the Cathedral. A strong current pulls a column down from the Red Weeps above, sucking it into the unknown underground. Here is the burial place of the Scintillius. Bodies are wrapped in kelp, with prayers of farewell bound to the body. It then is pushed towards the gap and pulled into the underworld.

Sketi [Region 68]

Spoiler: Thalassography

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Sketi is cold and, oddly enough, dry. Much of the seafloor in the region is hilly, with peaks home to small coral systems and their symbiotic partners. The valleys come in two varieties. First and most commonly are the “still valleys,” places where the seafloor is sandy, covered in plant life, and home to the various peoples of the region. A fair few of these lower depths, however, are constantly shifting and are covered in valuable mineral deposits. A process that takes place deep under the seafloor produces pockets of air that percolate up through these valleys, creating shifting waves of bubbles rising through the water. Some valleys are filled with hydrophobic salts which catch large “rafts” of air, which the locals often use for anything that requires dry work.

These bubble columns dot the landscape, keeping visibility strangely limited from some angles. Travel across the region is also bound to established routes that are clear and safe, creating a sort of populated highway through Sketi.

Spoiler: People, Government, History

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Sketi is populated by two main groups, and a number of smaller peoples. The majority of Sketii are Carstalts. Carstalts are short, flat-bodied crablike creatures whose shells are open on either side, behind the large claw arms. Mating is a permanent prospect for Carstalts, as a mated pair merge into one wide creature, with the exposed flesh on the side of each growing together. More mates can be added to this pair, however, and it is not uncommon to see a Carstalt with a dozen or more members. For this reason, the Carstalts make exemplary production workers, as they can form a line of semi-independent craftspeople who can each specialize and still work in near-perfect coordination. Carstalts have long been content working hard and raising their children - they do not tend toward ambition or aggression.

The second largest population is Mer, who make up much of the wealth and power in Sketi. Prior to the conquest, Sketi was ruled by a queen and her two consorts. When a queen died or abdicated, her favored consort would depart with her, while the other would stay in the role with the following queen, thus guaranteeing a smooth transition and constancy in rule. Ostensibly, this remains the case, though the Ennead now chooses the queen and her consorts and there is no promise of continuation.

A small population of Nautilites is present in Sketi, as well, though they claim no kinship with the Danabaeans and view the northerners as nomadic barbarians.

Spoiler: Resources

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Export: Gravelglass. The mineral salts of Sketi have proven incredibly useful for the production of strong and colorful glass products. Most commonly, this is made into gravelglass to sell to the wealthy looking for a colorful accent to their properties.
Import: Textiles. The tiny population of true fauna in Sketi, coupled with the difficulty in keeping softer materials in good condition around so many claws and hard shells, has created a huge textile demand.

Spoiler: Faith

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For generations, the Sketi largely practices small, familial faiths. With the encroachment of the Pattern, though, their have been a number of unifying movements, though these have been far from successful.
The Three Peaks: There is a place near the center of Sketi that is off the beaten path where three large hills seem to lean into each other. At their peak, a large coral colony grows into a single crown, creating a hollow under which monastics and pilgrims can meditate or pray in peace.
The Open Vent: A place of quiet contemplation, meditation, and medicinal vision-seeking, the Open Vent is as it claims to be. There is a hole in the ground, from which flows a near-constant, wide tunnel of air, directly to the surface. It is calming to look at, strange to think about, and fascinating to study. People of all faiths and creeds can find something worthwhile in the Open Vent. In recent years, the people of the Pattern have begun using it as a tunnel to the surface, a strange new interpretation of the faith that sees adherents suffering the dry air to look directly into the sky above. This is frequently lethal.

Raconensae[Region 73]

Spoiler: Thalassography

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Soft, pale sands shift with the darkening of the water to harsh shards of crystal and rock, melding together in geometric patterns and pockets where arching anemones and clams attempt to root. The water is startlingly clear for how close it borders the Wastes, while an observer from the surface can’t see straight down, once the boundary of crystal is passed, it is quite easy to see circular structures in the depths, interspersed and apparently using the alternating softness and hardness of the substrate for construction. As scouts approach the boundary of the Wastes, the anemones cluster and reach heights of several meters, forming an underwater forest stretching from northwest to southeast.

Spoiler: People, Government, History

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When the Doflein arrived, there were two primary populations in Raconensae. Most notable were the siliike, whom the Doflein call the strisii. These are squidlike creatures with a long, narrow head mounted atop three girthy tentacles, each ending in a trio of smaller tentacles that allow for fine manipulation. They are exceptionally quick and agile, both mentally and physically, and given to rash decisions, fully anticipating an easy escape.

The other people group is the Kiwa. The Chrysomallon Kiwa are cancrine mollusks whose cutting claws are coated in near-luminous hair. These extend three inches--half their body length--forward from their main shell, from which their reamining eight over-articulated legs riot outwards, between which a cancerous mass of eyes peer dimly out. The shell under whose rim these endless eyes squint slopes thickly back, glinting with specks of the same gold of the clawhairs, but otherwise the rude black of unworked iron dominates their greigite-based exokeleton. They do not know permanence, as they are migrants to these waters, but they are fully bound to the seafloor.

For this reason, the siliike have ruled Raconensae since the Kiwa arrived - their mobility granted them power, and the Kiwa could not compete. Mostly, this just means that the Kiwa survive by eating and providing labor, while the siliike hunt, party, and feast.

Spoiler: Resources

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Export: Rust-Veined Pumice. The dying scraps of the anemones often drift beneath the seafloor, beyond the grasping reach of the Kiwa. As they decay, they release a foul gas that is trapped within the roiling, half-molten rock far below. As the floor shifts, chunks of this pumise rise, carried on currents, to heights from which normal folks can harvest them.
Import: Drugs. The strisii are hedonists.

Spoiler: Faith

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Kiwa wished on an Ancient scales
And that's what started Ancient Tails
Around the sea the Strisi swim
But the kiwa offered up their hymn:

They in chorus sang about their lieges' tails
Now their religion can never fail

Ancient Tails, Ancient Tails
It's long past time for Ancient Tails
Come along and take my fin
Let's all sing our Ancient Hymn

The faith is simple, grocking isn't too hard
You feel envy for tails, they're your favorite part
They look so majestic in the waters above
And they're the only thing that the Kiwa love

Ancient Tails, Ancient Tails
It's long past time for Ancient Tails
Come along and take my fin
Let's all sing our Ancient Hymn

Ancient Tails, Ancient Tails
It's long past time for Ancient Tails
Come along and take my fin
Let's all sing our Ancient Hymn

The holy sites are as follows
The Spire: A towering, spiraling column of crystal and anemones that juts out of the ocean floor. It is surrounded by a swirling mass of grit, scraps of biomass, and pumice. The lighter pumice floats ever up, while the biomass sinks slowly to the waiting claws of the Kiwa.

The Stillness: A pocket of warm, stagnant water that is formed between two dense patches of crystal sits nearly at the center of Raconensae, the Stillness is a meditative paradise. It is quiet, calm, pleasant, dark, and enclosed, free of distractions and cut off from the demands of the world.

Mortuus Marea [Region 60]

(Italics indicate Lumaeus' original writeup. It is still relevant for the history, but is simply marked for the sake of identifying that which is current and that which died with the Riftborn)

Spoiler: Thalassography: The Dead Seas

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The abyssal polar seas are naturally sparser than shallower or warmer waters. A moonscape which spends much of the year under an ice sheet, it rarely enjoys the bounty of even plankton-fall, much less fish- or whale-fall. The seafloor is in great part vast stretches of broken rock and crooked cliff, without a single bottom feeder or algaeic speck in site. But even this dead land holds life. Follow the coldest currents as they sweep over the precipice and down into oblivion itself, sink past the reach of the feeble gods of yesteryear, and hold on to your body and mind as the pressure and darkness try each, and there you will find the Great Mother. Sheltered deep below the sea floor, the Mother breathes life even into this desolation. She touches the sullen seabed from below, and lifegiving heat and energy erupt for her children.

Spoiler: People: The Riftlings Many, The Old Fathers, and the Youngest

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At each Maternal Font, the Old Fathers cluster, noble monoliths blessed with eternal life. Great tubes, they stretch from the seafloor in their great congregation, striving up two to four meters in height. Their mouths wide, they drink of the gifts and the wisdom gifted from below. Here, they commune with the Mother, and in their wisdom, consider perpetually. They speak in a language beyond our ken, and only their chosen prophet, the Youngest, serves as a bridge between the Mother’s chosen and the Riftlings Many. He rules so long as he is ordained to. When the Mother next elects a Father from among us, and he takes root as the new Youngest, the newest of the Old Fathers falls silent to the inchoate Riftlings Many and communes fully with his peers.

And so we, the Riftlings Many, know the will of the divine. We are birthed by the Fathers of the Mother, and we are numberless. Once, it is told us, we were individual, cosmically isolated larvae who knew nothing but to feed and flee. We were little more than the broken pebbles of the seabed below, and we knew no meaning. But the Mother took pity upon us, and the Fathers gave us the trailing edge of the secret of the Eternal Communion. Where we were alone, we now are multitude. Each cluster of the Riftlings Many holds in its amorphous cloud a unified consciousness, the individual Riftlings which compose it joining or dying without great shift so long as the cluster lives. While each Riftling is a near-microscopic speck, little more than flagella and mouth, the clusters that assume a united personhood are amorphous clouds composed of the Many. Unclothed are we, for the children of the Mother need know no shame, but each cluster has its own patterns, an ever shifting inventory of forms which are particular to it. To the isolated species the Fathers say the world once knew, we might appear to be individuals, clouds of shapes and roils each singular and each distinct. But we know that we are the Riftlings Many, and each cluster honors its millions and millions of constituent polyps.

The Fathers say that the Dead Seas, which have so long protected us against incursion, now shift with new currents. Something stirs beyond. And so we prepare. We send clusters to seek means of survival beyond the Mother’s aegis. We stockpile the precious breath She gives. We have been granted greater communion with each other, and are tasked to preserve our place in a shifting sea.

Now, though, the Dead Seas are ruled by the Doflein. Yes, the Riftborn still exist in colonies in their millions. But the Dead Seas are now a colony of undesirables. The leftover Carstalts, the Kiwa, the broken Mer, each struggling to survive in what was once dead. The Doflein encourage growth, agriculture, and commerce, but the natives and immigrants alike are a shattered people. The loss of the Wonderwall saw the departure of the greatest collection of biomass, and the remainder flounders, propped up merely by Enneii demands. Death is, in Ennead policy, a luxury for the farmers of the Mortuus Marea. As prisoners, outcasts, exiles, criminals, and impoverished continue to flee here, though, its capabilities grow, promising to one day rebuild the waters around the rift into something functional.

Spoiler: Resource: Fertile Soil in plenty, dearth of Toxins

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The Old Fathers feed from the blessings of the Maternal Fonts, and the remnants of these blessings mound up into rich deposits of Fertile Soil around their shrines. These must be carefully tended by the Riftlings Many, for even in this moonscape, protected all around by the Dead Seas, foreign life threatens to take root here. These resources are blessings of the Mother, but they threaten always to burst into flourish. It is a blessing to have labor.

The Great Mother bestows upon us life, but the maintenance of the Dead Seas falls upon us. With diplomats, raiders, and traders threatening to seed new life in our waters, we seek poisons to sterilize our soils and to cleanse our waters of any life but the clouds of the Riftlings Many.

With the care of the soil passed down to the new inhabitants of the waters, it is guided into function for the Ennead. This soil can produce food in other regions. It can grow fiber and materials. Toxins, though, are required to keep the soil clear within the Mortuus Marea. It is to be used where it is needed, and it is not needed here.

Spoiler: Faith: The Eternal Communion

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There is but one faith in the Dead Seas, for we are all born by the Fathers of the Mother and we know the breath of our Creator. The Eternal Communion of the Old Fathers, both with each other and the Mother Herself, is the highest existence and goal to be striven for. We Riftlings Many have been given the secret of such communion, and in our clusters, we are made more than the individual. The greatest horror would be to know existence as an isolate, distinct and distinguished from our cluster. That the Youngest bears this burden is his great sacrifice, and the tragedy of election. But it is through that suffering that our leader enters into the Eternal Communion proper.

Foreign species, it is said, often manifest as isolates, thinking themselves apart and knowing themselves alone. But for the Great Mother, who is whole in Herself and even then holds communion with the Old Fathers, this existence is a broken one. These ruined races are not to be reviled as blasphemous, but pitied in their perdition.

Spoiler: Holy Sites: The True Deep, The Mother's Reach, the Stygian Flow

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Each of the Maternal Fonts is held as sacred, but the heart of the Dead Seas and the doorstep of the Mother’s own realm is the True Deep, our holiest site. An abyss within the abyss, the world simply stops, and a roughly circular void opens to deeps extending beyond sanity. The Old Fathers cluster at the rim, and the Ancient Ones cling to the sides so far down as even they can bear the pressure.

From the nine edges of this circle, the Cardinal Rifts stretch, and the greatest of these is the second holy site of the Dead Seas: the Mother’s Reach. Though the rift itself slowly closes over a dozen leagues, it points to the longest seam of Maternal Fonts we know. The Fathers who cluster along the Reach are favored above all but the Ancient Ones.

With the expulsion of the Riftborn, the True Deep and Mother's Reach are inhabited by a mere remnant of polyps, immitating their once-leadership in a sorry display of something that might be misconstrued as mourning by those unaccustomed to these strange creatures.

The third holy site is also argued to be the unholiest site. The Stygian Flow trickles from [the land above/ruins of a lost age if no land around], creating a zone of such total toxicity that no life can pass through. Though the toxins break down rapidly in the sea and cannot be captured or used, it nonetheless serves as a promise of the future maintenance of the Dead Seas. Some, however, say that any blessing not from the Mother is a false one, and that to turn our gaze from Below will bring only deserved damnation, and individual isolation instead of isolated communion.

Calvarnsis Superior (Region 185)

Spoiler: Thalassography

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A yet to be discovered cause, a mystery still for obvious reasons, sees within the eastern edge of the desolate waters near Calvarnsis a fast flowing, if intermittent, current. This current carries barren water into Calvarnsis, where its cool temperatures can be felt along the seafloor. Just before the sands of Calvarnsis begin their sharp descent into the Inferior region of the territory, though, is a huge, wave-like wall of stone now called the Praesegia, covered from base to tip in red and green coral. This stone shelf is wide enough to catch the undertow of wastewater and force it back into itself, creating a small strip of ocean that is horridly dangerous for any creature. Those that can survive being dragged along jagged coral growths several times at high speed are sucked below into the Furnace. The high pressure system forged for itself a series of outlets in the form of tunnels carved into the sands and stone at the base of the Praesegia, which disappear from all living awareness. All that is known of what disappears into these holes is that the water comes back above the seafloor in Calvarnsis Inferior, superheated, sterilized, and purified.

Away from the Praesegia, much of Calvarnsis Superior is rolling hills, groves of thick help surrounded by protective rock formations, and, along the northeastern border, a series of caves formed from layers of calcified flesh, accreted from the horrors of nearby waters.

Spoiler: People, Government, History

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When the Pepsin arrived, a mere handful of intelligent natives were present. Each was a religious or philosophical ascetic, living alone or in small hermitage clusters. The astounding beauty of the native fauna has led a number of such communities and hermits to live here. Often, they merely wished to enjoy the peace that comes with natural beauty. Some sought meaning in the patterns of the fish, not knowing that they arrived at entirely the wrong destination for that purpose.

As Confederacy merchants began taking hold of the valuable coral along the Praesegia, they found another pocket of life - the agents of the Nacres had set up shop already, though there was plenty of coral to share.

With the arrival of the Ennead, some level of structure was applied to the region. The hermitages, often located in strategically valuable locations, became the centers of permanent settlements. The wondrous creatures of Calvarnsis are beginning to be herded - the open, unspoiled nature of the region lends itself well to Ennead pastoralism, and the simple, absurd variety of local wildlife is promising in terms of potential grafting projects.

Spoiler: Resources

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Export: Crafter's Coral. The coral of the Praesegia is hard and fast-growing, but easily guided into molds as it grows. It can take nearly any shape, and the chaotic waters nearby keep any one colony from exerting too much influence, so huge varieties of specialized tools can come from one location. Nearly every colony has some distinct characteristic, though most of the Crafter's Coral tends to a bright red or green color.
Import: Exotic Goods. The new settlers of Calvarnsis were lured by the promise of weird fish. Between the hermits, the Glossnians, the Doflein, the Nacres, and the Pepsin, the people here hail from every corner of the ocean. Now, though, they miss the peculiarities of their homes.

Spoiler: Faith

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The only unifying philosophy that has been present in Calvarnsis Superior has been the Eternal Communion. Prior to the Riftborn making themselves known, the scattered merchants, philosophers, and ascetics held beliefs that were as individual as they were.
Wavecrest: The peak of the Praesegia is home to a rustic temple complex, once a tiny commune. The views of, on either side, the maelstrom of the Furnace and the calm depths of Calvarnsis Inferior, are a juxtaposition that can see one lost for hours in contemplation. The twinned abyss was naturally claimed by the Eternal Communion as a site of holy relevance, and the support of the Enneii made this claim irrefutable by those who once called the peak home.

Calvarnsis Inferior (Region 186)

Spoiler: Thalassography

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Calvarnsis Inferior is a region of two dichotomous zones. At the higher levels, one can find an abundance of life. Creatures travel through this narrow corridor between currents antithetical to life to the east and west in order to reach mating, nesting, and feeding grounds to the north or south. The waters here are a resting place for many, as swirls of stone columns reach nearly to the surface from the depths, pocked with caves. They are also replete with drifting bits of decomposing flesh from below, creating a food chain from the smallest of scavengers to the largest predators in a constant dance around the spires.

At the lowest level, the seafloor is death. Bones lie in piles and heaps. They fill depressions, coat rises, and layer on each other in an orgy of off-white angles and curves. Mammoth seal graveyards dot the seascape - stretches where tusks jutting from mer-sized skulls rest in generational mounds. The bases of the spires are carved into long, looping curls which guide the currents into strange, spiraling spouts. Between the pillars, the sands slowly shift beneath the bones, emitting bursts of scalding hot water that form the catalyst for the updrafts which send to the gathering place above the buffet of half-rotted flesh.

Spoiler: People, Government, History

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The few Glossian settlers in Calvarnsis Inferior are under the command of Skipper Lera Celadon when the Enneii arrive. They are not a military power, no matter their fervor and dedication to the cause. The existing structures, mostly in place to exist among the spires and plumb the depths, are coopted by new governors from Danabae. The Shades and Mer from the north are kept as experts; local guides, zoologists, and oceanographers. The Enneii, though, establish their usual pattern of governance, with the Doflein profiting off the labor of everyone else. The Skipper is given a role as an assistant to the regional overseer, trusted with being the liaison between the Enneii and the Glossian remnants. The Cyphiri are treated as being under the Skipper's jurisdiction as well - Lera and her plodding mammoth-mounted patrols are the connective tissue of the region, and the Ennead is not so foolish as to upend that.

Spoiler: Resources

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Export: Mammoth Seals. Mammoth seals are large, furry seals with a set of razor-sharp tusks jutting from their lower jaw. They tend toward brown and grey, though their young are often nearly black. They have thick ridges of muscle along their backs, making them slow swimmers but giving their necks prodigious strength. Mammoth Seals are found all across the chilly waters of the south, though they are rarely found in groups of more than a dozen. Here, though, one can find the focal point of all of their migrations, the site at which every herd eventually can be found - and hunted. Current prevailing theories suggest that the seals have some level of reverence for their dead, a suggestion backed up by the presence of a nearly concerning concentration of mammoth seal corpses in the depths. Some exciteable settlers even claim that they've seen the seal dragging corpses to the region and gathering to see them sink below.
Import: Glass. The constant influx of migrating animals, swirling debris from below, and shifting currents are a feast for the senses. The original colonial shades found difficulty in creating lures for the beasts - nothing stood out amidst this sea of color, sound, and physical sensations. Eventually, though, a technique was developed that hinged on weaving massed webs of netting, coated in fine shards of glass, patterned such that the reflected light mirrored the common refractions the creatures might see when swimming in the right directions.

Spoiler: Faith

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The few colonials of the Lux-Glossnian Shades brought with them a version of the Flowing Way that emphasizes one's unique tie to the threads of reality. Individualism is prized and self-exploration is almost as holy as the thalassographic variety.
The Osseum: Deep in the crevices of Calvarnsis, a particular valley holds the Osseum. This structure is a long, tall triangle of massive rib bones interwoven with a variety of smaller, finer bones to create the illusions of a web. Within, a large vent keeps the waters warm and the ceiling charred black. It is considered a blessing if one leaves the Osseum with minor burns. As it currently stands, the Eternal Communion adherents often find that meditation within a structure built of death that is fed with the very lifeblood of the planet can be a profound experience, and many a Kiwa or Mer proudly bears the burns of the Osseum when they return home from a pilgrimage here.

[TheDarkDM]

The Lambent Syndicate

Lucent Mistress Adiratna
Diplomacy 8
Military 10
Economy 8
Faith 2
Intrigue 5

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Senja Bersinar (Region 2)

Spoiler: Geography

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Senja Bersinar, the Twilight Gloaming (Region 2)

Located north of the abyssal precipice of the Maw, Senja Bersinar encompasses a sprawling reef of brightly-colored coral fed by a forest of hydrothermal vents. The constant flow of minerals and gasses from the molten heart of the planet shrouds the region in a dreamlike haze, an atmosphere that is only accentuated by the variety of bioluminescent species that call the region home. Schools of angelfish and butterfly fish scatter to make way for groupers and coral trout, alert for the predation of hammerhead sharks and moray eels. While the waters of the twilight gloaming remain predominantly wild, there are inescapable signs of some guiding hand at work - coral sculpted into delicate and unnatural landmarks, guiding trenches carved in the ocean floor, and everywhere strands of glowing emerald kelp cultivated as much for aesthetics as for utility. These are the clawmarks of the Lambent Syndicate, the unifying force of the kucen people whose civilization dominates Senja Bersinar. Their coral palace-plantations rise in spires of opalescent hues, grasping hands curling towards the dappled sunlight of the surface. Clustered around the hydrothermal vents, siren-addled miners scrape in the sand for minerals both precious and utilitarian, heedless of the poisons filling their gills. Spiraling breeding fields curve around the tangle of the coral expanse, where fish and more unsavory stock are bred for the Syndicate’s pleasure. And ever present in the glittering aurora of the sea, the yawning darkness of the Maw.

Spoiler: People

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The Kucen

A bipedal, bibrachial family of anguilliformes, the kucen species was initially composed of three physically distinct sexes - fertile females, fertile males, and infertile males. Fertile females and infertile males both grow to lengths approaching seven feet including a powerfully prehensile tail. Possessed of bioluminescent eyes, needle-sharp teeth, and pale grey skin, they slip through the darkened waters of their home like phantoms. Fertile males, meanwhile, never develop limbs beyond their tail, remaining between one and two feet long as their bodies prioritize the production of fertilizing hormones. Lacking the natural defenses of their larger kin, fertile males’ bioluminescence extends down the length of their bodies, ample warning against accidental consumption in the seas surrounding the Maw. Though intelligent, the kucen’s development beyond small tribal groups was impeded by their predatory diet and instinctive hostility to competitors outside extended family pods - no end of kucen blood was spilled in Senja Bersinar in days past. Until the emergence of the first Siren.

Chance exposure of an immature female kucen to the concentrated excretions of a cluster of fertile males resulted in a seemingly miraculous mutation - the female grew far larger than her peers while developing the general bioluminescence of fertile males, and displayed cognitive abilities greater than any antecedent. This, at the seemingly minor cost of the Siren’s fertility. The development of this first kucen Siren, Indah, sparked a period of rapid development and consolidation among scattered pods of kucen, as what would become and after a long period of experimentation and the sacrifice of untold numbers of immature females the process of breeding additional Sirens was perfected. That the change carried a growing kernel of hedonistic megalomania was a side effect that was not discovered until it was far too late.

Indah united the Kucen in the space of a single generation, her brilliance and strength of purpose long outshining her growing madness. The great palace-city of Indah’s Rise was carved from the most magnificent of the gloaming twilight’s coral fonts, while lesser citadels rose up as the domains of her handmaiden-daughters. With victory, however, came glory, and glory stoked her baser hungers. The dictates of the Shining Queen grew erratic and self-serving, the prosperity of the kucen sacrificed ever more brazenly to feed her monstrous ego. At last, possessed of the same ambition that had driven their foster mother, the five handmaidens rose up and deposed Indah in a night of wanton violence. Publicly, their predecessor had embarked on a final grand adventure to conquer the darkness of the Maw, and Indah is still worshiped in the gloaming twilight to this day.

Freshly forewarned of the dangers of a single Siren wielding absolute power, the handmaidens managed to suppress their own creeping madness and reached an accord. Now styling themselves Mistresses of the kucen, each consolidated power within their own palaces, while leaving Indah's Rise in the hands of their unified council, neutral territory where the business of the kucen might be guided by five wills balancing each other. This consolidation of shared power was soon declared the Lambent Syndicate, and as they set to repairing the damage left in the wake of their deified forebear, the bright ladies of the Syndicate bent every resource to avoiding their own fated degeneration. At the price of many years and more lives, a brutal anodyne was at last discovered - the spinal fluids of Sirens themselves, bearing the unique cocktail of hormones that led to their births, could forestall the ravages of time. So armored against their own darkest impulses, the bright ladies of the Syndicate at last turned their eyes outward, to a world at last awakening to its potential.

Spoiler: Resource

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Siren Extract

Derived from the fertility hormones secreted by fertile kucen males, Siren is a potent psychoactive most commonly transported as a luminous blue jelly. Spread over soft membranes or directly over the gills, Siren produces a feeling of extreme euphoria and arousal, accompanied by an explosion of manic energy that takes effect within fifteen minutes and may plateau for up to four hours. However, continued use of Siren impedes a user’s ability to achieve these sensations without chemical stimulation, rendering the compound savagely addictive. Withdrawal after prolonged exposure imposes an extended period of anxiety, anhedonia, and lethargy that in many cases proves irreversible.

Resource Requirement: Luxuries

The kucen sirens at the apex of the Lambent Syndicate possess inexhaustible appetites for the finest things in life, and these appetites must be sated if the Syndicate’s fragile equilibrium is to be maintained.

Starting Technology: Graduated Symbiosis

Experimentation on fertile kucen males to produce siren was only the beginning of the Syndicate’s forays into engineering their own people. The already symbiotic function of fertile males has only been accentuated, to the point where new breeds emerge from the Syndicate’s hidden laboratories capable of chemical injection, mimicry of organ function, and the development of new and exotic compounds.

Spoiler: Faith

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Each palace-plantation of the Syndicate serves as a localized cult of personality for the Siren in control, lifting up the kucen Mistress to a point nearly equal to the now-deified Indah. However, there are three sites of sufficient spiritual and material importance to the kucen that a faith taking root there might spread to the majority of the population.

Indah’s Rise: The great neutral city of the kucen serves as headquarters to the Syndicate, where the Mistresses can meet without fear of violence at the hands of their enemies. It is by far the most populous of the cities in Senja Bersinar, serving as permanent home to nearly seventy thousand kucen and nearly doubling that population when all Mistresses are in attendance at Indah’s towering pearl citadel.

Indah’s Fall: The site of Indah’s mythical departure from Senja Bersinar has gradually become a site of pilgrimages by newly-ascendant Syndicate Mistresses as well as the hoi polloi of the kucen. What began as a simple shrine has grown into a sprawling temple complex as political factions within the Syndicate vie to display their wealth and power with competing donations. In fact, so much wealth flows through Indah’s Fall that the caretaker priests have found it prudent to take up a secondary profession in usury, and now Indah’s Fall serves as the primary lending bank to the elite of Senja Bersinar.

The Glittering Womb: While the true birthplace of the civilized kucen is lost to the fog of history, that has not prevented the Syndicate from embellishing its own history. The site chosen as the “official” cradle of the kucen is a wonder of truly natural beauty, a shallow trench in the rolling expanse of Senja Bersinar where the fume clears from the water and the delicately draped coral sparkles like stars. Declared a preserve by the Syndicate, it is to the common kucen what Indah’s Fall is to the Sirens, a site of introspection and indelible connection to the past, even if that connection is nothing but a pleasant falsehood.

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Kemenangan Adiratna (Region 28)

Spoiler: Geography

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Kemenangan Adiratna (Region 28)

In the farthest reaches of the civilized tropic seas, this sparsely-populated border region endeavors mightily to support life in defiance of the enervating currents that drift south from the toxic sea. Lacking the vibrant corals that characterize the more hospitable waters to its south, the seafloor of Kemenangan Adiratna alternate between smooth stretches of inhospitably bone-white sand and pockmarked flows of exposed bedrock. The currents of the area rise up from the hidden volcanic fissures that rent open the land in antiquity, funneling the water up and banishing the lingering toxins of the frontier. The borderlands between these shrouded refuges and the stark white of dead sea are ironically, heartbreakingly beautiful patterns of coruscating sand, silt, and minerals vomited forth from the heart of the world, the fundamental seeds of life trapped in a frozen dance with their own destroyers.

Spoiler: People

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Bleached Hymenocera

Identical in origin to their cousins to the East, the hymenocera of Kemenangan Adiratna have suffered both physiologically and societally from their environment. Though the cave systems they call home provide refuge from the terrors both invisible and unnameable that emerge from the toxic sea, generations of exposure have left the normally resplendent coloration of the hyumoneceran shell bleached the mottled dun of sand. Robbed of the foremost indicator of rank in their regimented society, the bleached hymenocera struggle to maintain order in their petty kingdom, even as the best among them recognize the cruel necessity of centralized power in the face of their peoples’ many challenges. It is for this reason that each king or queen of Kemenangan Adiratna took great pains to both surround themselves in what trappings of wealth they could manage and distribute that self same wealth to their most loyal supporters. It was an imperfect system, and one that proved all-too-easily manipulated by the Lambent Syndicate.

Alerted by her agents that then-King Elyfos’ grip on power was waning in the face of dwindling food supplies in what was then Spilai Kochys, Lucent Mistress Adiratna set in play an insidious ploy. Rerouting her own shipments of Siren to the southern kingdoms of the Seablood Khanate and The Unity, she tempted the region’s vaunted Shell Guard into raiding the lightly-guarded caravans, depositing a wealth of Siren at the king’s feet. Unfamiliar with the eastern substance beyond whispered rumors in his court, Elyfos claimed his prize, and was soon ensorcelled by it. Yet in the weeks before it stole his lucidity from him altogether, the grateful king rewarded his most powerful and most faithful followers with their own small mountains of Siren. In mere months, the entire leadership of the region was firmly in the grip of addiction. And then the Lambent Syndicate’s shipments through the region ceased. The supply, which once seemed as an ever-flowing river, now began to dwindle. Nobles that had once sworn eternal friendship now looked jealously at any apparent surplus of the precious substance, and in his rare moments of lucidity King Elyfos was faced with the looming threat of civil war.

Then emissaries from the Syndicate arrived. With honeyed words and fresh caskets of Siren, the kucen quickly gripped the reins of power in Spilai Kochys. Though lesser functionaires and the heirs of the nobility cried out for resistance in the face of the Syndicate, the most noble and notable among them were swiftly and permanently silenced. The king’s court, reduced now to a luxurious Siren den, took little interest as Syndicate soldiers crossed the border to secure the canyonways linking the region, and it took little more than the threat of cutting off his supply for King Elyfos to sign away his autonomy and his kingdom’s name to something more of Adiratna’s choosing. Now, the noble court survives as something akin to a curiosity to the distant Lucent Mistress, and true power is concentrated in a regional governor of Adiratna’s clan and a network of collaborators less principled than their dearly-departed fellows.

Spoiler: Resource

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Tiny Turtles

While the treacherous waters of Kemenangan Adiratna have had the most dramatic effect on its hymenocera inhabitants, they have changed every species that calls the region home. Nearly as ubiquitous in the caverns and canyons of crab-folk is a subspecies of flatback sea turtles rendered in miniature, a pygmy species that the hymenocera natives see as personifications of soon-to-be-born hymenocera. Certainly, the turtles’ vibrant green and orange coloration recalls the faded memories of the hymonecera’s own shells, and centuries of religious devotion has led to a relationship somewhere between pet, guardian spirit, and omen. The arrival of the Syndicate has led to efforts to corral and control the turtles “for the good of the population,” and the bleached hymenocera have no need to know what befalls the Tiny Turtles dispatched to the outside world.

Resource Requirement: Meat

Cruelly, though the bleached hymenocera’s devotion to the Tiny Turtles feeds their spiritual lives, it does little to truly feed them. What game exists in Kemenangan Adiratna is either too small or too rare to adequately supply even the modest communities of the caves, which has forced the bleached hymenocera to rely on a nutritious but foul-tasting kelp for sustenance. A reliable supply of animal protein, such that their cousins to the East enjoy, would go a long way to earning the loyalty of the common folk.

Spoiler: Faith

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Suntouch Rise: A rarity in the tide swept waters of the tropics, Suntouch Rise is a string of seamounts large enough to border on islands rising from the largest of the region’s canyons. Breaching the distant surface, the sandy beaches atop the seamounts serve as the essential breeding grounds of the Tiny Turtles. Only vaguely aware of the cycle of life and death transpiring above their heads, the bleached hymenocera nevertheless recognize the stone pillars as the wellspring of their beloved turtles, and so have carved a series of shrines and altars at the base of the rock to channel their devotion heavensward.

The Lost: A location of local myth, The Lost is seen by the bleached hymenocera as the birthright denied them by the toxic sea. An expanse of dead coral rising in lonely monument above the white sands, the remains of The Lost speak of a proud city fallen to the ravages of time, broad boulevards of stone slabs and many-hued towers of coral left to wither beneath the distant sun. In years past, the most devoted among the bleached hymenocera would embark on pilgrimage to a hermitage at the heart of the city, but it has lain abandoned for many years.

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Rumah Leluhur (Region 27)

Spoiler: Geography

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Rumah Leluhur (Region 27)

South of the regimented pleasure palaces of the sirens and the sprawling plantation-cities of their clients, the shrouded corals of Reumah Leluhur recall an earlier era of kucen development. Scattered tribal holds dot the striated coral hills, their colors growing increasingly clearer and brighter the further west one swims, as geothermal vents thin and the ocean floor rises closer to the elusive surface. It is a wild and dangerous stretch of sea, where the natural dangers of coral sharks and caravan-crackers are sometimes indiscernible from the war bands of kucen tribes, with the uninhabited spaces between tribal holds featuring some of the most spectacular coral forests, fed a unceasing supply of blood and bone. In these primeval battlegrounds, the coral serves as symbiotic home to a unique species of blooming fungus that leeches excess calcium carbonate to form hard-shelled discs that cast uncanny shadows.

Spoiler: People

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Tribal Kucen

When the first siren Indah rose in Senja Bersinar to unify the kucen tribes beneath her glistening talons, the conquest was not so total as the Lambent Syndicate’s histories recount. As Indah’s honeyed words and ruthless tactics brought tribe after tribe to heel, the kucen chiefs and warlords at the far edges of their dominion grew increasingly terrified of the shadow to the north. Indah’s power, coupled with her clear intent to demolish the old order, moved the traditionalist kucen leaders to lengths once thought unthinkable, and beneath a banner now resigned to ignominy they sacrificed their pride and the pride of their tribes…and made peace. When Indah’s grasp stretched out to the kucen marches, she found herself grappling a confederation united in hatred and fear of nothing so much as her. Warriors unnumbered in their defeat pressed south, only to be repulsed time and time again. Even Indah’s greatest servants, her siren daughters, proved incapable of swaying even the weakest of the local warlords to their cause, and after nearly ten years of bloody struggle the mother of the Lambent Syndicate chose to turn her gaze elsewhere. It was not a defeat, of course, for defeat would be unthinkable. But the tribes found their freedom tenuously secure. In the years that followed, Indah’s disappearance and the merciless press of time eroded the purpose that once united the tribes, and little by little they descended once more into internecine conflict. Fortunately for them, the same state of affairs had come to dominate the shadow politics of the Syndicate, and the tribes were left to their little wars.

For a time.

The explosive expansion of Lucent Mistress Adiratna’s power through the subjugation of Kemenangan Adiratna dealt a terrible blow to her rivals’ complacency. Where once the Syndicate’s gaze had only stretched to its traditional borders, an entire world was now opening, its fruits ripe for the taking if one were cunning and ruthless enough. But while most of the Syndicate’s leadership thought to find advantage among the other civilized peoples of the tropic seas, the youngest and least magnificent among them struck upon a different strategy. For years, the southern tribes had watched in mounting jealousy as their northern cousins grew fat and wealthy, the oppressive terror of Syndicate rule obscured behind currents of luxury and aggressive propaganda. Conflicts once fought for honor or territory had begun to take on a markedly more materialistic shade, as tribes raided their neighbors for luxuries rather than essentials. Into this crucible, the Auroran Mistress Intan came not with steel, but with pearls. Spreading her proportionately meager wealth among the leaders of the largest tribes, she spun a vision of a new and binding federation, her faction of the Syndicate serving as figurehead and voice for the southern tribes, each chief and warlord elevated as captains within the Syndicate, with all the wealth and prestige that office entailed. Though she was initially greeted with mistrust, Intan’s clear need of them cast new light on union with Senja Bersinar, and eventually the southern tribes acceded. At once, wealth beyond the measure of their forefathers began to flow into the region. And warriors beyond the ken of the Syndicate’s drug-fueled conscripts leapt like a spear into Intan’s hand.

Spoiler: Resource

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Hardplate Fungus

The unique fungal blooms that emerge from Rumah Leluhur’s ancient battlegrounds grow harder as they age, while retaining a great deal of supple flexibility. Long harvested by audacious hunters who brave the coral sharks, the fungus has served the local kucen tribes well as arms and armor for generations. Now possessed of the resources to protect industrial harvesting enterprises, the deep red calcifungus has begun to spread to the armies of other Mistresses and beyond.

Resource Requirement: Megafauna

Robbed of the constant warfare that once defined them, the tribes of Rumah Leluhur have petitioned Auroran Mistress Intan for a stopgap to retain their cultural distinctiveness from the soft peoples of Senja Bersinar. Her proposed solution, to import larger and more terrible beasts for the tribes’ chosen warriors to hunt, received early acclaim, though the longevity of the solution is far from decided.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Fangs: Unlike the kucen of Senja Bersinar, the inhabitants of Rumah Leluhur have long shunned the Maw as a place of ill omen. However, two small tribes stand as noteworthy exceptions. Worshiping the eternal darkness found at the very heart of the Maw, these blind-seeker tribes have carved grim fortresses into a pair of jagged sea-monts that rise like teeth within sight of one another, dominating the northern and southern horizon line of their twins respectively. Long separate from the proper tribal relations of the region, the blind-seekers have yet to submit to Indah’s rule, their continued existence a strange mirror to the resistance offered against Indah by the southern tribes themselves.

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Shue'aaz Sho (Region 8)

Spoiler: Geography

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The sea runs from the small island chain in the north over countless rocks and hills, gradually giving way to more well-known regions on the southern border. Once one swims some distance inward, there are no immediately noticeable landmarks - not a seamount that can be distinguished from its neighbors, making a return to civilization challenging even for experienced navigators. Those who have lived in this sea for years, however, eventually grow immune to this "Rock blindness", as it is called. The bare outcrops turn to an immaculate white twice a year, when the currents bring in marine snow. But the snow never reaches the nooks and crannies of the trenches and labyrinthine caves below. Vegetation is largely constrained to the archipelago's sandy surroundings, though plankton is omnipresent, like in any other sea, feeding on the minerals released by frequent volcanic activity.

Spoiler: Population

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Until recently, the region had few inhabitants, and no lawgiver. Itinerant merchants, adventurers, and minstrels spreading ballads exalting the latter's heroic deeds did cross the region. However, each night spent under the stars of Shue'aaz Sho - caves often had dangerous inhabitants - meant one was taking a risk of never waking up again.

The few "natives" of the region could not sustain themselves through agriculture or herding, so they more often than not turned to a primitive life of indiscriminate hunting and raids, if they were not already outlaws who had fled the civilized seas. These inhabitants were of various races and cultures, lacking even a common name for their sea. There are plenty unintelligent creatures, in particular several endemic species of colorful jellyfish who like to float near the surface, making the more squeamish Nacre divers shun the region.

The Lojanese colonists huddle close to their motherland in the north, carving infrastructure and orientation marks in the caves as they go, much to the displeasure of many natives, who feel that they are stripping the sea of its unique character. It is mostly the Tobar who have chosen to move to Shue'aaz Sho. While loyal to the Plo'uogoar, the immigrants are more likely to think of it as a guiding figure, rather than a creator deity who needs to be attended at all times, unsurprisingly.

Spoiler: Faith

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Legend has it that Shue'aaz Sho was a Land of Elements before the Cataclysm. Its inhabitants were gigantic serpentine creatures, whose physique is likened by some narrators to that of the Kucen, with others opining that their prominent presence and wisdom implies that they must have had some relation to the ancient Lojanese. In a time before time, they came to the mundane, lifeless sea, carrying an "eternal heat" in their hearts from their unknown homeland. They had two pairs of large membranous fins sprouting from their backs, allowing them to swim above the surface as well as we swim below it. In their realm, water, air and lava coexisted, flowed around each other and mixed, giving rise to the beautiful, if lifeless, rock formations visible to this day. Unless they managed to leave in time, it is assumed that they were all killed by the cataclysm, buried beneath their collapsing palaces. A few loanwords remain, but most of their singing language has been lost to history. This includes their true name - Lojanese speakers call them the Glairpan.

HC1: The Always-Burning
It is the largest volcano in the land by any reasonable metric, except height, its tip barely peeking above the horizon from the middle of a deep crumbling caldera. Though it is not physically imposing, one learns to respect it, at the latest when the quakes hit and poisonous smoke billows in all directions. And should the Always-Burning decide that the living creatures have encroached too far upon its stony domain, that it shall adorn itself with a new skirt of igneous rock, it spews forth vigorous streams of hot lava, covering the surrounding mounds in a thick layer of ejecta. The Always-Burning is regarded as a symbol of the environmental dangers that Shue'aaz Sho abounds with, and for believers in the Mandate of the Plo'uogoar, it represents a goal, nature that is yet to be discovered and conquered. The natives pray at its foot so that they may be allowed to live another year.

Spoiler: Resource

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The lives of the legendary inhabitants may have been extinguished by the era-ending catastrophe, but some of their scalding heat has endured. The seafloor is dotted with numerous smoking volcanoes and hot hydrothermal vents. Their heat bakes any sand that is brought to them, creating a sturdy glass that can be used for construction and tools.

Agriculture can hardly be practiced on top of basalt or gabbro, so the colony must be supplied with food regularly.

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The Protected Statera (Region 31)

Spoiler: Geography

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The seas of The Protected Statera are teaming with life. From giant, slow filter feeders to quick-moving eels and sharks. Cleaner Wrasse flit in and out of sharks' open mouths while Moray Eels and Groupers team up to hunt small fish. Swimming through you are met with a plethora of colors and intricate textures from the many giant sections of reef, only broken up by lakes of wave rippled sands and intricate coral encrusted rock formations. Many species of coral make their homes here in the trenches and the spires, the landscape is blooming with life and color. Hard corals like Elkhorn and Staghorn corals branch out in intricate patterns providing the foundation of the reefs along with other Acropora. Soft corals like Sympodium or Sea Fans act to control the environment and currents. The wind-driven currents wind between the spires and carry the bioluminescent plankton that acts not only as the main primary producer in the ecosystem but also light up the surface at night in rippling blue and green streaks and patterns. As you get closer and closer to the center of the reef, the sand lessens and the spires of limestone rise higher and higher. At the center of the reef is the hub of activity known as the Coral Forum Palatium. Here, the reef forms massive arches leading to a giant spire of reef so tall it scrapes the surface. The outside is a patchwork of coral and limestone full of arches and tunnels leading towards the center. The spire was built by the coral over hundreds of years as they slowly pulled in more and more limestone, holding it together with their coenosarc. Inside is a network of naturally and biologically illuminated tunnels and chambers. The largest of these is near the base of the spire. The chamber is open on most sides, supported by massive curving arches. Just above it lies the chamber holding the Sanctus Cerebrum. The Sanctus Cerebrum is the nucleus of society. It is the oldest and wisest colony of coral and the ancestor of the majority of the surrounding colonies.

Spoiler: People

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Unassuming and often mistaken for plants, the corals of Protected Statera make up a complex and advanced society. Protected Statera hosts a massive variety of coral colonies which, while acting as a collective individual, are actually composed of tens of thousands of tiny individuals known as polyps.

The polyps' surface tissue contains algae known as zooxanthellae which they live in a symbiotic relationship with. The zooxanthellae provide the coral with essential nutrients such as glycerol, glucose, and various amino acids. The zooxanthellae are very sensitive to changes in the ocean environment so the coral is very careful about monitoring the environment and keeping it in balance. Also in the surface tissue of the tentacles are specialized cells called nematocysts which are specialized cells that act like little harpoon guns. The venom in the nematocyst depends on the species of coral but can range from feeling like a bee sting to paralyzing you and eating away at you until you die. This is the coral's primary defense mechanism. The zooxanthellae are what give the corals their color and without them, the coral will die. Each polyp also contains, within its mesoglea (the gelatinous tissue found between the endoderm and ectoderm of cnidarians), a highly advanced neural network capable of complex thought. The polyps are connected by their coenosarc (a layer of living tissue that overlays the skeletal material of the coral). The coenosarc also contains similar neural pathways that allow the polyps to communicate and share thoughts. Because of this, the coral polyps tend to identify as a colony as opposed to as an individual.

This heightened intelligence and interconnected mind have allowed the coral to become exceptional at working as a team. Specialized colonies can use their tentacles to grip and move objects or even other coral attached to moveable objects. This is what has allowed them to construct the living palace and alter its rooms to one's convenience. Another advantageous adaptation that the coral has achieved is the ability to communicate with other complex organisms through intricate chemical signals. This makes communication at a range unreliable unless they are trying to send out a message en masse. To combat this the Colonies have selectively bred a large variety of bioluminescent plankton who can be sent out to communicate at a range and send messages long distances.

To move and spread and interact with the outside world, the colonies have begun attacking themselves onto other organic life with who they communicate via chemical signals. The most popular creatures are various forms of hard-shelled aquatic life such as turtles or horseshoe crabs. Alternatively, they may choose large thick-skinned creatures such as small whales.

At the center point of the society is the Sanctus Cerebrum which is the original coral colony from which most other coral in the reefs came. The Sanctus Cerebrum now acts as a reservoir of knowledge and information for the coral colonies. While the Sanctum Cerebrum was the founder of the society, it has since stepped down from its role as leader of the colonies. Instead, it deemed it better to choose other colonies to act as rulers until they are deemed unfit and the title passes to their successor. This is done because, while the memories and knowledge that the coral holds are collective, it is the differing experiences and views of the colonies that provide more diverse and effective decisions. The ruling coral, The Regnandi Collective, is in charge of making important decisions and determining the outcome of disputes. This is more of an honorary title however since the title bearer is decided by a vote placed by the oldest and most respected colonies. The most respected colony's job is to bring issues and some potential solutions to the Regnandi Collective who ultimately decides the best course of action. They usually end up going with what the majority believes but in certain cases they will go against the majority and risk their title.

Spoiler: Resource

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If there is anything the coral has a plethora of, it is shells. Since the reefs are always flourishing with life, lots of shelly little creatures find themselves being used as a nice snack for many different creatures. While there is an unspoken truce between predator and prey in the reefs, shellfish and other “lower” life forms are still fair game. The colonies will collect and store shells and pearls and really anything shiny or pretty to save for later or use to trade to visitors. Most shells are thrown out or used for decorative/construction purposes but the large quantity of rare and valuables shells and other organically formed treasures is stashed away for safe keeping. When it comes to what the coral requires to survive, they are very particular about what they need. The temperature has to be right. The water can't contain too much particulate matter. There has to be plenty of sun and good currents (not too fast) to bring in the various delicate drifters and to spread their gametes during spawning.
(Required resource is Indicator Species to help determine if a location is safe to settle)

Stating Tech: Photospore Signaling
Merchant Support is received by the CCC

Spoiler: Faith

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The Colonies don’t have a faith per se but follow a more or less unwritten set of laws. They never fight unless for self-defense. Because they are so delicate, their goal is to keep the ecosystem thriving since they need it to survive. Outside the reef, they don’t care what happens as long as it does not threaten them. They respect all organisms and their place in the world but condemn anything that would threaten their finely balanced ecosystem.

The Colonies do however welcome all sorts of religions and faith to set up in their vast reef to inspire all colors and cultures of creates to their home.
Some examples of notable sights are below.
Sunken Temple
The Sunken Temple is an ancient ruin from an era none remember. It was in a complete state of disrepair when the reef first formed and over time, what was left was cemented together by the reef. Now It lies, a half open cathedral like building with an intricate, fractured stained glass roof shedding colorful light that changes when the sun hits at different angles. Perhaps it had a far more complex purpose long ago but none have yet solved that riddle.
Fields of Fire
A vast stretch of blazing red grass raised up on a mesa. The reef has left it untouched so it remains just as it was found back before memory. It is littered with other bits and pieces of a lost era but nothing that seems of significance. In the past preachers of different faiths have used it to deliver their sermons as it is a good open area.
The Ericals Cave
A plain and dark cave were coral can't grow. A network of tunnels lead down to it lit only by patches of bioluminescent macrofoul. A small set of chambers sits at the end of the tunnels. The first chamber is unfurnished except for a long stone bench. At the far end is a small hole in the wall that contains nothing but an inky black void. Beyond this is the Ericals chamber where 3 posts are stuck into the ground, each with intricate carvings. A 5ft diameter hole leads down into the darkness farther than anyone has reached.

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The Khandeeps (Region 25)

Spoiler: Geography

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Amidst a great, rocky cliff off the edge of the ocean, there is a reef. Upon this reef is a massive colony of coral structures, a veritable garden of ocean life. Yet, this is no ordinary coral reef. It is the home of the Coralites, a marvel of architecture and engineering feats. Most would call it beautiful, except that no intelligent species other than the Coralites has yet to be allowed inside. The reef is situated on the ledge of an underground volcano, and some disturbing temperature spikes and toxicity has developed recently, though nothing has as of yet been done about it.

Starting Territory: Requesting either Area 31 or Area 25, though I'm honestly not that picky.

Spoiler: People

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Most people know Coralites as one of two things- they are either a hard shell Coralite (Builder), or a soft- shell Coralite (Defender). While technically true, the answer is a little more complex. Each Coralite is actually a colony, a series of thousands of organisms living in concert with each other, unified by a single soul. Additionally, within each Coralite colony, lies several hundred Zooxanthellae, who provide energy to the Coralite colony, as well as providing the Coralite’s color. All of these organisms are responsible for the vaguely- humanoid shapes that the Coralites take on, though there can be some variations from colony to colony based on that colony’s interpretation of what a “surface- worlder,” looked like.
Every Coralite’s main interest is first and foremost, to its colony. The colony must work together to act in its own best interests, but this is more difficult than it appears. At any given time, several hundreds of Coralites debate and argue over the next course of action- other ancestries may see them as slow to act, slow to think.
Coralites have a sort of soft- caste system. Hard shell Coralites are called Builders, and they are responsible for the building and creating of the home, weapons, and art pieces that the Coralites may need. Builders are able to take the minerals in the water and the surrounding shoals and turn it into calcium carbonate, which they use to make said structures. Soft shell Coralites are known as Defenders, for they possess a stinging venom which they can use to paralyze predators that would attack the reef. Zooxanthellae are the energy providers- their only job in the colony is to provide energy, and as they reside inside individual colonies and not as a part of the larger brain, they are not afforded as many rights as an individual Coralite is. However, as most Coralite colonies are smart enough to realize that, without the Zooxanthellae, they would all perish, most colonies do enough to keep the Zooxanthellae happy. Colonies are also further sorted by the religious affiliation they belong to, which is told further below.
While having to work together on a near- constant basis would lead one to believe that they are by nature cooperative, the truth could not be more different. Individual colonies tend to look after the colony first, second, and third, and only cooperate together with other colonies when absolutely necessary. This is likely a cause of the belief that each colony is a single soul, and perhaps also some leftover remnant of the individualistic ancestors who came before.
There is no difference between religion and government when it comes to the Coralites. Nominally, the leader of the government is the Khan, the head of the Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond. He dictates how colonies must spend their time, where to build, where to defend, to explore, and ultimately, how to one day reach the surface. All of the reef is theocratically owned, and every colony is cared for by the collective will of the members of the reef. As time has passed, however, his rule has become less and less absolute, as the Self- Religious Movement has grown. If a colony believes in themselves as the highest form of god, they tend to be anarchistic, and do only as they themselves believe to be the best, with little coordination from outside colonies. The current Khan, Jirai Khan, has yet to expel the troublemakers from the reef, though he gets closer and closer every day to doing so.
Reproduction amongst the Coralites is an extremely long and slow process, as it requires a set number of individuals numbering in the thousands before a Coralite colony can attain sentience. As such, most new ones are grown over a period of a hundred years or so, and mature slowly, not reaching adulthood until one has been around 400 years or so.

Spoiler: Resource

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The Builders of the Coralite clans have an amazing ability to turn the minerals in the water into calcium carbonate, which can be further refined into either fibrous aragonite or diamond- hard calcite. These materials are great building materials on the ocean floor, and as such, are highly sought after. However, Coralites are extremely sensitive to heat fluctuations. Heating mechanisms are of extreme importance to the Coralites, less they begin to die off.

Spoiler: Faith

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There are two main religions amongst the Coralite colonies, with each colony collectively belonging to one or the other group. The first, led by the de facto leader Jirai Khan, are called the Priesthood of the Echoes of Beyond. They believe that the Coralites are fractured souls of the lost surface people, and wish to carry on and model their society exactly as the lost surface world did. They believe deeply in the power of meditation, and that only through this meditation- and the eventual reclamation of the surface world- can they be whole. Water is the chief power in the universe being a lifegiver and a savior of the individual soul. The colony’s appearance is almost uniformly humanoid- shaped, though this appearance can differ slightly, due to differences in a colony’s perception of what a surface worlder may have looked like.
The other faith is a relatively new belief system (only a few thousand years old!), and is led chiefly by the younger Coralite colonies. They believe that their souls are not the same as the surface world, but rather a new creation, mixed with the sea and their own species of coral; essentially, the soul is mutable. Therefore, rather than striving to model society after a long- dead ancestor, they should strive to find their own way in this new world. They have six codified tenants, written down by the Coralite Altan Ankhbayar, which are as follows:

Your mind is the source and standard of truth, so no matter what, trust yourself.
Your emotions are authoritative, so never question (or let anyone else question) your feelings.
You are sovereign, so flex your omnipotence and bend the universe around your dreams and desires.
You are supreme, so always act according to your chief end, to glorify and enjoy yourself forever.
You are the summum bonum—the standard of goodness—so don’t let anyone oppress you with the antiquated notion of being a incomplete soul.
You are the Creator, so use that limitless creative power to craft your identity and purpose.
The two faiths have clashed recently over the direction of the Coralite colony, and it would not take much for this to boil over into conflict.

Spoiler: Holy Sites

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The Garden of Awakening: The birthplace of the Coralite species, this is where the first Coralite gained sentience, its soul partially “restored.” It lies in the northwest corner of Sootopolis City, a pure garden of coral architecture and engineering. It is often considered the most beautiful place in Sootopolis City. Open to the public year- round, many new coral pieces are added on to it each year, creating a majestic labyrinth of coral garden.

Temple of the Ancients: Occasionally, a Coralite will have a dream about a particular memory of when they lived on land. This, according to the Priesthood, is a sign of the soul coming together, of knitting closer and closer to being whole. Usually, these dreams are in response to some sort of physical stimulus, often from objects found in deep water. The Temple of the Ancients is normally where they find these objects. An abandoned “camp,” the Temple of the Ancients hosts a large bounty of foreign objects from the surface world, strewn amidst rock and rubble. This site is believed to have been the camp of the old surface worlders, and as such, is amongst the most holy of places. The Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond makes its headquarters here, and priests can often be found here meditating, trying to heal “their,” soul. As a side note, objects here that a Coralite makes a connection with are not kept here, but rather taken back to the Coralites personal abode, where they can continue to forge their soul back together.

Altan Ankhbayar’s House: Where Altan Ankhbayar penned the tenants of what has been called the Self- Religious Movement, partially as a discourse against the teachings of the Priesthood of the Echoes of the Beyond. While the colony and The Priesthood have declared the house as having no significant religious affiliation, younger followers of the Movement have begun gathering here as a way to congregate amongst themselves, without fear of judgment.

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Continued

[Miltonian]

The Unity
In death, all things united be,
In the depths of the briny sea.

Leader: Grinmaw the Calamitous
Diplomacy: 2
Military: 5
Economy: 4
Faith: 1
Intrigue:3

Spoiler: The Abyss

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(Tentatively placed in Region Twenty-One, still waiting for final confirmation)
Geography: The Abyss, the Pit, the Maw, whatever it is called, is a region of the sea-floor beneath a semi-permanent whirlpool. Whenever a storm comes, as they often do, the seas are whipped into a frenzy and spiral down, down, down until it collides with the ocean floor. Untold years of this have carved out the Abyss, from which the region gets its name, a deep basin in the sea floor (though not mechanically at a different sea-level). Due to the properties of the currents in the area, all manner of detritus, and in particular, the half-eaten corpses of many an unfortunate creature fall into it, only to come back out again months later, changed...

Spoiler: People

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The Unity, as they call themselves, are formed from, or more accurately, are a particular species of coral. However, due to some quirk of evolution or fate, they require some form of biological matter upon which to grow. Flesh, however, is impermanent, especially in the deep waters, but bone remains. Thus, it is upon the bones of the fallen that the Unity rise.

Coral-crusted corpses roam the bottom of the pit, too heavy to float now. Since the time of the First Awakening, they have been confined to the ocean's floor, but there they have thrived. From other species of coral, they cultivate palaces and promenades in imitation of half-remembered structures; structures that they see clearest in their dreams. Their structures must be built from other coral, though, as the special variety that gives their bodies new life will not grow except on bone.

Not every skeleton that falls is turned into a new colony of the Unity, however. If the host body is too small, for instance, then the colony will not gain sentience. Consciousness requires a critical mass, after all, and thus the bigger the colony the higher regarded the individual. Their leaders, therefore, are known by titles befitting of their bulk and girth, but the greatest of them all is Grinmaw the Calamitous, the first of the Unity to achieve consciousness and one born of a carnivorous whale skeleton of uncommon size. When he moves, his very passage shakes the earth and stirs up enough sand to cloud the water for hours. As for his name, it comes from the permanent, massive grin on his face. None yet have risen that can contest his might.

As a culture, they tend to take the long view in things. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing right, so to speak, and do so properly so it will not need to ever be done again. Thus, they are slow to act, but very hard to dissuade once they set to a course. Among themselves, this is not a concern. However, for the first time, their coral structures have reached the top of the Abyss. For the first time, they will have to contend with the other great wills of the world.

Things to Know:

• Life Cycle: A Unity colony begins when an existing member ejects some of its biomass onto a suitable location. This new, nascent colony will rapidly begin to grow, assuming enough nutrients are present, and will quickly take over enough of the host-skeleton to achieve mobility. The movements at this stage are slow and jerky, however. At this stage, the colony has not yet achieved sentience, but has an insatiable desire to reproduce. As such, it will seek out both new sources of nutrition and possible create new colonies if it finds a sufficiently-sized host. If care is not taken, it may also lash out at other, living creatures in an effort to render them suitable for colonization. This behavior ends once the colony has achieved self-awareness, and it switches from a rapid-growth state to a more mature, maintenance one.
• Government: The Unity believe that wisdom comes with age, and thus they function as a gerontocracy. If the revered elders should perish, new ones are elected to replace them, with each member over a century in age having an equal say.
• Old Memories: The Unity sometimes can retain the skills or even fragments of knowledge that their host once possessed. This is because, when they grow, their neural networks flow into the spaces left behind by the old, decayed ones, and thus much of the structure is retrained.

Tech Pick: Graduated Symbiosis
The Unity are experts at growing themselves into the proper shapes for whatever purpose they need. Given enough time, they can adapt their bodies in small ways, though the underlying structure (their skeleton or exoskeleton base) cannot be modified.

Spoiler: Resource

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Jaderock Coral is a special kind of non-sentient coral that grows, "abominably fast", according to the members of the Unity, and they consider it a 'weed' of sorts. To the common eye, though, it grows at speeds quick enough to be used in construction, and it has enough strength to withstand all manner of punishments. Perhaps, if its growth could be stopped once it has reached the appropriate size, it would make for an excellent way to 'grow' buildings in place.

However, what the Unity lacks is a reliable source of food. As their population has expanded, the trickle of detritus from the surface will soon be unable to sustain them all. When this happens, unrest will swiftly follow.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Unity have merely a vague philosophy at the moment. It is not that they are incapable of introspection, in fact many sit for years in private thought. However, they have never come to a complete consensus yet on the true answer to life's most important matters. However, they do agree on some things: the Path of Wisdom. The basic tenets of this faith are that the Eldest are to be revered, for in them lives the memory of events past.

The three Holy Sites of this path correspond to the dwellings of the three largest creatures.

• Grinmaw's Auditorium: A place for Grinmaw to address the general populace, when he cares to. Otherwise, it is used as a forum for ideas.
• Carapace's Rift: A massive split in one of the cliffsides, where Carapace the Eviscerator spouts his furious invectives against the world at large.
• The Grand Plateau: Though stationary, the Unity come here to 'hear' the wisdom of Shellback, a colony that has grown on the back of some turtle and is thus immobile.

[Grim ranger]

New version of the profile here!

Kar-Nath Hegemony

Spoiler: Summary (Current as of turn 4)

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Region Preference: 51, 77, or any other glacier-adjacent area in Polar region.

Leader: Frozen King Rham
Leader stats:
Diplomacy - 6
Military - 8
Economy - 6
Faith - 2
Intrigue - 1

Persons of interest: General Kreel

Capital: Glacier Crag

Starting Faith: Voice of Jaarn, Followers of Deep Ways (secondary)

Holy sites: Grand Schola (Voice of Jaarn), Temple of Dark Currents (Followers of Deep Ways)

Resource: Rimestone
Requirement: Exotic Food

Starting Tech: Composite Grafting

Current technology: Composite Grafting, Trophic Deconvolution, Photospore Signaling. Supernatic Propagation, Megafaunal Tailoring, Graduated Symbiosis and Electrodialytic Staurozoa

Brief pitch: Crab-eel people adapted to live in harsh icy environment who have developed a somewhat aggressive but tight-knit hegemony

Spoiler: Bookkeeping (Current as of turn 4)

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Holy Sites: 2 and 3 (Region 77)

Trading posts: 1 (Region 77), 2 (Region 78)

Treasure: 0

Military: 5/5 units

Favors (Negatives are favors owed):
Abyssal Stewards: 0
Divine Nacres: 0
Chelonian Chora: 1

Reputation:
Abyssal Stewards: +2
Divine Nacres: 0
Chelonian Chora: +2

Prestige: 1

Spoiler: Persons of Interest

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Spoiler: Ruler

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Thubrak, the Frozen King

Diplomacy - 4, Military - 1, Economy - 2, Faith - 4, Intrigue - 1

An old and unpopular ruler, Thubrak descends from line many have begun to look down upon as embracing old glories over advancement of the Hegemony as a whole. While adept at maneuvering socially and a devout follower of the Voice of Jaarn, he has allowed the internal security and and martial strength of the people to gradually wither, the economy being not too far behind. It seems that few things directly matter to the increasingly insular monarch.

Rham, the Frozen King

Diplomacy - 6, Military - 8, Economy - 6, Faith - 2, Intrigue - 1

A newly installed claimant of the throne that has taken over in relatively bloodless palace coup, Rham is a younger Nathi than his predecessor, with weight of his people's expectations on his shoulders. Backed by majority of traders and massive number of fighters vying for re-strengthening of Hegemony's army, he has still lost most of the favor of the priesthood. Despite this, Rham has attempted to maintain cordial relationships established by his predecesor, although his approach can at times be somewhat more aggressive.

Spoiler: Generals

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General Kreel

Military - 9

Spoiler: Tactical Doctrines

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March of Conqueror: Kreel has little regard for casualties of his men, but his ruthless battle strategies are undeniably effective, inspiring waves of collaborators amid the newly conquered territories with shows of might.
- A free action attempt to Sway the aristocratic support of the region
- +1 to battle roll
- +10% own casualties

The current Exarch of Path of Banners, the Nathi school of thought espousing excellence in military strategy and force of arms, General Kreel has risen to quickly become the nation's second most important figure. A stern supporter of the policies of Frozen King Rham, the general has sworn to secure his homeland against possible incursions and grow the might of Hegemony's armed forces. He is held in such an esteem regarding military matters that he is often sent out to negotiate in matters pertaining to possible military deployments or part particularly strained geopolitical situations, with full authority of his nation behind him.

Spoiler: Geography

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The waters of the Hegemony are a place of extremes, the expedition that had originally led to its creation having braved dangerous environment in search of new resources and notable discoveries. Covered on the surface by icebergs that extend deep into the depths, the terrain of their home reaches deep into the cold rock below via series of deep gorges, forming lanes dictated by obstacles both above and below. The plants and creatures both are forced to adapt to survive, most uniquely suited to deal with the extreme temperatures: silver-scaled trout, camouflaged hunter eels and packs of voracious seals that attack from the ice are only a few of the inhabitants of this dangerous land.

The habiation of Kar-Nath is worked into the charms in stone and drilled into some of the more stable icebergs, lanterns of cold blue crystals lighting the network of entrances, spires and nets stretching into the chasms. The deepest chasm of the area, The Glacier Crag, is the focus of much of Hegemony's construction projects, a metropolis of ice and stone worked onto the edges of the massive pit.

Requesting starting territory to be 51, 77 or any other adjacent to glacier if those are not possible.

Spoiler: People

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The Nathi

The people making up the bulk of the Hegemony are the Nathi. An odd race, the closest resemblance to them is that of an eel covered in thick plating and sporting claws, but the people have begun as crustaceans. Their jaws have expanded from their original grab-like arrangement, the mandibles growing more vestigial as the teeth behind them have lengthened. Their shells cover the main body while leaving the eel-like tail swaying with only small ridge of carapace on it, often coming in colors of stone or ice in contrast to the silvery scales of the body underneath: the rare few Nathi who have shell coloration of rare crystals or more stark things still are believed to be individuals of particular significance, often rising to the higher strata of the Hegemony as a result of their blessed birth. The tri-tipped claws are located at the forefront of the body, allowing for fighting and tool-use with relative ease. On the whole, Nathi tend to range from six to eight feet from claws to tail without additional modifications.

While preferring meat in their diet, Nathi are omnivores, their society unable to leave much to waste thanks to the harshness of their frozen home. As the more delectable sorts of food are a rarity, meals are held as particularly sacred occasion to the race, rejecting offer of one or disrupting the meal of someone else with nefarious purpose carrying steep social stigma.

The familial units of the race are often smaller, ranging from two to four individuals: no Nathi would wish to bring offspring into the world without planning and preparing for it, for to do so would be to invite the possibility of forcing them to starve. They are extremely kin-minded, the expression of two Nathi being "under single shell" representing deep bond. While not lightly expressed towards outsiders, winning respect of Nathi will cause them and their kin to defend the one that has won their trust as one of their own.

The harsh environment has guided most Nathi to embracing a rugged sort of practicality in clothing, their attires seeking to be the most practical choice for the task at hand. Those who raise in their position attempt to retain this style despite often spoiling themselves with more luxurious trappings of imported coral or other finery, as coming across as too far removed from their peers can often lead to accusations of selfishness and needless hunger for power.

Other races

While the Nathi form core of Hegemony's people, Kar-Nath remains open for other species to incorporate into. Mer in particular are seen as invaluable heralds and messengers to polities outside the Glacier Crag, being less dour and intimidating than the locals in general. Still, other races are still in minority for most part thanks to inhospitable environment of the Hegemony.

Spoiler: Society and Government

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In theory, the Hegemony preaches rule by those with merit to do so. The society is split to many Paths which have ranks of roughly equal status every step of the way: Path of War, Path of Coin, Path of Blessings ect. After finishing their basic education, the citizens of the Hegemony are expected to choose a path through which they benefit society, although those joining the Hegemony from other parts are not excluded from this process. While fairly inclusive, the Paths are regardless quite strict, suffering no competition from outside institutions: they can integrate that which works, but no true son of Kar-Nath would be caught dead advocating for change to other systems.

To raise in rank demands show of accomplishments that benefit others, which are then judged by one's peers and superiors within the Path. Swimming along many Paths during one's life is not forbidden, but certain amount of rivalry exists between some and many prefer to induct members who they can count on to focus on the needs of their brethren.

The ultimate leader of the Hegemony is the Frozen Monarch, a position which only the most accomplished individuals of the nation can jockey for. Thought to translate the will of the guardian deities of Kar-Nath, the Frozen King or Queen is generally held in high esteem, seen as carrying the greatest burdens of the people on their shoulders... as well as the responsibility of failure, should the Hegemony suffer setbacks during their reign.

While more than a few within the Hegemony no doubt sport ambitions of power for power's sake, they are reigned in by the general acceptance of their peers: to rule requires one to be seen seeking happiness of their fellows in tangible ways rather than merely speaking about it. Certain savvy political operators have managed to bypass this sort of public scrutiny on occasion, but as a whole the inhabitants of the Hegemony keep their eyes firmly on the throne for major misgivings. Naturally, this has been used to sink the ambitions more than one potential royal candidate by their rivals, but the fierce competition and drive to climb the ranks of society has given those involved a remarkably cavalier attitude about such games. As the less competent and weaker rulers are doomed to be pulled down and devoured by their betters, the Hegemony as a whole will benefit no matter the result.

Spoiler: Resource and Requirement

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Resource: Rimestone

The center of its power built within a massive crag in seafloor, the Kar-Nath has long extracted Rimestone from the frozen depths. This curious material seems to forever remain cold without thawing, its uniquely exotic properties useful in defense and storage of food... and who knows, perhaps someone can pry out further utilities for such exotic material? The Hegemony certainly tries, and often incorporates the curious stone into objects of particular importance or religious reverence.

Requirement: Exotic Food

The inhospitable environment and general culture of the Hathi brings about a pressing requirement for food, with specific focus on new and exotic dishes. Proper meal is not only requirement for survival, but also for any event of any importance: to lack such might show disinterest or outright derision towards the importance of said event, something blood feuds have began over more than once. As such, steady supply of suitably impressive foodstuffs is essential to stability of Hathi people, especially the families with greater influence.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Voice of Jaarn

The officially endorsed faith of the Hegemony in all but direct admission, The Path of Voice is a common one for more mystically inclined or pious of Hathi. Focusing on connecting and communicating to the deities Hathi believe to reside deep within ice, stone and beasts of the wild, the religion directs their ceremonies and devotion to Jaarn, the overdeity of their pantheon and god from whom the Hathi believe Rimestone to be a blessing from. After being inducted into the basics by showing suitable devotion to the great god of the pantheon, the adherents are allowed to focus their prayers to other deities of it as well, taking on more specialized roles. The focus of their worship is to attain fraction of the might of the pantheon, and on occasion the gods may see fit to bless an adherent with their wild strength.

- The Rime Gorge: A rift of almost pure rimestone seeming to stretch into the depths forever, a place of deep reverence for the adherents of the faith. Believed to hide the might of the gods from the unworthy, it is held as one of ultimate tests for one's devotion. Swimming down into the Gorge to reflect on the divinity is seen as ritual of utmost honor and terrible peril: few return from the depths of the Rime Gorge, but when they do they often bear unquestionably supernatural power within them.

- Grand Schola: The epicenter of Hegemony's religious studies, this school for the priesthood and healers of Kar-Nath is worked into a massive rock formation rising from the depths at very epicenter of the Glacier Crag. The very peak of it is often used for rituals of polity-wide significance, such as ascendacy of new Frozen Monarch or direct communion with the gods.

Followers of Deep Ways

The faith that has often come under greater scrutiny, the Followers are a group of devotees focused on reflecting on the vast and unknowable forces of deep sea... and the mystical horrors famed to lurk within it. Regarded with wariness by many they interact with, this smaller and increasingly more secretive faith is tolerated by their knowledge of deeper ways through difficult areas and esoteric knowledge, but are often thought to be a worrying sight as their arrival tends to herald some sort of upheaval.

- Temple of Dark Currents: There is a particularly violent current carrying with it notably darker water and considerable quantities of oddities most will never know of. The Followers venerate this way as a sign from the entities of the Deep, and have taken over a temple of ancient construction near which the current roils as a holy site of their faith.

Spoiler: Starting Technology

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Through painstaking effort and sacrifice, the Nath have managed to figure out the basics of Composite Grafting, a technique some say brought about this curious species. Seen as a science inspired by their deities, some of the more brilliant inhabitants of the Hegemony specialize as Finchangers to properly facilitate its use. The higher social castes utilize these means to grow physically larger and more impressive, cementing their power and prestige in very tangible sense, while criminals and undesirables may often find themselves the reluctant donors of raw materials.

[Lt-Murgen]

The Congregation of the Scintillating Ceiling (The Scintillius)

Capital Region: The Cathedral of Movement (region 67)
Resource: Piezo-phosphoric crystals
Desired Import: stone working tools or tech
Holy Sites:

• The Ceaseless Gibbering (The Pattern)
• Vault of Strife (The Pattern)
• Gap of Finality (The Pattern)

Faction Support:

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

Starting tech: Photosphore Signalling (Piezo-phosphoric Resonance)

Spoiler: Leader

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Leader: Bob, He who Submits to the Currents
Diplomacy: 2
Military: 2
Economy:2
Faith: 5
Intrigue: 4
LINK TO LEADER ROLLS

Bob is rotund for a Mer, even one from the polar regions. Gray, with red and dull yellow mottled stripes running in curving patterns all the way down to his tail. He was a Watcher, and a prominent teacher of the Sounding Code. When the Watchers were made to understand that it was time to expand into the world again, he actually stood against it. He wasn't certain the currents were leading the Mer in that direction. Still, he made a point of taking the post on two conditions. First, the Title would be "His Clarity", and second would be that anyone who took the position had to permanently resign as a Watcher.

Spoiler: Geography

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The Cathedral of Movement is a region underneath a vast ice sheet. Along the northern border, the icepack pushes very deep, at times nearly contacting the sea floor. To the central south lie the Red Weeps. The Ice Above is stained a deep red, and thick, salty substances weep from above down into a deep rift below. Southeast and southwest of the Weeps, lie regions yet unexplored.
The massive Ice Above unifies the region. Impossibly thick, yet very translucent, the Ice above shines with endless dancing, shifting bands of color. This continual aurora gives the region, and the people, its name.
The Stone Below makes up the sea floor, sloping generally away from the dangerous regions of the north. Slate, schist, and sparkling granite form countless tables and towers; the softer materials having been ground away by the relentless tides.
Between the Ice Above and the Stone Below lies the Cathedral of Movement. Strong currents combine with the bobbing pressure of the Ice Above keep the waters swirling in complex, sense-defying patterns. The light through the ice spawns endless phytoplankton, which is fed on by uncountable masses of small crustaceans, collectively referred to as Cleaners. The life cycle of these Cleaners is the marching-beat of all the other creatures’ life cycles: endless schools of small fish which feed upon them, and the larger ones that feed upon them, and so on. Larger crustaceans sweep across the Stone Below at regular intervals, feasting on the detritus.
Vegetation is sparse, but prolific. Thick bands of kelp spring up where the water is deep enough to avoid the Ice Above’s crushing press and the Stone below is shallow enough to allow the light of the Ice Above to cause it to grow. These scattered but thick forests provide cover for the endless schools of fish that traverse the area. The kelp provides both edible leaves, fodder for the delicious fire mollusks, and stringy stems used as textiles and rope.

Spoiler: People

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The Scintillius are Mer native to the regions. Being exothermic and living in cold waters, these Mer tend to be more rotund than others in warmer climates. Scintillius wear some clothing for protection from the ice and the jagged rocks. They are particularly fond of belts and harnesses with multiple pouches. Notably, their fur tends to come in a wider variety of colors and almost exclusively in winding patterns of different colors.
Most Mer live in homes made of stacked schist & slate tablets and woven kelp interior furnishings. Sling chairs and hammocks dominate for furniture. Piezo-phosphoric crystals provide ample lighting. Granit with large reflective crystals is highly prized, and a sign of wealth. Larger structures are largely absent. Instead, the Scintillius gather in large cleared, levelled areas. They tether themselves to the carved Viewpoint rocks on the seafloor. This allows them to stay in one place without much effort.
The Scintillius are a people obsessed with patterns, currents, and movement. Stagnant water is terrifying to them. Their main topic of daily discussion are the sea currents, the changing colors of the ice-above, and what meaning these hold for their daily lives. This obsession has created an ever-changing society. Scintillius seldom stay with one profession, live in one location, or stay as a family unit for very long. This has created a society of generalists and teachers, with Mer constantly wanting to learn and do new things.

Spoiler: History and Government

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As far as the Scintillius can recall, they have always lived under the ice. The towering columns of the Vault of Strife recall a time when their society spread as far south as the great southern glacier. But over time the Red Weeps consumed those settlements. Time itself tends to be a nebulous concept for the Scintillius, more attuned to the tides and auroras than to any arbitrary, measurable, set, increment. The track their ‘years’ as 2 cycles of Cleaner spawning, separated into the Stripe Spawn and the Shine Spawn. But beyond that, smaller time increments seem unneeded.
The government is, in essence, a technological theocracy. The Weavers are a select group of community leaders who maintain tight control over their primary resource and unique technology. They utilize this technology to discuss the various patterns and movements across their region, to develop a consensus around future events. The Watchers are the day-to-day local representatives, listening to the world around them and the people within, and reporting back to the Weavers.

Spoiler: Resources & technology

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Growing on the Ice Above are strange crystals, Piezo-phosphoric Crystals. These crystals seem to be both mineral and organic in nature, somehow. They possess the unique property that, when subjected to a compressive force, the crystals generate light. The more compression, the more light, up to a certain limit. These crystals are use as light sources throughout the Cathedral of Movement with the water pressure increasing their glow as the Stone Below slopes downward. The Weavers and Watchers tend the patches of these crystals that grow throughout the cathedral, ensuring they are never over-fractured.
The Scintillius are always on the look-out for Stone cutting tools and tech. Schist and slate are hard to work, and the limitations of the fractured-plate style of stone available limits their ability to build.
The Piezo-phosphoric crystals have another unique property. If the crystals are fractured and divided in a very specific manner, pressure on one will cause it to glow. The other matched crystal will also glow in the same manner. This is true no matter the distance the two crystals are apart- even to the edges of the Cathedral itself. This Piezo-phosphoric Resonance has been turned into a communications technology, similar to how photosphore signalling is used by other societies. The Weaver’s have a secret code of flashes caused by tapping the crystal with a special hammer-device. This Sounding Code allows them to communicate across their entire realm.
Economically, the Scintillius are capitalists, driven by risk and reward. The more wealthy put up capital for new business ventures to mitigate the risk of starting up. Their beliefs in patterns and movements create an innate sense of risk-taking, and their economic system rewards those that get their guesses correct. However, there is a strong prohibition of the Weaver's and Watcher's engaging in supplying venture captial. Instead, they are consulted for their knowledge and paid accordingly.

Spoiler: Faith

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All Scintillius firmly believe that the secrets of the universe reside in the shifting coronas of the Ice Above, the tides, and the movements of the water. Studying them, interpreting them, and sharing their findings are the obsession of the people. The Watchers listen, trying to avoid guiding the discussion. The Watchers are taught that the people can understand their part of the Pattern. It is the Watcher’s duty to understand their people. And to inform the Weaver’s of their insights. The Weaver’s duty is to interpret the entirety of the Cathedral, and to take actions accordingly.
There does not exist a formal liturgy or codified religious text. Only the lessons carved into the Pillars of Strife. But the population, to a Mer, believe in and support, the Weavers and Watchers.
Holy Sites:

• The Ceaseless Gibbering is a special tunnel along the northern border. Some special property of its location and design causes the cave to emit constant burbling noise. Many Scintillius believe that the cave speaks words to those that seek to listen and understand. Perhaps they are right. A Weaver has a home here and spends their time meditating in front of the cave.
• The Vault of Strife is actually a misnomer. A large circular space roughly in a deep depression at the center of the Cathedral. Here are stored the stories and mythology of the Scintillius. Each story has been carved into a slate tablet, and each tablet stacked beside or on-top of each other. These create the pillars of strife. Much wisdom is contained in here, almost always through the story of a failed action, missed opportunity, or other lesson taught through misfortune and trauma.
• The Gap of Finality is a rift in the floor at the southern edge of the Cathedral. A strong current pulls a column down from the Red Weeps above, sucking it into the unknown underground. Here is the burial place of the Scintillius. Bodies are wrapped in kelp, with prayers of farewell bound to the body. It then is pushed towards the gap and pulled into the underworld.

[Lumaeus]

The Riftlings Many of the Dead Seas

Spoiler: Geography: The Dead Seas

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The abyssal polar seas are naturally sparser than shallower or warmer waters. A moonscape which spends much of the year under an ice sheet, it rarely enjoys the bounty of even plankton-fall, much less fish- or whale-fall. The seafloor is in great part vast stretches of broken rock and crooked cliff, without a single bottom feeder or algaeic speck in site. But even this dead land holds life. Follow the coldest currents as they sweep over the precipice and down into oblivion itself, sink past the reach of the feeble gods of yesteryear, and hold on to your body and mind as the pressure and darkness try each, and there you will find the Great Mother. Sheltered deep below the sea floor, the Mother breathes life even into this desolation. She touches the sullen seabed from below, and lifegiving heat and energy erupt for her children.

Spoiler: People: The Riftlings Many, The Old Fathers, and the Youngest

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At each Maternal Font, the Old Fathers cluster, noble monoliths blessed with eternal life. Great tubes, they stretch from the seafloor in their great congregation, striving up two to four meters in height. Their mouths wide, they drink of the gifts and the wisdom gifted from below. Here, they commune with the Mother, and in their wisdom, consider perpetually. They speak in a language beyond our ken, and only their chosen prophet, the Youngest, serves as a bridge between the Mother’s chosen and the Riftlings Many. He rules so long as he is ordained to. When the Mother next elects a Father from among us, and he takes root as the new Youngest, the newest of the Old Fathers falls silent to the inchoate Riftlings Many and communes fully with his peers.

And so we, the Riftlings Many, know the will of the divine. We are birthed by the Fathers of the Mother, and we are numberless. Once, it is told us, we were individual, cosmically isolated larvae who knew nothing but to feed and flee. We were little more than the broken pebbles of the seabed below, and we knew no meaning. But the Mother took pity upon us, and the Fathers gave us the trailing edge of the secret of the Eternal Communion. Where we were alone, we now are multitude. Each cluster of the Riftlings Many holds in its amorphous cloud a unified consciousness, the individual Riftlings which compose it joining or dying without great shift so long as the cluster lives. While each Riftling is a near-microscopic speck, little more than flagella and mouth, the clusters that assume a united personhood are amorphous clouds composed of the Many. Unclothed are we, for the children of the Mother need know no shame, but each cluster has its own patterns, an ever shifting inventory of forms which are particular to it. To the isolated species the Fathers say the world once knew, we might appear to be individuals, clouds of shapes and roils each singular and each distinct. But we know that we are the Riftlings Many, and each cluster honors its millions and millions of constituent polyps.

The Fathers say that the Dead Seas, which have so long protected us against incursion, now shift with new currents. Something stirs beyond. And so we prepare. We send clusters to seek means of survival beyond the Mother’s aegis. We stockpile the precious breath She gives. We have been granted greater communion with each other, and are tasked to preserve our place in a shifting sea.

Spoiler: Resource: Fertile Soil in plenty, dearth of Toxins

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The Old Fathers feed from the blessings of the Maternal Fonts, and the remnants of these blessings mound up into rich deposits of Fertile Soil around their shrines. These must be carefully tended by the Riftlings Many, for even in this moonscape, protected all around by the Dead Seas, foreign life threatens to take root here. These resources are blessings of the Mother, but they threaten always to burst into flourish. It is a blessing to have labor.

The Great Mother bestows upon us life, but the maintenance of the Dead Seas falls upon us. With diplomats, raiders, and traders threatening to seed new life in our waters, we seek poisons to sterilize our soils and to cleanse our waters of any life but the clouds of the Riftlings Many.

Spoiler: Faith: The Eternal Communion

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There is but one faith in the Dead Seas, for we are all born by the Fathers of the Mother and we know the breath of our Creator. The Eternal Communion of the Old Fathers, both with each other and the Mother Herself, is the highest existence and goal to be striven for. We Riftlings Many have been given the secret of such communion, and in our clusters, we are made more than the individual. The greatest horror would be to know existence as an isolate, distinct and distinguished from our cluster. That the Youngest bears this burden is his great sacrifice, and the tragedy of election. But it is through that suffering that our leader enters into the Eternal Communion proper.

Foreign species, it is said, often manifest as isolates, thinking themselves apart and knowing themselves alone. But for the Great Mother, who is whole in Herself and even then holds communion with the Old Fathers, this existence is a broken one. These ruined races are not to be reviled as blasphemous, but pitied in their perdition.

Spoiler: Holy Sites: The True Deep, The Mother's Reach, the Stygian Flow

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Each of the Maternal Fonts is held as sacred, but the heart of the Dead Seas and the doorstep of the Mother’s own realm is the True Deep, our holiest site. An abyss within the abyss, the world simply stops, and a roughly circular void opens to deeps extending beyond sanity. The Old Fathers cluster at the rim, and the Ancient Ones cling to the sides so far down as even they can bear the pressure.

From the nine edges of this circle, the Cardinal Rifts stretch, and the greatest of these is the second holy site of the Dead Seas: the Mother’s Reach. Though the rift itself slowly closes over a dozen leagues, it points to the longest seam of Maternal Fonts we know. The Fathers who cluster along the Reach are favored above all but the Ancient Ones.

The third holy site is also argued to be the unholiest site. The Stygian Flow trickles from [the land above/ruins of a lost age if no land around], creating a zone of such total toxicity that no life can pass through. Though the toxins break down rapidly in the sea and cannot be captured or used, it nonetheless serves as a promise of the future maintenance of the Dead Seas. Some, however, say that any blessing not from the Mother is a false one, and that to turn our gaze from Below will bring only deserved damnation, and individual isolation instead of isolated communion.

Spoiler: Technology

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It is said that even before the world changed, the First Fathers were spared from mortal concerns by their mastery over tailored microorganisms, smaller by far than even a single Riftling polyp. It was by these that they were first enabled to partake in the blessings of the Great Mother. So too now, they use this graduated symbiosis to tailor the Riftlings Many in preparation for our new involvement past the bounds of the Dead Seas.

WE ALSO INVENTED 66 WHEN WE WERE A DIFFERENT RACE

Region 66
The Seas-Not-Yet-Dead

Spoiler: Geography:

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Tis an unweeded garden grown to seed / things rank and gross in nature possess it merely. -Hamlet I.ii

The Seas-Not-Yet-Dead, while not the sterile moonscape of the Dead Seas, are hardly liferich waters. Little native plant life exists, long since picked away by the Occupying Nativespicked nearly entirely away by the now myriad Chrysomallon Kiwa, who themselves are few and far between. Much like the neighboring Dead Seas, there seems to increasingly exist but one trophic level, that of the Chrysomallon Kiwa, with no extant life above or below them on their food chain. The remnants of the House of de Trenché Bleu rely on their ever more overburdened serfs who fail more drastically with each year to keep production of food at even a subsistence level.

How can such a place have gone so far to seed? The waters of the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead are no longer the unpolluted crystal of those of their neighbors but instead agrow irregularly dim with cloudy fogs that rise more and more, interrupted these days by rotting chunks that churn quietly through in the slow, enormous gyre that provides these waters no outlet. The ultimate resting place of the detritus of its neighbors, the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead are, despite their name, a rich rotscape, a necrothalassa of choking thicknessclearly trending deathwards, the cast-offs of the Ennead to the north ever more polluting these once vibrant waters.

The great stinking churn of filth settles has begun to settlein thick layers, and nothing anythinginanimate stays uncovered for longis beginning to risk sinking under. Layer after layer of rich decay settles in stultifying strata, stunting any effort to erect edificesMer efforts to clear fields and maintain even their limited palaces. Dunes of death stretch so far as the eye can see--which in these waters is hardly half a fathom.

Spoiler: People

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Is the breath of Her hot in thy hair? -Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dolores (Notre-Dame des Sept Doleurs)

Near a century back, the Mer House of Trenché Bleu came to settle these lands. The House was never vast, but assumed control over many estates each a fair few miles in breadth, width, and depth. Of the remaining natives, the House gave little care. Minuscule, vile, and likely idiot, there was little intercourse between the two worlds. Then, the Ennead distant and nascent, the waters were clear. Then, the Chrysomallon Kiwa not yet swollen to their current multitudes, the lands were thought empty. Then, the rifts sealed over, there were no places where a breath of the water meant death.

Thank the Mother things have improved in recent decades.

The Chrysomallon Kiwa are a unique race, cancrine mollusks whose cutting claws are coated in near-luminous hair. These extend three inches--half their body length--forward from their main shell, from which their reamining eight over-articulated legs riot outwards, between which a cancerous mass of eyes peer dimly out. The shell under whose rim these endless eyes squint slopes thickly back, glinting with specks of the same gold of the clawhairs, but otherwise the rude black of unworked iron dominates their greigite-based exokeleton.

The Chrysomallon Kiwa, proper to a place without property or permanence do not know any stability or structures beyond their holy sites. Instead, the only permanent features of their vast, unsettled lands of the region are the Writhing Ways. All across the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead, ever shifting, rising, and dying with the currents of the glacial maelstrom above, the seabed is shot through with shining bands of gold. An observer tolerant enough of the chokinginconstant waters to swim down to observe would find the Chrysomallon Kiwa in their millions, an endless vein throbbing with the slow shift of the seas. Hundreds per square metre, this crawling congregation clambers and creeps, catching cast-off chunks of rotting flesh that flow unceasing with ever more frequencydown the invisible river. Though the awful nature of the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead Ennead's explosive growthis such that the Corpsefall Drift, as it is known, sees now more days than not fleshbergs many times the size of the relatively diminuitive Kiwa avalanche quietly downstream, the cutting claws of the crabs skillfully excise proportioned chunks on which to feed, the rest of the grey-hued hulk drifting on.

Until thirty years ago, the nature of the Kiwa was as it now is, but their number exponentially lower. The Corpsefall Drift enjoyed only the natural dregs of the waveborne detritus, and though still the ocean's trashheap morgue, the spotty nature of actual corpsefalls meant that the cancrine population was much sparser, an infestation in its many thousands rather than its billions. Since the rise of the Ennead in the north, more and more flesh feeds the throng, and the Writhing Ways have gone from a spotted line to a gilded ivory highway grown fat on the mutilated meat of Mer and monster.

The ebb and flow of the Corpsefall Drift mean that the Chrysomallon Kiwa occasionally cross over the (up until recently stoppered) Maternal Fonts. In these waters, though the Mother's Breath has only since the annexation begun to again fill the sea with her noxious blessing, the edges of the rifts hold a treasure unique in all the seas: sulfer jelly. The crabs feed on this ferrous slime, laying their eggs in its place. In so feeding, they find their hairs coated in both the jelly and the Mother's Breath, and it is on this that their third great food resource feeds. The clawhairs of the Chrysomallon Kiwa are a great orgy of feasting bacteria, and their bodies and byproducts serve as reserves when the shifting waters see branches of the Corpsefall Drift fall still and the Kiwa are forced to scuttle blindly in search of the new paths.

Spoiler: Government

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Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it. -Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

Students of recent history would name the House of de Trenché Bleu the recent rulers of the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead, and by certain calculus, they would be right. A cadet branch of one of the great mer lineages of the north, the de Trenché Bleus had indeed for some decades laid claim to these waters. They fought constantly with the decay to build structures that would last. They sent messengers along the Corpsefall Drift to declare to the Kiwa their dominion. They sought to find legitimacy through marriage pacts with local nobility from the Cathedral.

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of the house's wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away.

The fall of the house is well documented in recent history. As the seas woke in those first years of new era, the mysterious Riftlings made their imperial ambitions known, word buzzing from the mouths of vermin swarms. What the nature of these reclusive residents of sterile seas might be was yet unclear, but defense would have to be found. The House was not mighty but it was of good blood. Their leader, a Duchess, sought swiftly a promising marriage pact with the peaceable and sage Congregation to the north. Unlike abyssal aberration, one could be assured that the venerable mer sages of the Scintillating Ceiling would be versed in matters both diplomatic and spiritual. This was a match which would see the House of Trenché Bleu returned to international discussion and to protection of international community. Never would the monsters to the west seek past their isolation to find allies, and never could they understand the drive for peace and cooperation.

Oh, how mistaken they were.

Somehow, the abominable swarms of endlessly angry polyps, screeching endlessly about their sacred biological superiority to all other creatures found more sympathy than Mer of the blood! In the polar seas be monsters, and the body snatching octopi of the north, the possessed herring to the northwest, and the sentient weeds of the west spurned reason and boosted the clouds' cause. The wisdom of the Pattern was exterminated. And, worst of all, the Kiwa, who had been an occasional and silent apparition in the waters before all this madness, grew endless and quickly added their own small voices to the cause of these Riftlings. Never were the estates of the House of Trenché Bleu attacked, but as things soured over the years, their diminishing voices have been brushed unceremoniously to the wayside. This was no coup. It was the recognition as sovereign of those who had before been invisible to the aristocracy and the international disregard for the previous rulership.

The Chrysomallon Kiwa know no government for to each is given what is needed. Food floats down the Corpsefall Drift, springs from the Maternal Fonts, and generates even on their claws. Their only claim to power is the Riftlings' recognition of them as the occupying authority, but with the Riftlings unquestioned for decades as the true powers in these waters, that is enough. The cancrine creatures see the fall of nobility and quietly continue their rave.

Spoiler: Resources

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate. -Dante Alighieri, Inferno

There is but on resource in which these waters are, increasingly, rich: death. Even before the awakening of the Ennead, the oceanic currents brought strange remains to the borders of the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead. Here, the bored children of the House of Trenché Bleu worked their talents and soon a great art was born: the art of grafting flesh long dead into new life. Their descendents, these Graftsmer congregate in the northern waters to this day, working the best pieces of a Corpsefall Drift grown richer and richer as Ennead enormity only waxes. Their health may be waning in these times of filth and of sulfurour secretion from the earth, but such is the price of art.


There is little comfort in the lives of the former rulers of this place. They seek luxuries, lest they grow belligerent.
A visitor to the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead from a life-blighted sea would know at first only the creeping horror of what is absent. Neither plant nor beast, but merely the Writhing Ways of endless cancrine feasting, below a sluggish drift of indistinct meat that make the waters, there is no other word for it, chunky. Instead of proper religion, veneration of deities, there is only the mad worship at pits of poison.

Such a visitor is blessed, for they have not yet glimpsed the brave new world. Oh woe it is to know what is to be known, to see what is to been seen! In the northern waters, before the snapping claws of the writhing way dissect the truth of the Corpsefall Drift, great bloated masses loom in the frigid waters. Almost unrecognizable as mer, these tragic composites and hollows form a portrait of suffering unlike anything known across the many seas. Most, by some foul grace, are dead, and those that cling to torturous life do so dumbly, sentience driven out by crude surgeries, by slow death, or by the merciful madness brought by pain.

These are the Pelagic Graftsmer, the seaborne cast offs and discarded remnants of Ennead projects. Some drift south absent of key parts harvested by avaritious tentacles; some come suffocated under the weight of parasitic additions unspeakable and unbearable. These make rich the Corpsefall Drift, and the Chrysomallon Kiwa are ever thankful.

Spoiler: Faith

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Now that we are sending you to The End / That great god / Tell him / That we who follow you invented forgiveness / And forgive nothing -W. S. Merwin, For a Coming Extinction

The House of Trenché Bleu remain adherents of the Pattern, but they know well that they owe their survival to their ability to keep that on the down low.

The Occupying Natives once held to a disorganized collection of beliefs centered around the Fundamental Principle: Life calls to life. Born of a biology possessed of magnetic sclerite, the constant pull towards each other and to the ferrous concretions that over the Maternal Fonts--sites where life-giving sulfer jelly accrued--gave easy evidence to the belief.

It is no wonder that they took so easily to a faith centered similarly in union. The Chrysomallon Kiwa see the Eternal Communion not as a foreign faith, but as a deeper elucidation of the philosophy under which they had already operated. When their holy sites were revealed to be stoppered Fonts, it only confirmed for them that these Riftlings' Mother perhaps had grace enough for a second species as well.

Holy Site 1: The Low Rock
Once upon a time, there was a great sulfrous concretion, rust red and sunken near ten fathoms. As the slow fall of fleshdust sank ever more into the obscured Font, the pit around the Low Rock retained its depth--a unique depression in the otherwise level sand. Now that the font is opened, the rock shattered, it is still seen as holy. Here, the Mother breathes life to Riftling and Chrysomallon Kiwa alike, and the red rocks scattered around that gaping maw retain their wonder.

Holy Site 2: The Budding Fields
Across the empty waters, where the Corpsefall Drift is absent, there is no food to be found. This is the rule. Yet here, in what had seemed otherwise uninterupted barreness, sulfur jelly bubbled to the surface, saving the lives of many migrating Kiwa.

Now, this is a web of thin rifts, reopened with the coming of the Riftlings. The salvific wonder of the fields remains.

Holy Site 3: The Bounteous Atrocity
The current sweeping from the north brings the blessed detritus to these lands, but ever more with the rise of the Ennead, that bounty has grown rich. Mangled bodies of mer, lacking parts or possessed of tumorous blooms of additions, tumble ever inward, and here in the north of the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead, a becalmed doldrum waxes and wanes. Thousands of corpses dangle aloft, out of reach of the Chrysomallon Kiwa, a promise of the bounty to come.

[Tychris1]

The Lighthouse

The Vessel
Dip 5
Mil 4
Eco 2
Fai 3
Int 2

Spoiler: CORE TENANTS OF RADIANT INDAH

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- Indah reigns supreme over all. Her words and actions supersede any mortal prophet.
- To act in service of her radiance is the greatest duty. To die for it is the worthiest action.
- Our Mother shines resplendently and her aurora is an example to all. Tend to your physical appearances and take pride in them
- The fate of the weak is to pay for the crimes of the guilty.
- Our Goddess treads among us, shattering the illusions of two worlds, and showing the truth of the spiritual and the physical being inseperable. Well-being stems from physical health and economic prosperity.
- Creatures with the power to produce their own light are envoys of Indah and are touched by her presence at birth.
- Blood is a sacred substance and our Mother’s blood most coveted of all. To be transfused is to sup from Empyrean dreams.

Spoiler: Geography

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Region 7 Binar Fajar, The Aurora Dawn
To the east of the endless gaping darkness of The Maw lays the vestiges of devastation. Crumbling tattered gray remains of coral drift as shards through the water, dust mixed infinitely into the sea abound corralled by currents of terrible strength, and sunk to the depths. The sands rise like mountains over the bones of countless dead estates. Hollowed out ruins of artificially grown substances now left to limp in the gaze of time. Huge trenches, craters, and more dot the landscape. The realm deeply disturbed by hands long ago. The waters are wild outside these shaggy cavernous ruins, yet the life of the land has been bleached, and so they remain surprisingly peaceful when little survive and fewer hunt. The light is murky and obfuscated here, the rare burst of sunlight only appearing when storms pass and so most illumination comes from down below. The rent open wounds to the planet's core, hastily stitched over in some places and irritated from constant poking in others. The Lighthouse operates predominantly around these trenches, caverns, and ruins. Lurking in the shadows of a land abused by the Kucen long long ago and thrust into inhospitable conditions. It seems as if every year more and more of the land is taken by the crumbling border between Binar Fajar and the Maw though whether this is rumor or fact is debatable. Occasionally, glowing stalagmites and stalactites are formed through strange erosion but these are either quickly harvested or sequestered away under unblinking scrutiny.

Spoiler: People

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The Kucen

A bipedal, bibrachial family of anguilliformes, the kucen contain a distinct morphology of males incapable of procreation. These Kucen measure at lengths of roughly five feet with a powerful prehensile tail, long dagger-like teeth, huge bulbous reflective eyes, and powerful stocky limbs capable of intensive labor. Called Kosong by their Kucen kin they make up the vast majority of the sentient life left in The Aurora Dawn. Long ago during the nascent years of the Siren's rise to power, they quickly expanded beyond the borders of the Twilight Gloaming, and settled roots in this nearby territory rife with resources and open space. The Sirens drained the land of all its resources, adolescents flexing and understanding their growing bodies, and perfecting the art of edging your resources. Unfortunately, they did not learn in time to save Binar Fajar and their opaline palaces, coral towers, and wondrous noble retreats were left surrounded by empty death and aggressive weather. The Sirens departed, one by one, taking most of their treasures with them, and returned to Senja Bersinar to muscle back territory or beyond to settle new shores. All that was left was one Handmaiden. One of the great daughters of Indah, she was the first to pioneer exploiting this land, and was the most fervent in digging deeper. While the other Sirens fled she discovered something great and terrible and she laughed at their blindness. A great chasm in the ground, a trench that seemingly went forever, and a single point of pure grossly incandescent light. She called this The Radiance, a font of wisdom and rhapsody that enraptured her soul, and gave her revelations on the mysteries of the soul and the universe. She took the name Radiance herself, now seeing herself no longer as her mother's Handmaiden but the will of this otherworldly gleam, and turned her minions into zealots. They spread like locust over the remains of that which was abandoned, in search of glorious light, and Indah would soon quash this sign of heresy to her will. Or she would have, had the other five Handmaidens not risen against her one night, and seeing the pliable deranged state of their sister conscripted Radiance into their treason. Uninterested in the politics of Senja Bersinar, Radiance returned to her sacred beam, and the remaining five Handmaidens were happy enough to take her split of power. She established a temple around the holy ray and her zealots took the name The Lighthouse in honor of it. More and more she did nothing but gaze into the light, fasting, then absolute fasting, and at last days after she had predicted she would have a great oracular epiphany she died. Her body was entombed, mummified in the gazing hall of The Radiance, and to the strange Kosong warriors who followed her, she became a saint. They still operate to this day, fractious zealots, maddened crusaders, and roving fanatics occasionally hired or conscripted by their neighboring kin as brute enforcers. The greatest of their kind calling themself The Vessel, for they gaze into The Radiance, and whisper to her mummified corpse for guidance in the war of ages.

Spoiler: Resource

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Resource: Artifacts and Dusty Treasure

Though the Sirens took what they could carry the excesses of Kucen culture, the extent of the roots they planted in Binar Fajar, and the relative rapid pace of evacuation necessary given the environmental devastation caused a substantial amount to be left behind. Paranoid sirens burying their precious baubles, locking them behind heavy stone, and trapping their riches in preparation for this frontier lifestyle have left an ocean of plunder to be had. If you're brave enough to explore for it.

Required Resource: Grossly Incandescent Objects

The Kosong of the region vie for the chance to glimpse The Radiance for even a fraction of a second. Most will spend their whole lives without so much as getting to the entrance, dying in the dark, and so they scavenge and hunt for anything approaching a fraction of its purported sheen. They wear such trinkets as badges of pride, smear their teeth with glowing biological creations, and make their weapons out of luminescent material. They are to be swords shining gloriously in the dark.

Starting Tech: Photospore Signaling

Unsurprisingly the Lighthouse has invested much of its time and resources into producing as much light as possible. Even their armaments are an assault on the eyes.

Spoiler: Faith

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During the years of The Lighthouse's inception three great temples were made. These also act as military training grounds, drug dens, and fighting pits between rapturous sermons.

The Radiant Temple: The temple that contains The Radiance itself, one of the most holy places for the local Kosong, and a place with heavy spiritual weight if any faith can materialize here. It is heavily populated and supports what little wild natural life exists in the area. The sound of clashing wills and making weapons is a constant hymn.

The Shaded Temple: Situated near the border of Binar Fajar and the abyssal Maw, this temple was established shortly after The Radiance conquered her Mother in glorious combat and subsequently died. Some Kosong adopted the tale of Indah told in the great city of Indah's Rise, replacing her with The Radiance, and claiming that instead of perishing from fasting after she conquered her mother she went off to conquer the eternal darkness of The Maw. This temple is dedicated to watching her battle, gazing into the Maw, and waiting for her messianic return. Every few years a batch of Kosong warriors travel from the temple to follow in her supposed trail. They never return.

The Raging Temple: Surrounded by the most powerful of storms in a near constant bombardment by the elements this temple is as much an act of faith as a site of faith. The original Kosong architect did it in spite of the dangers, arguing that true faith can only be attained when one was living as if they were dead, and an environment that engendered such a hostile aura was perfect for meditation. Where better can one master the art of zen silence than the heart of the storm.

Retret Ringan (Region 19)

Spoiler: Geography

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Far beyond the desolate plains, crumbling ruin mountains, and dangerous wastes of Binar Fajar lays a relative utopia by Kucen standards. The water is calm, the land is soft and rolling, and the sea is a reliable mistress. The fish growing in Retret Ringan are colorful vibrant and pliable to a stern hand. Life is simple in the valleys, trenches, and sea caves that make up the vast majority of homesteads within the region. Instead of artificial constructs the denizens therein rely on making use of existing landscapes to support their architectural needs. Harvest fields stretching as wide as the eye can see, save for the blight of warcraft that has now formed a set of "teeth" on the region pointed outwardly towards the Maw. Ruts and small trenches have been carved through the land from the unwilling masses dragged to the battle lines in years past to feed the Lighthouse war effort.

Spoiler: People

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Lamplighter Kucen

In storied myth lives the ancient Lamplighter. The shining warrior wielding a magic blade forged from the melted lamps of his whole clan, combining their light into a singular purpose. He had won a hundred battles and cleaved a thousand foes in search of his Goddesses enlightenment. At the end of his long campaign he took his sword and buried it in the sand, bending the material into a plowshare, and resigned his life to the simple agrarian lifestyle. The veracity of such a story is hotly debated amongst Kucen scholars, some attributing this warrior's existence to various Kosong who were noted Warlords or Cult Leaders, and none fully agreeing on the matter. Regardless the mythical folk hero legend persisted amongst the people, many of whom followed in a similar step to the fabled Lamplighter, and were the dissatisfied soldiers, hangers-on, or worst of all survivors of the constant War surrounding Binar Fajar. At the height of Binar Fajar's opulence, this land was little more than an oversized plantation for the cruel and exorbitant Mistresses who ruled the Aurora Dawn and so few of them paid heed to its existence when they fled back to Indah's Rise for a more sightly and fitting station to rule over. Some however saw the opportunity to escape the dangers of courtly life and took the chance, though deprived of the copious Siren Extract in their home and the disgruntled veteran population lead to a quick subdual of any hegemonic statecraft.

Many of the Kucen in the region light Lamps outside of their home to celebrate the ancient warrior they consider the "Founder" of their home and when the Lighthouse came to they did so again in defense. The Kosong reavers were repelled at first, the Vessel at their host gutted and turned into a Lamp of celebration, and then came the reinforcements. Legions of glowing warriors blotting out the light above buried the Lamplighter resistance the year after, farms were sacked, the people subjugated, and now fully assimilated into the Lighthouse's voracious beast. Now Lamplighter serves as a form of "Elite Soldier" terminology amongst the forces of the Lighthouse, who treat the region as an expensive training ground and resort.

Spoiler: Resource

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Coralberries

The Coral in the region is unique in producing a special abundant berry that is sweet to taste and makes for a delicious wine. It requires long years of careful cultivation to make the sweetest berries, which only grow in the darkest and deepest places in the land. Now it is mostly used for warpaint and the occasional shamanic potion to send a warrior into a fevered state.

Resource Requirement: Precious Minerals

Though they are long separated many of the ancestors of the Lighthouse were the founders of Retret Ringan and their obsessive nature over shiny baubles and sources of light therein persists. Nowadays it only appears as an obsession with shiny precious minerals, rocks that also double as the necessary materials to harvest coralberries with, and in more recent history to bend plowshares into swords and set the tempo of the Lighthouse Imperial March.

Spoiler: Faith

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Cult of the Lamplighter:

All throughout Retret Ringan persists the Cult of the Lamplighter, broken down into 3 sects that while generally agreeing on the storied myth of the Lamplighter harshly disagree on the focus and the continuation of the fable therein. Some worship the Lamplighter as a Fertility Symbol, seeing his historic move of "planting" his sword and sowing the seed of their people in this land. Others view him as a Deathly Figure, a Reaper of the past who eventually was Reaped himself, and now ushers on those souls too weary to persist in an uncaring world. Lastly and perhaps most audaciously (and in some eyes recently proved correct) there lives the Resurrectionists who believe that in their time of greatest need the Lamplighter would be reborn and return their people to their Warrior's Oath. None of these cults embrace the Radiance of the Reef as the true Will of the Seas and prove a constant disappointment and irritant for the Vessel and his host of Thugs.

Budak Perak
Region 18

Spoiler: Geography

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To the east of Binar Fajar lays an idyllic stretch of land that glitters under the light of day. Such a twinkling buffet is a flower's deceptive poison though, for the slightest disturbance of the surface can cause ruptures of deadly gases and particulates from underground. A complex network of interconnecting tunnels, veins, and geomantic cross sections have created a madman's journal beneath the clean surface of Budak Perak. Most make their home on floating debris and elevated nomadic structures. Occasionally drifting whales will disturb the land and create devastating "poison riptides" which have been mythologized in scale.

Spoiler: People

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Migrant Kucen from the countless wars in the west settled in these lands. Their lives are nearly entirely nomadic and migratory, circling the edges of Budak Perak on crude barges made from broken vessels and floating debris. They chase the current in the hopes of harvesting the shiny treasure of their home without suffering the deadly aftereffects. As a result, they have no formal stationery government but an inconsistent and unofficial council structure of tribes and families. One tribe holds particular ascendancy for their ability to lay root and act as a buoy for others. Their leader, dubbed The Silver Surfer for their elegant attire and swift pirating skills held nearly uncontested power in the region until the fanatics of the Lighthouse arrived. They promised no noticeable change to their way of life, save for the opportunity to leave their home behind, and make a living as cutthroats and sellswords in sea lanes far away. They still meet at the Silver Shack yearly to discuss and handle local affairs, though now their collections are more competitively shined, and a number of Kucen have taken up the incredibly dangerous and foolhardy challenge of mounting local wildlife in hopes of emulating their goddesses endless hunger. The presence of the Endless Eel has created a constant disrupting natural disaster that the locals have had no solution for.

Spoiler: Resources

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Galena: This crystallized mineral is found predominately in steam vents and veins but also in shattered crags and treacherous caves throughout the region. Most of the "harvesting" done by the locals is just changing hands of the same sparkly material, however. It's too soft to use as a proper bludgeon so ritual implements are its man use.

Required Resource Skilled Labor: The dangerous living conditions of the land cause a toll on the elderly and skilled populations, forcing the locals to constantly improvise, and scrabble for expert hands in urgent matters. Things like doctors, artisans, and crafters are more valuable than raw goods to the people of Budak Perak

Spoiler: Faith

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The Silver Shack is the only concentration of minds and influences strong enough to count as a "Holy Center" though the words are a bit of a stretch. The Shimmers of Unseen faith has placed roots in the community long back but with the Forest of Astral Yearning trampled and no official head in place the faith has grown stagnant and slightly terrified of the giant goddess rampaging through their land.

Region 22 Neraka Berpasir

Spoiler: Geography

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The region is fittingly named by its distant devolved Siren settlers in years of yester yore for it is a massive and seemingly endless flat expanse of sand. The region is almost remarkable in how unremarkable and disorienting it is. The sole feature of significant note is the sand itself. The shape, coloration, and dissemination of the sand lend to a strange semi-hypnotic gradient pattern. When exposed to this for hours on end it can cause extreme vertigo, disorientation, and migraines. Sporadic structures jutting out of the ground are the only respite and welcome change in the horizon.

Spoiler: History

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Many many years ago a single clever Siren thought herself more treacherous and innovative than all the others. So much so she bragged about it constantly and was summarily exiled. Unrelatedly she chose to travel far to the south in search of the perfect stronghold and settled on... this. A sandy endless waste. She reached its border (What she thought was its border) and wept for she had seemingly no more worlds to conquer. The organization of sand-riding raiders and cutthroats that devolved from her carefully settled initial court has survived to this day. For years they worked in tandem with the strange creatures of the Unity, but then the light of Binar Fajar found them once more and the locals continue to pay their taxes and pay little attention to the goings on of far off lands.

Spoiler: Resource

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Sandfish

The mighty Sandfish is lord of these lands. In the endless hellscape of boredom and monotonous repeating colors this behemoth is the sole judge. Perfectly camouflaged with the patterns of the local sand and large enough to swallow even a Magaramachi whole these creatures are the apex of the local food chain. They are sometimes venerated by locals, who attempt to follow in their strange sand-shifting mannerisms, and live nomadically.

Resource Requirement: Hard Minerals

There's only sand here! With great burly monsters about and a ground that makes you want to scratch your eyes over time the locals need all the hard minerals they can get to provide structures and protection from the surrounding nightmares.

Spoiler: Faith

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No faith has a strong foothold in the region, for the local Kucen care more for material goods and dangers than supernatural or theological. Still, those who do congregate tend to do so in one of two locations. The Old Palace which the nameless ancient Siren once constructed as the heart of her "New" empire and The Sandfish Spawning Grounds because it is quite the sight to behold behemoths copulating under the sand.

Region One: THE MAW

Spoiler: The People

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This holy place, this sanctum of truth, a teetering brink of monsters and doom. An endless host of terrors await us in our destined fate. Countless nightmares, demons, and Blight ooze from the very walls. We Kucen have made our stay here, to follow in the tracks of our forebears, our glorious mother, and yet we are outnumbered in the dark. What prophet can tell which aberration will shuffle from the beyond? Which scholar could identify the myriad form the Enemy take? The facets of the entire Syndicate guard these hallowed halls, from Indah's Throne to Bertu, and we eagerly watch our Goddesses battleground. We are few. We are vaunted.

We are the Watchers of the Maw.

- Radiant Morality Instructor Danapa of the Fourth Sphere

Spoiler: The Maw

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The Maw is deep. Deeper than the depths of our very souls. I have seen it drain the color from the most coldhearted matrons. I have seen some merchants float from Bloodhome to Senja Bersinar, desperately trying not to tire across its length, and risk the plummet down below. When first we plumbed its depths we found the remains of our Mother's glorious first descent, the ruins of her majesty laid out like pieces of a puzzle, and in this time we have placed them together. Six spheres circle the circumference spaced out, like ribs encasing the heart of divinity, and connect downward. They are mimicry of the network that permeates beyond our sight in the Stoney Betwixt. Each sphere is dedicated to a different aspect of maintaining the overall stability of The Maw though they are also prepared for extended isolated survival in the event of dire circumstances. In order the spheres aim to:
Process
Distribute
Repair
Sanctify
Study
Hunt

Every aspect of the environment is trying to kill you to a certain extent at any depth, so, stay in the spheres.

- Platinum Piercer Banyu, Aspiring Champion of the Sixth Sphere

Spoiler: The Faith

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What else but to worship our Glorious Mother? Our most Radiant and Incandescent Goddess, Indah, blessed be her return to this spiritual battleground against the Titans of Sin. No greater Holy Site can there be but the site of your touching the sand. Where your Tiara was reclaimed in Manifest Destiny. Indah's Hallowed Depth.

- Divine Mistress Adiratna, whilst sanctifying the temple built upon the center of the Maw

Spoiler: Physical Boons

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What is this?... This... Garbage? Discarded kelp? No, nononono. There must be something more. There must be something else. Dig. Harder. Faster. Break your talons upon the very stones as you scratch. Drink deep, my children, and descend.

- Gildlord Setiawan, Master of the Gild Horde, and Trader of the First Sphere

With time we have hunted and searched. We have found the Eggs of our holy mother. Incandescent Eel Roe shall nurture to be the Empyreans of our dreams.

- Baskoro, former Mission Captain of the Second Sphere

Everybody thinks about the wonder of living and working in the holiest place in the Syndicate. Dreaming of being picked out by one of the Mistresses and sent away on a righteous quest. Or the endless kinds of giant monster that lurk in the shadows beyond. Dragons, Zombies, and Tigers or more. But few people think about the fact that the very water itself is always a few moments away from brutally crushing you and everything you have worked on. There's no room for a "regular" civilian here. When something happens, people need to be trained, and they need the Tools to solve and repair things before everything goes to hell.

- Recquisition Swain Kirana of the Third Sphere

[Villskap]

Draigiau Residuum Gathering (Dragon Residuum)

Spoiler: Summary

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Spoiler: Concept Art inspiration for Brenhineplisgyn, Queen Shell, the Two-Headed

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Leader: Brenhineplisgyn, Queen-Shell, the Two-Headed, Gatherer of the Residuum.
Diplomacy: 4
Military: 5
Economy: 3
Faith: 4
Intrigue: 3
Link to post containing rolls

Capital Region: Aelwyd Adferiad, Hearth of the Rekindling (130, 127, 72, 109, 73, 25, somewhere balanced between multiple different extreme (for most) conditions or borders, possibly well isolated)

Resource: Draig Shell segments - or “dragon scales”
Desired Import: FOOD

Holy Sites:

• Volcanic Hearth: Wings of the World
• Brine Breeding Baths: Wings of the World
• Cavernous Reef: Wings of the World

Faction Support:

• Aristocratic: Residuum
• Clerical: Residuum
• Mercantile: Residuum

Starting tech: Megafaunal Tailoring - Draig’s hardiness together with their evolved (and perhaps at some point engineered and manifest) ability to adapt to survive their surroundings within a single generation, meant that the creatures had few true threats or natural predators, until the cataclysm proved that even that power could not sustain them alone. Now, begrudgingly, the different surviving breeds of dragon cooperatively leverage their skill in raising and adapting the next generation of larvae to survive. Additionally, some have even been known to trade secrets of their own adaptations with each other, taking to heart the Gatherer’s new philosophy of surviving together.

Spoiler: Geography

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Draigiau indulge in a variety of environmental extremes as part of their method of forced adaptation and hardening. They make sure to maintain safe shallows for their less hardy servants, however. A significant portion of the Aelwyd Adferiad is formed by a large reef with sizable caverns and pockets in the reef and the volcanic rock beneath. The reef has been augmented with the desiccated corpses of several perished ancient Dragons, who’s shells were scavenged and brought along by survivors so that they might contribute their value to the cause.
Near the center, the Shallow Crest is formed by coral beginning to grow up the sides of the partially mined shell of an elder-behemoth draig. This structure houses the center of commerce and also the queen’s own nest.

Spoiler: elder leviathan Draigs, back when they were more than simply shell husks turned housing

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Between the coral, the volcanic stone, and most of all the Draig shells, the people of Aelwyd Adferiad do not want for construction material, tools, or colorful pigments.
But even with significant portions of the reef and surrounding waters being dedicated to fisheries, shrimp farms, and kelp and coral cultivation, keeping all of the known surviving dragons and their servants fed is proving to be a substantial challenge…

Spoiler: People

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Spoiler: Various Draigiau breeds

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Draigiau - or dragons - were once legends in the skies and seas alike of this world. Majestic and powerful creatures, dwarfing most other sapient life, and each breed unique to the region it settled. The remaining Draigiau (Draig singular) come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, - ranging between 6 to 12 meters at adulthood. Before the Cataclysm, some of the larger breeds measured as long as 26 meters, but no such behemoths survived. All of them are also known to develop distinctive, large wing-fins at some stage of their maturing process. Some breeds within the species have even adapted to powerfully heat or cool bladders full of concentrated brine which they can spew as a defensive weapon, flash-freezing or boiling the water around adversaries foolish enough to be close to their heads. According to myth, a rare few are also capable of creating bursts of super-heated water around their claws!

Draigiau are morphically a sexual spectrum that can be summarized in three nearly evenly represented groups: female (capable of laying eggs), male (capable of fertilizing eggs), and hermaphroditic (capable of both laying and fertilizing eggs, but still needing a partner to reproduce.) Most Draig’s gender align with their sexual capabilities, but there exist exceptions. Language remains default-matriarchal as a hold-over from older times, but little pressure has arisen to update linguistics as nearly two-thirds of dragons identify with feminine words and description.

Spoiler: Pretty Lobster Draig example

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Most dragons do not bother wearing any form of clothing, as their hardened shells are both sufficient protection from the elements around them, and beautiful adornment. A few eccentric specimens take to imbedding jewels, bits of precious metals and luminous baubles, and even long colorful scarves of extravagant cloth into pieces of their shells when newly molted, as a holdover habit of flaunting their wealth. But most are content with their servants being well garbed, adorned, or equipped as a way of showing off their opulence.

While the survival and propagation of the remaining Draigiau is the central focus of the Residuum, the dragons themselves represent only a small fraction of the population by numbers, effectively the aristocrats of a society of servants, protectors, farmers, and artisans that they have gathered together to their cause. These people are a smattering of Mers and other aquatic denizens, some of whom have been part of a Draig-serving community or family for generations, and some who have recently found themselves a place in the Residuum while fleeing other circumstances. For the most part, servants of a Draig take pride in their work and their value, and are grateful for the symbiotic relationship, just as most Draigiau will greatly value their serfs. Many of the more vicious dragons who reigned over captured slaves through fear perished in the Cataclysm, as the world crumbling around them quickly became more frightening then their own wrath, and they found themselves deserted and left to die. But there are exceptions to this trend, and not all servants are happy with their roles, just as not all of the dragons are pleased to be forced to “cooperate” with others of their kind of different breeds.

Dragons were once widely known to be reclusive creatures, nesting in family units at most, some living for centuries, and many being possessed of vast wealth. Most of those legends however, are from before the Cataclysm. Now the creatures are nearly extinct. No longer being able to afford the luxury of solitude, the remainder of this species have banded together, pooling their remaining resources in a pact under the guidance of Brenhineplisgyn.

Spoiler: History and Government

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There was a time when our kind were many, and our wings held aloft the wonder of the smaller folk around the entire world! In that age, whole towns, tribes, and cities would swear themselves to a Draig matriarch’s service in exchange for their protection, wisdom, or generosity. We were feared, and the folk kept a respectful distance, aside from those whom we gave our permission to serve us. We were lauded, and rightly so, for our great might! Each of us was as a nation, independant, and unshakeable. Our wings beat the ocean tides, churned the great currents, and cast shadows even from the sky above!
And so, when the Cataclysm came, we weathered it as we did everything that came before. We each nested in our own might, secure in the knowledge that nothing could prey upon us. That was our undoing.
The terrible new stars seared through the shells of our cousins who swam in the skies. Those who dwelled in high mountains above the seas starved, unable to leave their caves, and deserted as their once loyal servants all perished or fled beneath the waves. Those who dwelled in the dark depths, the greatest behemoths of our kind, boiled in the brine of their own breeding pools, and choked in the smoke-filled water that spewed from cracks in the earth. Now we only have a few husks of their empty shells to testify the majesty our kind once embodied.
And those of us who churn the tides, our homes changed faster than we could molt new shells on our own. Our frail servants perished, leaving us to feed ourselves on ever fading shoals. And in our stubbornness and pride, so many of us shriveled within our shells rather than turn to each other for aid.
We are now numbered in dozens, hundreds at most.
Our world has changed, and we must adapt with it; our ancestors' ways will no longer sustain us. We are the Wings of the World, and without us, what legends will inspire wonder? What tales will perpetuate the little ones’ drives to stay alive in these terrible times? So those of us who remain, we Residuum of Draigiau, must gather together and find a place where we may all lay and protect our eggs. We must hatch the next generation, and rekindle the fire of our species. Else we shall fade, and the world will have only the last of our scales to remember Wonder.
Excerpt from Brenhineplisgyn’s Pact, transcribed by Ferang of the delicate hand at the Gathering of the Draigiau Residuum

Spoiler: Resources

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Resource: Draig Shell fragments - or “dragon scales” - are regularly molted and shed by the huge creatures over their life cycle, and hoarded from the shells of ancestors for their value. In times of old, dragons of all kinds were famed for their vast hoards of accumulated wealth. While some of the more fearsome and aggressively territorial specimens might have simply taken their lavish riches by force as they desired, their attacks lending weight to legends of draconic ferocity, many Draig acquired their servants, followers, and wealth by periodically trading the incredible durability and luster of their own sheddings. Now, the collective sheddings of the Residuum, together with the gathered shell remains of some of those that perished, are used to make quality armor, weapons, and tools, and the excess are traded away to meet the Residuum’s needs.

Desired Import: While the world’s remaining Draig generate considerable value with their combined moltings, their combined appetites are the Pact’s greatest expense. Dragons both sift plankton from the water as they swim and must consume a considerable quantity of meat, including fish and crustaceans, often shell-and-all. A few of the surviving breeds supplement their diets with kelp, and even land-plants when they can get them. And of course, the smaller folk who serve the Residuum have all got to eat as well; if their followers and servants starved, the Draigiau pact would almost certainly collapse, and the Residuum would perish.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Flowing Way is a faith focused around the concept of storytelling, of the power legends hold in the minds of mortals, the stories the gods told to shape the world, and of the histories of the many peoples of the seas.
The Wings of the World could perhaps have originated as a specialized sect of such a faith in the power of legends and tales. The sworn servants of some Draigiau have long professed that the wings of dragons “hold aloft the world’s wonder” and taken a great pride in their service to such powerful and widely storied creatures. Indeed, children in many civilizations grow up on tales of fearsome or wise dragons, and the heroes or dark powers that rose up to challenge them! Over time and generations, this family pride became a deep conviction often with specific traditions being adapted by the followers and servants of each dragon.
And over Draig generations, the dragons themselves came to believe in the importance of their legends to the world as well. The world’s wonder became a responsibility, a burden that many Draigiau who held a close connection to their sworn servants felt a duty towards; a pressure to live up to the legends of their parents and inspire new tales among not only their own servants, but the folk of nations abroad.
At times when the serving villages of various dragons would commune or trade with greater civilization, the specific faith and duty to share the legends of their matriarchs came to be known as a conviction to “The Wings of the World.”
Now that each of these servant tribes and remaining dragons are unified in one nation, individual sects and traditions of this faith sometimes clash and bicker on matters of specific dogma. But all agree that to protect the world’s Wonder, Draig must survive.

Holy Sites:

• The Volcanic Hearth: a cluster of thermal vents that is tended and has been optimized for the safe nesting of the eggs of most remaining breeds of Draig. As a group nest, this site is a symbol of hope in the new way of dragon communion, and in the future of the species that has sparked so many legends.
• Brine Breeding Baths: Dragon eggs must be fertilized in brine pools, and one remaining breed’s eggs are left to mature there as well. This breeding ground is kept well furnished and tended by servants devoted to making sure would-be Draig parents have the best chance of successfully raising strong and wondrous offspring.
• Cavernous Reef: The largest site of Draig family caves in the capital, aside from those who nest with their eggs in the other two sites. This reef is tended and decorated to a lavish degree, resembling an undersea palace for the noble giants who are revered by those they serve, and social enough to be willing neighbors. This site also contains the seats of government in most matters, with Brenhineplisgyn’s nest in the Shallow Crest.

[Torv]

Forests of Astral Yearning

Spoiler: Dunes of Revelations, Region 17

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Spoiler: Geography

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The dunes of revelations have a misleading name. there are no dunes to be seen – only endless kelp. It twists towards the surface in rustic brown, bows for the currents in sickly yellow, and bedecks the floor in verdant green. Save for a few rocky outcroppings it grows everywhere, its dark shadows casting the illusion of twilight the further from the surface one strays.

And one does not merely leave the surface but do indeed stray. Motes of cold light give the depths their own allure, seemingly drifting between the stalks aimlessly. Taken in from above it is as if the glimmering surface night has an immortal twin mirror below, the stalks desperately trying to reach between the two of them. If carefree one can easily lose any sense of direction, the only hope being to be found by one of the few local Mer.

Living in and around the outcroppings Mer of the region has an entrepreneurial streak, thriving on collecting the motes of light and mashing them into a brightly glowing compound, locally known as Delights of Moonlight. Overly superstitious they never go far from the clearings and always keeps close to the surface, except for the harvesters.

The harvesters either to stays by themselves or in one of the region’s many inns, to sell their product. Most prominent among the inns are the Snare, River, and Flowering, respectively located northeast, south, and west of Dolphin. Dolphin, despite being the region’s largest and most fortified settlement has a noticeable lack of anything to enjoy but the particularly suggestive rockformation after which it is known.

Spoiler: Resource

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Gunhild closed “The Tropics and its inhabitants” to look the author, Torbjorn in his eyes.

"The delight of moonlight what is it, how much is it worth? The offer was to collect information, not pretty words.”

Astounded by the lady’s complete disregard for his work Torbjorn replied as concisely as his consciousness allowed him to, which wasn’t very concise at all.

“Ohhhh. The delights of moonlight are many things. Individually the motes are like distant stars but packed together they serve to illuminate even the darkest abyss. Some say it is the surface getting caught by the kelp, others the plant’s way of communicating.
For the layperson it is a shimmer of another world, ingested it gives the most fantastic visions or horrifying nightmares. Experience life as a holdfast, see the rivers of light permeate everything, feel your blood turn into acid, or cry from the caress of a love lost.
The inns sell packets of delight, consumed unprepared abyss knows what sights you will see but one thing is known. The kelp will be there, it is everywhere.”

Spoiler: People

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“So to summarize the dunes of revelation aren’t dunes at all, contains a glowing, highly hallucinogenic substance and is barely inhabited by a few addicts and their dealers. Do tell me why it’s still unclaimed?”

“The Kelpies, my Lady. Great beasts with four legs they are sighted in the forests or made by it. Their movement wholly unnatural - they gallop through the water as propelled by sheer will rather than any logical locomotion. Long lengths of loose kelp sways from their neck, alight with the forest’s motes.
Seen at a distance they seem like solid creatures of black or gray, if one were to get closer it would be revealed that they are nothing more than amalgamations of withering kelp. But by then it would already be too late. The Kelpies are viscous, ensnaring anyone who dares venture beyond the ecotone into their twisted illusion of a being.”

“By the shallows! Kelpies and ecotones, I’ve asked you to stop with the pretty words. Give me more facts and less drug fuelled visions of some imaginary monsters.”

Spoiler: Faith

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“Ahhh, but these monsters are real. Although its appearance varies from inn to inn the inhabitants agrees that the kelp is indeed alive.

There is the Snare’s Inn trading in toxins, almost seeming to have an understanding with the forest around it. Placing the toxins in the forest’s edge it is replaced by moonlight in the morning and is it ever delightful. Nowhere else is it provoking such tangible apparitions, of missing friends, fallen comrades, young loves. Here it is possible to relive the past. For a moment at least, until the spectres twist ever more into kelp. Not that it matters to the addicts, who describes both lost friends and abominations with similar adoration.

Then there is the River’s Inn, collecting vast amounts of motes from where they float with unprecedented density. The multitude of wonders resting at the tip of their lips sees many return for more and those that do so too often venturing into the darkness on their own. Claiming that everything is interwoven and that even greater wonders are ahead, in the citadel of light.

Lastly there is the Flowering Inn. Somewhat more collected than the others its delights show the same scene over and over. A single strand of kelp, the motes clustering around it in a dizzying display of light. Blooming the motes spread far and wide, flowing through the forest with purpose. Dimming there is only a few specks of light left, on of them reaching the visitor, waking them up. The Flowering Everlight stays the same, but the path of its mote never the same. Those that tries to follow it in reality soon get lost or are never seen again.

Less frequented inns dot the region, each with their own lunatic worship of the kelp. Are the Kelpies real? Do the motes serve as a mean of communication? Can the Flowering Everlight be found?
Abyss knows. But for anyone staying too long in the Dunes of Revelation its beauty soon becomes the Shimmers of Unseen Bane."

[cactiguy3]

The Auros of Kaarme

Region: 14

Spoiler: Ruler

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Ruler: Mother Yetu and Queen Phiso

• Diplomacy: 3
• Military: 4
• Opulence: 4 (3+1)
• Faith: 3 (2+1)
• Intrigue: 4

Link to ruler rolls

Spoiler: Geography

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The region of Kaarme is an expansive kelp forest that is mostly flat save for the yawning canyon that scars the sea floor, twisting its way almost entirely across the region. Within this canyon, the Auros city of Syva can be found. Nestled in the briny depths of the chasm, a ring of dim lights can be seen shining at the bottom from the canyon edge against the washed-out green of the day. As one draws closer, it can be seen that the lights seem to disappear downward, a tunnel system leading ever deeper. As the pressure begins to build, a tunnel suddenly twists away, revealing a chamber filled with breathable air and lights. The starry walls pulse with microbial biofilms that feed on the nutrient-rich walls, releasing oxygen into the chamber through a peculiar process. Legends say the first Auros dwelled in this cave, and the city has since risen up around it with its denizens adapting to the murky twilight.

Outside of the chasm, the kelp forest teems with life. Bony fish and sharks are always seen twisting through the towering stalks. From the kelp itself hangs translucent red fruit, casting the floor in a mixture of greens, reds, and oranges. A large variety of life feeds off of the fruit and fish, but most prefer to stay hidden.

Spoiler: People

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The Auros people are a partly serpentine race with a humanoid torso that melds into a long undulating tail, except for the mothers. A new mother is born from the last egg an Auros bears. All Auros are female and reproduce parthenogenetically, so new mothers are produced with decent regularity. The child hatches fully serpentine. It is almost indistinguishable from a wild animal save for the amazing intelligence it displays and the enormous size it will grow to. One mother and her chosen mate rule the city, the first selected as the first mother born after the death of the last. These ruling mothers dwell permanently in the system of caves below the city and are only ever seen by Auros and thoroughly trusted outsiders. All other mothers serve the rulers to either seed new colonies or serve as weapons at their disposal. Due to their enormous size, the mothers are also sterile.

The majority of the denizens, however, are much smaller. Ranging from 10-15 feet long typically with the absolute largest among them being up to 20 feet in length. Coloration will vary, but generally consists of black bands against a lighter white, yellow, or blue coloration.

Temperament among the Auros is generally cold and disinterested towards outsiders, but they are extremely friendly and affectionate towards each other, forming stable romantic pairs of 2-3.

The mothers are especially so, but all Auros are extremely intelligent. Those that don’t train as warriors pursue science and experimentation. Both classes are respected with warriors being capable of intense strategy and complex maneuvers and others have a deep understanding of the natural world and how it can be manipulated.

Being serpentine, the Auros are carnivorous. They feed somewhat on the naturally abundant fish of the area, but a staple of their diet is a large larva that dwells within kelp fruit. If allowed to grow, these larvae spawn a large species of cephalopod grazers that can sometimes be seen clinging to the stalks, but it generally prefers to stay hidden from potential predators. While they aren’t overtly dangerous, they can do serious damage if engaged, and it’s simpler to harvest their larvae, which dwell in plain sight.

Like wild sea snakes, the Auros are not capable of breathing while underwater, and they depend on the oxygen generated in a chamber in the caves below. They are capable of holding their breath for several hours at a time, so while they could surface to satisfy their oxygen demands, they prefer to dwell in the darkness of the chasm.

Spoiler: Resource

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Many exotic organisms and substances can be found in the cave system below the city of Syva. However, the most abundant is a lithotrophic algae that produces a potent neurotoxin. While the Auros have adapted to tolerate low levels in the water around the blooms, the toxin can be easily purified to lethal concentrations by exposing the algae to high pressure and collecting the liquid that results, which is aptly named Barotoxin. While it is seldom traded, it is the main export from Syva.

Apart from that, the Auros always crave well-crafted equipment. While they are proficient in many chemical processes and battle strategies, they do not make their own weapons or armor. Without it, they feel vulnerable, so in their limited trade relations, they seek to gain arms.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Auros revere the darkness and depths that have protected them and given them so much. The concept is deified as a figure they call Astra, which they don’t actively worship, but they acknowledge her gifts and her mystery. There is no official temple, but every Auros knows her name and keeps a token of hers to which they may offer a quick prayer for good luck before a battle or experiment. Usually, this takes the form of a dark pearl inserted in jewelry, armor, or a weapon. However, if an Auros has some other item touched by the deep, this may also be used. The revered physical sites of her power are found in the deepest accessible recess of the caves below the city.

The most commonly visited is the air-filled cave where all Auros go to breathe. The biofilm along the walls and ceiling provides food to bioluminescent animals, appearing as stars that shine and twinkle against a black sky. The Auros know that this, by far, is the greatest gift that the depths provide, and they respect it as such.

Another site is a hole known simply as The Deep, and if an Auros is so compelled, they may make offerings or meditate on the dark expanse. Because of the pressure and distance, no one knows exactly how far down it goes, only that sources of light seem to disappear after several minutes of traveling into the blackness.

The least visited site is where the Auros’ pearls are found. Even with a light source, upon entering the cave, the water becomes a shroud of complete darkness. Only by careful listening is it possible to hear the muffled sounds of stone rolling across stone, and only then can the loose pearls be obtained. This is generally seen as a right of passage, and an Auros will only retrieve their pearl when they are considered fully grown. Once obtained, they will do whatever they can to avoid repeating the experience because although the darkness bestows them a gift, one can never be sure what other dangers hide beyond the senses.

Spoiler: Technologies

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• Composite grafting
  
  Due to their strong interest in science, it was only natural that the Auros turned to experimenting with the natural diversity they found around them, looking to replicate and harness the processes that occurred in the kelp forests above and the caves below. Because the act of collecting and extracting products can be dangerous at times, the organisms that produce the desired products are grafted to others to facilitate their survival and acquisition of necessary nutrients. This helps for desired substances to be made and stored without the potentially arduous journey to where they are naturally found.

[Talis]

The Seatide Confederacy

Spoiler: Technology

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Photospore Signaling
The Pepsins are naturally bio-luminescent and have developed a thorough understanding of the use of light and color. Their language is not spoken, but displayed as a cascade of colors and patterns. Drifts often use this bio-luminescence to signal each other over vast distances. When groups are out of sight, they leave lingering messages in the form of bio-luminescent algae that often mark travel routes, dangers, or even gossip and news. The rapid promulgation of news and information helps to keep the Pepsins together as a cohesive society, despite the vast distances and sparse population of their homeland.

Holographic Certification. +1 to rolls when resisting Undermine Support. Requirements: Photospore Signaling, A source of Bioluminescent Ink.
A new innovation using bio-luminescent ink to create intricate, 3-dimensional images that change color and form based on angle of observation and ambient lighting. Aside from its artistic value, the new technique can be used to create seals and certificates that are nearly impossible to forge, allowing for more secure documentation and greater trust in contracts and correspondences.

Spoiler: Language

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The Pepsin language, called Lumen, is a uniquely silent language that is communicated entirely through the flickering of bioluminescent light. Like Sign Languages, Lumen has a verbal "box" in the form of a Pepsin's torso, which acts as the point of focus for "listeners" and a frame for the expression of speech. Pepsin "Speak" through a catalog of over 150 color-shape combinations that act as the equivalent of phonemes. "Photonemes" are then combined into glyphs that represent words or concepts. By stringing together sequences of glyphs, Pepsin can create phrases, sentences and other expressions of language. A glyph's hue is used to convey intonation and emotion, such as a bright "shout" or dull, washed-out sadness.

Compound Words - Lumen uses compound glyphs to express complex actions and ideas. Rather than display multiple glyphs in sequence, two or more glyphs can be combined using various linguistic rules to create "compound glyphs" that have a new, combined meaning. Such compound glyphs are extremely common, to the point where a linguist can find the language scattered with the simplified remains of what were once compound symbols.

Poetry and Literary Devices - Because Lumen is a light-based language, a large part of poetry and prose is making works visually beautiful as well as conceptually interesting. One common means of doing so is substitution. Although there are over 150 photonemes, many of them share the same or similar meaning. A skilled speaker can substitute photonemes to build new glyphs that share the same meaning as old ones. Combined with some creativity, this allows poets a great deal of freedom to "paint" images and ideas. Similarly, contrast and Color are both important factors. A series of glyphs that share the same predominant colors, or that switch between colors, can create melodic or whimsical displays. A third important device is transition: using sequences of glyphs that create a sense of movement when transitioning between them.

Word Order - Lumos is a VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) language.

Pronouns and Forms of Address - Lumen is not a gendered language and has no gendered pronouns or conjugation. It does, after all, come from an asexual species. Instead, Lumos is an age based language with three sets of pronouns: an informal set used when addressing someone younger than the speaker, a neutral set used when addressing peers or peer groups, and a formal set used when addressing one's elders. This age-based hierarchy goes beyond pronouns. There is an entire form of "respectful language" with separate words for yes, no, hello, etc. used when speaking to elders.

Spoiler: Resources

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Region Resource: Bluefish Antifreeze
The Pepsins of Seatide herd several species of fish. But most prized among them is perhaps the bluefish. Aside from its succulent meet and useful bones, the fish's liver contains a liquid antifreeze that counteracts the formation of ice crystals and stops items from freezing over. The Pepsins have learned to carefully extract the oil during culling times and export it as a valuable commodity.

Required Resource: Bioluminescence
The Pepsin language uses light and color to communicate, but their homeland is sadly bereft of writing material. Bioluminescent pastes and algaes that can be used as writing materials are valuable commodities, highly sought after for their myriad uses, both practical and artistic.

Spoiler: People

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The Pepsins

Pepsins are a type of sentient jellyfish who drift the warm, open seas of their homeland. They have relatively slow metabolisms, allowing them to get by with relatively little food, but are capable of bursts of quick activity when necessary. Their upper tentacles are fully prehensive and can be used as "hands" to manipulate objects, while their lower tentacles carry potent neurotoxins that can paralyze small prey or cause intense pain in larger creatures. Pepsins have 360 degree vision and are naturally bio-luminescent in multiple colors. Their language is not based on sound, but on the flickering of different lights and colors. Different color and patterns can convey active words or meanings, physiological reactions and emotions like fright and pain, or simple aesthetics - a type of silent, wordless "music." But while their sight is excellent, pepsins sense of hearing is nonexistent. They can sense lower frequencies as vibrations, but have no specialized organs for hearing. To them, the world is a silent chorus of light and motion.

Pepsins reproduce asexually via budding. The process can be triggered or suppressed by an individual's stress, nutrition, disease and other factors, but it otherwise involuntary. Generally, angry, stressed, malnourished and lonely pepsins are unlikely to bud, while calm, health, well-fed pepsins are more likely. Buds are near-clones of their parent - the budding process triggers an accelerated level of mutations in the offspring, causing them to have slightly "scrambled" genetics. A bud will grow for 2-3 months on a parent before wilting and breaking off, becoming a new youngster. Physical adulthood comes after 10 to 12 years, and Pepsins rarely reach 60.

Pepsins culture emphasizes eloquence, politeness, perseverance against hardship, wisdom, beauty, and community as moral ideals. While they are perfectly willing to fight when necessary, they generally prefer to accomplish their goals through trade and dialogue. Art and creativity, especially in speech, is highly valued, and good leaders are expected to be eloquent and knowledgeable rather than violent. Determination and community are generally seen as going hand-in-hand: all members of the community must contribute as much as they are able.

There are a few scattered Mer settlements around the outskirts of Seatide, nestled around the few fertile parts of the land. They and the Pepsins live in peace, mostly leaving each other alone but often trading goods that one group alone cannot. The Pepsin Judge receives small tributes from these settlements in exchange for providing protection for protection from bandits, predatory creatures and outside threats. For their part, the Mer occupants have adopted much of the Pepsin's religion and culture.

Spoiler: Society

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The center of Pepsin social structure is the drift. Each drift comprises of anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred individuals, all of whom live, travel and work together as a unit. Children are raised communally within a drift and are identified by their individual name and the drift they belong to. Drifts will share resources communally within the group, with healthy adults covering the working and fighting, while children take care of smaller chores and elders provide guidance and memory for the group. Generally it is a drift's elders who act as its leaders and make decisions for the group, but it is relatively common for elders to appoint a younger drift-member as a chief during times of war or strife so that decisions can be made quickly and decisively.

Drifts spend roughly half of each year as pastoral nomads. During this time they wander their territory, herding schools of domesticated fish from area to area as forage in a given area is depleted. Tamed sharks are used to guard and herd the schools, while a type of baleen whale serves as a pack animal. At each stop a drift may collect whatever natural resources they can find: they may gather rare plants and coral from a region, hunt for meat and animal products, or stop at settlements they pass by to trade. During hard times, some drifts are not above waging war by raiding settlements or encroaching on another drift's territory.

During the volatile winter months, the waters of Seatide are beset by immense storms, hurricanes and toxic currents. When winter approaches drifts will settle down in semi-permanent towns to shelter, living off the herds they have cultivated for the other half of the year. These are extremely social months for the Pepsids. Multiple drifts will often settle down together, swelling the population of towns to near city sizes. It is a time for drifts to exchange news, stories and goods, as well as to forge connections outside of their own group. Foreigners are welcome distractions during these sedentary months, and there are multiple religious festivals and celebrations to keep everyone entertained. Adventurous or troublesome individuals may even switch drifts and choose to travel with another group once the the weather changes.

Spoiler: Geography

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Seatide is a region of sparse beauty: the waters are open and deep, while the surface is flat and silted. Jagged, rocky outcroppings and stubborn coral cut the open seafloor into rugged shapes, providing much-needed shelter and landmarks in the vastness of the sea. There is little in the way of plant life or mega-fauna in the region, but hardy species of fish have learned to adapt. Conditions can vary immensely depending on the season: during spring and summer, abundant sunlight provides food for schools of fish, and the waters come alive with activity. During the winters violent storms stir up the water, mixing toxic currents and briny water together and making travel dangerous. Local inhabitants and wildlife seek shelter among the rocky seafloor, and the seas become dark and desolate.

Spoiler: Centers of Power

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Aristocracy - The Old Drifts. Although Seatide is primarily a mercantile nation, there still remain those Drifts that maintain the old life of nomadic wandering and fish-herding. Although not as wealthy as their trading counterparts, these Drifts control vast territories in Seatide, and their lifestyle makes them skilled skirmishers and warriors. These "Old Drifts" are some of the largest by population, and continue to maintain a significant influence in Seatide thanks to their numbers and military prowess.

Merchants - The Merchants of Deepdrift. Deepdrift is the heart of Seatide's trading power, and the local merchants of the city hold immense influence over trade. They are the ones who store goods for later transportation, receive shipments, see that contracts are honored, and sell off final products. Every merchant Drift has at least one representative or proxy in the city to negotiate such agreements. Without the aid of the city, the logistics of moving, storing, and financing become immensely more difficult.

Faith - The Tideseers. Although not a formal clergy, the Tideseers command immense respect in Pepsin society as spiritual leaders and councilors. Collectively, the Tideseers have the eyes of many Drifts and great power over Seatide's culture and faith.

Spoiler: Faith

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The Pepsins follow the Eternal Tides. They recognize divinity in natural phenomenon - particularly the changes of tides, season and weather - and see everything as guided by inexorable patterns of fate. While there are many gods in their religion, even they are at the mercy of the Tides. This gives the Pepsins a rather fatalistic view of the world. Instead of struggling against their destinies, the Pepsin seek to flow with the tides, and to divine the currents of fate and fortune.

There are no temples to the Eternal Tide. Worship is done in the open sea, or at natural formations believed to be tidewells: locations where the tides of fate converge or resonate. Individuals facing difficult decisions or seeking spiritual guidance will often visit such locations to meditate and observe the guidance of the tides. And while there is no established priesthood for the Eternal Tide, the Pepsins do have a caste of shaman and fortune-tellers. These individuals are gifted with the ability to see and predict the tides, and know secret rituals and rites that can divine one's fate. Tidesense is a rare gift, something that one is said to be born with rather than something one acquires, and shaman are revered and sought after for their skill.

The Tidal Sequence: As more and more Drifts adopt the philosophy of the Blossoming Sequence, a new school of thought emerges, combining the traditional beliefs about the Eternal Tides with the Blossoming Sequence' emphasis on philosophy, understanding, and death. Practitioners of the Tidal Sequence continue to consult Tideseers about their fate, but also incorporate mortuary and remembrance rites into their religious practices in the form of wasteland burials and maintaining shrines to dead ancestors. Scholars of the Tidal Sequence argue several key tenants taken from the Pepsins ancient faith in the Eternal Tides:
1. We are all locked in the complex flow of the Tides of Fate, unable to control over destinies. Death, like life, is inevitable and unavoidable.
2. Fighting the tides only leads to frustration, anger and loss. Mental and Spiritual satisfaction come from learning to move with the flow of Fate rather than fight it.
3. The flow of Fate does not end with death. The tides govern the souls of the death as well as the living, guiding everything in a great cycle of fate that will continue until the world itself stills and the waters grow dark.
4. The dead are further along the path of fate. Swimming ahead, they can help guide us through treacherous waters.

Holy Sites:
Just outside of the "city" of Deepdrift lie the Deepdrift Crags. This twisted chasm has worn down unevenly over the millennia, resulting in a seascape of porous tunnels and open crags painted with the myriad color of different rocks. Pilgrims here can feel the tug and flow of tides as the water twists and snakes through the rock-ways in unexpected paths.
In the middle of the open sea stands the Seatide Crag, a single, defiant spire of rock that rises out from the flat seafloor. From the peak of the spire of the spire, one can feel the pull and flow of the open ocean and gave far into the clear, blue sea.
The Stillwater is a vast, open stretch of featureless land, strangely bereft of any tides or flow. Here, in the emptiness of the sea, one can experience utter stillness and quiet.

Spoiler: History

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Pepsin history is mostly oral. Only a few, treasured scrolls exist as testimony to their earlier history. According to the tales, the Pepsins were driven from their homes in the depths by starvation and a "changing of the tides." Some stayed, but many chose to follow the new tide and search for new grazing lands for their flocks. They were forced to wander for many winters, even fighting a war against the "shark men" of the open ocean to secure passage. Eventually, they reached the open plains of Seatide. One of the few remaining scrolls tells of Judge Green Wave seeing a knot of glistening colors flowing through the Deepdrift Crags. Taking this as a sign, the Pepsins set up camp, and have lived here for over two centuries.

The first meetings with the local Mer were tense, but the two groups quickly learned to live in harmony. Most of Seatide was far too barren and hostile for the Mer to farm, but was perfect for fish herding and grazing. The Pepsins helped to ward off bandits and dangerous sealife, and each group provided goods for trade that the other lacked. Soon the two species had created a set of accords, some formal and some informal. The vast majority of Seatide was left to the newcomers, but the Pepsins would protect the small, scattered Mer settlements that existed and otherwise leave them unmolested.

Spoiler: Government

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Seatide is ruled by a Judge, who is advised by a Council of Elders. Every year the Council meets at Deepdrift. Here, Elders from every Drift meet to settle quarrels, discuss news and ratify (or repeal) the Judge's decisions. The Judge's duty is to act as a wartime leader, represent the Drifts in diplomacy outside of Seatide, and arbitrate between Drifts. To fund the state, the Judge collects taxes from merchants traveling through Seatide and from occasional settled villages within Seatide. The wealth from this tax is used to pay justices, who travel the land and settle smaller disputes, and to fund a core of mercenaries and soldiers who form the core of Seatide's military.
Despite the Judge's presumed powers, the Confederacy is loosely organized. The largest Drifts can rival the Judge in terms of wealth and influence, and the Council of Elders holds the power to dismiss and elect new Judges as it sees fit, or to dismiss any decrees the Judge has made that fall afoul of the Drifts.

[Gengy]

The Meadows of Elyan'dan
(Region 136)

Spoiler: People

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Elyan'dan is populated by tribes of Mer that are loosely organized into a democratic confederacy. They have a complex system of honor and obligation to circumvent their lack of formal laws. Of note is that they have a complex system of division of labor based on gender, their concept of gender is completely divorced from any physiological markers outsiders can perceive.

Spoiler: Geography

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The Meadows of Elyan'dan are an area of shallow seas with much plant life. These plants are typically giant lillies that have long roots tethering them to the sea bottom. The shady area is rich in life.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Clam Vines are the colloquial name for the colonies of sessile, parasitic snails that infest the roots of the giant lillies that grow through much of Elyan'dan. They resemble giant beads strung on a piece of twine. The Mer of the region use the shells of the Clam Vines as clothing, weapons, and just to look at for the particular shiny shells. The snails themselves are not the best food source, but work in a pinch.

Required Resource: Heat Source
The Meadows are a peaceful place, but have unusual cold snaps that often signal an early or long winter. For all that - compared to some surrounding regions - it is a shallow watered location with a lot of plant life, the waters during winter become very chilly for the Temerpate zone. The more wealthy Mer of the Meadows made due with weaving heavy cloaks of Lily Petals, but having a wide spread heat source for all would greatly please those living in the region.

Spoiler: Faith

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Open - Those of the Meadows are not subject to any particular religion, and are open minded enough to learn new ideas.
Holy Site: "Lily Cove" - A major city within the Meadows, Lily Cove is hidden within a large giant long rooted Lily forest, with twisting vines that are perfect living locations for Clam Vines.
Holy Site: "Upper Yard" - A large town on a giant underwater plateau, Upper Yard is the closest livable area to the surface. For Mer who enjoy the moonlight, or singing in the Sun, many move to upper Yard.

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Colownya
(Region 128)

Spoiler: People

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Colownya - the Gotezhar Colony - is entirely populated by Gotezhar. When Ezcorher started to become full of so much life, the opportunity to expand into new seas - and not fight over increasingly scarce resources - was enough for many lesser nuvens of Gotezhar to make the decision to stray. Like Ezcorher, Colownya's Gotezhar are divided into various castes: The Joontar handle bureaucracy and matters of faith, the Profundus take leadership roles, the Squalls handle law enforcement and military matters, and the rest are Workers of various types. More recently, a branch of Workers has elevated themselves to a separate caste: Merchants. They are still young, but formally recognized as important.

Spoiler: Geography

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Colownya is a vast body of water with many undersea canyons, that travel underwater from west to east, like some great zipper snaking it's way all over the region. As though a very crooked smile of some god bit down just hard enough to create holes in the ground, these undersea canyons make excellent places to build domiciles for the new colonists to establish homes. Where the nuven were 'lesser' before in Gotezhar, those that arrived first and claimed a canyon for their family have become part of the local aristocracy. The largest canyons have shiny fragile walls that immediately attracted the largest nuvens, and did not just become family homes, but the start of new towns and - maybe one day - cities.

To the north, though, is one of the most important things in the entire region: A vast body of above-sea land. At the moment, the majority of this land is either impassible due to the brackish swampy waters, or guarded by defenders from the north. But the small bit of the land that the Gotezhar are able to control is a marvel to them. Unlike the spire in Ezcorher, Colownya's land allows for many different nuven to peacefully build near the shore to await for clouds - and more importantly, rain! - to just fly overhead. It is near this northern border in Colownya that the majority of the governance of the region happens, and has the burgeoning's of the region's first actual city; even more so then the larger canyons.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Razorglass grow from the canyon walls. It is a brittle - often dangerously sharp - crystal that can be, with the right precautions (or just Gotezhar stubbornness) mined from the canyon walls. It has many different uses, both as a fragile form of weaponry and as a lesser building material. One thing is certain: those who live in razorglass houses, do not throw stones.

Required Resource: Esoterica
The Gotezhar of Colownya share one trait: curiosity. Without this similar trait, they wouldn't have bothered to move to new waters. Without it, the large amount of Colownya Workers would have been content to laze about; instead, nearly a third of the Workers are trying to understand what it means to be 'Merchants'. While the Merchant caste is new, they understand that you trade for weird things... and to do that, you need interesting things to trade back!

Spoiler: Faith

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Glimmer Tooth - Afluente - The southern most canyon is also one of the largest, and was claimed by Joontar who still follow the Gotezhar faith. It is also one of the shiniest canyons, so ended up with the name 'Glimmer Tooth'.

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B’kini Bottom
(Region 139)

Spoiler: People

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Those whom live within B’kini Bottom – pronounced (pa-Key-knee Bot-tum) – are mostly hardy warrior Mer, mixed in with a small smattering of dedicated Gotezhar who protect the surface waters.

B’kini Mer tend to be larger of frame than the average Mer, sporting more muscular bodies, and very few whom are overweight or weak. They also have more visible scar tissue, as though they have been fighting all their lives.

B’kini Gotezhar tend to have Shards with a bright white coloring; a distinction that may have been the reason for their separation from Ezcorher, though neither regions have histories to confirm this. B’kini Gotezhar are fierce to protect their clouds and also any Mer villages that live below them.

Spoiler: Geography

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B’kini Bottom is a land with many beautiful reefs, but also many shallow valleys. Though the waters don’t run particularly deep, there are still some areas close to the south and east edges of the region that have vast sections of underwater cracks in the ground, leading into dangerous cave systems. Within these caves lay both boon and bane of the region: the miraculous Fertilizing Seeds, and the terrible B’trick Stars. The Stars are starfish of equal size to the average Mer, but they possess dense skin, making them difficult to kill, unless one manages to strike inside their mouths on the underside of their bodies.

The B’trick Stars must be fought regularly – the reason for B’kini Mer being warriors – for allowing them to eat too many of the Fertilizing Seeds will spread their number beyond what can be safely contained. This has caused entire floods of Stars before in living memory, necessitating the need for B’kini Bottom to have a large standing army to push their enemy back into the caves. It has been thought impossible to fully destroy the Stars, as in addition to the Seeds, the large starfish feed and grow on the toxic waters that float from the south and east of B’kini Bottom… but in recent years, Mer who venture too close to that border have found it far more bearable. Something seems to have happened to the toxicity, making it brackish still, but not dangerously so. Fewer and fewer Stars are being born, opening more areas for the Mer to live in, and fewer fights for the Fertilizing Seeds.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Fertilizing Seeds grow from within the cave systems. They are enormous clusters of three-inch spheres, where the cluster itself is almost six feet in diameter. Each sphere – also known as a Fertilizing Pod – has a wood-like exterior that contains a pocket of air to perfectly preserve a single spike-covered seed. Managing to eat this inch-sized seed in it’s entirety has noticeable effects on a Mer’s desires for procreating, and in woman of age in the right time of their cycle, makes it far more likely for them to become pregnant, often with more than one child at a time; thus the name ‘Fertilizing Seeds’. How these seeds do this is unclear.

What is clear is that the seeds are not a casual food. In times of desperation, they can be eaten, but that is not the practice of B’kini Bottom, as it results in many more mouths to feed some many months later, only adding to those desperate times. Instead, the Seeds are cultivated for their mysterious properties and the military uses. A cluster of Pods, if cracked all at once, with force, bursts not just the air pockets within, but scatters the spike covered seeds in a violent manner. In this way, the Seed Cluster can be dropped from on high down unto unsuspecting Stars before the very things that the starfish want become their doom. In theory, the Seeds could be fired out of some kind of artillery weapon, but it was not until the Gotezhar from Ezcorher shared the Orope secrets of Supermarine Artillery that this was realized. Though the explosive nature of the Fertilizing Seeds is different from the Orope Giantsbane Seeds, the resulting destruction is similar.

In recent years, the more industrious B'kini Mer have cultivated their own cave system to cultivate their own Fertilizing Seeds, allowing ease of access to the Seed Clusters, and making it viable to sell the Seeds to outside sources, along with the safe methods of extracting the spiked seed from inside it's pod.

Required Resource: Unskilled Labor
There are many things in B'kini Bottom that need doing that are seen as beneath a warrior's responsibilities. It is with great reluctance that the warrior Mer and B'kini Gotezhar take up these tasks, especially when they could be more useful watching out for dangers on the borders. The people of B'kini Bottom are more than ready to do things that take skill and expertise to accomplish, but something that 'anyone' can do? Unskilled Labor is not fit for a warrior.

Spoiler: Faith

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Long ago, or so the stories tell, there was a particularly difficult flood of B'trick Stars. The people of B'kini Bottom were caught unprepared, and would have been wiped out, if not for the timely arrival from the south of a house-sized crustacean, so caked in dirt and grime that it was dubbed by children 'The Krusty Krab'. Regardless of the origins of it's name, the Krab was a terror in battle, greedy to the extreme for it's next meal. It ate and ate of the Starfish, seemingly never stopping to fight the flood until the last of the Stars were slain and consumed. Then it settled on the ground for two days and nights, unresponsive to anything. When it finally moved again, it grabbed the corpse of one more B'trick Star, and scuttled back to the south, never to be seen again.

To this day, the warriors of B'kini Bottom worship The Krusty Krab as a mighty warrior-god made flesh, and shape their society around the humble Krab. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside, but deadly to their enemies, and unafraid of danger.
The spot where the Krab is said to have rested is considered to be a Holy Center, and a building that is one part temple, one part restaurant - serving starfish meat, of course - has been erected there. There is another temple restaurant farther to the north that was made as a tribute to the Krab, but holds no further divine significance beyond making it an easier place for families to travel to.

Once a year, in the middle of the summer sun, all of B'kini Bottom rests for two days and two nights, eating and drinking. Traditionally, this is a meal of B'trick Star meat. Additionally, as part of the celebration, warrior families find a crustacean and have their children whom are coming of age do battle with it, before consuming it and using the outer shell as armor and weaponry. In this way, they honor the Krab's tenacity. It has also caused the region to be a prolific breeding ground for crabs, as the Mer and Gotezhar of the region find them both a curious pet and viable food source.

Holy Site: "The Krab's Rest"

A temple and restaurant honoring the Krusty Krab, and site of where it supposedly slept after it single handedly defeated an entire wave of B'trick Stars with it's mighty claws.

Holy Site: "Mister Krab's"

A temple and restaurant honoring the Krusty Krab in the northwest. A viable alternative to worship and feast at, if one cannot travel for days to the southeast.

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Gosto G'Cor
(Region 137)

Spoiler: People

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As a colonized region, Gosto G’Cor – which roughly translates to Tasty Colorland – is predominantly Gotezhar. There are a few adventurous Mer as well, but the population is primarily focused on the younger, smaller Nuven of Gotezhar who wish for more skies in order to grow faster.

The rains in Gosto G’Cor are supposedly different, with a distinct flavor to them that the colonists say is an acquired taste. It is not poisonous, but even the rain is… swampy.

Spoiler: Geography

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Gosto G’Cor is distinctly brackish in it’s waters. Almost swamp like, it is full of flat plains sunk only about ten globes under the waves. It is supposed that before whatever happened to overflow the world with water, Gosto G’Cor was a swamp. And now it is just… a very briny sea; almost green in color in some spots, particularly near the southern border which slowly expands into a region full of waste.

The vegetation in Gosto G’Cor runs rampant, as it is much closer to the sunlight, creating a hunting ground for beasts of various sizes… but also a plethora of places for fish to thrive. Still, these fish are very skittish, as though they are plentiful and can hide easily, there are a number of creatures that enjoy a lite snack with nary a word of warning.

Including the new Gotezhar settlers, who find themselves enjoying having steady supplies of meat to eat!

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Wild Armored Gharials are the biggest beasts around. These crocodiles rather enjoy fish. They can grow to large sizes, are covered with spines, and possess a toothy maw that is one-third the length of their body. Not to mention their reptilian scales are thick enough that most spears cannot pierce into the flesh below. Though difficult to come across - or make happen - deceased Gharials can be disseminated for creating arms and armor, toxins, and various esoterica.

There is one Gharial in the region – named Big Snapper – that can spit globs of some kind of acidic substance, and has grown to be four times bigger than any other Gharial that the colonists have seen. Big Snapper is given a wide berth, but the smaller Gharials are highly valued for their meat, their scales, and their teeth.

Some colonists speculate that the Gharials could be tamed somehow, but so far all who have tried have not returned and are presumed croc food. Gosto G’Cor gladly accepts fools, for they are delicious. Even if the smaller, more passive beasts could be tamed, no one wants to try to disturb Big Snapper. Some claim the creature to have Titanblood in it's veins; not a true Titan itself (it is still far too small for that) but perhaps the distant descendent of a long gone Titan. Or at least one that is hopefully long gone...

Required Resource: Spices
Ghotezhar settlers primarily came here because they heard rumors that they would be able to taste whole new flavors. It is why the region is called Tasty Colorland. The disappointment that the region is perhaps no longer as flavorful as it used to be (even if the rains have a uniqueness about them) has created a desire within the Gotezhar settlers for various Spices.

Spoiler: Faith

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Holy Site: "The Temple of Leocidia" [Brihinte]

Just below the surface of the water sits the remains of a stone temple. Walls decorated with constellations, strange winged and beaked creatures, and sun-and-moon patterns are laid out in a broad rectangle, and carved marble columns rise every few meters to breach the waves above. Where some of the columns and angled ceiling have fallen in, a gentle ramp of stone winds along the interior also to break the surface, leading to a slanted balcony open to the sky above.

Also known as the Temple of the Sky, those of Costa Sereia risked much to bring it back under their control. Supposedly Gosto G’Cor’s more tainted waters were cleaned away by beseeching Leocidia herself; for this reason, the Gotezhar respect the temple and leave it to the faithful of Brihinte to oversee.

Holy Site: "Big Snapper’s Rest" [The Flowing Way]

Near the center of the region lies Big Snapper’s hunting grounds. To warn away intruders from getting too far into the Gharial’s territory, a small village was one of the first to be built in the area. In addition to warning away people from aggravating Gosto G’Cor’s alpha beast, this village also serves as a place to study the Flowing Way. Joontar formerly from Ezcorher make Big Snapper’s Rest their new home, and guide the faithful through appropriate rites… which include “do not feed the crocodiles.”

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New Korasoon
(Region 174)

Spoiler: People

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New Korasoon is a far western colony for the Gotezhar and Mer of the Builder’s Union to come together. As such, there are a mix of peoples within the region, but those two species are the predominant ones. While the majority of New Korasoon are from the Builder’s Union, a few Lysimia from Lux-Glossian waters, have made their home near the border of Narcis’s Rest.

Spoiler: Geography

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New Korasoon seems to be endless slopes and dunes, with no sign of any thinking creatures and little vegetation save for a single, widespread variety of sweet-tasting plant. It makes it ideal for colonists to move in, but quite a bit had to be imported at first. After their arrival, it was noticed that there are the occasional schools of fish that come through, but they appear to be seasonal. Still, with proper planning, this - and the Sugarweed - does give the new inhabitants of the region enough food to live on.

The Colonists had a long, far, swim, through many varied seas; yet they planned for their arrival, and brought a number of building materials with them, quickly establishing towns and villages within New Korasoon. The Mer among the colonists took over duties of administration, and the Gotezhar spread out in order to find the best clouds.

Though there is little remarkable about the region, to the north and northwest, the waters grow very cold. This amuses many Gotezhar, who are used to far more temperate waters, but seem mostly unbothered by the lite chill they experience… so far as they don’t cross beyond the borders into truly glacial waters. Additionally, there is one spot to the southeast that houses a large coral reef. It is here that even more fauna can be found, but it is still a calm place, lacking almost any predators, which the Mer colonists find particularly unusual.

Spoiler: Resource

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Export: Sugarweed grows everywhere in New Korasoon, almost strangling everything else. On it’s own, it makes for a staple – and plentiful – crop that can be eaten simply by picking up the short strait stalk from the ground. The roots and stalk separate cleanly, allowing the Sugarweed to grow back untended. The stalk itself can either be eaten raw, or squeezed of the contents. The spice inside is sweet, and can be added to other dishes.

A single Sugarweed is about two globes in length, but barely a few bubbles in width. They are straight, almost grass like in appearance, but bulbous, hinting at the sugar-like powder that grows inside each stalk. Their roots are much bigger and stronger than grass, and because of this, the colonists guess that there was no room for other vegetation to grow easily.

Required Resource: Tools
While the settlers were able to make do with what they had already prepared, further building and laborious tasks will require more refined and complex tools.

Spoiler: Faith

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As colonists of an otherwise empty region, the Builder’s Union faithful brought their own religious beliefs to New Korasoon.

Holy Site: "Middish Fields"

A single Middish scribe - one Gaspard de Saulx - joined the caravan that brought all the colonists here. The Middish storyteller and recorder hopes to earn their title as sage of the Ironkelp Order by acting as a Chaplain for the faithful in the region. When the caravan arrived, de Saulx asked that they be allowed a large set of fields to himself. It is from here that the Middish (acting) Chaplain personally built a small open water stage area, from which they hold weekly services. de Saulx discourages his fellow faithful from referring to him as 'Chaplain' until someone from the Ironkelp Order officially confirms his appointment.

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Regions 170, 140, 167, and others: Link