User:Apateus

The continent of Eden is surrounded by the Ocean. A vast place, populated by different creatures, amazing mysteries and ancient folks, even older than most of the continental races. The Ocean surface is far larger than Eden, and mostly inaccessible for those who are not born to breathe underwater. Various lands and different oceanic biomes are yet a mystery and the few things we know are mostly a legend or ancient elven knowledge.

The Deep Ocean

The deep open ocean seems like a desert, if seen from the surface. But it is one of the most inhabited and full of life places of Eseron. Most of the oceanic intelligent inhabitants are merfolk, that come in very different variations and ethnicities. The second race for the number of inhabitants are the Glubmenn.

Glubmenn are low intelligence creatures, similar to a crossbreed between a goblin and a swamp creature. They have webbed hands and feet and their upper body is far larger than their lower body. They have no neck and their frog eyes and mouth are large; their skin is usually green but they can be of any color and pattern, like tropical fishes.

The Kingdom of Thalassurr

The most important and largest underwater continent is definitely the Thalassurr, with its feudal domains populated by the Thalassi (mainly Merfolk), its inhabitants.

All the Merfolk have partially scaly skin, while the Thalassi ones usually have darker tones, and have fancy fins instead of hair on their head.

For Merfolk’s aspect and attire description, see also Merfolk

They are far slower on the surface and as tall as a short human, around 1.6 m.

Merfolk can barely breath on the surface and usually start to suffocate if they stay out of the water for more than 3-4 hours. But when they are in the water, they can reach a speed of about 15 m per round.

Merm King Purefin the IX is formally the king of Thalassurr, but he has fallen asleep at least two centuries ago, which is something normal among the abyssal royal families, for the great Patriarch of the Salt religion is able to excommunicate rulers he doesn't like through sleep, thanks to the power of his horn Brudzakk.

The formal language of Thalassur is Thalassian Koinè, which is an Aquan dialect, where Aquan is the common language in the water elemental plane, spoken by the Aros Primordial.

The People of Thalassurr

For the Thalassi the true sense of life is sleeping. And they do it in the darkest depths of the ocean. Alas, they are ordered to awake by their religion: the Saltanar, that order them to stay awake at least 8 hours a day.

The mere act of staying awake for them is to pray for their Abyssal god they worship, since they do not feel to belong to the waking world, but to the dream world. Being excommunicated therefore means not being able to pray and consequently being imprisoned in their dream world.

Half of the merfolk are usually born aquamancers, even if they do not usually master this power, since their waking time is limited. Most of them can use water for healing their friends or family when they get hurt.

All of the people from Thalassur you might meet are religious, as being atheist means not praying and therefore sleeping all day. Then since the atheists are sleeping, the only merfolk you might happen to encounter will always be a religious one.

Customs and Religions in Thalassurr

The Sapphire Day: Once a year, the merfolk of Thalassur migrate to Korarius, one of the greatest cities of the kingdom and capital of the homonym duchy, once famous for its contacts with the coast-dwellers.

Now its importance is marginalized, but on the first day of the 10th month of the year, when the Emerald Dusk begins for the surface peoples, most of the young merfolks gather in Korarius for reproduction. A great jousting, dance and celebrations are held, and it is the only day of the year when all the merfolk kin do not sleep. Then after the celebrations are over, they come back to their houses, where they sleep for three days.

During these three days, for a mystery that nobody has yet explained, most of the abyssal creatures patrol the waters around the Thalassurr cities, while their youngest inhabitants sleep.

The Salt Day: Sometimes, usually once in a decade, the old Patriarch of the Salt religion, who dwells in the Thalassur capital Lequiriss announces that he is “Going to sleep with the fishes”.

He travels a long road to the Abyssal Cliff south of the capital, where he plays the Bruzdakk, the Horn of the Sea. All the sleeping merfolk, even miles away, get suddenly awakened (many would return to sleep) and his body transforms into foam that goes to the bottom of the abyssal depths, where nobody ventures. Then all the new military and civilian offices are reassigned (including the new patriarch)and new merfolks are knighted.

The Sun Pilgrimage: Sometimes the people of the abyss decide to visit the coast-dwellers. It has not happened in centuries, since the king is now sleeping, but usually a Marid that has visited the Eden coast appears from an abyssal rift and proclaims the discovery of a new type of music. For one who lives underwater, feeling the pure vibrations of the air, very different from the music heard underwater, is a luxury that only the bravest and the luckiest can witness maybe only once in their own life.

Then happens that the king proclaims “the sun pilgrimage” and every merfolk can enlist in small groups to visit Eden coastal cities.

The Water rifts and the “Lords of the Abyss”

A Marid is a genie that comes from the plane of water. He usually appears in the Abyssal biomes, where he is usually venerated as “Lord of the Abyss”. For its racial capacities and his god-like speed. He in fact can hit 30m underwater, change into any shape and size and can cast superior magic. Although their appearance is rare and only close to the water elemental rifts. It happens that these Marids visit the coastal rifts, when they get bored or curious and sometimes shapeshift into humans to travel through eden, even if they prefer remaining next to coasts and swamps and not venturing into the mountains.

Marids incredible elemental powers and excessive sensitivity and touchiness can lead to many problems in Eden, but in the Abyss they are worshiped as gods, and merfolk are used to build sanctuaries and underwater temples, where they bring offerings and treasures.

On the contrary the Glubmenn fear the Marids and their underwater shamans invented many rituals and customs (usually not working) to keep the “water demons" away from their settlements.

Temperey

The Temperey is the realm between the Coast and the Abyss. Sometimes what lives here trespasses into the coastal sea (like the Alban or the Sepherum Sea) and vice versa. Many beasts and non-intelligent creatures populate the Temperey.

Intelligent life in the Temperey

Glubbmen: There are Glubbmen non civil tribes that, differently than the ones integrated in Thalassur, live in the wildest way, and speak their own “Glubb” dialect, incomprehensible to a non-native aquan speaker.

This means that you need to be a Glubbmen or a Merfolk or a water elemental, to even try and understand what these Wild Glubbmen tribesmen say. Anything that these creatures say would be heard as an incomprehensible “Glubb-rublubb, Gurulubb blubb blublublurrb” By any surface race.

Temperey Merfolk: For a better description of Temperey Merfolk, see also Merfolk

Coast

The coast is the Oceanic realm closest to Eden, that includes the seas and the first part of the Ocean (normally 800m-1km from the shore). Many monsters and fishes live in this busy place, where Eden factions’ merchant ships and war fleets sail the waters.

Waters here are not too deep and Intelligent life like Glubbmen and Merfolk hardly come here, unless they have a strong motivation to do so.