Endless Blue - Week 22 - Life Began with Water, but Would Not Linger

Evolution

Life Began in Water, but Would Not Linger

The variety of biology in the Endless Blue is astonishing when put into perspective.  With the deeper oceans and wider spaces, life was able to adapt in all directions.  The first unique aspect of Elquan evolution is the development of phytoplankton.  This relatively unremarkable microscopic organism may be the most simple biological life form, but held within it was the potential to populate every ecological niche on the planet.

Sea

Phytoplankton is not a single species, but a multitude of plant types so small it is impossible to see them with the naked eye.  However, their high reproductive rate, in conjunction with their chlorophyllic abilities, means large colonies can be perceived as a fuzzy green haze in the water's currents.  These microphytes -- algea colonies -- still bloom in this same manner today, creating massive swaths of emerald in the azure waters, and serve as the basis of the food chains for every living being in the world.

As plants, they require sunlight to photosynthesize the food they need to survive, so when feeding they tend to be found near the surface of Elqua's oceans.  It is this innocuous behavior that eventually led to the explosion of biodiversity that roams the planet.  The vast, interconnected oceans let the blooming patches excel and spread across the low-albedo waters.  Massive, practically continent-sized algae colonies that dwarf the collected land mass of Elqua many times over could sprout just below the surface of its pristine waters, basking in the life-giving rays of the sun and successfully thrive.

Acting as progenitors, these simple plant-cells multiplied, diversified, become more complex and robust, eventually leading to newer life forms that the phytoplankton then served as a primary food source.  The cycled continued, with those creatures developing more advance bodily systems; organizing cells into organs, creating new senses with which to explore their fertile new world, a bundle of nerves and bones and veins in such infinite diversity that it makes the whole idea of life stemming from a single primitive cell seem ludicrous.  Yet, that is exactly how it happened.

Land

With all this emphasis on aquatic life, one would be led to believe the scattered islands of the world are barren shale and sand.  Nothing could be further from the truth, and life has taken to these new environs just as easily as it did in the seas.  Life, as it is want to do, spreads wherever there is space to exist.  Sometime long in Elqua's prehistory, the predecessor of modern phytoplankton was so plentiful in the oceans that it spread onto dry land, forming a kind of rolling moss, and there began their own digression of evolution.

Elqua became encompassed by an epic ice age, the planet frozen over most of its surface, separating the phytoplankton of the sea from the that on land, and in the ages the frozen environment lasted allowed time for the land locked cousins to evolve further into a divergent life form, a purple-shaded rhodoarchaea that took advantage of the green-hued light that filters through the planet's Sargasso Ring to initiate photosynthesis.  By monopolizing on retinal in the place of chlorophyll, these rhodoarchaea survived in the green hued areas where normal plant life that required red and blue bands of light to survive could not.  With the Sargasso ring circling the globe almost directly over most of the island mega-archipelagos collectively known as the Spine of the World, this ensured a competition-free zone where the rhodoarchaea evolved, and thrived due to the extra concentration of the green light needed for retinal photosynthesis.

These rhodoarchaea reproduced and branched into more complex forms.  However, the cold was not ready to let go if its grip on Elqua.  Slowly the creeping ice sheets that encased the world's oceans began to encroach the lands covered with rhodoarchaea, until its coverage of all the globe was almost complete.  As miles of ice and snow packed over the impotent micro-organisms, the rhodoarchaea fell into a state of stasis, their retinalic  processes slowing down to almost a crawl, preserving the redish-tone plankton until the day would come that the ice shelf retreated and what little land there was could thrive.

Eventually the ice shelf retreated and disappeared, leaving the two ecosystems -- water and land -- truly independent of each other.  Now, where the kelp and seaweed of the waters are a lush green and olive, the plants that thrive in the shade of the Sargasso Ring are purple and violet.  The aberrations the evolved to  live among the magenta leaves are as different from the behemoths swimming amongst the kelp as even the most disturbed mind could imagine.

Sky

But before the total encrustation of Elqua could complete, a second amazing change took place.  An offshoot of the rhodoarchaea began producing methane and hydrogen as a by-product of their retinal-based photosynthesis.  As the life forms multiplied and became more complicated, organelles formed that encapsulated those gasses.  When those organelles became engorged, the lighter than air hydrogen caused these nearly weightless bio-forms to become air-borne, floating a few millimeters above the surface of the land.

The methane was mostly expelled as waste, until a fortunate mutation developed the production of a exothermic acid.  The ejection of the methane, coupled with a squirt of the acid, cause a small combustion and as a result, thrust.  True air-based life was born, the aerostat, and it took the form of organic dirigibles.

As sky life diversified, an organic form of pulse jet arose.  A cone-shaped nose with a sphincter at the tip would open up to allow oxygen into the body.  Inside a heat-resistant organ, the methane is seeped via pores along the chamber's inner surface.  Then two minuscule jets of reactant chemicals derived from the hydrogen created by its retinal process -- hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide -- combine in the oxygen/methane mix and cause a strong exothermic reaction, giving of enough heat to ignite the rich gases and causing combustion.  Another valve on the other end of the creature serves as the exhaust, directing the exhaust through a final sphincter in the rear of the creature.

The amounts of chemicals produced are incredibly small, and it is only the microscopic mass of the creature and the rapid pace of inhalation and emanation that allows this organic combustion engine to even exist.  The squared-cubed law illustrates the larger the creature, the more massive the amount of chemicals required to sustain flight, and with too large a combustion chamber, the chemical reaction becomes uncontrolled and the temperatures generated would cook the creature from within if it did not simply explode.

From those three microscopic life forms -- the phytoplankton, rhodoarchaea, and aerostat -- diversity bloomed like a cornucopia, spilling into every corner of the ecosystem.  The blood-red riverfalls of the southern ice cap, the gargantuan sea sifters of the periphery, the jet streaming helikites swarming the atmosphere, all can be traced back to tiny, humble, simple celled life.

Endless Blue – Week 21 – The Narrowing Moral Compass

Theology

The Narrowing Moral Compass

Through eyes wide with innocence from their ignorance, primitive pisceans looked at the rolling oceans around them and were bewildered by complexity of it all; how the currents moved, how the waters darkened, how life interacted.  As their minds mulled over these secrets of existence, concepts began to fill in the unfathomable gaps of their knowledge with allegory and myth.  They attributed these ideas to beings greater than themselves, to deities that had originally created them and now guide them through the trails of life in Elqua's seas.

Worshipping gods has been common place in the Known World since before the Kraken Empire, and believed even before the little understood Icht Dominion.  But now, theological belief has been fractured into uncountable sects, factions, and even disparate religions.  However, there is one core belief to all these varied theological systems that is shared in common:  Above the waves is damnation; below the depths is salvation.

That intrinsic idea is borne from both fact and fallacy, repeated over the generations, ingrained into the societies, perhaps has even become a racial memory locked away in the darkest pockets of the piscean mind.  There is evidence for some of it being true -- there are aberrations above the surface that are utterly hostile to anything that breaks the wave into the Vastness, things that will hunt, kill, and consume an unwary mer that swims too close to the open sky.

Conversely, it is believed that the deeper you go, the closer to divinity you attain.  Perhaps this belief stemmed from some ancient piscean's hallucinations while suffering from the Pull, a full sensory experience that was mistaken as the touch of god.  It could be from a more visceral fear, that the aberrations in the Vastness will descend down and tear the flesh of a departed loved-one's mortal coil in a frenzy of ravenous slaking.  Even the most primitive civilizations seem to share in this one common practice, even if its true origin is lost to antiquity.

The Source

The most ancient of the theological systems, and viewed as the most primitive by the self-titled civilized races, is the belief in "the Source".  The Source is the origin, the birth, a non-persona abstraction that created all, even the life-giving waters themselves.  It is symbolized by the egg, an image of fertility and potential, warm and bright, glowing with the energy of life.  The Source is believed to be at the core of the world, pulsating in time with its heart, breathing life into the lifeless waters that drown the land.  It is from Source worship that the tradition of consigning a lifeless body to the deep originates, with the intention of returning a wayward child to its birth womb.

Its practitioners are shamanistic at their core, communing with the Source through nature both animal and plant.  The myriad schools of fish, the expansive reefs of coral, even the very water itself whisper the wonders that are the meaning of life and the piscean place in it.  They communicate with the spirit world, with the Source as its heart, the waves as its breath, and the depths as the embrace of holiness.

Examples: The Narwhal Orcans of the Sahaguin Lagoons cling to most every aspect of their ancient barbarian heritage, even still believing in the Source as the beginning of all life. Signs, omens, and portents are important to them, and those that correspond with an individual's guardian spirit animal having nearly epiphanistic transformative influence.

The Chelon revere a variation of the Source as a non-entity, and instead being the origin of the ley lines that criss-cross the globe at certain intervals, invariably where coral reefs are at their strongest.  It is as much a respect for nature and its complexity as it is with a belief in a higher power.

Pantheonists

Pantheonists believe in a collection of deities that oversee every aspect of life.  They tend to share a common well of cultural belief that forms the interactions of the gods.   Many times disparate but co-existing pantheons share some or all of the same gods, some times with different names, or genders, or importance in the group.

Examples: The primitive races of the Yaun-Teel, Locanth, Kouton, and Sahaguin are classic pantheonists, though each race's take on the Eight can vary greatly.  Most vividly divergent is the Yaun-Teel envisionment, which taints each one of the deities with a primal sin:

Luxuria (extravagance, lust)
Gula (gluttony)
Avaritia (avarice, greed)
Acedia (sloth, despair)
Ira (wrath, vengeance)
Invidia (envy)
Superbia (pride, hubris).
Malvy (deceit, superstition)

The Sahaguin seem to be transforming into a monotheism due to persecution by the Church of Olyhydra, elevating their shark-god Sekolah to "Dominar".  Some of the more isolated settlements of the Mer and Chelon pay the Pantheon respect along with Law Mistress Olyhydra.  The Kouton enfold Source worship into their mythology as their genesis myth while paying service to the Pantheons as the eight "First Ones", who in turn have given birth to countless demigods.  Though they go by many names, the following are the most commonly included deities in Pantheonism on Elqua:

Ahto, Eadro, Icthara, Merrshaulk, Sashelas, Sekolah, Suminarae, and Trishna

Monotheists

Monotheism is a devotion to one supreme deity, and steadfastly holding that any other "god" is false.  These religions tend to be less tolerant of the other theologies, as a primary tenant is absolute omnipotence of their deity.  Basic logic tells you there can only be one ultimate force over all of creation,

The major monotheistic religion -- indeed, the most dominant religion in the Known World -- is the expanding worship of Olyhydra.  She is a stern, harsh mistress, demanding much of Her congregation.  Life is strife, life is toil, and She demands utter and unquestioning obedience in all her directives, the Law.

Examples: Mer are the primary followers of Olyhydra, followed by the disenfranchised Ceph, then a smattering of Chelon and Orcan.  A solid monotheistic movement is burgeoning in the Sahaguin Lagoons with strong undertones of intolerance to Olyhydrans.

Elsewhere Servitude

A dying religion that was at its most powerful during the Kraken Empire.  These ruthless despots worshipped a race of other beings from a realm elsewhere.  Elder gods, more primal than the Source, more alien than the Lumulus, antithetical to the nurturing waters of the Endless Blue.  If not for the seeming withdrawal from our world by these alien beings and the subsequent abandonment of the Kraken, the Occupation of the Known World may never have ended.

Perhaps an even more absolute form of servitude than that of Olyhydran worship, it requires devotion of one's body and soul to the whims of these immoral, immortal entities that do not communicate with our paltry minds, and even if ears could comprehend their dystopian tongues we could never hope to glean the truth behind it.

Examples: Though unproven, the Ceph are frequently accused of serving elder gods, to the point of witch hunts which usually end the traditional method of punishment for heretics: drawn and quartering (or eighthing as is distastefully joked).

Atheists

Only a relatively recent movement away from the millennia of god worshipping, a rising number of individual have been spurning the old ways of servitude and praise toward a non-secular understanding of the world around them.  Branded as the "godless" (always lower-case 'g'; capitalization is a sign of respect and credence) by the devout, these individuals have begun a scientific renaissance like never before seen on Elqua.  Perhaps the most famous of these godless is Seamus Lorwynn, the mer explorer and visionary who is credited with the creation of the new science evolution.  The godless are also proponents of exploring the Vastness, an agenda that puts them at odds with all other theological establishments on Elqua.

Examples: Technically, all Lumulus are atheists, though they do tend to put the scientific method on a pedestal.  Many Mer, spurned by or spurring the Church of Olyhydra, turn to the godless, and those Chelon unable to glimpse the wonders of xanthellae likewise choose this theology, many times out of isolation.

Ancestor Worship

Sometimes viewed as a compromise between theism and atheism, ancestor worshipers do not deify some non-corporeal omnipotence, but instead revere those that came before them, honoring and learning from their earlier lives.  They believe that their forefathers watch over their current trials, and will either send boons for the respectful or banes for the irreverent.  Believers in this form of theology can sometimes form strange  dysfunctional relationships with the departed ancestors, just as them might with living kin.

Examples: Orcans typify the ancestor worshipper, believing that venerating their departed relatives will bring good luck and fortune to them.  Many times they will call out to the dead in the heat of battle to guide their hand, especially when the outcome looks bleak and the relation in question added some vital aspect to the pod's martial style.

"Water is the tears shed by the Source when it realized it was alone.
The flow of the currents are the falling of those tears

as they filled the world with life..."
-- A particularly symbolic passage of Source oral tradition.

Endless Blue – Week 20 – Unguis

Combat

Unguis

Just as life of the Endless Blue has revised and improved on its ways to protect itself with artificial nautiluses and aegises, so to have they refined and enhanced its implements of attack, the ungues.  An ungues is a term referring to any weapon, be it held in the hand, strapped to the body, or slung behind a piscean.  Life is difficult on Elqua, and survival is of upmost importance.  This constant effort of protection through passive and aggressive means has led to the development of some uniquely created items.

On a world where water surrounds you on all side like a cool, glassy cocoon, the materials for construction of tools and items are significantly different.  With sea currents swirling around from all directions, methods such as metal smithing and wood working are impractical.  Constant exposure to water and salt corrodes metals, while porous wood crack and rots.  Just as with nautiluses and aegises, ungues are constructed out of more accessible and practical aquatic materials.  Volcanic glass and sea shell, honed to a razor's sharpness are affixed to bone grips and handles.

Of perhaps even more influence that materials and method in developing unguis is the surroundings themselves.  Water slows movement that in air would be lithe or graceful in the air to a clumsy, molasses-like crawl.  Swinging a weapon is essentially moving a lever -- both ends move for the same amount of time, but the weapon head moves at a higher speed than the haft, thus delivering more power to the impact.  The problem arises with the fact that water doesn't compact well, and that forms resistance to the swing, slowing it down and reducing its effectiveness severely.

Warhammers and flails are unheard of in the military histories of Elqua, being unwieldy and impractical to control in the heat of combat.  Longswords like claymores and katanas are equally ineffective, for they deliver their damage to a victim through a slice.  Instead, weapons that pierce through thrusting thrive in aquatic environments.

Knife -- The most ubiquitous tool on all of Elqua, the knife has a sharpened edge meant for severing things apart.  The shortest of the blades, it delivers the most dexterity but the least damage.

Dagger -- A larger, up to 12 inches, version of the knife, usually with a sharpened edge on both sides of the blade which culminates in a tiny point at the tip, well suited for stabbing.

Punch Dagger/Cestus -- This unguis is designed to fit in a clenched hand, with spikes or knife blades extending forward past the knuckles.  Using the cestus is a simple matter of punching with it, striking with the lacerating capabilities of the protruding points followed up with the force of the blunt impact.

Gaff/Hook -- A truly cruel tool, a sharp, curved hook attached to a perpendicular handle.  Like the cestus, it is held in a clenched hand.  The gaff can be used forcibly, impaling a victim on its hook, or more dangerously, hooking into a gill-slit.  A pair of these can be used in a grapple when the condition of the defeated opponent is not an issue.  They dig into the flesh of an opponent, and the natural fist-position give a circumstance bonus to all grapple checks.

Sickle -- The standard sickle is a farming tool for harvesting crops, and as such it is the most prevalent of any weapon.  It has a curved blade with the sharpened edge on the inside, connected to a short handle.  The blade is designed to hook around a mass of plants, bunching the stalks against the keen edge to facilitate their slicing from the roots.

Sickle (Elquan) -- Another agricultural implement, the Elquan sickle at its core is a bar a little long than the forearm, with a perpendicular handle near one end.  Opposite that is a long, shallow, curved blade that follows the length of the shaft..  Where a sickle cuts on an inward swing, the Elquan sickle cuts on an outward swing.  They make excellent weapons for the common piscean, operating naturally as one would use their arms to block a blow or strike an enemy.  This unquis can be concealed on species such as Locanths and Sahaguin due to the fin-like protrubences along their arms.

Short Sword -- Just as the dagger grew from the knife, the short sword grew from the dagger.  Its blade can be up to double the length of its dagger predecessor, but longer than that and it becomes problematic to stab without the use of both hands, and warrior usually graduate to a spear instead.

Half-Spear -- Essentially just a spear with a shorter shaft, the half-spear is a close combat unquis with no reach.

Staff -- A staff is essentially a spear without the sharpened point.  It is used in a jabbing motion, prodding for the tender spots of an opponent where it can do the most damage.  It is wielded in two hands, but underwater it is a poor double-ended weapon.  As an unquis, it can give the wielder greater range.

Spear --  A long shaft with a point or dagger-like blade on the end, spears are a mainstay in piscean forces.  They length of the weapon gives the bearer reach to attack an enemy before they can close in.  Like the staff, it is used with a thrusting motion.  While a spear can be thrown, it has a range increment of 5 feet and thus very inaccurate.

Polearm -- Polearms developed from simple spears, with their head becoming more complex and specialized.  The first polearms were given a curved hook to the spearhead, and in the hands of a proficient fighter that hook could be caught into the gill-slits of a victim.  From there the variations exploded, and now there are a plethora of designs.  In most civilized militaries, the polearm is the unquis of issue, and entire platoons will be entrusted with polearms of the same design.

Trident -- A trident is a multi-tipped polearm, usually with three tines but can vary in number.  It is synonymous with both martial prowess and with agricultural prowess, and as such is the universal symbol of greatness to Elquan civilizatons.  It is the mantle of power for both terrestrial kings and metaphysical deities, and in heraldry is used to note family nobility.

Ranged Unguis

Unguis that work over distance are rare in the oceans.  Spears are useless when thrown more than five feet away, and a hand-held bow cannot deliver the amount of kinetic energy to fire an arrow in a direct line without it veering off in the currents.  The only true form of ranged weapon that exists is the spear gun, a variation of the heavy crossbow that flings a diminutive javelin about thirty feet via an internal spring mechanism.  Since the Lumulus are the only race with metalworkers in the oceans, spear guns must be imported at great cost.

The net is another common combat tool, but unlike the others above it must have two or more individuals to wield one.  Just like range weapons cannot fire ammunition because of the slowing properties of immersion in water, neither can a net be thrown as it can on the surface.  The users must work in tandem to employ a net successfully, both dragging opposite sides of the net through the water (known as trawling) to capture a creature in the tight woven mesh.  In D20 game terms, the first trawler whose action comes up in initiative must hold his action until it is the other trawler's (or last trawler's, if there are more than a pair) turn to act, then they attack in unison.

Endless Blue – Week 19 – Nautilus and Aegis

Combat

Of Nautiluses and Aegises

Life has devised myriad methods to aid the never ending burden of survival on the world of Endless Blue.  Perhaps the most prolific adaption has been the adaption of thickened skin or chitin into armor.  Right behind that, chasing like a predator keyed in on its prey, is the adaption of lengthened keratin and dentin into weapons.  This tit-for-tat dance of evolutionary one-upmanship is primal in the primitive quest to stay alive, and the intelligent races of Elqua have heightened their competition with the application of  advanced tools and technological innovation.

Taking cues from natural development, pisceans have developed their own protection and armament with the creation of the nautilus, the aegis, and the unguis.

Nautilius

Nautiluses are the armor the races of the Known World have developed to cover the soft, vulnerable parts of their bodies from the teeth, jaws, and claws of very hostile monster that swims the seas.  They cover at least the arms and upper torso of the piscean, with various adaptations to help protect the tail.  Swimming in the piscean form places extreme emphasis on the tail of the body, requiring its flexibility and freedom of movement to accomplish the task evolution honed it for -- mobility.  Thus rigidity would be a hindrance to engaging or escape, and attempts to remedy this paradox have had mixed results.

Using armor breaks up the hydrodynamic curves of a swimmer, causing what is known as drag.  Instead of water flowing easily along the contours of a swimming body, its flow is impeded and jumbled by uneven surfaces.  This interruption of flowing water slows down a swimmer dependent on the type of nautilus worn.

The more esoteric and textured a nautilus, the more drag it incurs.  Further, the bulkier the nautilus, the more restricted the movement and the more difficult it becomes to move the body in the systemically timed manner to achieve sustained swimming.  Light armor slows down a swimmer by 1/4th their swim speed, Medium armor slows down swimmers by 1/3rd their speed, and Heavy armor by one-half.  Spikes can be added to nautiluses to help protect against close-range dangers, but these will increase a nautilus' drag by 5 feet (applied after the halving/thirding/quartering of swim speed).

Aegis

Aegises are a supplemental system of protection equivalent to shields.  They are held by the hand or strapped to the body on the forearm, chest, or back.  They compound a nautilus' amount of drag, and are usually only beneficial on a situational basis.  For example, an aegis strapped on the forearm cannot protect  the body if the arm is being utilized to swim. and an aegis on the back provides no benefit against a spear thrust at the ribcage.

Aegises increase drag, usually reducing swim speed by 5 feet (after nautilus penalty has been applied), and are cumulative.  Using two aegises will reduce swim speed by a total of 10 feet, and only one aegis is ever useful at a time -- there is no significant benefit to covering your body with multiple aegises, as the skill in using them depends on moving the aegis to block.  Further, adding spikes will cumulatively add drag to aegises just as it does for nautiluses, and can effectively make some combinations too bulky to swim in.

Light Nautiluses
Woven Kelp -- This is the most primitive kind of armor, and serves as the base form that all other light nautiluses are derived from.  It is a system of padding woven from harvested kelp.  The padded segments are tailored to the wearer, and a re-laceable system of cording keeps the pads tied together and on the individual.
Woven Cartilage -- Woven cartlidge nautiluses are the same woven kelp pads as the above, but have strips of cartlidge interlaced between the weaves in strategic place to help harden the armor.  The spongy elasticity of cartilage helps absorb impacts from blows that might damage the wearer otherwise.  The primary source of cartilage used in these nautiluses comes from sharks.
Woven Bone -- Exactly like a woven cartilage nautilus, but relies on the more resilient and rigid bone inserts harvested from slaughtered domesticated livestock instead of cartilage from predatory sharks.
Hardened Kelp -- This woven kelp nautilus is treated in an alchemical bath derived from the catalystic properties of acari.  It stiffens the fibrous plant material into hard plates which are then corded together.  The stiffened kelp requires a tight yet flexible weave, making the acari process incompatible with cartilage or bone inserts that depend on the friction of kelp ties to keep the insterts in place.

Medium Nautiluses
Hide -- This is the base form of all medium, and subsequently also heavy, nautiluses.  It employs the same corded interlacing as woven kelp nautiluses, but uses the alchemically tanned skins of animals as the plating.  Bone and cartitlage are both used to support the hide plates, but add nothing exceptional to the overall level of protection the nautilus affords.
Shagreen -- Shagreen is a special kind of hide nautilus made from shark skin.  The tanning process is not a thorough for shagreen nautiluses, resulting in an armor that is not as protective but preserves the natural nap of shark skin, excellent in deterring grappling foes.
Shell -- Shell nautiluses employ patterns of small, overlapping shells to cover the wearer's body.  The shells are pierced a few times along their hinge, then cord is fed through and tied to the hide plating.  The sheer variation of shell shape, color, and size can from mosaics in the nautilus, and a skilled craftsman can increase the nautilus' value many times over though just the sheer artistic expression of these shells.
Nacre Chain -- With an extremely expensive procedure to create,  nacre (or pearl) chain nautiluses are the province of the wealthy and powerful.  Small, interlocking rings are first carved from coral, rock, or other hard material.  These are then inserted into domesticated oysters as an irritant.  Placed under the fleshy body, the animal reacts by secreting an substance called nacre.  This nacre slowly builds up, covering the offending irritant in a layer of beautiful irridescence.  The rings are harvest before too much nacre solidifies and plugs up the ring, and then the rings are assembled into a continual fabric of links.
Xanthellae Coral -- Exclusive to the Chelon, this coral breastplate is literally grown on the body of the wearer.  This nautilus is especially beneficial due to its porous nature, allowing it to completely cover the gill slits along the ribs where other types of nautiluses must leave some space open for circulating water.

Heavy Nautiluses
Echinodermal -- An archaic form of nautilus that fell out of popular use millennia ago, it basically uses live giant echinoderms like starfish as a form of living armor.  In a symbiotic relationship, these over-sized starfish latch onto the flesh of the wearer with their suckers, leaching sustenance from the host in exchange for bodily defense.  The dietary demands of the echinoderms are manageable, and rarely has a host died from the relationship short of extended fasting or wounding on the battlefield.  They were used in mating pairs: one latched onto the host's chest, the other clinging to the back.  Fuller nautiluses used the offspring to cover the limbs and tail of the host.
Shellback -- Used mostly by Sahaguin, Kouton, and the more savage Narwahl Orcans, these nautiluses are literally the exoskeletons of Chelon or Lumulus killed in combat and then scavenged from the corpse.  Its use is utterly reviled among the civilized races, and those that wear it without regard in populated areas may soon find themselves attacked by offended pisceans.  Despite this, there are those so enamored with the deep luster and vibrancy of shellback shells that they will pay a premium for a prize they can only admire in private.
Abalone Plate -- Much like its nacre chain cousin, abalone plate is based on the nacre-like excretions of shellfish.  Whereas nacre chain coats inserted rings, abalone plate is carved from the outer shell of mollusks.  A very specialized craft, portions of shell are chipped and grooved to promote increased creation of abalone.  When sufficient thickness has been achieved, the craftsman severs away portions of the outer shell from the animal without harming it (and hence allowing it to produce more abalone).  These cut-away pieces are then further refined, carved, engraved, and polished into full nautiluses of mythic quality.

Piecemeal Nautiluses -- Not actually a type of nautilus, these methods of armoring are comprised of parts of different kinds of armor, almost as if kit-bashed together from a junkyard.  Only nautiluses of the same class (light, medium, heavy) can be piecemealed because each class is dependant on the previous to work -- medium nautiluses have woven kelp and bone supporting it, and heavy nautiluses have hide linking their parts together.  Average the scores of the two types of nautilus (rounding down) to determine their effectiveness.

Endless Blue – Week 18 -Yaun-Teel

Biology

Yaun-Teel – The Dependant Slavers

The Yaun-Teel would be utterly avoided by the intelligent races of the Known World if not for the fact the Yaun-Teel have built up such a lavish and productive country.  Over the centuries they have maneuvered themselves into a position of mercantile power, producing goods, services, and revenue to the other bodies of water that they have become dependant of Yaun-Til interests.  Their economic influence is vast, and even the most remote colony feels the unblinking gaze of the Yaun-Teel.

Personality: Much like the eel they take their form and name from, the Yaun-Teel are a suave and cunning species.  They are calculating in their dealings with other races, and will develop complex stratagems to reach their goals.  They will send the weakest into battle first, to wear down an opponent, before stepping into the fray themselves.  They view all other life as expendable, usable at their discretion for whatever need or want imaginable.
Physical Description: Yaun-Teel look almost identical to Merfolk except for the slight eel-like features that betray their true ancestry.  Their eyes tend to be a little slanted and almond-shaped, and their tail flukes less pronounced.  With lithe bodies, they exude grace and poise in even the most ruthless of punitive acts.
Relations: Relations with the Yaun-Teel are always tense and unpredictable.  Despite their legal and thriving trade in sentient slaves, they are an economic force to be reckoned with, and many governments simply look the other way concerning the detestable practice in order to procure Yaun-Teel goods.
Alignment: Despite their civilization having a draconian system of laws, the true basic drive of a Yaun-Teel is to be chaotic evil.  Each individual will break the laws to their own benefit, and expect the same behavior from their brethren.  It is only a thin veneer of civility that any Yaun-Teel wears; beneath the false front, they are vile, sadistic creatures.
Homeseas: To the west of the Chelon Sea and the Mer Currents, the Yaun-Teel Bights are scattered, shallow bays with dotted outcroppings of land.  So shallow are these bodies of water that tourism seldom occurs out of fear of the aberrations that luck above the surface.
Religion: Yaun-Teel are devoutly evil, indulging in piscean sacrifice of fattened livestock and even slaves to the Pantheon   These revolting ritual take place in every community, sequestered behind locked doors and the traditional communal temple hidden from outsiders.
Language: The Yaun-Teel speak a soft, lilting language with its roots in ancient Elquan, perfectly suited for whispering.
Names: When naming a Yaun-Til slave, the name of the master comes first, then a hyphen, followed up by the appellation given by the Yaun-Teel owner (usually skill-related, and always in lower case).  It is a matter of practice to give newly captured slaves a new name, in an attempt to divest them of their previous identity as quickly as possible.
Male Names: Benoit, Einar, Esbjorn, Moander
Female Names: Cilla, Ingemar, Majsa, Synnove
Slave Names: Benoit-bigvay, Ingemar-jorie, Moander-kenaz, Synnove-paian
Adventurers: Yaun-Teel adventurers are plotters and planners, and as such make good tacticians or strategists.  However, the notable self interest will tend to place the risk of any plan on the shoulders of others.

Racial Traits
Ability Adjustments: +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma
Automatic Class Skills: Intimidate
Skill Bonuses: So ingrained into the Yaun-Til way of life is the use of intimidation that they enjoy a +4 racial bonus to all Intimidation checks as well as any Handle Animal check that uses negative reinforcement as a motivator.
Bonus Hit Dice: None.
Natural Armor: The toughened skin of the anguiliformes form grants a +1 natural armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: None.
Movement: Medium creature (1 cube tall), base speed 30 cubes.
Senses: Darkvision
Buoyancy: Shore (adjustable)
Improved Initiative (Ex): Yaun-Teel are quick to anger, and even quicker to react.  They possess a +4 racial bonus to all initiative rolls.  This ability stacks with the Improved Initiative feat.
Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): Once per day, a Yaun-Teel may cast one of these spells: animal trance, cause fear, or suggestion.  Treat these spells as if cast by an 8th level sorcerer.
Favored Class:
Social Flaw: Sadistic
Base Height: Male: 5' 10” (+ 2d6 in.).
Female: 5' 7" (+ 2d6 in).
Base Weight: Male: 175 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d4 lbs.)
Female 155 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d4 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Yaun-Tish
Bonus Languages: Elquan, Chelon, Sahaguin
Level Adjustment: +1 Level

The key to Yaun-Til success throughout history has always been due to slavery.  Economically it has capitalized on the crafting skills of it's slave populace to produce the same products and services the other races offer, but undercutting their prices significantly due to the relative cheap costs of owning slaves.  Militarily as well, the use of masses of conditioned slaves -- tortured to the point of beserker madness -- has made Yaun-Til forces into something out of the most crazed imaginations.  As a result of this,  it is possible to procure most anything in the bazaars and storefronts of Yaun-Til society.  Non-Yaun-Teel can expect to pay exhorberant prices, as if using the black market.

Yaun-Til slaves are indoctrinated through torture and mind-altering drug to cling to a convoluted "code" called the Principles of Service.  The slave is made to believe in this code, that by adhering to its strictures brings him closer to civility.  A slave is an animal, a brute of nature with no soul.  Living the principles brings him divinity, raising him above the level of a beast.  However, the rules are so controlling and contrary that it is impossible to fulfill one of them without breaking one or more other precepts.  Convening the laws results in punishment, and any Yaun-Til citizen has the right by birth to punish a slave at their discretion.  This usually equates to their decadent whim, unfortunately.

The hidden truth of the Yaun-Teel is that they are not an actual race at all.  Yaun-Teel are dependent on the Mer to keep their species propogating.  Yaun-Teel bloodlines only seem to remain viable through two or three generations before becoming sterile with others of its own kind.  Soon before this happens, Yaun-Teel will used their reserve of Mer as breeding stock, giving them another generation or two of genetic viability before the whole process must be repeated.

“Beware the Yaun-Teel that takes an interest in your well-being...”
A old Elquan adage, wiser than anyone realizes

Endless Blue - Week 17 - Sahaguin

Biology

Sahaguin – Last Tyrants of the Sea

All the piscean races of the Known World learned a lesson from the Kraken Occupation, but not all learned the same lesson.  Whereas most learned folly of not bracing for the coming maelstrom. one race learned to make their own storm.  They are the Sahaguin, an opportunistic, aggressive race of predators that due only to location and happenstance have not become the dominant species on their own.

Personality: Aggression and confrontation are the hallmarks of the Sahaguin paragon.  Passivity is a sign of prey; a true predator actively pursues his objective.  Nothing worth having is given -- it must be taken, and taken now.  This lack of patience is perhaps the single most reason for the lack of organized Sahaguin invasions. Sahaguin crave alpha status, and will repeatedly challenge authorities that they believe are acting out of passivity or cowardice.
Physical Description: The Sahaguin share many of the same physical traits as the Locanth and the Kouton, but are individually much larger than either.  They range from 6 to 7 feet long and heavily muscled, sporting the extended fins on their arms and tail like the Locanth, but a more predatory mouth lined with fangs like the Kouton.  Sahaguin eyes are large, like dark onyx, with an almost hypnotic stare.  Their hands and fins are webbed to the finger tips, and the tips of their pelvic fins and tail flukes end in chitinous manus.
Relations: There is little love lost with the Sahaguin, especially with the Mer, whom have suffered border incessant aggressions where ever the two races colonize.
Alignment: Sahaguin are unapologetically evil, with strong lawful tendencies expressed in a convoluted code of honor that stresses success above all, conflict whenever possible.
Homeseas: The Sahaguin Lagoons are a large series of temperate lagoons to the south and east of the Kraken's Maw.  If not for this no mer's land barrier, the rest of the civilized races would suffer Sahaguin incursions on a frighteningly frequent basis.
Religion: Sahaguin are on the cusp of becoming monotheistic, revering their scaled goddess above all others of the Elquan Pantheon.
Language: Sahaguini is a robust tongue, loud and proud, well suited for battle cries and death wails.  It's written form uses a system of logograms -- a system of symbols derived from basic pictures to represent ideas.  Unfortunately, as a strange by-product of the Sahaguin trait of  pugnacity, over the generations these symbols have drifted from their original meanings and new ideogram have been added.  At the present time, there are numerous variations of the lexicon, varying sharply regardless of distance between settlements.  As a result, reading Sahaguini requires a Speak Language check at DC 15 unless the item was written by the very Sahaguin reading it.
Names: Sahaguin naming is an uncomplicated, almost simplistic system tied strongly to their logographic language.  Sahaguini children are given an ideogram for their name, usually one that exemplifies some positive trait the Sahaguin prize.  "Warrior", "conquest", or "success" are typical concepts used as names.  The culture does not use surnames, but will sometimes identify other Sahaguin by the name of the settlement in which they were born.
Male Names: Ekunda, Githinji, Olwenyo, Qinsela
Female Names: Boipelo, Lungile, Onyeka, Ulaya
Adventurers: Dealing with a Sahaguin adventurer is difficult.  The natural behavior of Sahaguin is to take what they want.  While they understand the concept of fairness and equal shares, a Sahaguin that covets something will become almost belligerently stolid until he gets his way.  They will require an explicit and  inviolable chain of command, detailing who is superior to whom and why it is so.

Racial Traits
Ability Adjustments: Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Constitution +1, Charisma -2
Automatic Class Skills: Knowledge (nature), Profession (hunting)
Skill Bonuses: Sahaguin enjoy a +4 racial bonus on all Profession (hunting) checks.
Bonus Hit Dice: None
Natural Armor: Sahaguin benefit from a +2 natural armor bonus due to their thick-scaled hide.
Natural Weapons: Sahaguin pelvic fins and flukes are taloned, and can in conjunction make a single Rake attack at 1d4 points of damage.
Movement: Medium creature (1 cube tall), base speed 30 cubes.
Senses: Low Light Vision, Blindsense
Buoyancy: Shore (adjustable)
Blood Frenzy (Ex): Savage fighters, a Sahaguin can enter a blood frenzy once per day per point of base Constitution bonus (race and level bonuses to Constitution only).  The uncontrollable frenzy is triggered when the Sahaguin takes damage in combat, and begins on the Sahaguin's next action.  The Sahaguin gains a +2 to Strength and +2 to Constitution (this does not apply to the number of time the Sahaguin can blood frenzy) and will concentrate all his attacks on the opponent that harmed him until one of them are dead or the opponent escapes
Blindsense (Ex): Sahaguin can sense tiny movements in the currents caused by the smallest movement, such as respiration.  They can always detect when a creature is within a 30 foot radius of themselves, though they cannot identify or differentiate one intruder from another.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): Sudden exposure to bright light such as that produced from a daylight spell or sunlight will blind a Sahaguin for one round, and they will thereafter be dazed until they are given the opportunity to rest.
Favored Class: The hunter/warrior dynamic of Sahaguin life makes them well suited to become Rangers.  As a culture, the species tends to stress the basic classes of fighter, rogue, and cleric, and push their citizens towards concentration on single classes.
Social Flaw: Pugnacious
Base Height: Male: 5' 11” (+ 2d6 in.).
Female: 5' 9" (+ 2d6 in).
Base Weight: Male: 280 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d10 lbs.)
Female 265 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d8 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Sahaguin, Elquan
Bonus Languages: Locanthic, Koutonese, Yaun-Teel
Level Adjustment: +1 Level

Life survives through conflict, life ends through conflict, life is conflict for the Sahaguin.  Competition is a fundamental cornerstone of the culture, and the relentless hounding for alpha male (and female) status is pervasive in their mythology and oral literature.  Sahaguin have a surprising skill at relating every aspect of life beneath the waves to conflict, through simile, analogy, or metaphor.  Survival of the fittest is perhaps gross overgeneralization of their society, but their dedication to improvement through combat is hard to ignore.

There is one subject that is sure to get a nosy individual slain immediately, and that is the subject of Sahaguin children.  There seems to be no physiological change to Sahaguini females before the appearance of offspring, and no one has ever seen their childbirth process.  While the reason for this is unclear to the Known World, the Sahaguin have a significant reason to hide it.  Once every hundred or so births, a Sahaguin infant is delivered that looks completely like a Mer.

Perhaps it means Mer and Sahaguin evolved from a common ancestor, but that would not explain why the Sahaguin give birth to offspring in the current Mer physiology instead of some kind of proto-missing link.  Identical in every aspect, even the coloration, these malenti are indistinguishable from true piscean sapiens, even by divinatory means.  A malenti can swim among the Mer Currents and no one would suspect it, a fact that the Sahaguin use to their advantage.  So Sahaguini children are hidden from sight until adolescence, when they take their place in the pack as a novice hunter.

“Only a coward wonders `Is it safe?'
A true Sahaguin only wonders `Will it be glorious?'"
Unquestionable wisdom shared from Sahaguin experience

Endless Blue - Week 16 - Kouton

Biology

Kouton – Explorers of Ancient Seas and Forgotten Secrets

Far beyond the borders of the Periphery, the Kouton are off... searching.  Delving into the unknown, exploring waters deemed unsafe or inhospitable by the other races, they have broadened their perspective of Elqua far beyond that of the Known World cluster.  What was found out there, among the silent silt and the foreign coral, is something no Kouton seems willing to share.

Personality: Secretive by nature, Kouton are not a suspicious race.  Their lack of open dialog is due to their own belief that knowledge is power, that to understand something is to have dominion over it, and to share dominion is to lessen one's self.  A Kouton would never volunteer information about himself; instead he would answer minimally any question posed to him.
Physical Description: Kouton have bulging eyes with nictating membranes that move independently of each other (and constantly at that, making it difficult for a Kouton to meet anyone's gaze).  Their pug faces are flat, perched over a sagging neck enshrouding a mouth full of needle-like teeth beneath, leading to a reedy body with a paunch belly.  Their hands and fins are only partially webbed, to about the first knuckle of their elongated, triple-jointed digits.
Relations: Koutons find relations with other races poor, as their general tendency to hoard information makes them seem untrustworthy and selfish in the eyes of others.
Alignment: The diabolic Kouton are a neutral evil race.  The do not subscribe to the lofty notions of generosity or mercy, believing firmly that everyone gets what is coming to them.
Homeseas: The Bay of Kouton lies northward and to the west of the vast Cetacean Oceans.  They have used this fact to prevent direct dealings with most of the other pisceans, and instead have run raids around the edged of Orcan waters.
Religion: The Kouton are firmly entrenched in Pantheon worship, with special reverence given to the Source as the birth-mother of the gods.
Language: Koutonese is a strange, guttural language punctuated with wet, bubbling noises from their loose lips.  It is the antithesis of cetacean whalesong, crude and cacophonous, like the gurgling of a clogged pipe.  Its written style is pictographic, with a large lexicon of symbols to draw from.  More complex ideas are expressed through the combination of characters around each other in the ordinal directions.
Names: Kouton use the sinospheric method of nomenclature, placing the surname first.  It is this name that non-familiar people are expected to call a Kouton.  This arrangement, though generally helpful in communicating with other races that tend to utilized first names more, is merely coincidental.
Surnames: Araki, Kimura, Inoue, Maeda
Male Names: Kisho, Natsu, Tsuke, Zakuro
Female Names: Firisu, Imari, Lumoi, Uriko
Adventurers: As adventurers, Kouton are typified as not able to operate fairly with other members of a party.  While they do not actively work against the group, they do withhold everything short of the most pertinent information when pooling forces.

Racial Traits
Ability Adjustments: None
Automatic Class Skills: Bluff, Gather Information, Sense Motive
Skill Bonuses: Kouton enjoy a +2 racial bonus on all Search, Spot, and Listen checks.
Bonus Hit Dice: None
Natural Armor: None
Natural Weapons: The bite of a Kouton causes 1d4 points of piercing damage from all the tiny sliver-sized incisors lining its gums.
Movement: Medium creature (1 cube tall), base speed 30 cubes.
Senses: Low Light Vision, Darkvision, Ultravision
Buoyancy: Shoals (adjustable)
Light Blindness (Ex): The highly sensitive eyes of a Kouton are aptly designed for life in darker waters.  Abrupt exposure to light such as the daylight spell inflicts a -1 circumstance penalty on all attack and damage rolls, saves, and checks for one round per level of the light producing spell.
Slippery (Ex): Constanly excreting from the skin of all Koutons is an oily film of sweat that makes grappling or ensaring them difficult.  Webs and netting, be they magic or mundane, do not affect Kouton, as they simply wriggle free.
Sticky (Ex): The oily sweat of a Kouton can be collected and mixed with other alchemical components to produce a sticky adhesive.  The Kouton use this mixture for masonry and other construction.  It can be added to a shield as an non-magical property at the time of item creation that will hold fast any weapon that makes an unsuccessful melee attack against the Kouton.  The attacker must make a successful Reflex check at DC 14 or have its unguis stick to the shield and yanked from his grasp.  Attackers using natural weapons are considered grappled if they fail this save. A Kouton can only produce enough oily sweat to maintain this ability on a single shield, and prevents them from using their Slippery ability for a day (when the character must choose to reapply the concoction).
Favored Class: Rogue is the favored class of the Kouton, especially when focused towards exploration and information gathering.
Social Flaw: Self Serving
Base Height: Male: 4' 6” (+ 2d6 in.).
Female: 4' 6" (+ 2d6 in).
Base Weight: Male: 115 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d4 lbs.)
Female 130 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d6 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Koutonese
Bonus Languages: Elquan, Locanthic, Sahaguin
Level Adjustment: None

Kouton have a marginal chameleonic ability to their skin.  While no where near the sophistication of the Ceph's camouflage, a Kouton's pigmentation reacts to the creature's mood, flushing the skin with color dependent on emotional state.  Kouton need to make a Bluff check at DC 15 to stifle this reflex, and a second check at the same DC to produce a false flush.

While the other races were content with clustering around the Crèche of Civilization, the Kouton embraced exploration outside of the Known World.  Their  practice of exploration has given the race a reputation of harboring illicitly-gained secrets, and their cartography is beyond reproach in its accuracy and range.

There still exists a lot of poor regard toward the Kouton since the Kraken Occupation.  It is generally understood the frog-like pisceans colluded with occupiers, minimizing the devastation to their own race.  Whether this ill will was fairly earned has never been resolved conclusively, and understandably the Kouton themselves do no wish to dwell on it.

“Seeing forward, seeing back
Knowing secrets others lack
Telling no one, sharing none
Keep their mouth shut, every one.”
A childhood nursery rhyme

Endless Blue - Week 15 - Locanth

Biology

Locanth – Nomadic Craftsmen of the Shoals

Leather with a luster of a thousand fathoms, carvings of such life-like detail it fools the naked eye, netting so fine it must be made of gossamer...  These are the products created by the noble craftsmen that wander the Shoals of Elqua like migrating herds.  To glimpse such perfection is a boon, to own one simply a fevered dream, for treasures like these are by the Locanth, for the Locanth.

Personality: Rich with tradition and history, Locanth are the noble artisans of the Endless Blue.  They believe deeply in the wisdom of their elders, and will rarely let an opportunity to hear tales of adversity overcome or challenges solved from any one venerable enough to have knowledge to pass on.  However, life has taught them that the unknown is to be feared, to be avoided, lest they fall victim to its appetite or wrath.
Physical Description: With eyes widespread to either side of the cranium, dim ovals with a look of half-sleep drooping over them, the Locanth appear more fish than piscean.  Their wide, gaping mouths lacking any form of teeth sit underneath sagging jowls the same umber-like hue as the rest of their scaly bodies.  Long, thin fingers adorn their hands with webbing to the talon-less tips, and long fins sprout from their arms and tail.
Relations: There is little in the way of trade between the Gulf of Locanth and the rest of the Known World.  Their nomadic lifestyle meets most all their needs, so only when times are difficult and the weather has been unkind do the Locanth trade their works of art to outsiders in exchange for rations and tools.  While not actually expansionistic, they do follow the schools of fish their forefathers hunted for millennia and if that migration takes them into the territory of other species, so be it.  The Locanth pay little heed to borders, believing themselves to be the chosen of the Pantheon and by deific right may cross the world as they see fit.
Alignment: Usually neutral, Locanths prefer to retreat from conflict rather than risk facing it head on.  Live and let live is a core mantra to Locanthic life.
Homeseas: The Gulf of Locanth serves as the roaming grounds for these nomadic pisceans.  They form no permanent residences, instead relying on collapsible cocoon-like tents that are spiked to rock or coral to prevent their sleeping bodies from drifting along the currents or rising to the surface as they sleep.
Religion: Pantheon worship dominates the Locanthic religious belief system, expressing in the carrying of carved fetishes.  While any one Locanth can worship more directly to a specific deity, all eight of the Pantheon gods are given reverence.  These small, cylindrical totems are attached to a strong string or chain, and will be found in a pocket or pouch that is easily accessible at all times.
Language: The Locanthic tongue has been likened derogatorily to the yapping of a small animal, with short, clipped syllables that have the same duration regardless of stress.  The language is not as bestial as is attributed, and can be quite beautiful with its rolling r and diagraph consonant pairs.  It is one of the more simpler languages to learn, with a minimum of conjugation and a consistent methodology of noun gender.
Names: Locanth names have origins in the various crafts the race produces.  Just like people with names like Smith and Baker are descended from laborers in those fields, so to have the Locanth.  Further, lineage is noted in naming childred, with names of one of the direct ancestors used as a "middle name".  Not limited to a single middle name, it is common practice for a Locanth child to list back his heritage with multiple middle names following this convention.
Male First Names: Agapillo, Emigdio, Joaquin, Quique
Female First Names: Benigna, Lourdes, Nereida, Techa
Last Names: Baros, Guerrero, Herrera, Molinero
Adventurers: Locanth adventurers are an anomoly.  It is seldom that one overcomes his instinctual fleeing reflex and venture out for fame and glory, but not unheard of.  Locanth are not cowards, but simply prefer the maxim of "the path of least resistance", meaning whatever methods lead to the least amount of risk.

Racial Traits
Ability Adjustments: +2 Dexterity
Automatic Class Skills: Handle Animal
Skill Bonuses: Their innate ability for tool use gives all Locanth a +2 racial bonus on any Craft (all) or Profession (all) skill checks that they have invested at least one rank in.
Bonus Hit Dice: None.
Natural Armor: Locanths posses a scaly skin that provides them with a +3 natural armor bonus.
Natural Weapons: None.
Movement: Medium creature (1 cube tall), base speed 50 cubes.
Senses: Low Light Vision
Buoyancy: Shoals (adjustable)
Fleet of Fin (Ex): Locanth maintain their Dexterity bonus to AC when swimming at maximum speeds: up to five (5x) times their normal swim speed when carrying a light or nor load, or up to four (4x) times with a medium or heavy load.  Healthy Locanths can push this limit by making a Fortitude save at DC 15 + number of pervious attempts to push themselves to move up to six (6x) times their normal swim speed when carrying a light or nor load, or up to five (5x) times with a medium or heavy load.  They must make this save every round they are pushing the limit, but subsequent successful saves do not increase the multipliers above 6x/5x.  Failing these saves simply means the Locanth moves at 5x/4x for that round, and may try to push themselves again the next round.
Favored Class: Their reclusive nature results in an experience point penalty whenever multi-classing with anything other than NPC classes, and a Locanth may multiclass freely in any of these classes without penalty.
Social Flaw: Isolationist
Base Height: Male: 4' 6” (+ 2d6 in.).
Female: 4' 1" (+ 2d4 in).
Base Weight: Male: 105 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d46lbs.)
Female 94 lbs. (+ height mod. x 2d4 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Locanthic
Bonus Languages: Elquan
Level Adjustment: None

Locanth handiwork is undeniably of superior excellence.  Their hunting nets are of the strongest weave, their longspears have the strongest blades, and their leatherworking is exquisite.  Even if a Locanthic artisan fails at crafting a masterwork item, the exceptional quality of his work grants the item a +1 circumstance bonus on any save it must make.  These items usually fetch twice listed value in the black market, and three times or more if the item is also masterwork.

The culture is rich in traditional festivities, paying homage for most every aspect of life on Elqua with some type of celebration.  From somber occasions such as death to the frivolous like a daily intake of sustenance, the Locanth are seriously dedicated to honoring those that did the work, and those that died to provide the benefit.  Most notable is the short nap taken after the noon-day meal.

“Respect the beast whose skin you tan;

revere the reef whose coral you carve.
Showing honor will be repaid with beauty and life...”
The Locanthic approach to art.

Endless Blue - Week 14 - Ceph

Biology

Ceph – Vermin of the Known World

Eventually when enough of the races in the Known World of Elqua banded together, they were able to over-throw the tyrannical Kraken Empire.  Perhaps that victory made the occupiers lose face with their eldritch gods and were abandoned, even cursed.  Since then the one mighty, one massive race has devolved into the cephalopods known today as simply "the Ceph".

Personality: The Ceph continue to suffer abuse and scorn on a daily basis, and their station as second-class citizens has an effect on their outlook.  They are a hard working people, taking the thankless jobs, dangerous work conditions, and pitiful reward that they can in order to eek out a continued existence.
Physical Description: They are the only race in the Known World to not possess the easily identifiable piscean form -- head, torso, arms, and tail -- and instead look simply like larger versions of their aquatic ancestors.  The race actually has three ethnicities, but few except other Ceph can clearly tell them apart.  They have eight tentacles, two of which are slightly longer than the others and end in a wide pad.  Above those are pair of golden eyes with a unique "w"-shaped iris, one widely situated on either side of their bulbous bodies.  They lack any form of a skeleton, except a sub-dermal plate over what would be considered their foreheads.  This plate is ridged and forms a rippling of the skin that overlaps it.  At the nexus of their radially arranged tentacles is there mouth, protected by a sharp but flat beak.  Their skin is covered in tiny pigmentation cells that change color at will.
Relations: Relations with other races are completely on a per individual bases.  The one thing the Ceph have learned is that despite how they are treated, they know other races are individuals, each with different urges, goals, and drives.  They will often overlook personal attacks by any one stranger, knowing that as a rule the whole race is not as judgmental.
Alignment: The fall of the Kraken was swift, and the degeneration into the Ceph even more so.  A history of prejudice and persecution has caused the need for the Ceph to adopt a more chaotic life style, never knowing if at any second everything about their life could be irrevocably shattered.
Homeseas: The Ceph have no homesea.  Though their ancestral home would be the Maw, no one still sane inhabits the Ruins of the Kraken Empire.  The Ceph have dispersed throughout the Known World, and settled down where ever they discovered a niche to be filled.  There are no pure Ceph settlements, but it is rare to ever find a city that doesn't have some level of Ceph in its populace.
Religion: Their abandonment by their eldritch gods has not spoiled the Ceph on worship,  Now, instead of making sacrifices to unknowable entities, the devote their souls to Olyhydra, the stern mistress of Law.  The understand her dogma that life is toil and only hard work will be rewarded..
Language: The Ceph speak a pidgin language, combining words from surrounding settlements into a patchwork language.  It is difficult, even for other Ceph, to speak with a Ceph who learned to speak too great a distance away, as it could almost be considered a different language.
Names: Names are of great importance to the Ceph, usually chosen by the individual.  Having been called racial slurs for so very long, they have taken to keeping nicknames given to them, answering to them instinctively.  A well travelled Ceph could have dozens of these bestowed names, and he would answer to each and every one of them.
Nick Names: Bait, Squid, Sucker, Wiggler
Formal Names: Ika, Onag, Surume, Tako,
Adventurers: Ceph treat adventuring just as they do survival.  If any race had a more honest viewpoint of the adventuring lifestyle, it would be the Ceph.   They treat it as a job, a means to an end, a way to keep them alive, keep their families alive, just another step in the never-ending cycle of work and rest.

Racial Traits
Ability Adjustments: Dexterity +2, Strength -2.
Automatic Class Skills: Disguise and Hide in Shadows
Skill Bonuses: Disquise +4, Move Silently +2.
Bonus Hit Dice: None
Natural Armor: None.
Natural Weapons: The beak of a Ceph can be used as a natural weapon, inflicting 1d3 points of slashing damage on a successful hit.
Movement: Small creature (1 cube tall), base speed 20 cubes.
Senses: Ultravision, Low-Light Vision
Buoyancy: Shore (adjustable)
Camouflage (Ex): Pigments saturating the Ceph's rubbery skin are malleable, and with a successful Disguise check a Ceph can blend in with its surroundings.  This gives the Ceph the Hide In Plain Sight feat and adds a +10 racial bonus to Hide checks.  The Ceph must maintain his concentration while using his camouflage ability to maintain this effect for more than a round, however failing the Concentration check does not result in the Ceph breaking its camouflage, just losing the racial bonus (he failed to adjust his coloration to take into account an observer's movement, etc.).
Multi-Tentacled (Ex): Most Ceph use their major tentacles (the ones with the flat pads at the end) as their grasping apendages, to holding ungues and nautiluses for example.  The other arms cannot be used for combat unless the Ceph takes the Multiattack feat, meeting all the prerequisites for it first.  This allows for a second pair of tentacles to be used just like the first pair, and taking the feat subsequent times adds another set of two tentacles, to a maximum of four pairs of arms.  The Ceph must still follow the same proceedures to accomplish two-weapon fighting to use both arms of a set in combat.
Favored Class: Rogue is the favored class of Ceph, employing their natural camouflage and stealthiness to the greatest extent and is what has made the Ceph so adaptable.
Social Flaw: Self-Depreciating
Base Height: Male: 2' 8” (+ 2d3 in.).
Female: 2' 7" (+ 2d4 in).
Base Weight: Male: 30 lbs. (+ height mod. x 1d2 lbs.)
Female 26 lbs. (+ height mod. x 1d2 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Ceph, Elquan
Bonus Languages: Chelon, Koutonese, Locanthic, Sahaguin.
Level Adjustment: None

Life as a Ceph is life as an untouchable.  As prolific and ubiquitous as they may be, they spend lives of never been noticed, never included, never praised.  If anything, they take the brunt of the other races' historical ire.  It has never been forgotten that these seemingly simple and honest people were once blood-crazed tyrants who called the Known World their own, even though generation after generation has come and gone since then, leaving no one remaining alive that lived through the tragedy of Kraken occupation.  But the Ceph typically do not let this prevent them from integrating themselves into society and eking out a living as society's lowest class.

Their own practicality enables them to ingrain themselves into cultures in almost any capacity.  They are the ones willing to do the demeaning work, the servitude to an erudite community.  Ceph lack the hubris and racism of the ancient civilization, and know that if they are to survive as a people they must adapt to the new order or die completely.

“Despite their universal revilement, Ceph have an unerring knack
for getting themselves into positions of indispensability...”
A shrewd observation of Ceph survival skills

Endless Blue - Week 14

Biology

Amoeboids – Microscopic Life at the Macroscopic Level

Evolution took an interesting track with the Amoeboids.  Instead of becoming more complex, specializing function, and forming organs, these cell-based life forms simply grew in scale.  Amoeboids are little different from the floating amoebae that creatures on the lowest rungs of the food ladder feast upon, except on a more massive scale.

Personality: All Amoeboids begin exactly the same as the one before them at the moment of mitosis.  It is the trials and tribulations that the Amoeboid experiences from that point in time onward that will shape their personality.
Physical Description: Essentially a single cell organism magnified to the same size as a small Piscean, Amoeboids are a coherent glob of protoplasm holding its internal structures aloft inside a thin membrane.  Their bodies are transluscent, with shades of light and darkness tracing out the internal workings of their biology.  A darker patch, the nucleus, hovers towards what would be the creature's head, and in many ways operates as the organism's brain.
Relations: First glace Amoeboids would seem to be just like the Lumulans -- distant and uncaring.  However nothing could be further from the truth.  They are immensely loyal to those they have a familiar bond, and are always willing to put themselves on the line to serve the greater cause.
Alignment: At their most primitive state, Amoeboids are typically true neutral,  But as the learning process of life begins to shape their personality, they can take on any alignment in the moral and ethical spectrum.  Having other creatures around them, going about their everyday activities, has a profound effect on the formation of Amoebiod scruples.
Homeseas: Much like the plentiful phytoplankton that drifts lanquidly throughout the seas of Elqua, Amoeboids do not call any one place home.  The ultimate expression of the zen concept of "living in the now", the creatures allow the fates to guide their path, carrying them across the globe on the myriad currents.  They can be found anywhere food is plentiful and predation is rare.
Religion: Amoeboids believe fully in the Source, the single beginning of all life on Elqua.  They worship this origin point as almost a collective Gaia, with each Amoeboid representing another cell in the embryo that is the Source..
Language: Lacking any form of a mouth or vocal cords, Amoeboids communicate through a completely physical means somewhat like sign language..
Names: While Amoeboids do have the concept of self, the expression of it through their epidermal language is impossible for outsiders to pronounce.  So instead, most give an Amoeboid some type of cutesy nickname, usually linked to their gelatinous consistency.
Nick Names: Gleep, Gloop, Inque, Knid, Odo, Protty
Formal Names: Blancmange, Dralasite, Plasmoid, Vernicious
Adventurers: Amoeboid adventurers are curious things, learning about themselves and the world around them at the very instance they experience it.  They can fill most any adventuring niche with just the right kind of encouragement from a charismatic party member.

Racial Traits

Ability Adjustments: Constitution +4, Charisma 0 (Amoeboids are such a primitive lifeform that they lank any type of interpersonal skill and have a Charisma score of 0).
Automatic Class Skills: Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, Tumble
Skill Bonuses: Escape Artist +5, Sleight of Hand +3, Tumble +4.
Bonus Hit Dice: None
Natural Armor: None.
Natural Weapons: The amorphous shape of an Amoeboid means it can sprout a bludgeoning appendage (1d4 subdual) from any angle at any time as a free action..  As such, Amoeboids should be treated as always being armed.
Movement: Medium creature (1 cube tall), base speed 30 cubes.
Senses: Blindsense
Buoyancy: Shelf (adjustable)
Gooey Body (Ex): The physiology of the Amoeboid makes it impervious to grapples, constriction, or being caught in a net.  Always treat an Amoeboid as if it was under the effects of a constant freedom of movement spell..  Further, with no internal organs or endoskeletal system, Amoeboids ignore sneak attack damage and do not risk dying from massive damage (50+ hit points from a single attack).
Favored Class: Amoeboids have no favored class, and instead always suffer an experience point penalty when they choose to multi-class.
Social Flaw: Inhuman
Base Height: 4'4” (+ 4d2 in.)  This is a rough approximation of the space an Amoeboid occupies when it is in the shape of a sphere.  An Ameoboid can make itself as thin as its height modifier at the maximum.
Base Weight: 200 lbs. (+ height mod. x 4d2 lbs.)
Automatic Languages: Amoebic Sign Language
Bonus Languages: None.  Without the ability to speak or the facility to see, Amoeboids cannot take Speak Language to either speak or write.  The best an Amoebiod can produce would be basic shapes and lines written crudely in the silt of the sea bed.
Level Adjustment: None

Amoeboid settlements are non-existent due to the wandering lifestyle the race possess.  They will recognize others of its kind as kin, but will hold no special regard or attachment to them than if they had just met a stranger.

An amoeboid can produce a number of pseudopods equal to the number of itterritive attacks it has gained in its class.  These tentacles have a reach of 5 feet, but an amoeboid can extend that reach by 5 more feet for ever pseudopod it does not create.  For example, an Amoeboid with a BAB of +15 can get three pseudopods with a 5 foot reach, two pseudopods -- one with a 10 foot reach and the other with 5, or one pseudopod with a 15-foot reach.  Creating or absorbing these tentacles is a free action  as part of the Amoeboid's normal movement.

“Having an Amoeboid around is great for cleaning up a campsite,
until it starts to multiply like the red tide...”
The entirety of Amoebic sociology