Editing Autia (section)

====Kingdom of Aquatica====

The aquatic kingdom of Aquatica is full of aquatic races like fishfolk, merfolk, nautilusfolk, whalefolk, geoduckfolk, and candirufolk.

They are at war with several human nations over the ambergris trade, dragnet fishing, misidentification during whaling, and abductions.

People:

The races who live beneath the waves are extremely diverse. It is said that most of them have fey origins, though some are believed to be the result of experimentation by the Eldrian Empire, while others are believed to be demonic of nature. Some of the more common forms are listed below:

Fishfolk: Said to be the creation of a demon lord known as The Ancient One, these sadistic monsters are rarely encountered, but deeply feared. Some are able to disguise themselves as humans, and procreate and proselytize their dark religion among surface dwellers. Although found in many places, some have recently been focusing their efforts in the Seafoam Crater.

"Sea Sluts": A type of shapeshifting merfolk found along the southeast coast of Autia, they have more in common with the spirit animals of Napan than other merfolk races. Notoriously promiscuous and seductive, they are the bane of marriages in all the regions they inhabit.

River Merfolk: Pallid, and sometimes slimy merfolk, river merfolk are found along the southern coastlines of Autia, and the northern coastlines of Flickfowl. Gregarious, but generally harmless, they are usually treated as a minor nuisance in the regions they inhabit. Few of them seem inclined to work with other aquatic races, though some still insist many are spies for the Aquatica Nation of The Warm Sea.

Northern Merfolk: Pale, almost ghostlike merfolk, they can be found both along the northern coast of Autia (where they tend to have lighter hair colors and green scales due to mixing with Western Merfolk), as well as in the off the coast of the Lapus and the Dead Man's Hand, where they tend to have darker hair, paler skin, and blue or grey scales. Northern Merfolk are shy around surface dwellers, especially men, but get along better with some all female races like the Amazon and harpies.

Western Merfolk: Also known as sirens, they are infamously sultry and mischievous, though occasionally also a bit sadistic. They are fond of using their good looks, sometimes backed by illusions and enchantments, to torment sailors and coastal land dwellers. They are the dominant merfolk race along the western coast of Autia, but are also found along the southern coast, in the equatorial strongholds of the coral merfolk, and in certain parts of the Emerald Isles.

Coral Merfolk: Brightly colored merfolk, they can be found in the ocean between Autia, Flickfowl and the former location of Ignis. Probably the most numerous and civilized of the merfolk races, they are said to possess large communities on the ocean floor and in large coral reefs, though they are notoriously secretive.

Sea Sprites: A blanket term for several smaller races of merfolk, usually 1 to 2 feet long. Some have sea horse like-tails instead of fish-like tails. They can be found in most regions, but are fairly rare. The most hated variety are the candirufolk of the Emerald Isles, who are infamous for tormenting unsuspecting swimmers in rivers and lakes.

Deep Merfolk: Often said to be a legend, even by other merfolk, no one can agree on what they look like, and some believe it is just a catch all term for merfolk tainted by association with the Ancient One.

Nautilusfolk: A rare, long lived race, they are treated as sources of wisdom by merfolk in the Warm Sea.

Whalefolk: Whalefolk can be found in many shapes, but are generally rare. Their sheer size makes them dangerous to small and medium sized boats, and some are capable of magic as well. Often serve as alongside the warriors of merfolk tribes. They tend to hate most surface dwellers due to a few poachers hunting them for their body parts, which have strong magical properties.

Geoduckfolk: A strange form of aquatic life, mostly found around Napan. They are technically spirit animals but rarely change shape. Very few outside of Napan believe something this strange could actually exist.

Phinmin: Disliked by other aquatic races, and believed by some to be a failed attempt by Eldrians to recreate mermaids, the Phinmin keep to themselves in small tribes south of Autia, and are rarely associated with Aquatica except for their recent acceptance into the Seafoam Crater version of Aquatica, where their violence tendencies aren't seen as a major drawback.

Lobsterfolk: Ill-tempered scavengers mostly found along the northern Autian coast, they have very few interactions with surface dwellers other than harassing fishermen they feel are a threat to them.

Gepids: Half-octopi folk mostly found along the northern coast of Autia, particularly the Halem Coast. They are known to possess powerful magic and are generally avoided by surface dwellers.

Shrimpfolk: Aggressive, fast-breeding but short lived creatures living in many regions. They are barely sentient, but are sometimes used as fodder by fishfolk.

Sea Elves: Primitive aquatic raiders, they rarely form alliances with other ocean dwelling races, and thus are rarely associated with "Aquatica", but sometimes are converted to worship of the Ancient One by fishfolk.

Sea Drow: Sea Drow are a slave race created when the followers of Nieri'hake-Telai conquered the City of Gel'dyrryth. Although now capable of breathing underwater, they are usually used to build surface temples to the Ancient One on behalf of Nieri'hake-Telai and her fishfolk servants.

Religion:

A number of gods are worshipped beneath the waves, most of whom are poorly understood by surface dwellers:

The Ancient One: This much feared demon lord is often seen as the bane of fishermen and is blamed for all sorts of misfortune in remote fishing communities. His main worshippers are fishfolk, but sometimes other aquatic or surface dwelling races are drawn into the fold.

Nieri'hake-Telai: Rumored to have once been an Ercaenmedian diva, she acquired a copy of one of The Ancient One's most powerful texts, and gradually became more insane before disappearing, then re-emerging at the head of a powerful cult of aquatic races centered around the Seaform Crater.

Mother Ocean: Most merfolk consider her to be their creator, though she is rarely actively worshipped. Often considered to be the merfolk equivalent to Go-Hana, Gelune, Gaelhalla, or the Ocean Mother.

Itch-Monger: This minor trickster god/demon is mostly worshipped by sea sprites that like to torment others, though merfolk and whalefolk blame him for a wide range of misfortunes.

Magic:

Like most fey races, aquatic races tend to have certain abilities associated with their race, though not all members of a particular races have the same abilities or level of power. Various enchantments and illusions tend to be the most common abilities, but some also have limited control over the weather or the currents. Followers of the Ancient One sometimes also have powerful fleshshaping abilities, which is believed to be a gift from their god rather than an innate ability.

Military:

Too few in number and too disorganized to fight large scale battles, the nations of Aquatica prefer sabotage and raids to achieve their goals.

The followers of the Ancient One are by far the most aggressive, but also the most mysterious. They have been known to overrun entire coastal communities, occasionally even towns and small cities with stealth, sheer numbers, and powerful magics. Although generally limited to clubs, spears and javelins, they are often accompanied by hulking abominations created with flesh shaping magic. It also helps that they generally only attack when it is least expected, and are often aided by converts and mind control victims within the target communities.

Other aquatic tribes (other than phinmin and sea elves) usually mind their own business, but when they feel local fishing and whaling activities are either affecting their food supplies, or directly harming them, they sometimes retaliate with sabotage (generally by damaging or capsizing boats).

History:

No one remembers whether Aquatica ever actually existed as a single nation, some believe it started as an empty threat during a conflict between the Nantic Empire and local tribes. However, the idea caught on with some of the more organized ocean dwelling races, and now several different regions identify as being part of the Kingdom of Aquatica, even though none of them respect each other's authority. The term Aquatica is often used by land-dwellers to refer to the most organized tribes of ocean dwellers in their region, though it is now well known on the surface that no single government exists.

Economy:

Most Aquatica nations are self-sufficient hunter-gatherers, but merfolk, and occasionally lobsterfolk, will trade goods and information with friendly or neutral surface dwelling nations. Despite theoretically claiming large swathes of ocean as their territory, both collectively and individually the nations of Aquatica are few in number. This is partially because their hunter-gatherer lifestyle does not support large population densities, and partially because much of the ocean is devoid of intelligent life at any given time, with many aquatic races frequently moving to avoid straining food resources in one area.

Government:

Despite being called the "Kingdom of Aquatica" there is no central government, often no central regional government, and rarely does even the head of a regional government take the title of king. Most "nations" of Aquatica are divided into many tribes that only come together in rare circumstances, but rarely fight with each other. However, some groups are essentially religious cults (generally fishfolk cults to the Ancient One), which in some cases are quite large and well organized.

Merfolk and their allies are the ones who are most likely to acknowledge the existence of Aquatica as a nation, divided between five regions each named for their most prominent feature. Merfolk along the northern coast of Autia, and coral merfolk along the southern coast of Autia are the most likely to invoke the name of Aquatica while threatening surface dwellers with a unified response to some provocation. Most other merfolk consider the notion more theoretical than actual.

Geography:

- The Drowning Reef is a large region of dead coral reefs and extinct volcanoes northwest of Utopia. Its name comes from the frequent shipwrecks that occur when storms cause ships to become lost and disoriented. It has the largest density of northern merfolk and whalefolk in the Dead Man's Sea, and the large colonies of merfolk that gather on some rocky outcrops here is the closest thing to a coherent government for the aquatic races in this region. Sometimes thousands of merfolk, and the occasional whalefolk, will gather to listen to envoys from Utopia or the Afzen Amazons.

The merfolk in this region are shy and prefer to mind their own business, but can sometimes be persuaded to help their long time allies among the Utopians and Afzen Amazons. They will also sometimes trade with Alkor, Harlbourg, and ships from the Krevech Islands, though they hate the Union, Malsolia, Yr, and Dright since their whalers sometimes attack whalefolk for their body parts, which are useful in alchemy. Although they accept the Aquatica label in solidarity with other merfolk, they rarely interact with individuals of other Aquatica nations.

- The Wyrd Sea is the name given to the stretch of ocean north of Harlbourg and the Halem Coast. The northern merfolk and lobsterfolk who live in this region are prickly and easily offended. The merfolk are prone to referring to themselves as one of the nations of the Kingdom of Aquatica during negotiations with Harlbourg, even though it is well known they have few ties to merfolk living in other regions. The lobsterfolk are even more blunt, and often make outrageous demands on those who want to fish and catch crabs in the patches of rocky coastal area they consider to be their territory. However, the most feared threat are the fishfolk (for whom the Wyrd Sea is named, even the merfolk acknowledge it is a strange and haunted place). Although rarely encountered, they are blamed on all sorts of misfortunes and supernatural events, and popular conspiracies state they have significant cults inland as well. In contrast, the gepids concentrated along the Halem Coast prefer to mind their own business, and thanks to their powerful magics, their territories are generally avoided.

- The Sea of the Shape Shifters is essentially just the aquatic version of Napan, though their boundaries extend far past what the Napanese government officially claims. Home to aquatic spirit animals like sea sluts, carpkin, and geoduckfolk, as well as true fey like nymphs, aquatic dragons, sea sprites, and coral merfolk, they are theoretically a force to be reckoned with on the open ocean, though in reality they rarely help the Napanese Navy except under dire circumstances. They accept the Aquatica label mostly to appease their allies in The Warm Sea region.

- The Warm Sea is a large region of volcanic islands, coral reefs, and sand bars that stretches along the equatorial region south of Autia. The tribes here, mostly river, western, and coral merfolk, are numerous and poorly organized, though on the rare occasions they join forces they are probably the most powerful of the aquatic nations, and on a few occasions a particularly powerful warlord in this region has named him of herself the King (or Queen) of Aquatica. The inhabitants of this region prefer to mind their own business, but frequently find themselves fighting against the many tribes of phinmin, sea elves, and fishfolk that inhabit this region. Conflict with careless fishing and whaling vessels is also common. They are friendly with Afzen Amazons and coastal harpies, but are generally neutral or hostile to everyone else.

- The Sea of the Lost Fleets is an unsually large patch of shipwrecks off the coast of western Autia. There has long been rumors that a hidden nation of Aquatica operates down there, but little evidence of organization can be found among the western merfolk who inhabit this region. Probably the least organized of the merfolk races, it is rare to encounter more than half a dozen in one location, and they are highly nomadic and long-lived, it is not uncommon to encounter a western mermaid who has lived in regions as far north as Skyr-Nada, and as far south as The Tortle Realms. They get along well with Afzen Amazons and coastal harpies, but see all other races as targets for various "games" of varying degrees of seriousness.

- The budding nation being built in the Seafoam Crater is the latest claimant of leadership of the Kingdom of Aquatica, though the other regions ignore this claim. Made up mostly of fishfolk, demons, and their slaves (mostly shrimpfolk, sea drow, merfolk, and assorted surface dwellers), they have also begun to recruit phinmin, sea elves, and evil minded merfolk, gepids, whalefolk, and sea sprites, as well as some surface dwellers like renegade Amazons, humans, harpies, and Tortles. The glue holding this unlikely alliance together is worship of the powerful living goddess Nieri'hake-Telai, as well as a sense among some aquatic races that they have been mistreated by surface dwellers for too long.

No one knows the long terms goals of this new nation, other than to serve the insane whims of their goddess, which mostly revolve around building temples, shrines, and fortresses on both the surface and underwater, as well as capturing more slaves to perform increasingly elaborate perversions on.