Sea Realms

The Sea Realms

Introduction

Within the Seven Cities, we know them as two kingdoms that stand alone, but the truth is they are one kingdom of two cultures – one above, and one below, and between them they control much of the shipping around the Sea of Amity – a major thoroughfare for the Ships of the Empire. They are the sea peoples, and they do not have an issue with the land, but they do have an issue with the Deep, where they have mortal enemies akin to the Goblins for us.

Sea Realms of Islandia and Keris
Official Name	Islandia & Keris		Flag
Motto	As Above, So Below
People	Islandian, Kerisian
Goods	Islandian	Kerisian	Symbol
Crafts	Islandic	Kerisian
Honorifics	Hefa, Hera
Greeting	Ohai!	Forearm clasping.	Symbols	Conch Shell		Hands
Parting	Peace to you!		Colors	Blue	Green	Sky	White
Temples	Ululani	Lamia	Shrines	Kybele		Paria
Towns	Lanka	Ojigya	Secrets	Pallor
	Delos	Sandia	Known For	Fruit	Shells	Navy	Rest
Rivals	Aztlan	Antilia	Foes	Thule		Duat
Weapons	Rapier, Harpoon	Dart, Net, Trident	Weather	Hot, Humid		Wet, Breezy
Armor	Seascale	Convex Shield	Wealth
Languages			Literacy
Respect Shown	Kneeling when before a local leader.
Folkways	Food is eaten with the right hand, and served by the host to guests, children, spouse, and self, in that order.
	All dances tell stories and have strict rules about participation and performance.
Virtues	Tradition	Make Art	Respect Elders	Embrace the Waters
Vices	Ungraciousness	Deceit	Selfishness	Hopelessness
Skills
See Others	Uptight	Cold Hearted	Possessive	Violence Prone
Others See	Thieving	Gentle	Naive	Gullible

Those coming to the Sea Realms for the first time, often seeking a break and a chance for relaxation at the hot springs and other amenities that are known throughout the region, may think that Keris is the city of the Tritons, and that Islandia is the city of the Thalasians. This kind of provincial thinking gives the Sea Peoples much amusement.

Even more so when the tourists and travelers come to realize that Keris is not the city they are thinking of; Upper Keris sits on the broad natural beaches of white sand that flow to the calm and crystal-clear lagoon. It is at the bottom of that lagoon, warmed by natural vents, and filled with rich life, that the Coral City, in all the hues of pink and white and green, lies, spread out over an area nearly as large as that of Sibola. Lower Keris is where the people – Triton, Iaran, and Thalasian, all live, though far too deep for most to reach without the skills of deep diving or the special contraptions of the Kerisians to ensure there is air for them. It is not a place many are permitted to visit, and the depth gives the command of a royal audience a sinister tone that the Kerisians do indeed enjoy.

Several islands away, stretching their collective reach, is Islandia City, the labyrinthine capital of Islandia. Between and around them lie the major port towns of Vendia, Sandia, Caldia, Lildia, and Duadia. There are many towns, and the towns have many villages, and they are scattered among the Thousand Jewels – islands so numerous and small that stretch throughout the region like a necklace of the finest gems. Four large and several very small volcanoes usually slumber, waking once in a great while if Vulcana visits, part of a vast ring that surrounds the Skyfall created Sea of Silence, where only Duatian and Thulian ships dare tread with impunity – often seeking the laden vessels transporting food to where it is needed among the many people of Islandia, which is said to rival the Empire.

Towns

Lanka: The closest town to the Empire and a well-known and popular resort.

Sandia: A large Village that does little trade but a lot of resort stuff, because they have some incredible hot springs. Rather big secret among the wealthy.

Delos: The heat of the People, Caldia is the chief administrative area for agriculture in Islandia and Keris.

Ojigya: The Farthest Point, the place that looks out over the ocean. A massive fort that keeps watch on the Duatian coast It is said that no one can resist looking and wondering “what’s out there?”.

Legacy

Attitude

The Sea Peoples are shepherds of sea and sand, farmers who raise grains and harvest the fruits like date, fig, coconut, banana, orange, lemon, mango, and more, and the traders who built a Gantry and await the first Skyship even as they speed their uncannily fast ships to the rivers, where the river folk take charge and deliver them.

This is how one can have an orange in Sibola.

The Sea Peoples reject the idea of war in favor of commerce. They are a peaceful, joyous, and elegant culture, celebrating the pleasures of gracious living. Such pleasures are achieved through a spirit of cooperation, and the notion that order must involve material prosperity, while remaining open to change. They understand this natural order as a good life; that is, a life of security, peace, and possessions.

The Sea Realm values commerce via the sea, but living so close to the Duatians, dealing with the Thulians, having to defend from the feral Merow, and the raids of Lemuria, jealous for their bounty, they are also aware of the ideas of confrontation and order as preparation, but never dominance. An orderly society, then, is prepared to confront anything that happens and signifies the ability to deal with the unexpected

Service to others is an attitude, a way of thinking and living that is ingrained in the Sea Peoples. Sea Peoples learn from an early age that each person must learn to serve and take care of each other in order for the individual, family, and extended family or tribe to grow and prosper. With this comes an inherent conviction in the principles of generosity and hospitality. Hostility to foreigners or strangers is rarely shown, but when it is it rarely ends well for the foreigners and is handled privately and hopefully quietly.

Lifestyle

Islandia and Keris are truly a thousand villages, not two cities. The Kings of each have a pact with each other and with their people to ensure that all food, that all harvests, are prepared and stored and preserved, for the weather in the islands can be quite devastating, and the many, many small farms, orchards, and fisheries scattered throughout can fail for a host of reasons and when they do, that is what the government does – it redistributes all the food grown within Islandia in a firm and sometimes absolutist manner: first to those who bring it, then to the people of Islandia and Keris, and then to the ports for those far away beyond the deep waters.

Social storage of food is a measure taken to moderate the risk of agricultural uncertainty. The islands are composed of a multitude of microenvironments, rather small, isolated areas, that are locked in by topographical features, such as mountains. An important feature of these microenvironments is that each has its own particular reaction to normal interannual fluctuations in rainfall. The result is that Islandia and Keris often resemble a patchwork of distinct microenvironments with quite different agricultural yields every year throughout the islands. Simply put, one microenvironment could have had a bumper crop of wheat while its near neighbors could have been experiencing a serious shortfall in that grain during the same summer.

The Maze Palace of Islandia best illustrates this economic system. The entire western basement is dedicated to food storage. The rulers of the Sea peoples can also use much of the stored food to support craft specialists, who occupy up to a fourth of the population, in the production of salable items. This system of centralized redistribution is in place throughout the islands.

Labyrinth-like palace complexes, vivid frescoes depicting scenes such as Hull-leaping and Keel-leaping, long processions, fine gold jewelry, elegant stone vases, and pottery with vibrant decorations of marine life are all particular features of the Sea People’s Realm.

Apart from the abundant local agriculture, the Sea Peoples are also a mercantile people who engage significantly in overseas trade, and at their peak may well have a dominant position in international trade over much of the Southern Sea. Close alliances with Aztlan and Antilia are solid and very old, and even Dorado will do trade that is run via Sandship to the Duke’s Keep.

Throughout all the islands, extensive waterways have been built in order to protect the growing population. This system has two primary functions, first providing and distributing water, and secondly relocating sewage and stormwater. The second is of great import, as it must also ensure that the waste is used effectively and does not harm their other citizens who farm seaweed and fish. As a result, one of the defining aspects of the Sea People is the architectural feats of their waste management. The Sea Peoples use elements such as wells, cisterns, and aqueducts to manage their water supplies. Structural aspects of their buildings even play a part. Flat roofs and plentiful open courtyards are used for collecting water to be stored in cisterns. Significantly, the Sea Peoples have water treatment devices. One such device seems to be a series of porous clay pipes through which water is allowed to flow until clean, with the remainder laid to dry upon uninhabited islands to dray and later be used in several other ways, from dyes to fertilizer to firecakes.

The Homes of Islandians and Kerisian, be they above or below water, are called Villas. Raised on thick, often cultivated and still living stilts, reached by moveable, folding steps or ladders, the raised homes of Islandia are round or pointed with the points facing into the wind, and the porch areas beneath them. Some have noticed that the houses resemble the pontoons that make up the hulls of most ships – designed to cut through storms, which can happen with little or no warning, and are meant to resist and survive even flooding or massive tidal waves.

Family

Sexual relationships before marriage are common and casual in most Sea People cultures. This is not the case once a permanent relationship is established. Sea Peoples generally enjoy freedom of choice when choosing a marriage partner. Among the Sea People genealogical records and family history are still important. For many years following the end of the God’s War, social status was defined by hierarchy and land ownership, but currently it is usually shown by the display of imported goods such as clothing.

Sea People culture is very family oriented, with households usually consisting of three or more generations. Traditional child rearing is done by turning over a younger child to the other children of the household, where they will interact and play with children of other families. Grandparents often have a special relationship with their grandchildren. Parents tend to be more concerned with discipline and instruction, while grandparents are more indulgent. Education happens informally throughout, and while Kerisians tend to be a bit more formal and earnest in teaching reading and writing (speech does not travel well in the water), Islandians are mostly illiterate unless there is a specific need for them not to be.

From birth, children are part of a group mentality, being passed from family member to family member, carried everywhere and part of everything. This social relationship makes it difficult for some Sea Peoples to act independently, often relying on family advice or consensus before making decisions. As individuals move farther away from the family group, they can struggle with isolation, confusion, guilt, and loss of identity.

Government

Both Keris and Islandia employ a hereditary Monarchy that holds to the ancient laws (in part because Vulcana will shake a mountain). The Houses trace back to before the God’s War, but neither found themselves in the rolls of the Sibolan survivors, though some kin was found among the Kahokians about a decade ago.

Outside of that, government is mostly about making sure that everything is distributed equitably, so that all people get a fair and necessary share of not just the foodstuffs, but of the wealth of the nations. As a result, The Sea Peoples are generally far wealthier than their Imperial cousins at the lower levels, and less so at the ore traditional levels of Merchant and nobility – in part because everyone in the Sea Realm is a merchant, and there are very few nobles.

For defense, there are said to be two dozen Regiments for both Sea and Land and note that the sea ones do not need ships, as they can take them. Justice is always tried to be settled by a headman on a small island or a village before being taken up by the Reeves and the Agency, who are also found here, having begun to show up after the squat brick building was built by a group that traveled from Aztlan before the last Skyfall. It was well remarked how it managed to survive the catastrophe that created the silent Sea.

Commerce

Education

Culture

Arts

Values

Sea Peoples will generally smile even if they don’t feel like it to ensure that strangers are happy and made to feel welcome. Smiling sets the attitude for all future interactions. In this, they get along famously with Lyonian merchants.

Tradition is a vital part of Sea People culture. It has always been the responsibility of the clerics and Shamans to keep the verbal traditions, history, and records of their people, and they will not divulge any information except to those that they know and respect. Sea People traditions are viewed as sacred and can bring on the wrath of the gods if not followed correctly. Sea People rites are based mainly on experiences with people who have died come in many forms, from babies who have been miscarried or aborted and are now demon spirits, to wandering, homeless spirits who had been neglected during their lives. Relationships with the dead are a huge strength to Sea Peoples as revered family members can be transformed into family gods one can turn to for help. Sea Peoples believe in the materiality of all things, including ghosts and spirits who have finer, lighter bodies. This materiality of all things helps make communication and interaction possible.

The Sea Realm is very family and community oriented. Sea People parents strive to pass on to their children values such as obedience and respect to parents and elders, conformity to religious and cultural beliefs and the proper behavior that is expected of them. Respect the environment. Make art. Embrace the Sea. Hold neighborliness, creativity, and a way of life guided by respect for diversity close to your heart.

It is normal in the Sea Realm for personal property to be seen as the property of the social group instead of an individual. They see nothing wrong with borrowing whatever item they need from others, without thinking anything of it.

Nobility Fashion

The ideas about fashion for the Sea Realms are decidedly a challenge in the cooler regions but are most appealing in the tropical places and spaces of the Islandian Courts.

They can be talked into dressing more warmly in the cooler regions and will often adopt a variety of light skirts and blousy top, or loose pants and blousy top. One never knows which, as the only real differences between the genders are hair length and do they have their chests covered or not. They often wear very broad brimmed hats with bird feathers – the brighter and more colorful and larger the better.

Culture Heroes

Maumoana: In the aftermath of the God’s War, the Iaran Themon was the first to realize the importance of collecting and unifying the scattered sea peoples, and from their efforts came the forging of the Sea Realms of Islandia and Keris.

Kon Tiki: A trickster hero who played pranks on the gods and the foes during the God’s War. Possibly linked to a mythical General who worked with Ululani.

Nemo Nautalia: A legendary sailor who it is said could command the waters to take him even into the stars or down to the depths of the sea. He fought many great creatures and showed us many lessons.

Cultural Weapons

Seascale is armor fashioned from the hides of different sea creatures. Of a peculiar Kerisian make, unforged, yet very durable and flexible – it has an issue if allowed to dry out in that it becomes very brittle. It is usually kept well oiled, preferably with whale oil. For weaponry they do love to say it:

As Above: Islandian units are typically outfitted with a Rapier about three feet long with a single sharp edge and a flat end, a whip, often spiked, and a squarish bladed spear called a harpoon that can be thrown a good distance.

So Below: Kerisian warriors carry Tridents, Nets, and long Knives that are much thinner and pointed on the end.