Locathah

Called "Kuo-Toa" (War Thralls) by their Aboleth creators and "Skum" by the surface dwellers, the Locathah (wet folk) have a similar history to the Azarketi, serving the Aboleth in the age of the Domination, then marginalzed and despised post-liberation. But while the Azarketi were aquatic beings created using sentient humanoids as a base, the Locathah were aquatic animals engineered into sentient humanoids. Therefore, unlike the Azarketi, the Locathah have no cultural roots to return to following the Abolethi Domination. This marks the Locathah as an ancestry which is creating its own identity from zero.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Locathah have tough, scaled bodies created for combat on land and underwater. Roughly humanoid in shape, Locathah posesses many morpholigical traits common in fish such as bulging eyes, flat noses, wide mouths, short necks, and gills. These gills contain air-sacs which allow the Locathah to operate on dry land for up to four hours, after which they begin to suffocate.

Growth Rate & Stages

Bred for combat, the Kua-Toa were created to develop quickly to replenish lost numbers. A single Kua-Toa was bred to reach maturity after 1 year and die serving the Aboleth, most dying at 5-to-8 years old. As the Locathah and Kua-Toa distanced themselves from the Domination, they have seen their lifespan steadily increase. As of 1105, the oldest known Locathah is in his mid-forties.

Behaviour

In contrast to their Kua-Toa brethren, who seek out lords to rule over them and provide orders, the Locathah despise control and authority. The Locathah, moreso than even some Islanders, place great emphasis on their autonomy following the era of Domination.
Because of this distrust of authority, most Locathah are skeptical of religion as well, a popular sentiment among them being that the gods are just "Aboleth by another name." Though there are circulating reports of Locathah who revere Balum.

Civilization and Culture

History

The race that would become the Locathah, then called the Kuo-Toa, was first revealed to the Lugusian Islands in response to the Fool's Rebellion. They served as the shock troops, fighting on the front lines in massive swarms that saw plenty of casualties, but never enough to break their ranks. In those days, Kua-Toa could not be reasoned with, only capable of speaking in broken deep speech that only the Azarketi would understand. Kuo-Toa were vicious, but only attacked on the orders of an Aboleth or an Aboleth-designated superior. Unlike the brutish Chuul, Kua-Toa were capable of executing basic strategies in combat, and even mutinying if a commander acted against the interest of the Aboleth.
When we broke the Aboleth's control over their thralls, the Kua-Toa were freed along with the Azarketi. We had assumed this would turn them into mindless husks, but that turned out to be a small-minded assumption. Their 300 years around other sentients humanoids allowed the Kua-Toa to craft minds and will of their own. While some still revered the Aboleth, continuing to call themselves Kuo-Toa, others saw their time under Abolethi control with resentment. These freed Kuo-Toa call themselves Locathah, leaving behind their designation as mere thralls.
Locathah now live mostly in nomadic pod-tribes, avoiding interaction with the "dry folk" as best they can while carving an identity for themselves free from Abolethi control. However, the odd Locathah adventurer who breaks from their tribe to satiate their need for self-actualization is not without precedent.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Locathah despise the Aboleth and the Kuo-Toa. The latter for their subjugation and the latter for their mindless obedience.
The Azarketi and Locathah have a complex relationship. While they both experience prejudice from the land-dwelling races of the Lugusian Islands, the Azarketi were still the Kuo-Toa's superiors during the Domination. Some Locathah see the Azarketi as an extension of the Aboleth's control, which Locathah hate with a righteous fury. Because of this, the relationship between the sea-dwellers is cold, but some Locathah tribes are known to visit and trade with Azarketi Conclaves, as they are not welcome anywhere else.

Lifespan

Originally 5-8 years; Now as high as 35.

Average Height

Around 5 to 6 ft.

Average Weight

Around 150 lbs

Pronunciation
lo-ka-THA
Adjective
Locathahni

Mechanical Changes (5e)

• Ability Score Increase: When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. You can't raise any of your scores above 20.
• Age: Locathah mature to aduthood within 1 year and can live to be about 35.
• Lanaguage: You can speak, read and write your area's Common laguage and Deep Speech.