Aquian

"The ocean doesn’t take sides. It just drags you down."

The Aquians are a reclusive and enigmatic race, native to the salt-laced depths of the world’s oceans. Defined by graceful frames, webbed limbs, and bioluminescent eyes that shimmer like sun through coral, their culture is one of quiet strength and enduring artistry. Though they rarely surface, limited by their physiology to only 3 to 5 days on land, they leave a lasting impact wherever they go. From their reef-hewn cities of polished glass and sculpted stone to their unparalleled underwater speed and command of marine life, the Aquians walk the fine line between serene artisans and potential sea-born conquerors. Most dwellers of the surface know little of them, save for the pale glint of their jewelry at coastal markets or the flicker of their forms slipping between waves. Yet, those who mistake their peace for weakness are often reminded: the sea has no master, but it arms its children well.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

• Kira.
• Aelira.
• Sholu.
• Mireth.

Masculine names

• Tovan.
• Ryshal.
• Namu.
• Elaros.

Unisex names

• Sael.
• Velo.
• Narei.
• Ishi.

Family names

• Kira.
• Aelira.
• Sholu.
• Mireth.

Other names

• Saltbloods (neutral descriptor used by surface folk).
• Wavewhispers (used by seafarers, referring to their subtle, secretive nature).
• Drip-eyes (coastal slur, mocking their constant need to stay damp).
• Reefborn (a respectful term of cultural distinction among artisans).

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Aquians speak Delmari, a language composed of melodic tones and fluid consonants, often accompanied by minor gestures of the hands or fins for emphasis. Examples:

• “Sha’vai” Peace between tides.
• “Lun’ha maros” I see your light (a formal greeting).
• “Velora deshal” Leave these waters.

Culture and cultural heritage

Aquian culture is steeped in ritual, preservation, and an intimate bond with the sea. Unlike many races, Aquians do not pursue conquest, wealth, or dominion over land, they build sanctuaries of coral, bone, and reefstone, honoring ancestral roots in flowing, timeless artistry. Every facet of Aquian life is a blend of aesthetic and function, from the curve of a dwelling’s wall meant to redirect currents, to the ornate inscriptions woven into their clothing. Their isolation is not born of fear but tradition, believing the surface world too transient to invest in deeply. That said, Aquians are not passive; they hold ancient alliances with creatures of the deep and have marshaled them before, whales as siege beasts, jellyfish as living mines, sharks and eels as vanguard skirmishers. Though physically underwhelming on land, their power lies where the light fades.

Shared customary codes and values

Aquians follow three unspoken tenets:

• Flow where the current takes you. (Harmony with fate).
• What is taken must be reshaped, not replaced. (Preservation of tradition).
• Salt remembers. (Past mistakes and triumphs must never be forgotten).
• Aquians frown upon hoarding, waste, and betrayal. Among their kind, exile is a fate worse than death.

Average technological level

While they lack advanced machinery, Aquians are masters of biochemical and glass-based innovation. Their refined glasswork changed Everwealthian alchemy and architecture alike, introducing techniques for stained glass, reinforced glass hulls, and early diving suits now lost to time. Their tools tend to be coral-grown, bone-sculpted, or glass-poured, emphasizing utility within their watery domain.

Common Etiquette rules

• Never interrupt a speaker mid-thought; the current must complete its course.
• Direct contact is rare. Bows or fin-flick gestures are preferred greetings.
• Gifts are given in shells, never wrapped or boxed.
• It is considered gravely rude to comment on another’s fins or gill structure.

Common Dress code

Aquians favor flowing, translucent garments underwater, strips of kelp-silk or reef-dyed linens. Jewelry, however, is the true marker of status: heavy coral chokers, etched glass bangles, or pearl-lined chestpieces. On land, they wear loose robes that accommodate their fins and facilitate rehydration.

Art & Architecture

Aquian architecture resembles underwater cathedrals. Formed from tamed coral, whale bone, and volcanic stone, their dwellings are winding, luminous sanctuaries, full of echoing tunnels and living murals grown from bioluminescent moss. Their most famous art, however, is glass, formed underwater under great pressure and heat using mineral plumes, shaped into prisms that bend both light and magic.

Foods & Cuisine

A diet rich in algae, kelp, shellfish, and pickled deep-reef plants defines Aquian fare. On rare visits to land, they enjoy citrus and vinegars to balance their briny palates. Aquian food is minimalist, but potent, soups of fermented eel stock, raw mollusk platters, and crystal-clear broths garnished with seafoam herbs. Sweetness is rare and considered an acquired taste.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

• The Flowing Memory: A ritual storytelling event where ancestors are honored through dance and suspended calligraphy ink in water.
• Tidefasting: A coming-of-age swim to an ancestral ruin or holy reef, alone and without aid.
• The Salt Veil: A funeral rite where the body is left in a salt-rich trench to calcify and become reef.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Newborns are bathed in a mineral-rich trench pool and sung to by three elders who represent memory, song, and sea. They are named only after their first swim.

Coming of Age Rites

At roughly 25, Aquians undertake the Tidefasting, where they must swim unaided to a sacred ruin and return with a token from within. Success proves their endurance and binds them to their community.

Funerary and Memorial customs

The deceased are wrapped in reef-thread shrouds and lowered into a coral-lined trench. Over weeks, their remains calcify and feed new coral formations, a process seen as honorable reincorporation into the ocean.

Common Taboos

• Surfacing for vanity or indulgence.
• Polluting water sources, even by accident.
• Refusing to wear jewelry gifted by kin.
• Touching another Aquian’s fins without permission.
• Discussing land politics while underwater.

Common Myths and Legends

• The Deep Caller: A mythical Aquian said to speak to sea leviathans and control the tides.
• First Glass: A tale of the spirit Nai’Ira who shaped the first piece of glass from undersea lightning.
• The Bed Serpent: A guardian beast said to punish Aquians who forsake the old traditions, dragging them beneath the seafloor to suffocate from the weight of their sins.
• Whalewake War: A legend of a past conflict where Aquians rode whales into battle against ancient land raiders.
• The Hollow Reef: A forbidden place said to echo with the voices of drowned oathbreakers.

Historical figures

Mireth Vashan: The artisan responsible for introducing Aquian glass to surface trade. Namu of the Depths: A tactician who allegedly turned back an entire Everwealthy fleet during the Schism using jellyfish clouds and bait currents. Ishera the Flowing Voice: A spiritual leader who united three warring reef-tribes through poetry alone.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Smooth scale texture, balanced fin symmetry, and jewelry placement are considered key. Bioluminescence is enhanced with oils and polished coral paint for ceremonies.

Gender Ideals

Gender is largely ceremonial, roles are assigned based on skill, not sex. However, certain rites (like voice-callers or tide-weavers) are traditionally performed by those considered spiritually “aligned” with either current or coral, fluid concepts that rarely correlate with biological gender.

Courtship Ideals

Love is a calm tide. Courtship involves shared swims, gifts of glass or bone-carvings, and eventually the weaving of a Finband, a pair of conjoined ornaments worn behind the ears during betrothal.

Relationship Ideals

Partnerships are lifelong currents meant to stabilize the flow. Betrayal or abandonment is considered worse than death. Some Aquian couples maintain separate dwellings to foster autonomy, others cohabitate in elaborate reef dwellings carved jointly.

Interesting Facts & Folklore:

• Saltwrought Memory: Some Aquians inscribe memories onto etched coral tablets, submerging them in sacred trenches to be "read" through resonance by future generations.
• Living Glass: Certain Aquian artisans grow their glass structures underwater like coral, feeding them heat and minerals over decades until they’re “harvested.”
• Finbands of Binding: The most sacred jewelry among bonded couples, a Finband is said to hum faintly in proximity to its twin, used to find one's spouse even in storm-churned waters.
• Shimmering Silence: A cultural practice in which Aquians dive to great depths and remain in meditative silence for days to clear grief, guided only by bioluminescent trails.
• Eelbone Instruments: Aquian songs are often played on flute-like devices carved from eelbone, creating haunting melodies only fully heard underwater.

Idioms and Metaphors:

• “The tide listens.” A reminder that secrets spoken carelessly may return with consequence. Often whispered before heated arguments.
• “Don't anchor a jellyfish.” Used to describe efforts made in vain, especially when trying to control someone or something inherently chaotic.
• “Your coral is showing.” A cheeky remark when someone reveals personal emotion or vulnerability they were trying to conceal.
• “Let the current braid it.” Encouragement to stop micromanaging or overthinking, let things resolve in their own time.
• “He swims like a warmblood.” A quiet insult toward an Aquian moving awkwardly, emotionally, or acting too much like a surface-dweller.