Tʼadzne (tʼad͡zne)

Bubble Nets

Utility

T'adzne bubble nets create air-pockets underwater to allow for submerged settlements. Typically, the nets enclose a small area with raised flooring and an internal roof to shield inhabitants from drips, creating a truly dry area. T'adzne are arranged in independent but linked networks of tunnels and rooms, so that if one net fails there is another air-pocket only a few feet away.

The T'adzne maximum size is a 100 foot diameter net, with a height of 30 feet, though nets this size are extremely rare. The larger the net, the greater the risk of breaking. This has directly impacted the layout of Tzudzekt cities to be sprawling affairs of small interconnected nodes rather than huge structures. Excess air is channeled through aeroducts to the surface, and these aeroducts also double as dry points of entry to submerged settlements.

T'adzne is considered an old technology, predating the Fell Calamity, as well understood as a wooden building or ship. But much like any wood structure can catch on fire, any bubble net can burst. People know this, but continue to build flammable homes and live beneath T'adzne nets.

Manufacturing

Bubble nets rely on the t'ajuk plan, a species of kelp that produces an immense amount of breathable air released in endless streams of tiny bubbles. The t'ajuk kelp only grows in coastal regions, due to its need for bright sunlight. The deepest known example of a living t'ajuk plan rooted at around 120 feet. These are considered freshwater plants and are natively found in the freshwater central oceans of Tvus, though some are said to exist in the more brackish outer Tvus waters. They cannot survive in the saltwater of Yenent, nor the frigid waters of The Broken Chains. Mixed success has been had in growing t'ajuk in various freshwater lakes of Fleyteyt.

Wild t'adzne were originally discovered by the Rinshi in natural tangles of the t'ajuk kelp, the Rinshi flotillas wove together rudimentary kelp nets as secret training grounds along their migratory currents.

When the Tzudzehkt learned of this practice, they implemented the simple nets as a bases of operation to explore submerged ruins. Over time, they improved and increased the complexity of their designs, quickly learning that smaller was better. Combining aquaculture and stonework, they developed building practices that incorporated the kelp's needs for soil, sunlight, and water currents. The Tzudzehkt bases became permanent settlements, with rotating systems ensuring new generations of kelp always had what they needed to thrive. Higher quality T'adzne have multiple interwoven nets over the same air-pocket, so if one net is broken, there are safeguards to prevent air from being lost.

As the technology progressed, several important elements were added:

• Internal roofing designs were created to redirected any drips of water from the kelp net to gutters along the edges of raised flooring. This was necessary to prevent a constant rain inside the T'adzne, allowing for truly dry interior spaces. Even with these dry zones, anything brought into a T'adzne is still waterproofed. These roof systems also act as heat-sinks and smoke filters over small cooking fires, allowing people to prepare food without damaging the kelp.
• Aeroducting systems channeled air to where it was needed before directing it to the surface. This system is kept as simple as possible, but it is necessary to assure that air circulates, preventing net rupture. It also creates a dry point of entry to the settlement, often accompanied by a full port at the water's surface. This T'adzne aero-port is directly above the highest point of the entire submerged settlement.
• There are many smaller necessary elements, but the final major addition is diffusion of any escaping bubbles that are not redirected to the aeroducts. The t'ajuk kelp will naturally direct any air they produce to any existing air their leaves sense, but in large settlements rogue bubbles are inevitable. If nothing is done about these rogue bubbles, they will fizz at the surface and give away the location of any submerged Tzudzehkt cities. For this reason, the Tzudzehkt will often plant additional species of kelp throughout their cities and install immense propellers that turn with the currents. These propellers and the other kelps disperse the majority of rogue bubbles
• Due to the somewhat vulnerable nature of T'adzne, they are often protected with powerful enchantments and constantly guarded. Even with these safeguards, however, every person entering a T'adzne knows they are taking a risk and are ready to get wet at any moment. Many people fear to sleep in a T'adzne, but generations of Tzudzehkt have slept safely beneath bubble nets, so they lost this fear long ago.

Social Impact

The core of Tzudzehkt civilization now relies on T'adzne bubble nets. This is a strength and a weakness for the Tzudzehkt, and they are well aware of this. Some settlements are working towards moving away from T'adzne by building stone cities underwater that connect to the surface and only using the kelp as a air supplement rather than being totally reliant upon it. The inherent risks of the nets have also increased innovation around water breathing, to the point where many argue that the Tzudzehkt are better at breathing underwater than the Rinshi.