The Sunken City of Seink
Beneath the shadow of Great Pixtoria lives the Sunken City. An ancient legend tells of the two once being the same country, but a great disaster separated them forever. The True Council is old enough to have seen it with their own eyes.The Sunken City of Seink is Splore's only underwater city, located deep in the trench of what used to be the floating island of Great Pixtoria. Hidden within the depths of the ocean, the great pressure can only be withstood by those who have evolved to live permanently underwater. As such, this is the only region you may find Deep Elderfolk - a species so fargone into the depths, the low pressure of the surface would surely be fatal. (Or at least make them look really, REALLY ugly.) The region is populated natively by Deep Elderfolk, Fin Pixies, and Scale Kemono. It happens to be a hot tourist destination for those who have access to submarine systems, Deep Suits, or powerful Hydrophobic Charms. The language of this region, Deep Pixican, is a dialect of Standard Pixican. However, it's such a derivation from the original language that native speakers of Standard Pixican tend to not be able to understand it. The city itself consists of buildings that resemble bubbles, with paths surrounded by Sunken Bioluminescent Plants. The color of these plants tends to glow in a gradient from blue to teal.
Structure
Seink is run by a council of old Mages, known as The True Elders. These are the mages who wrote the first Elderfolk-transformative spells and who protected the city in its first stages of life all those eons ago. These days, they are found in a meditative state to protect them from succumbing to their old age, speaking to their representatives in dreams. They may still speak to those who know how to perform Meditational Projection.
Culture
Sunken culture is a derivation of Old Pixican. After the disaster which led to the rise of Great Pixtoria and the sinking of Seink, the newly Sunken had to adapt to their new underwater habitat.
This sudden change led to a divide between those who wanted to retain their ability to visit the surface at any time, and those who wanted to remain in the deep for the rest of their lives. Those who so strongly believed in the surface wound up migrating to the settlement of Rosethorn Coast, while those who remained, did so, forming the stubborn and strong Seink.
As such, the citizens of Seink take pride in their boldness and loyalty. They tend to speak in a way that gets as few words out as possible, quite unlike the dialect of High Pixican. Subtle nuances tend to be understood within the culture rather than spoken. Speaking too much will often get you stared at, and "talkative" often is used as an insult rather than a descriptor.
Seink prides itself on its healthy diet of wild-caught native seafood and bioluminescent plants. Those who visit will often talk of the cuisine. Emphasis is often put on presentation over taste, with glowing food of various colors being popular. These plants have been bred by accomplished farmers for centuries for their unique briny taste and, most importantly, their color. The glowing isn't nearly as bright in the air as it is in the water, so Seink truly is the only location to get these unique platters.
Lastly, mages who live in Seink have a great intimate knowledge of nearly-forgotten or difficult water-based spells. The pride and joy of the city is The True Council, keeping the city afloat. (Not in the literal sense, but... you understand.)
History
Seink and Great Pixtoria were once the same, a country named Pixica. Pixica was flourishing at a rate that the Gods found to be terrifying. With Pixica housing all of the developments, it potentially held monopoly over the entire rest of the world.
In response to this, a five day disaster was prophesized, ending with the entire landmass of the country's territory being swallowed by the ocean. Pixican development halted while the people decided how to deal with the oncoming onslaught. Two separate solutions formed. On one hand, a group of mages who had been developing a way to explore the depths of the water decided it would be best to embrace the sea and live in the depths, while the other decided they would use magic to raise a new landmass from the ocean, within the clouds to be free from the potential perils of the water.
When the land was overtaken, Pixica's plan came into action. The former group of mages, now known as The True Council, cast a temporary transformative spell that would turn everyone into a new magically developed underwater species - The Elderfolk. The citizens settled to the bottom while they decided their next steps.
But the Pixicans were so divided in their ideas of what would happen next that they decided they would do both, and go their separate ways. Those who sought to permanently become Elderfolk helped the residents of what would eventually become Great Pixtoria. With a combination of the power of every mage in Pixica, a giant landmass was ripped from the bottom of the sea and brought to the skies. Those who chose to stay underwater would found their city in the chasm in which the land once resided.
Since dividing from Great Pixtoria, the Sunken were so ecstatic with the efforts of those who saved everyone's lives that they were elected the leaders of the new city. Now known as The True Council, they would listen directly to the voices of their people, taking immediate action when anything was needed.
As the Council grew older, they recognized that they would not be able to live forever. So they spent the final years of their old age researching a powerful enough meditative state to allow them to physically traverse through minds, permanently locking themselves into a trance. Representatives would be raised from a young age to be taught how to meditate in a way to communicate directly with the Council and to relay their messages.
Since then, those who live in Seink live in gratitude and loyalty to the Council. This is something unspoken in the city - the feeling of unity within the people, connected by their love for their ever-protected home.
Technological Level
The only technology used in Seink are imported from elsewhere, and blessed in advance with a permanent Hydrophobic Charm. The vast majority of tools used in Seink are magic in nature. The Sunken find no need to develop or use heavily advanced technologies and tend to waver towards using natural alternatives, such as using bioluminescent plants for lighting.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Alternative Names
Seink, The Sunken City
Predecessor Organization
Demonym
The Sunken
Government System
Gerontocracy
Official Languages
Related Ethnicities
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I imagine this city being really beautiful with the bubble buildings and the bioluminescent plants.
Thank you! I was inspired by the way light refracts through water and thought that would be an excellent way to light a deep underwater city - rainbows! :D