The Kula

The Merma are a type of intelligent fishoid. They are the dominant species on their home planet, Dousia. The Merma cultures can be roughly divided by location. One such group, the Kula, live in the northern polar waters or 'Kolakka' in the local language. 
The Kula are one of the most colorful ethnicities of Merma, largely because they are one of the few to spend most or all of their time in the sunlight depths of water, allowing these colors to be more visible than ethnicities and cultures found in deeper waters. There are large traditions of body decoration among the Kula including the dyeing of skin and affixing of totems. The Kula are one of the most visual cultures of Merma and have a vast history of visual storytelling via color-reliant arts such as mosaics and dyes. 
The Kolakka sees little seasonal variation throughout the year, and the fauna is limited to a few species of cold-water fish and mollusks. However, there are several species of aquatic plant that thrive in the sunlight layer due to the lower solar radiation found at the poles. The Kula diet is based primarily on these plants and they have become skilled cultivators of it, sometimes going as far as using super-aquatic surfaces to maximize its production. They create shallow streams of slow water across an exposed surface, and allow the plant to grow in it, traversing the surface as it matures and is collected on the other side. The stream pace is controlled to ensure the elapsed time is ideal for the plant type. 
The center of Kula culture, in the Kolakka, is one of the more difficult regions to access thus causing the Kula to be relatively detached from cultural exchange compared to cultures along the Sukka. However, recent efforts to explore the Supra has led the Merma scientific community to eye the Kolakka for their research. The polar Supra regions are among the safest to enter on Dousia because of the reduced solar radiation and the Kula cultures are rapidly changing and adapting to the new influx of outside interest. Their local knowledge is a vital starting point for the Merma's exploration of the Supra.