The Olan dwarves live in sea caves along Kauvet’s Southwestern Coast. Unique among the holds the Olan dwarves value stone over metal and they specialize in the crafting of items from special
Living Stone. The dwarves who can sing and shape this living stone are known as
Tagata Pese. These items are grown in warm water currents or enchanted pools within their cavern holds that the Olan dwarves sing to in order to shape what they need. They delve deep below the ocean floor as well to find special goods used in their artifice. Their skin is tinged blue and green and they dye their hair in fantastic colors to match the living stone they work with. Green, blue, red, purple, and orange are common. They travel the seas in small ships to allow them to reach their living stone quarries and are often spotted by sailors.
Government
The Olan dwarves are led by the
Tolu Pese, a council of the three most venerated Tagata Pese in all of Maa Ola. They hear petitions from the Olan dwarves, direct the fishing fleets with their auguries, and lead teams to research new ways for the Tagata Pese to practice their magic. Below the Tolu Pese are the
Pulenuu who lead the Olan towns. These individuals serve as magistrates and mayors dealing with everyday matters within Maa Ola.
Towns
Mafunafa
The Southernmost of the Olan towns Mafunafa is caressed by warm waves that rock the living stone that grows by and protects the city. Few captains can find their way through the treacherous reefs that will tear out the belly of a ship without a pilot sent out by Mafunafa’s Pulenuu. In addition to the living stone produced here, the people of the city harpoon giant grouper and marlin in the deep waters when they come into the reefs to feed. The caverns of Mafunafa are some of the smallest and contain unique passageways that lead up to the surface filled with the remnants of ancient creatures in the walls.
Opeopea
The floating city of Opeopea sits upon great barges that carry it through even the most terrible storms. They travel between reefs to tend to their living quarries and harvest shoals of fish with great nets as they travel. The town is known for their shipwrights who build new vessels on the edges of the town where they are cut loose to sail free once they are completed.
Tai Tai
The largest of the sea cave towns of Maa Ola, Tai Tai houses the Tolu Pese and their research pools. These pools connect to the sea at high tide and house the many varieties of living stone the Tagata Pese work with. Tai Tai is also home to the great temples of Maa Ola where the gods of the sea are worshipped alongside the dwarven gods. The main occupations in the city include fishers, kelp farmers, and jewelers who use the abundant living stone produced in the Tolu Pese pools.
Loloto
The Northernmost town, Loloto, sits at the edge of an underwater canyon which holds the rarest varieties of living stone. These are used to craft the weapons and armor of the Olan dwarves and is stronger than steel. The people of Loloto dive into this canyon to harvest the stone and materials from the strange beasts who live in the deep water. Special smithies work day and night under the watch of forge master Tagata Pese.
Matafaga
Behind white beaches, the caves of Matafaga are not connected to the ocean. Matafage is a series of grottos open to the sky. Here the Olan dwarves raise crops for the other towns. In the sea, shallow sandbars separate reefs of living stone and at low tide the dwarves can wade for over a mile offshore. Shallow skimmers are the preferred watercraft of Matafaga.
Tagata Pese
Outsiders would call them wizards or witches. To the Olan dwarves, the Tagata Pese are simple servants of the people who nurture the living stone that the Olan dwarves have built their society around. Equally skilled within the water or at a living stone forge, the Tagata Pese songs are the background noise to any activity within Maa Ola. They change the ways the living stone of Maa Ola grows to prepare it for shaping in the stone forges. Sometimes they can sing the stone into its final shape while it grows or at other times they cause it to grow more densely so it can be shaped after it is mined for its final purpose.
Tieti Malie
The
Tieti Malie serve the Pulenuu of each city and carry the blessings of the Tolu Pese into battle. They ride great sharks atop the waves wielding tridents and harpoons to protect Maa Ola and its fleet. When called to battle on land the Tagata Pese use their magic to allow the Tieti Malie to ride the air like the waves for short periods of time. They function as scouts, ship guards, and an elite cavalry depending upon the situation. The Tieti Malie work in small groups of six called Moto.
Types of Living Stone
Ili Mumu: Grown naturally, Ili Mumu forms brilliant red fans of thin stone that branch out from a base like the veins of a leaf. Under the guidance of the Tagata Pese, Ili Mumu can be grown in sheets that are used for decorations, buildings, or paneling.
Lana Moaga Pu: Tall shoots of Lana Moaga Pu sprout from most living stone quarries in Ma Ola. This blue stone grows in spears that branch like the antlers of a stag in rut. These are grown as posts, fences, spears, spars, and masts. When hollowed out Lana Moaga Pu makes a ship's mast that is stronger and lighter than one made from the trunk of a tree.
Fai’ai Mumea: One of the rarest varieties of living stone Fai’ai Mumea grows in dense orbs within the dark canyon by Loloto. This stone is used to create the armor of the Tieti Malie by singing it into new shapes before it can form its normal orb shape. Once harvested very little can break through this incredible living stone armor.
Laulau Lanu: A sturdy mutable breed of living stone, Laulau Lanu grows in thick shelves and can be sung into myriad forms. This type is used to make many items for homes and businesses like tables, chairs, doors, and benches.
Nifo Malie: Only growing in complete darkness, Nifo Malie provides light in surprising places in the deepwater canyon outside of Loloto. This is the rarest type of living stone.
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