Sirens

Mermaids of the high seas, keepers of the shoals, jealous of the waves

The Sirens of the shallows emerged from the Akashic Sea. Indeed, while many others were transplanted to Seln, the Sirens have always called the Akashic Sea home.

History

The Shoalskimmer Sirens of the shallows were driven into the Aloran bay in the first days of the Kingdom by their more aggressive cousins, the Glowfin Sirens. They might have perished entirely, but fate intervened. A tremendous storm reshaped the entry into the bay, cutting it off from the greater Akashic Sea for 500 years.

In those 500 years, the Shoalskimmers rebuilt their strength. When the bay finally reopened around 800, they drove the Glowfin clans from the continental shelf surrounding the Kingdom territories.

Today, the Shoalskimmers control the waters of the inner sea, including the borders to the Floran, Aloran, and Izuno lands. Beyond those lands, hostile Sirens control the waters. Those Glowfin Sirens are not considered neighbors and do not respect Kingdom treaties.

Stature

The mermaids of the Akashic Sea are very different than the folk of the land.

Mature Sirens measure six to ten feet long, half or more of that dominated by their powerful tail. Their human half is typically slim and androgynous; most Kingdom folk believe that all Sirens are women.

These folk have dark eyes, frilled ears, and webbed fingers. Sometimes the webbing extends as far as their elbows. Sailors joke about “flying fish”, but these webbed Sirens have exhibited an alarming ability to leap far out of water!

Notably, Sirens are completely face blind. They are, however, exceedingly observant of color and body language. Their unique identities are defined by the exact patterns of colors along their scales; the Sirens can recognize these patterns even through the shifts of their life cycle.

Sirens have a unique life cycle:

  • Sirens are viviparous, carrying their young internally
  • Young Sirens mature in five to six years
    • The mark of adulthood is typically ten years
    • The young Sirens undergo trials of strength and skill that determine their occupation
  • The newly adult Siren is male and enjoys the attention of the older Sirens seeking a mate
  • Courtship does not imply relationship; the males often wander
  • At about age 30, the Siren undergoes a metamorphosis and becomes female
    • This often utterly reshapes the Siren’s facial features and body type. Most Kingdom folk would not recognize the same Siren after this change
  • The female Siren maintains fertility through about age 50. These Sirens often retreat to coral shallows, hiding in grottos to care for the next generation
  • As fertility ebbs, the Siren is freed from responsibility of parenthood

Sirens no longer age after 50. In theory, they can live indefinitely. However, Sirens continue to grow their entire lives.

  • Newly mature males average about six feet long
  • Fertile females average about ten feet long
  • After 50, the Siren grows at a rate of about 10cm per year indefinitely

This size can be a strong advantage in combat, and these older Sirens are most likely to interact with Kingdom folks and other dangers.

At some point, the Siren’s need for food becomes a burden on the tribe. At this point, most Sirens depart the tribe to explore and meditate in deeper waters. Most perish there, but there are always rumors of truly enormous Sirens seen by (drunken) sailors.

Diplomacy

The Shoalskimmer language is a trilling song that carries well through water. Most do not speak Kingdom languages. Even those that do often feign ignorance.

Even if the Sirens do not speak a Kingdom language, they have an incredible ability to learn songs and mimic sounds.

Colors and Sirens

Kingdom diplomats tend to show up in somber, dark colors. To an Aloran, this is obedience to formality. Unfortunately, to the color-sensitive Sirens, this is the equivalent of having a chat with a man wearing a porcelain mask. Off-putting and stiff!

By the same token, travelers wearing bright colors are likely to stumble across Siren interpretations. Sirens at the height of fertility (and desire) tend to shine with bright, floral patterns. You can imagine how awkward this can be when a Floran shows up!

Body language and intent

Though face-blind, the Sirens are extremely attuned to body language. The most fanciful words will fall on deaf ears if the speaker’s body language betrays deceit!

Sirens are often thought to have Arts to discern a man’s true thought. In reality, they simply place greater weight on his posture and bearing than his sweet words.

Siren diplomats

The Sirens maintain a special position for negotiator. This Siren is responsible for handling the rescue bounty, trading, and other external communications. The Siren will usually make an effort to learn Kingdom tongues and norms. Such Sirens often commit their encounters to memory through careful meditation; they can recognize a repeat encounter decades later by small signs like a person’s particular cadence of speech or walking pace.

Involuntary rescue

Kingdom folk are always getting stranded at sea. It’s a miracle their little boats can even stay upright. Being good neighbors, the Sirens help these bedraggled sailors by escorting them back to shore. Such a good deed deserves a token in reward, right?

Of course, sometimes Sirens “find” a vessel in need of “rescue” and “escort” them to shore. Such a shame about that hole that appeared in the hull, isn’t it? Kingdom sailors really should be more careful in the shallows!

##Trade

Seek:

  • Bone meal: An excellent source of nutrient for their farms
  • Meat: The Sirens like exotic foods like beef and chicken!
  • Song: Like any intelligent folk, the Sirens enjoy music.

Offer:

  • Salvaged materials, especially from wrecks
  • Rare metals, though the Sirens refuse to elaborate on where they find such
  • Information. The Sirens have forgotten more about the seas than any cultivator knows
  • Fishing and travel rights
    • For the right price, they will tug a vessel to bountiful shoals or protect a merchant against other Siren tribes

Arts

Coral weapons

What little the Sirens build within human sight is wood, bone, and reed. Easy for Kingdom folk to mistake them for private fish!

Unseen, however, the Sirens nuture the secret of coral. Grown rather than cut, this secret material reverses Water’s dampening property and instead acts as an incredible amplifier for all manner of Arts!

A coral spear can punch through a hull like paper, and a coral bow fires with equal ease both in and out of the water.

Jealous if its secrets, Shoalskimmers treat their coral with special reagents that cause the weapons to dissolve without proper care.

###Pearls

Grown in the deepest grottos, Shoalskimmer pearls glimmer like crystal and fetch high prices at market. Unbeknownst to the Kingdom, however, these Pearls have a greater power. They are an Essence, akin to that created by cultivators, that can be consumed by anyone!

With Pearls, the Shoalskimmers are able to select a promising warrior and greatly empower them almost instantly!

The Pearls are perfectly safe for Sirens to consume. However, Kingdom folk should be more wary. Consuming so much of something grown in the Akashic Sea might have…side effects.

The Scholar of the Deeps

An Aloran scholar managed to get his hands on some pearls. Eager to experiment, he consumed one a day and journaled his experiences.

At first he felt powerful. Over a few weeks, however, he began to have trouble telling faces apart. His skin began to grow itchy and rough, especially on his legs. He found himself captivated by songs, often involuntarily humming a ditty.

After a season, he complained of feeling stifled by the very dryness around him.

After half a year, he departed to find more Pearls and was not seen again.

The journal was confiscated by the Crown and destroyed.

Secrets

Cultivation of the Song

Sirens do not cultivate as the Kingdom would reckon. However, their oral song of histories hides within it a potent secret.

A Siren in need can evoke a fragment of the Song and mantle the memories of heroic Sirens past! Temporarily rendered as powerful as a cultivator, the Siren can accomplish great feats of strength and beauty.

In turn, the Siren surrenders a fragment of themselves to the Song – and to the next Siren in need. Perhaps the Crown found in this Song the model for Harmony itself.

Shoalstones

According to the Kingdom, Water cannot host ley lines. The dampening element diffuses the energy instead.

Yet the Sirens maintain a series of Shoalstones in both shallow and deep waters. If one were to chart a map of these, they would perfectly interweave with the Kingdom’s own wards!

The Sirens maintain these wards as a favor to the Crown in memory of that ancient storm. They still remember who called that storm to save them and seek to repay the trade.

Sleeping Sisters

Not all elder Sirens starve. Some instead sink to the ocean’s bottom and sleep an age. Nourished by ley lines, they slowly grow to titanic size.

These sleeping sisters can be awoken. Towering giants of the waves, the sleeping sisters can only remain active for short periods, but their prowess is tremendous in those brief periods.

When the leviathan of the deeps attack, the Sirens call for their sisters.