sahy-REE-uhn
I am Cyrean : They are Cyreans : It is Cyrean : This is about Cyrkind
Also known as Mermen, Wavestriders, Sidge
I am Cyrean : They are Cyreans : It is Cyrean : This is about Cyrkind
Also known as Mermen, Wavestriders, Sidge
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The Cyreans are a semi-aquatic race of Mortals who make their homes amongst the many island archipelagos and vast oceans of the Sphere. Cyrean cities occupy the reefs, shallows, and beaches where they sparkle like jewels among the waves. Due to their fish-like biology and the half-sunken nature of their cities, Cyrean civilization is somewhat closed off from the rest of The Sphere. Cyreans rarely leave their aquatic homes and on the rare occasion that they do, settle near the water in close-knit communities of other Cyreans. However interesting the novel sight of a Cyrean may be, few other Mortals understand, welcome, or trust them on any level.
SOCIETY BENEATH THE WAVESAdventurous and enterprising, Cyreans have created a culture and way of life suited to their world above and beneath the waters. Deference, politeness, and social propriety are of the utmost priority in all Cyrean interactions. Even between enemies, the expectation is that one will behave with decorum and grace - ideally, one would have to be very well-versed in the nuances of Cyrean culture to even know that two individuals were fighting. The social hierarchy and particulars of what constitutes proper manners vary from nation to nation, but all hold one thread in common: one's worth and dignity as an individual holds a direct correlation to how well one upholds the social moors, rituals, and customs. Even more than what one achieves, accumulates, or advances to, a life of proper conduct (into which adventuring rarely fits) is to be prized.
The LIFE of a CYREAN
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"Normally I'd say 'come on in, the water's fine!' but let me swim ahead and make sure." |
Water Freedom
Cyrean voices have a hollow, haunting quality, and almost always sound with slow, deliberate tones. Underwater, their voices can carry for miles, a boon which Cyreans have long used to their benefit. Though they are mammals, their bodies have an adapted set of lungs and special gills capable of breathing both air and water. With webbed hands, feet, smooth scales covering their skin, and specialized organs for equalizing water pressure, the Cyrean body is perfectly adapted to travel swiftly beneath the waves.
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WATER FREEDOMYou are able to move at your full Speed, completely unhindered while swimming and can hold your breath for up to (Brawn x 5) minutes with no ill effect. You do not grant Advantage to land-based creatures while swimming and have Advantage on any Feats related to swimming or moving through bodies of water.
AdvancedYou can use an Asset to unlock the Advanced version of Water Freedom which functions as above, but your Speed also increases by 3 in the water and you have Advantage on any attacks, defenses, or other Feats made to oppose a non-aquatic creature that is swimming. You are able to breathe underwater and can dive to any depth that fish normally swim at.
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diversity by depth
The deeper one travels into the watery realms, the more specialized adaptations are required for survival. Thus, the Cyrean people show a range of diverse physical features based on the depths at which their people live. Those who live among the shores are more humanoid while those who prefer a life in the stygian depths are more fish-like in their appearance. Thus each of the Cyrean ethnicities is quite easy to recognize at a glance. The natural segregation between their habitats has led to very clear-cut boundaries between Cyrean nations with the vast majority of their wars fought for ideology rather than territory. Only when living among other Mortals, where Cyreans are in the minority, will one ever find different Cyrean ethnicities living together in peace.
at-lahn-tee-uhn
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Atlanteans hail from the more remote parts of the ocean and build their cities in volcanic trenches and cliff sides. They are a bold and adventurous people, willing to undertake great risk, both for the thrill of it and for the greater reward that often comes with taking a chance. Atlanteans have a proud heritage of adventure and a culture filled with stories (some more true than others) that extol the virtues of bravery and strength. The Atlantean people are quite proud of their courage and strengths, sometimes to the point of arrogantly considering themselves the bravest and most advanced of the Cyrean people. While this isn't necessarily true, the Atlanteans do boast an impressive society, a beacon of light on the dark frontier of the depths.
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AppearanceAtlanteans are tall and athletic, standing over 6 feet tall with long tendrils draping down from their heads and large, deep black eyes that see in the deepest water. They often have a stern, handsome appearance and skin in varying shades of brownish green. |
HomelandThe Atlantean people make their home along the continental shelf and among volcanic trenches where the ocean begins to recede into the truly deep sea. Many great Atlantean cities can be found in the oceans off the many coastlines of Midgard, Vol M'kosh, and Vaeldosh. |
bai-lee-uhn
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The Byleans are a brave and war-like people who inhabit the seas just beyond sight of land, but before the ocean grows too deep. They are fiercely independent, fighting against the encroachment of both land-dwellers and the true horrors that lurk in the deep. According to legend, the Byleans were once Elves who swore an oath to protect the oceans and shores from the nightmarish beings that slumber beneath the waves. Delphine, the goddess of the sea, transformed their bodies to see their oath fulfilled. These people have a long history of conflict not only with sea-monsters, but with both surface-dwellers and their fellow Cyreans. Byleans are paranoid and isolationist, wanting nothing to do with the world outside their small kingdoms and are well-known for attacking ships that trespass upon their waves.
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AppearanceByleans have sharp, handsome features with fins and gills adorning a rather humanoid appearance. Their skin comes in shades of blue and sea-green while their hair ranges in color from black to blue. They stand at five to six and half feet in height with red, violet, or blue eyes. |
HomelandThe Bylean people are found in the waters off-shore, far from sight of land but outside the true depths. They are also known to inhabit large lakes and inland seas. Ships avoid Bylean city-states such as those near Onegai, Ora Makesh, and Domigas Algoa. |
shawlth
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In the deepest depths of the ocean live a host of strange fish, primordial nightmares, and the Chalthe, a race of Cyreans cursed and exiled from the light and into the stygian depths. None living today remember the reason for the exile of the Chalthe. Some say it had something to do with dark magic or a war waged and lost by the ancestors. Whatever the reason, the Chalthe now lurk in the deepest depths of the sea, few in number, but resilient, powerful, and willing to do whatever it takes to revenge themselves upon their shore-dwelling brethren. Chalthe are solitary, nomadic creatures with no cities and very few settlements to speak of. They are cagey, rebellious, serious, and cryptic with no understanding of humor, sarcasm or the social customs of others. Most are thoroughly unpleasant and single-minded in their inscrutable personal quests.
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AppearanceChalthe are more fish-like in their appearance than most Cyreans, with scaly skin, gills, and large white, green, or black eyes, absent pupil. They are hairless, broad, and muscular with scales in uniform dull, dark green, blue, or brown tones. |
HomelandThe Chalthe are a solitary, nomadic people who spend most of their lives alone. Meeting another of their kind is often brief and awkward, ideally producing offspring before both partners move on. Chalthe rarely live among others and have no homeland to speak of. |
dehn-lee-kee
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Far from the surface, deep beneath the waves live the Dhenlyke, a magically gifted people who roam the seas in search of places where the flow of Mana is strong. Here, their people build cities of wonder around a central tower where they practice the arts of spellcraft to keep the worlds both below and above the waves safe from the cosmic horrors yet slumbering in the depths. Once the tower-cities of the Dhenlyke were numerous, acting as a check against the awakening of dark cosmic beings. But in recent years, their cities have been attacked and plundered by those jealous, fearful, or hungry for the arcane secrets of the Dhenlyke. Such a loss has only benefited those slumbering nightmares and their agents, as the Dhenlyke now hold only a tenuous grasp on the gates keeping evil at bay.
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AppearanceDhenlyke are quite fish-like in their appearance with prominent fins and gills on the sides of their heads and joints. Their lithe, hairless bodies are covered with glimmering scales in nearly every color of the rainbow. They stand over six feet tall with glowing white eyes. |
HomelandOnce the Dhenlyke's tower-cities could be found in every sea of every world, but now only a few remain. The most populous (and heavily defended) are in the deep oceans off the coasts of Arhona, Midor, and the magical desolations of Mara. |
lee-thee-uhn
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Sensual and passionate, wise and beautiful, Letheans are a race of Cyreans who prefer a life along the shore, building their homes not in the depths of the sea, but on tropical volcanic islands where the sun and sea meet in harmony. Their society is simple and their settlements are small and simple, built for a life lived in harmony with nature and the temperamental sea and island gods they both fear and revere. Letheans are gracious and hospitable, a welcome sight to sailors in need of port. Though they may seem rustic and simple to outsiders, theirs is a complex social web of drama where subtlety is an art form and each Lethean is a poet. Their natural grace and beauty often draws anyone they meet irresistibly and irrevocably into their lives and vice versa.
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AppearanceLetheans are lissome and fair, creatures of great beauty and irresistible magnetism. They feature short tentacles atop their heads which are often fashioned like hair, skin of blue, green, and other sea colors with lips that match cat-slit eyes in every shade of the rainbow. |
HomelandLetheans make their home among tropical volcanic islands. Their settlements are often quite small, spread out in simple huts among reaching archipelagos. The largest Lethean populations can be found in Corsica, Shima, Cal Vanol, and Ora Makesh. |
meh-ree-uhn
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Mereans are among the most prosperous and widespread Cyreans, living as merchants, fishermen, shipwrights, kelp farmers, and purveyors of the sea's bounty. Their gleaming cities of coral and pearl can be found among the reefs and shoals, as far outward into the sea as the continental shelf where only the tops of their tallest structures can be seen above the waves, buildings which serve as ports and commercial hubs connecting the worlds above and below sea level. When most outsiders think of Cyreans, it is the Merean people they imagine, for no other tribe of Cyreans is as widespread and as willing to venture out among the land-dwellers as the bold and versatile Mereans. Such a people boast many adventurers and explorers in their midst, those who would venture inland in search of new opportunities and stories to bring back home.
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AppearanceMereans have a mix of humanoid and aquatic features with no hair, gills, black eyes and skin in plate-like formations, colored varying patterns of mixed greens, blues, reds, yellows, whites, and greys. They stand at just under six feet on average with a lean, athletic build. |
HomelandMerean cities shine like gems along the shorelines of Espina, Corsica, southern Sundar, Fal Gorsikha, and Orin's Chain where they act as centers of commerce and welcome havens to ships making the perilous journey across the sea. |
mai-dohr-ee-uhn
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Of all the elusive Cyreans, Midoreans are among the most likely to be encountered by adventurous outsiders and the least likely to ever be seen away from the murky depths where they maintain vast libraries of oyster shell carvings detailing the lost histories and magics of their people; if a Midorean is ever seen on the surface, rest assured his mission is dire. These people pride themselves on their logical, scholarly approach to life and society, venerating the greatest thinkers among them as heroes. Few among them are accomplished warriors, relying instead on magic and diplomacy to secure their small cities and academic campuses from incursion by hostile forces. Midoreans are often logical, emotionally distant, and socially awkward, trailing off in the middle of a sentence when some other thought...
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AppearanceMidoreans are greyish-blue in color, covered in scales with many fish-like features such as gills, fins, and black eyes covered by clear eyelids that close from the side. Most are covered in a pattern of stripes, either naturally or painted on as a statement of personal fashion. |
HomelandThere are few large Midorean cities to speak of and most of their settlements are quite small, built around a centrally located library, museum, or academy (much akin to a college town). One can find them in the deep seas near Cal Vanol, Durum Ygost, and Shima. |
nahr-loosk
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The fabled "lost tribe" of the Cyreans were once dwellers of the bright seas and shores alongside their brethren. But during the time of calamity, their people vanished without a trace, leaving behind only the empty, untouched remains of their cities. It was as though the Narlusk had simply disappeared. At the dawn of the fourth Epoch, they reappeared, an elusive and forever changed people, dwelling now in the dark depths of the ocean, a hostile and xenophobic clan. An ancient deal with the Raksha once saw to the enslavement of their kind and though free, the Narlusk are a troubled and violent people. Narlusk are paranoid and untrusting, consumed by their mission to seek and destroy the Raksha and their Mortal allies. Narlusk demon hunters are among the most ruthless, hell-bent on eradicating the Raksha's sinister influence wherever it hides.
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AppearanceThe Nalusk are covered in hard, dark scales from head to toe in shades of black, indigo, and dark blue. They have long, hawkish fins cresting their heads and spreading outwards from their tall, powerful frames and eyes of solid black, white, or yellow set upon a stern face. |
HomelandYou won't find any Narlusk settlements on any map. Those who know where these elusive Cyreans live are wise to keep it to themselves. Their small cities can be found in the deepest, darkest waters far off the coast of Volsteim, Tsarosa, and Khyvar. |
kad-leeng
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The Qadlings once ruled a small but prosperous nation, living a relatively peaceful live as traders and sea-farmers near the shore. During the Second Age, however, they were attacked and conquered by a now-forgotten Human empire and scattered to the four winds. Ever since, the Qadlings have lived as outcasts and criminals among the other Cyrean clans or in small bands of vicious, sea-faring raiders. As tragic as their history may be, Qadlings are widely disliked among their fellow Cyreans for their contentious nature and needless disdain for authority. Qadlings are likely to cause friction in whatever setting they find themselves in, unwilling to trust the intentions of another or place their own wants and needs on hold for the sake of someone else. The Qadlings are self-focused survivors, willing to do whatever it takes to get a leg (or fin) up.
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AppearanceAs the descendants of shore-dwellers, Qadlings are mostly humanoid in appearance with sea-green skin, pointed ears, gills, and prominent fin-like crests atop their skulls. They stand just over five feet with a thin frame and blue, green, grey, or (rarely) brown eyes. |
HomelandQadlings have no permanent settlements of their own, but live either among other Cyreans or in small, nomadic communities of sea-roving bandits. In either case, most Qadlings can be found where sea-trade thrives: Corsica, Shima, Domigas Algoa, and throughout Vol M'kosh. |
trai-toh-nee-uhn
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The Tritoneans have long been the vanguard against hostile forces from land and sea who would see to the subjugation of the Cyrean people. It is said that their ancestors made a pact before the sea-gods to defend the oceans, a pact which the remaining Tritoneans uphold to this day. They have never claimed any waters as their own, always living in small tribes of warriors, trained to fight from a young age and pledged into the service of a Cyrean kingdom or city-state. Tritoneans are serious and austere, rarely diverting their attentions away from martial perfection. Few ever become scholars or magicians, having been taught from a young age that any pursuit other than war is a waste of time. The diligence of their people has seen to the prosperity of the Cyrean people, even as their own population shrinks with each passing year.
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AppearanceTritoneans are more humanoid than fish-like in appearance, with long tendrils that run down from their heads and are often styled like hair. They have rugged, handsome features, muscular builds, and skin of white-patterned sea-green and eyes of brown, black, or coral. |
HomelandThe ancient oath of the Tritoneans forbade them from claiming any waters as their own. As such, they live among other Cyreans in small communities. Tritoneans can hail from any waters, but are most commonly found in the seas of Europa, Vol M'kosh, and Mithraes. |
