1. Objects

Amphin's Aquatics

Book

There are many races and species within the sea, as many if not more than upon the land.  I, Amphin, will attempt to elaborate and clarify a few of the major groups, their motivations, and their demeanor.

Merfolk can to some extent be considered the "humans" of the sea.  This is not meant to be a disparaging term, more used to draw an analogy.  Merfolk, much like humans, have wide and varied cultures, and appearances, and can thrive in a variety of environments and social structures.  That being said, the majority of merfolk live in small hunter-gatherer tribes amongst the shallower waters, where the light of the sun still affects the waters of the oceans.

It pains me to tell the tale of the merrow, merfolk who have fallen under the sway of some demonic/fiendish force of the depths.  In an unknown portion of the ocean, a exploring tribe of merfolk came upon a beautiful, yet strangely twisted and somewhat bizarre. underwater city.  Many treasures were discovered, weapons of steel to replace their crude coral and spine weapons, along with gold and jewelry used to adorn themselves or trade with the surface dwellers.  Within a large domed chamber was found an idol dedicated to a dark creature of the depths, rumored to be called Dagon.  The idol soon corrupted the merfolk, turning them into the vile and savage creatures known to use as the merrow.  The merrow have multiplied and now frequent some of the more abandoned and remote coastal areas, held back by the remaining merfolk clans.

Another species of evil water dwellers plaguing the seas and oceans are the sahuagin (sa-hooah-gin), whose origins remain mainly a mystery, although they are rumored to have been created as a race of soldier slaves by some unknown dark aquatic overlords.  The sahuagin are reasonably intelligent, crafty, and vicious, exhibiting the worst traits of humanoids and sharks.  Their kinship with sharks is seen in their uncanny ability to communicate and command the creatures, and their current worship of Sekolah, the Great Shark.  The sahuahgin are militaristic, and share a view of right makes right, and the weak get eaten.

But there is some hope against the horrors of the dark, cold, depths.  The tritons (mar'eladrin as the alfar term them) wage a self appointed war upon the evils in the cold depths.  Some call the tritons "sea elves", and in some aspects, such as pride, and a haughty nature that feels their course is naturally the correct one, this can be considered true.  Others claim that the tritons are an older race that may share some blood lines with both humans and elves, although most agree this is unlikely, and tritons themselves consider it an unimportant matter.  Regardless, the tritons fight an unseen and mostly unknown war, for reasons of their own, against evil sea creatures.  They reserve a special hatred for the sahuagin, and both races have lost many of their people in battles through the ages.

 

This concludes the main chapters of my research, other entries on "lesser" species (although certainly not less dangerous) will continue in the following chapters.

- Amphin Musuassen The Exalted