Drowned People

Drowned People, also known as Drowned Folk and Children of the Ocean, are one of the Races of Innworld. They are amphibious hybrids of other species merged with an aquatic creature.

Physiology

General Appearance

Drowned Folk are half-sea creature, and no two look alike even if they are fused with the same kind of marine life. They can be divided into three categories: The typical fish and crustacean fusions; Magical fish and fusions that don't work as intended, like with jellyfish; And fusions that look biologically foreign, like with shellfish or sea snails.

Drowned Person can be "fully taken", which has unknown effects but seems to have a major impact on their appearance.

Physical Qualities

Fish Physiology

Depending on what aquatic creature one has fused with or were it has fused on the body, they can obtain said aquatic creature's natural abilities. For example someone fused with a Blackwater Jellyfish can obtain its paralysis sting, as well as the ability to heal from wounds that would cripple normal flesh, while someone having their arm fused with a Swordfish can obtain an unparalleled cutting weapon.

Reproduction

Drowned Folk reproduce sexually, though they can arise asexually if the sea creature they are bonded with can reproduce in a similar manner (i.e. Doroumata). A person can become Drowned Folk by accepting the Sea’s Bargain, which bonds their bodies with a sea parasite. being born from Drowned parents (or at least a Drowned mother).

Diet

Other then needing to drink more water then usual, their diet is often influenced by their other half. Some even get a desire to catch live prey. Discovering one's new dietary preferences is part of adjusting as a newly-converted Drowned Person.

Magical Qualities

Like some of the other Races, depending on the individuals naturally talented towards magic, Drowned People are shown to be able to cast magic.

Special Abilities

Aquatic Breathing

Thanks to their aquatic fusion they can breathe water as freely as air.

Weaknesses

Dehydration

Drowned People need to keep themselves constantly Hydrated on land or they will suffer from Dehydration. Due to this when they drink alcohol they have to drink doubly the amount of water as well.

Subrace

Part-Drowned People

The offsprings of a Drowned Person and a Non-Drowned Person.

Background

Drowned People are a race created when parasites from the ocean fused with other species. These parasites latch onto a body and meld with it. If left unchecked, they can take over their host mind, but even if you kill it, it will still change the host's body forever. While half of their body changes, it doesn’t affect the hosts in any way save for their appearance.

Culture

Drowned People have a sparse population, like Selphids and Half-Elves. Many are peaceful people, the products of an accident. But others turn into Pirates or join the Undersea Crews. Drowned vessels will protect their kind regardless of occupation, however.

Drowned [Sailors] and regular [Sailors] usually don't get along. This relationship is especially bad among [Pirates]. However, they will allow landfolk to bear witness to important events of their people if they are under the authority of a Drowned Person.

Drowned Folk have few homes, as they cannot live in the dangerous undersea unaided, even with their gifts.They have secret cities in the depths which are great ships, cloaked by the magic of their respective Shadeward. They've also been said to live in vast Leviathan-ships. Each city-ship is governed jointly by the Shadeward, the Luminary, and the City Captain.

The Shadewards hide them from or fight off the monsters of the depths, and are to the Drowned People as Archmages are to landfolk. The Luminary Resplendia has powerful light-based abilities, which are used as guiding lights for Drowned Ships, or beacons for monsters to send upon their enemies, or destroy ships in other ways. The Luminaries are used hard by the Drowned Cities, and the strain often means they use up their light. Taking away a prospective Luminary is considered a crime by the Drowned Cities, worthy of placing a bounty on. The City Captain is a Drowned [Captain] who repays the city by acting as a leader for defense and other civic duties for months or years, depending on their performance and motivation to continue.

Drowned vessels operate under laws, for the safety of the ship while travelling in the abyssal depths.

• Make no sound about the watch.
• Maintain the bubble.
• Listen not to the whispers.
• Douse every light.

As such, Drowned Folk work in complete darkness and silence while submerged.

Drowned Folk love plants, and their ships may have a garden for crew members to cultivate.

Drowned Ships

Drowned Ships by Enuryn
(commissioned by Pirateaba)

Drowned ships tend to be unusually tall, eschewing the aerodynamics used by the vessels of other species for something that could maneuver in three dimensions. They often lack sails, and are sometimes designed to engage foes from above or bellow.

In contrast to the usually dark exteriors of the vessels, the below-decks tend to be more vibrant, with padding, fineries, and rooms for entertainment.

Drowned ships are protected by magical bubbles while submerged. Maintaining the bubble is one of the most important tasks on the vessel, as its implosion at lower depths could destroy the whole ship, and even kill the entire Drowned Folk crew if the pressure is great enough. Drowned ships communicate with each other through lantern speak, where they light lanterns and open and close colored shutters. If the ships are too wary of attracting attention underwater, they will instead shoot messages into each-other's bubbles.

Drowned sailors dislike "riggers" short for jury-rigged ships, as their lack of standards goes ill with the necessity for Drowned ships to be able to dive.

Drowned-Folk Great Ships

• Llelk
• Nombernaught
• Tillaevae

Land's Farewell song

A song of farewell by the Drowned-Folk. It can mean melancholy or triumph, depending on the person. It is not a long song, but can have a thousand different verses.

Verse 1

“I slipped off the deck, and there I drowned

Now I will never leave her

We left land to be born at sea

And we’ll never truly leave her.”

Verse 2

“I gave one eye into the deep

And I will never leave her

I breathe water in my sleep

So I will never leave her.”

Verse 3 (sang by those weren't born Drowned)

“My family wept upon the land

I wish that I could leave her

I left half my heart on sand

Yet I will never leave her.”

Verse 4

“My soul never shall surface from below

I shall never leave her.

As I walk on land, half sinks below

And I shall never leave her.”

Relations

Landfolk

Sailors of other species detest the Undersea Crews. Drowned ships sink every other ships, sailor and pirate alike, and it is believed that the Drowned People have laid claim to the entire oceans.

Demons

Drowned People are one of the few races that refuse to ratify the Pact of Rhir and thus aren't at war with the Demons. They have allied and made peace with them in the past.

Notable Members

• Seborn Sailwinds
• Doroumata
• Rasea Zecrew
• Omusc
• Tov
• Therrium Sailwinds
• Barsoijou

Trivia

• The Underwater Crews hate sharp, loud noises, as they attract fish.
• A touch of the lips and a finger pointed is a sign of respect. It means words of praise unspoken.
• Crab-type Drowned People are a common type.