Blue-Water Race

Race Under Construction This race is under construction, and may not be ready for use. If you use this race in any other pages, expect that cultural details, national identities, language, and other information may change later.

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Native Zone	Large Areas of Ocean, Pelagic Zone; Very Minor Demersal Settlement
Nations	???
Majority Population Regions	???
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Major Religions	???
Native Language(s)	???
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Of the aquatic peoples who span the world, the (blue-water) cover by far the most territory. While there is no doubt they are a great power in the open ocean, they do not have the same dominion along the coasts.

Physiology

Where green-water and freshwater species are very clearly humanoid, blues are much more truly aquatic. They have a lean, eel-like physique; though they have arms, they have no legs, and cannot breathe above water. Like the rest of their bodies, the arms are sleek but well-muscled. The musculature of the upper back, shoulders, and triceps are thicker than found on land peoples. Their bulk, along with variations in ligament tension, mean that extending the arms directly above the head is all but impossible.

Of all aquatic species, there is the greatest size variation among the blue-water. Genetics play only a small role in this; instead, the two greatest determinants are age and consistent access to resources (nutrition, sunlight, unpolluted waters). Size is often an indicator of status, because it reflects a capacity for sustained quality resource provision, as well as good health and the ability to defend oneself.

Like most species, skin pigmentation varies depending on area of origin. They tend to colours such as blue and indigo, but some degree of green is not uncommon. They have varying degrees of pallor depending on how far below the surface their kin are from. They do not truly veer into the white and quasi-translucent; these colours are the province of the trench-dwellers, with whom the blues do not generally share territory. (There are legends of the oldest of the blue-water having retired to the deeps, losing all pigment entirely over the course of ages.)

All this said, they are not entirely unlike their green-water kin. They share very similar musculoskeletal structure of the upper body. Where some greens retain the remnants of a vestigial tail, all blues still have two fins extending from the lateral aspects of the distal third of the body. Mainly used for manoeuvring, they have one longer main bone and a couple smaller bones filling out the edges of the fins. Though the blues have no interest in the theory that these are somewhat vestigial, re-adapted legs, the fact remains that their powerful bodies have no need of such things; the fins along their dorsum and ventrum are more than adequate for such a task, as is true for smaller eel-like swimmers.

Cities/Settlements

It is a common misconception among landies that blues are nomadic. While there are still small nomadic bands, it is the nature of their settlements that lends to this misunderstanding. In the open waters where blues live, anchoring to the ocean floor is not a reasonable strategy. Instead, the structures in a blue-water settlement are anchored to each other, with depth controlled by carefully balanced ballast systems. Rather than fighting the flow of current and tide, these settlements flow with them. Some travel very long distances in the course of a year.

The only meaningful timekeeping distinctions that are consistent between settlements are longer-term lunar (tide-related; think months) and shorter-term solar (light levels; think days). While blues do appreciate that light levels wax and wane during a land year, this has little bearing on things like ambient temperature and crop growth for them. Instead, a year is measured by the time it takes for a settlement to make a complete rotation back to its point of origin. Years are therefore very subjective, and so while lunar and solar demarcations share common time and record-keeping between blue-water societies, years do not. This means that in spite of what may be optimal in terms of resources, major course changes are extremely uncommon. They are undertaken only in the event of severe duress, such as famine or impending war with a more powerful city. Such a change must generally be approved by council, and does mean the redefinition of that settlement's year, along with whatever else it may entail for the rest of the migratory path.

In spite of the fact that blue settlements spend so much time in motion, some agriculture is almost universally practiced. Species of underwater flora have been cross-bred to create strains that attach easily to webbed rope and netting, and long trails of kelp trail below, behind, and among blue settlements, not unlike the tendrils of a jellyfish. Aside from providing food in their own right, such farms attract a number of edible (or otherwise useful) species of fish. (There are always, of course, pest species that are not fit for consumption.)

Animal husbandry is less commonly practiced than in green or freshwater societies, due to the inherent challenges of keeping sufficient stock constantly on the move. Generally speaking, it is most extensively practiced by those settlements which are closest to the surface (for easy feeding on phytoplankton, etc) and those which travel very slow currents. Some specific animals are kept by the majority of settlements due to their value as beasts of burden or conveyance.

Blue-water settlements, by their very nature, dwarf all other styles of aquatic settlement. They are wide and sprawling, and given the sizes to which their inhabitants can grow, individual buildings are often by necessity quite large. Surface-facing aspects of blue-water societies also vary widely. Some are well-developed enough to warrant a number of regular visitors and healthy trade in their own right; generally these are found on slow-moving currents near shorelines and which run parallel to shipping lanes, and/or are in areas that facilitate easy, more pleasant travel. On the other end of the spectrum, more isolated settlements far out to sea have little more than buoys to indicate their position. Ships can tether to them, but they are seldom used (save by the adventure-seeking).

Territory disputes are not uncommon when more than one group follows the same path as another. So long as they do not meaningfully impact the capacity for resource-gathering and general prosperity, amiable diplomatic relations are more commonly the rule; after all, one does not have many neighbours in the deep, and so one makes alliances where one can. However, when two settlements come too close to one another, diplomacy gives way very easily to conflict. Choice resources, such as thermal vents and rich migratory paths, are common areas where such conflicts occur, as many settlements have gradually manoeuvred to put such resources in their paths.

Akin to getting fresh bananas in subarctic towns, perishable items not from the sea come at a premium in most blue settlements. They are still readily available in larger settlements, and in those which pass closer to the coast during their year, a type of seasonal pricing exists for many surface commodities.

Religion

(Just ideas at this point, very subject to change as society is developed!)

One of the blue-water's most widely practised religions saw its start in their society. It preached (and preaches) movement over stillness, and growth over stagnation. This contributed very powerfully to its spread early on, and to one of the major shifts in their culture. The adoption of physical and social structure that embraced continual motion led to larger, more prosperous societies, and as practicing settlements came into more frequent contact with those still fighting to maintain stationary coordinates it facilitated conversion and spreading of the faith.

The most widely accepted sect also continues to preach amiable (or at least non-combative) diplomatic relations among blues as one of its central tenets. In practice, it has some very different interpretations than it may initially seem. The idea that blues, as civilized peoples, ought to treat each other according to a certain standard takes on a tone that ranges from 'cooperation brings us all prosperity' to one of faint distrust over other, non-blue societies. On one end, there are certainly some who interpret this as a call for kindness and dignity between settlements, as well as between people. At the other end, there are a few who see this as a logical reflection of the fact that they are a superior species, having not just survived but flourished in conditions many others could not. (This, fortunately, is not a common interpretation.) What is a very common outcome of the above is isolationism re: non-blue societies. The further from shore a settlement is, the more likely this faith is to preach isolationism, and often to greater degrees.

A religion founded by (sky peoples) that emphasizes independence and freedom of movement has also found strong traction among blues. This has helped somewhat offset the more isolationist tendencies of some members of society, as it has encouraged tourism and trade – and by extension better relations – between those settlements which have more developed places of worship and larger surface-facing districts. Some settlements have a much more developed relationship with sky peoples than they do with any landies, as mutual understanding spread to non-practitioners.