Depths

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Draeven

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Dubrovnik, 1816.

Two years after the surrender of this powerful coastal town, enriched by its strategic position on the Mediterranean, governance has shifted from the Ottoman Empire to Austrian rule. The city is still reeling in the wake of the dramatic shift in leadership, but adapting quickly to a new vision of enlightenment, scientific progress, and mercantilism. Civilian life goes on unhindered, at the usual, ponderous pace of day-to-day.

But all the citizens of the great city are not strictly civil, nor terrestrial for that matter. Unbeknownst to almost all, Dubrovnik has become the hub of a much darker society. Deep below the waves, in waterlogged sandstone caves and passages that swirl into the bedrock beneath the human city, exiles from sunken empires bide their time, living in their own, mercantile way. Rejects from the greatest aquatic races or corrupted from the humans above, Merfolk or Cecilian or Merrow, they form a valuable trade connection between the human world and their old cultures.

Premise:

Your characters are denizens of the Sunken Tunnels, a network of sandstone caves in the bedrock under Dubrovnik, or humans aware or unaware of them. The mercantile society is a hive of the black market, one that spans both and and sea and connects the visceral underbelly of several civilizations.

You are therefore part of a bartering society that relies on its strategic position in the supernatural trade network to survive. You are perhaps an exile from a sunken empire reaching for the surface, or an adventurous human reaching below the waves. Either way, this is your middle ground, where the two worlds mingle and exchange wares.

Merfolk: A legendary race hailing from the glass halls of sunken cities, the merfolk are proud and powerful. Approximating a human appearance when dry, they possess webbed fingers, a fish's tail, and sharp teeth when in water. Their songs are hypnotic, and they depend on consuming human flesh for their survival.

Merrows: Mysterious and sorcerous, Merrows are a race of deep-sea beings who trade mainly in human souls. They are human in appearance but for slightly green-tinged skin, sharp, green teeth, and webbed fingers and toes. They are known for carrying a red 'feather' with them at all times, an amulet linked to their power, and a symbol of appartenance to the soul trade.

Ceciliae: Similar to the merfolk in many ways but possessing the body of an octopus or squid below the waist when in water, Ceciliae are curious creatures. They are deeply in tune with the currents and tides, both those of magic and water. Ceciliae possess the ability to secrete and channel a black, inky venom from their tentacles. They do not depend on consuming human flesh for survival, and can feed happily on fish.

Selkies: A dual race of humans by night and seals by day, Selkies shift completely at sunrise and sunset; a selkie in human form is completely, inescapably human, and as such can still drown in water. Usually travelling in packs, they are often peaceful by nature. A selkie's personality is often influenced by the species of seal it becomes during the day.

Sirens: Ethereal and tantalizing, sirens are half-way between spirits and living creatures. Human in appearance but for their completely black, inky eyes, they have the odd ability to turn themselves into 'living' water, making them difficult to catch. Their song is beautiful enough to outshine even that of the merfolk, and though they do not feed they have been known to seduce and kill humans out of pure sadism.


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