[R1] Alcana & the Black Sea

ALCANA

Alcana (Alcan Island), is a city-state built around a natural cove formed from a river mouth at the base of a mountain. The river running through the city divides the western and eastern quarters. The western side of the cove mouth has a sheer cliff-face and rocks facing the water, whereas the eastern side of the mouth has a harbour, these are respectively known as Westcliff and Eastcliff.

The cove itself is settled and inhabited by mermaids and other marine species such as serpents/dragons and nymphs. The mouth of the cove is closed off by an immense wall and securely warded by mermaid acolytes, though it has a main gate to allow ships and mermaids entry.

An incomplete list of districts:
- Eastcliff, the harbour (Eastern Quarter): Not actually a cliff, Eastcliff is the public-facing harbour for the city (there are further domestic docks within the cove), flanked by the city walls. The harbour's always bustling! While you'll find the fishmarkets and the occasionally stall here, the vast majority of trade and business is conducted within the city.
- The Market District (Eastern Quarter): The marketplace is the first district you enter entering the harbour gates, it has business going 24/7 and wares from all reaches of the verse.
- The Iron District (Eastern Quarter): North of the market district is the craftsman district, full of smog and fire.
- The Silver Gardens (Western Quarter): The mage quarter, the silver gardens lead up the slope to the Keep and is comprised of mageschools, crafthalls, libraries, etc.
- Alcan Keep & the Steel District (Western Quarter): At the peak of Westcliff, overlooking the mouth of the cove is the city castle. 
- The Water District: Though it takes up a lot of space, the water district is much less densely populated than the above-water districts - mermaids generally don't really like living in shallow waters, so it's rare for them to take up permanent residence in Alcana - most of the mermaids you'll find here are mercenaries or soldiers, or just popping in on the way to somewhere else. Otherwise there're seaweed farms, fish farms, yeah...
- Serpentsmouth (Water District): Found between the Steel District and the Silver Gardens is probably the only surface-breaching spire in the ocean where land-walkers can come see mermaid priests/oracles for guidance.

Culture

• IT'S YET ANOTHER CULTURAL MELTING POT I'M VERY GOMEN
• Despite mermaids residing in the city, there is a lot of anti-mermaid sentiment (and anti-human sentiment amongst the mermaids). It wasn't so long ago that mermaids and humans were practically at war - actually, I wouldn't call it war so much as mermaids shoving human boats around for fun, so... There's a lot of simmering resentment from the humans and elitism from the mermaids. That said, being strong mages and the first line of defense, the mermaids take a leading role in the protection of the city, which I imagine they're not very happy about.
•  Also despite taking the islands under their wing, there's still a very pronounced distinction in culture between civilian islanders and pirates. Recently there's been a lot of glorification of seafarers but the older generations of islanders probably despise the pirates.
• As far as seafaring culture goes, it's a lot about um. Killing and taking, survival of the strong, etc., they're very brutal. Though they spend a lot of time fucking around, when it comes to the water they're very strict and have an emphasis on discipline. 
• A lot of seafarers have a strong disdain for civilians. There's a stigma on farming or academics, which are seen as "herbivore" jobs.
• Literacy rates are low. The only reason you learn how to read/write is if you're a mage or a noble.
• Quite superstitious. They think that magic's bad luck - they do use it but prefer to keep it very compartmentalised / kept away from other things so it doesn't jinx things.

Economy

• Not a great place for agriculture, though there're a lot of trees and mines / rock quarries and they keep livestock & fish farms.
• They import a lot of everything. Though they do produce a lot of metal, stone and lumber, there's a strong domestic demand for the materials for ships and weapons so they don't actually export that much. The vast majority of the country's income comes from taxes and tithes - if a boat wants to cross the sea and go basically anywhere, they need to pay Alcana and the Black Sea.
• Nothing is illegal to trade in Alcana, though dangerous or controversial goods may draw exorbitant taxes. 

Government
Under the leadership of Luce, the pirate queen... Probably a council or something... I tend to like trade cities being run by representatives from guildhalls. There's probably also a mermaid representative... I"LL FIGURE IT OUT AS I GO

THE BLUE SEA

The blue sea refers to the islands under the protection of Alcana (as opposed to the Black Sea, which is controlled by the mermaids). Species and culture across the blue sea varies greatly but any island is welcome under Alcana's banner (as long as they can pay the taxes). 

Luce is undisputedly considered the leader of the alliance and is responsible for the protection of Alcana. Aside from her, there are several pirate lords, each of which protects one or more islands and can reap the taxes from those islands. I'll write up a little more about the other city-states later, but here're a few...

• Talbard, the stone island: basically a solid fortress on the water.
• Daunwald, the copper island: a barren island with copper, sandy soil, covered in dragon bones.
• The Bower Islands: not actually a part of the alliance, these're an archipelago of cursed ruins rumoured to be haunted by a city of ghosts and ghost ships. Sphinxes live inland and pirates and outlaws hang out in the coastal areas with illegal goods. 

 MERMAIDS

Mermaids are the dominant marine creature in fantasyverse, controlling the vast bulk of the ocean. Though most reside deep underwater, they're very protective of even the surface waters and shallows and keep a close eye on the islands and coastal regions. 

Biology

• Flawless low light vision.
• They have gills down their neck which facilitate breathing underwater, and lungs which facilitate breathing air.
• Generally mermaids who spend time breathing open air or surface regularly are a lot more physically robust and healthier than mermaids which don't. That doesn't make these mermaids more dominant or anything - actually, a good number of mermaids will spend their entire lives living in deep sea cities and rarely or never surface. It's more like this stereotype where shallows-dwelling mermaids tend to be tanned, well-built, loud idiots (rural kids), and deep sea mermaids tend to be more weak, pale, magical, intelligent and well-mannered (city kids).

Diet

• Diet consists of raw fish, occasionally meat and seaweed.
• Luxury foods include: salt water fruits, vegetables and nuts.
• Consumption of human foods is called open air dining and is considered on occasional luxury, not a diet to be lived off of.

Subspecies

• Siren: Voice magic allows mermaids to project messages across the ocean and cast spells on any living creature that can hear them 
• Serpent: Extremely magical mermaids may gain a serpent's tail ^w^ Descendents of the dragon gods?? who knows??? 

Magic

• Mermaids have strong, naturalistic, water-based magic focused primarily around water manipulation.
  • Common abilities include primal magic, the ability to manipulate water: being able to move or thrust water (and in turn, manipulate anything within the water), as well as being able to control the temperature of water (producing steam or ice). 
  • Uncommon abilities include voice magic (telepathy and hypnotism). 
  • Rarer abilities include the blue magics (scrying, mind-reading, prophecy) and the black magics (necromancy, life and death) 
• It is commonly believed that in order to hone your magical ability, you must care for yourself and for your basic skills -
  • A strong body, physical attunement to the water, and ability to read the currents grants access to the primal magics.
  • Charisma and creativity encourages growth of voice magics (with particular attention to musical skill: rhythm and singing ability)
  • Intellect, wisdom, experience and education hone the blue and black magics, though you need to care for the above two schools of magic too.
• It's said that the strongest mermaids are able to even influence the tides, control the great whales, or hypnotise the entire black sea with a word. 
• There is a strong link between magic and religion within mermaid culture - it's commonly believed that a pious lifestyle is necessary to tap into the sea's magic.
• Magical training takes place in buildings called spires, which are underwater towers which also double as a religious temple. Mermaid mages are known as acolytes, and the teachers are priests. 
• Priests will give counsel and sanctuary to anyone who comes to the spire for aid.
• The largest spire in the black sea is Ianica, which is a small city in its own right. It's like a mage university-town, mermaids generally go there to study or hone their skills. 
• There is only one spire in fantasyverse that breaches the surface - Serpentsmouth, where the mermaid priests will even give counsel and protection to the landwalkers.

Mermaid Tails

• Mermaids are able to grow legs and walk on land, though most prefer not to - their magic is in their fish half, so mermaids in their human form are powerless and extremely vulnerable.
• When in human form, mermaids store their magic in a gemstone called a Mermaid's Tail.
• If this gem is taken away from them, they're stuck as a human and unable to revert back into their mermaid form.
• Mermaid Tails are considered extremely high value goods as they can be used in magical weapons and for magical spells. Naturally mermaids Strongly Dislike smugglers who collect them. 

Politics (international)

• Mermaids tend to have an extremely elitist attitude towards humans and other landwalkers, though they tend to show deference to mages and seem to enjoy the company of witches.
• Until recently, mermaids tended to show open hostility to human ships, frequently extorting money from traders to allow them passage, or outright destroying human ships. With the alliance with Alcana, mermaids tend to keep to themselves and let the pirate lords police their own people. 
• The open water is the only place of interest to mermaids and as such, landwalkers have historically had very little leverage to use when bartering. People still aren't really sure how Luce forged the alliance with the Black Sea. 

Politics (internal)

• There's a looooong string of civil wars in the history of the black sea, but the nation is currently unified under Vanevh (the mermaid queen) and her family, with each state under the jurisdiction of a different prince/princess. Vanevh doesn't tolerate infighting.
• Hot topic issue right now is traditionalists (worship the old fish gods) vs purists (mermaid supremacy) vs reformists (encourage peace and trade with humans). The vast majority of the mermaid population identify as purist in that they want to keep to themselves and not involve themselves with human affairs (not that they want war), but the unification of the two worlds necessitates mermaid interaction with the land-walkers.

Culture

• Historically, the mermaids worship old fish gods who they believe created the seas, and the land dividing the seas. 
• Religion has been increasingly phased out of mermaid culture, though most mermaid traditions and festivities tend to stem from the old legends. The growth of the traditionalist faction resulted from mermaids being unhappy about losing their roots. 
• Mermaid magic in particular is based strongly on religion and the old ways - in general, more pious or faithful individuals are seen as stronger in magical ability, though it's speculated that this is more due to following ritual to focus concentration than from drawing power from the gods. 
• There is some cultural difference between the shallows dwellers (blue sea mermaids) and deep-sea dwellers (black sea mermaids) but it's not hugely political, it's just a stereotype that separates the country/city.
• They have a lot of respect for marine animals and don't believe in uh... Penning them in or capturing them. Some may keep marine creatures as companions.
• There are whale/dolphin farms which are harvested for meat - mermaids responsible for caring for these are called shepherds and follow the herd around, naturally they only take from the herd what's sustainable.

THE BLACK SEA

The Black Sea (as opposed to the blue sea) refers to the faction of deep sea mermaids that make up the vast bulk of the mermaid population. While the primary inhabitants of the black sea are mermaids, they share cities with a variety of other marine species and are on openly friendly terms with witches. 

While the mermaid population is undisputedly under the control of Vanevh, the Black Sea is divided roughly into states, each of which is under the jurisdiction of one of her princesses or princes. 

Incomplete list of cities/towns:

• Corica: the black capitol, largest city in the black sea. Ruled by Vanevh, the queen of the deep sea.
• Ianica: The Grand Spire, the mermaid mage-city.
• Lunia: A cute coastal town near the mainland, I imagine it having rolling fields of seagrass and corals...

AVIS AVES

Avis Aves - a town built completely from a forest of gargantuan trees - is an odd outlier, not really being under the protection of either Alcana or the Black Sea despite being a part of both. It's primarily inhabited by a mix of sphinxes, harpies, humans and mermaids. Similar in structure to a mangrove forest, Avis Aves is a huge mass of trees which forms a land mass in the middle of the ocean - at the heart of the forest is a single world tree which supports the forest and is responsible for its incredible growth. Residences are constructed directly into the trunks in a very harpy-like fashion - while the tangled mass of roots on the forest is dense enough to walk on, it doesn't make a great foundation for building. 

The mangal is comprised of a variety of different trees. Phoenixwood is a popular product of the town, which is an easily workable wood which becomes dense and hard as steel when burnt, while maintaining its shape (though it does shrink). The burnt wood is fireproof and resistant to insects or mold and thus a good crafting material - it's common to first carve the wood and then "baptise" it in fire to harden it.

Under the water is Avis Deves - the sister city of Avis Aves - formed by mermaids who reside amongst the roots of the forest. These mermaids are a sect of traditionalists that splintered off from the black sea, effectively forming their own independent state outside of the control of Vanevh. They live in a martial culture that follows the old ways - worship of the old gods through battle and discipline. They have an odd but respectful relationship with the easygoing Avis Aves and are responsible for protection of the forest.

The acolytes and warriors of Avis Deves are amongst the strongest of the mermaids. While not strictly part of the Black Sea, they answer to Vanevh's call when she's in need of soldiers - in part due to loyalty to the mermaid city and in part because they just really like fighting.