Politocology
Governments of the Fluid Nations: Gulf of Locanth
Odayal Commune of Locanth Gulf
Aliases: The Flowing Gulf, the Circulating Kith, The Nomadic Tides
Region: Hinterseas
Capital: Moenkopia (“Where the Flowing Waters Meet”)
The Gulf of Locanth lies in equatorial waters north of the Tropic of Kracken. To the homesea’s north stretches the vast Cetacean Ocean, and to its south dwell the depths of the Lumulus Basin. It is bordered by a crescent of islands to the west which itself faces the Core of the Known World. Coral grows in abundance in the Gulf’s placid waters, which also serves as the basis of a complex underwater biome. There are so many varieties of tropical fish that the curious will find a new species daily.
Locanth are nomadic in nature. The Locanth long ago learned the lesson of over fishing waters and over tilling shore beds. They listened to what the sea life taught them, that life worked in repeating patterns. Fish that graze the reef one day end up moving on to fresher waters later, allowing the reef time to regrow. The shark frenzies on schools of fish, but enough get away so that their numbers can replenish during spawning season. Just as a circle has no beginning and no end, neither does the migration of sea life. Thus, so do the Locanth. This is the Tradition of Enso.
Despite this “life on the move”, there are some permanent settlements in the Gulf of Locanth. These are the Locanthic Pueblos. They were built over time in areas where where the nomadic kith would find the seasons the most difficult to survive. Stores of food collected over the prior year and used to sustain the migrants, and surplus non-perishable staples are securely stored there in reserve for a severe future time. Anyone who finds them self desperate for shelter or survival and discover the cliff-hugging buildings of a pueblo, take note that Locanths believe it is honorable to partake of their stored supplies. If there is need, they provide respite. But to plunder their stores for profit, or neglect to restock what is take, this shows opprobrium. This is the Tradition of Honor.
Moenkopia is one such pueblo with a distinctive history. It is where the Locanthic kith send their representatives to meet and decide the gravest of all threats. As such, it serves as the homesea’s capital, but it lacks the bureaucratic complexity that mire the capitals of the Fluid Nations in the Periphery. The last time the odayal met in Moenkopia was during the Verdigris Epoch, responding to the encroaching navies of the Kraken Empire.
Society
Demonym: Locanth
Population: 16,670,000
Races: Locanth (15,720,000), Orcan (350,000, 65,000 of which are Narwahl), Chelon (75,000), Kouton (45,000), Lumulus (100,000), Mer (337,000), Sahaguin (13,000), Yaun-Teel (19,000)
Other: Ceph 2,000,000, Kelpygmy (unknown).
Locanth villages are noted as their “Kith”. Part of being in a kith is blood/matrimonial relation, but other parts are regional proximity. “Of the same nation” is good approximation of a definition for kith, if it is perhaps a bit to wide reaching. It has a connotation that all are part of the same colony. It can mean family, or neighborhood, or village. Multiple local kith can even be described another, over-arching kith. Even all life under the wave — all flora, all fauna, all pisceans — are their own kith versus the abominations of the Vastness. This is the Tradition of Kith.
There are over 300 formal kith in the Locanthic Gulf, with innumerable informal kith comprised of multi-species pisceans. Locanth are open to other species joining their kith, but their minimal life style and constant movement are not for everyone. Having to constantly migrate with the sea life makes the accumulation of material goods a hindrance, thus most Locanthic kith discourage the accumulation of material goods and encourage the dependence on others. Despite the Locanths’ openness to migration, it is still dominated by its indigenous species.
Religion
Official Religion: Eadro, the Changing Tide.
Accepted Religions: Source, Ancestory and/or Spirit worship.
Alignments: Neutral.
The clerics of Eadro are shamans. Their worship of the Changing Tide is not of praise, but of guidance. They seek out signs of Eadro’s will by interpreting the behavior of the waters. Thus these shaman, called Ardent, advise the kith when it is time to move on to clearer waters, which direction to migrate, what species of fish to consume.
The kith come to their shaman for aid in their everyday activities. They seek blessings for births, charms for unrequited love, curses on adversaries, and myriad other inconsequential acts. It is up to the shaman how far to fulfill these petitions, but most often will send the individual off with a magic charm of some sort to mollify their need.
Commerce
Imports: Raw and Exotic Materials for crafting.
Exports: Exotic crafted ware, acari, other food stuffs.
Currency: None, see langeneli below.
The major export from the Gulf of Locanth are crafted goods. The Locanth have spent generations living off the waters, utilizing every part of the fish they feed upon to make their clothes, shelter, and tools. In doing so, they have honed their skills to an incredible degree, resulting in crafted goods of such incredible workmanship that they fetch a high value to those with an eye for quality.
Transient lifestyle of the Locanth makes it difficult to trade with other cultures. It is kind of hard to reliably build up a business when you cannot be not found in the same place you last sold your trade. This is why most kith pass by or directly cross the Pecuniary Stream, a trade route well known to carry wealthy merchants across the Known World. This small window of time is the only opportunity to easily trade with the Locanth without deviation from the stream, forming a bottleneck in the flow of Locanthic goods out of the homesea. Ambitious traders can take the risk and travel deeper into the Gulf of Locanth to reach the nomadic kith during their migration, but the Stream caravans will not wait for their return, essentially leaving them behind.
There is no recognized currency traded in the Gulf of Locanth. Instead, a system of barterable debt is used. The Locanth keep a series of leather strips tied together and woven into a personally recognizable pattern as a form of “debt record” for services rendered to them. It is not just the strip that has significance in the debt, but the style of weaving and usage of knots to denote details of the transaction. When the original party has been repaid, the strip is removed from the weave and returned. These redeemed strips become prized mementos, tangible proof of a young warrior’s dedication and trustworthiness to fulfill his debts. Locanth merchants vouch for one another, showing the array of strips as evidence of trustworthiness.
A recent trend has begun of trading these debt strips to third parties, who themselves can either collect on the debt or trade off to yet another merchant, making the langeneli the first banknote of the Known World.
Politics
Government Type: Kritarchy
Ruler: The Meeting of Odayal
Selection Process: Life-long expression of responsibility and wisdom.
A Kritarchy, wherein government is ruled by judges, or elders. Laws are not made out of whole cloth, but instead created as judges, called odayal, decree what is legal by the judgements of the cases they rule over. This is called Xeer law, where in the brother is responsible for the brother, neighbors are responsible to each other, where a migrating kith is responsible to the waters it travels. This is the Tradition of Xeer.
Odayal are chosen organically. They are the wise ones, the individuals that all others know instinctively as the fairest of judgement, the calmest of minds. No one can seek to become an odayal — the recognition of intrinsic demeanor and behavior makes you one. In a family, who do you look to for guidance? In a village, who is sought out for their wisdom? These are the odayal.
While some Eadroan shaman can become odayal, their dedication to the faith is a bias in their judgement. Thus rarely is a kith’s odayal also its shaman.
Issues are addressed as close to the level of involvement as possible. Part of Xeer law involves solving problems by those who the problem affects. The only way to understand a problem is be subject of the problem. Regardless of complexity, it is rare for a problem to require judgement from a higher level odayal. Only wider ranging problems necessitate seeking a meeting of odayal from neighboring kith.
Military
Name: N/A
Organization: Local militias organized by kith in the area.
The primitive races of the Fluid Nations do not have standing navies. Instead, militia are drummed up as needed to face threats to safety. In this way, each kith is dependent not only on the bravery of its own mariners, but on the support of neighboring kith.
It is the Tradition of Kith that keeps us united.
It is the Tradition of Enzo that keeps us going.
It is the Tradition of Xeer that keeps us true.
It is the Tradition of Honor that keeps us noble.
It is the Tradition of the Locanth that keeps us alive.
— Locanthic “Oath of the Odayal”
Endless Blue 
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