Politocology

Governments of the Fluid Nations: Sahaguin Lagoons

Sahaguin Lagoons
Aliases: The Stalking Expanse, Apex of Predation, Dominar’s Dominion
Region: Hinterseas
Capital: None.

The Sahaguin Lagoons lay directly south of the Creche of Civilization and east of the Maw of the Kraken. They are the most isolated of the Fluid Nations, and share no common border with the other homeseas. This suits the Sahaguin fine, as they prefer to deal with their own business, without the scrutiny of the other piscean races looking down on them.

The majority of the region falls under the dim, greenish shadow of the Sargasso Ring, and as a result the nation is known for its dark waters and muted coloration. With only the weakest wavelengths of light left to illuminate the homesea, aquaculture is relegated to the sliver of waters in north western areas not eclipsed by the Sargasso Ring.

Aesthetics

Sahaguin: Illustrated

Life in the Sahaguin Lagoons could be idyllic, with ample farming land and abundant shelter.  Despite the tropical paradise of the homesea, the Sahaguin culture makes daily life a survive-or-perish ordeal.  Sahaguin must prove their worthiness to survive on a daily basis, as only the fittest will survive.  It is by winnowing away the weak that the Sahaguin become stronger, and the Sahaguin race will survive.

Sahaguin Male and Sahaguin Female by Naiche Washburn

And thus ends Naiche’s contribution to the Endless Blue.  He did wonderful work, and hopefully he will be able to revisit the setting sometime in the future…

Sociology

Fugu Spines

Fugu spines are the defensive spikes used by the pufferfish to deter predators.  A spine, when removed, appears like a shallow tripod made of calcium with an long extruding tip.  It is this tip that is used to prick the epidermis of the piscean tongue and deliver a small dose of tetrodotoxin, or fugu, into the bloodstream.

The tetrodotoxin causes a sensation of intoxication, light-headedness, and numbness.  This makes the drug a very good candidate for blocking pain.  It was this usage that first introduced the drug to the homeseas of the Known World, when ancient Sahaguin mariners would employ it to keep their minds clear during battle. Witnessing a frenzied Sahaguin warrior hyped up on fugu is a terrifying sight to behold.

Today, there is little difficulty in procuring fugu — a piscean need only hunt one down in the wild — and there is only a modicum of negative stigma associated with spine use.  While the alien physiology of the Lumulus inures them from the either deleterious or advantageous effects of fugu, other pisceans must be more careful to avoid a lethal dose.  However, the Church of Olyhydra, steeped deeply in its dogma of suffering and servitude, is vocal against its use.

“Fugu is a bet with your body;
your life is the stakes…”
— unknown

Sociology

Vastness Hunters

There are those among any society that seek the thrill of physical exertion.  When sane means of reaching a physical high have been depleted, they seek activities only the mad would entertain.  A form of extreme sports, meant to be the ultimate adrenalin rush, the idle athlete might turn to becoming a Vastness hunter.

Vastness hunting is the most lethal incarnation of safari hunting.  But instead of just preying on the most dangerous game swimming the Endless Blue, they take on the aberrations that scour the Vastness above the waves.  It is a very lethal sport, and the aberration gets away more often than not.  Still, the specter of death is not enough to deter the truest athlete.

The original Vastness hunters were a group of sahaguin anatomists that simply sought new animus vitae to autopsy.  While much of the allure of the extreme hunting is for the thrill and notoriety, there is strong impetus to understand how life above the water operates. As expected, anything having to do with the hell above the waters is considered the greatest of taboos.  Even the Sekolahite Church denounces the hunter’s actions — a church whose clergy participate in hunting monsters as part of their service.

Those Vastness hunters that are not Resurrectionists themselves will sell the corpses of their hunt to other anatomists.  The anatomists, in turn, sell the skin and claws to black market artisans as exotic materials for their crafts.  Such items are general reviled in public, but will fetch a high price for the indulgent collector.  Maelstrom cultists are one of the few organizations that will bear Vastness-sourced items with no regard to social stigma.  Otherwise, these items have no intrinsic difference in quality or ability from a mundane version.  Penalty for owning/selling such items or materials is generally excommunication and ostracization.

Oceanography

The All Colored Sands of Rhelathia

Located in the Sahaguin Lagoons, this secluded lagoon is noted for the brightly colored sands that line the ocean floor.  Ranging in color from red through ultraviolet, the sands naturally form layers when at rest, giving the sea bed a striped look.  Even when disturbed and mixed, the size of the various grains of sand eventually filter down, restoring the original layered look.  The natural lapping motion of the waves, makes the Shore sandbar look like a many layered candy.

As demonstration of tourists, specially trained Sahaguin rangers will use the colored sands to draw out beautiful and elaborate murals on the lagoon seabed.  The tools used are similar to hoes and rakes, as well as a technique of collecting specific colored sand beforhand and sprinkling it across the shoreline.

The separation effect, coupled with the natural tide, is just quick enough for patient observers to witness without loosing interest.  Each day the ranger paint a new vista with sand, and slowly the artwork fades into memory.

Local folklore say the sorting sands are the result of the Fry of the Black Mangrove, spirits of orphaned children, coloring the dark world around them.  In fact, the mischievous Fry are a favorite subject for the sand paintings, and through the years of retelling, a vibrant history was created in place of a simple old wife’s tale meant to frighten children into behaving.

Unscrupulous pisceans try to sell pouches of the magic sand to visitors.  Most of the time, the sand is normal particulate matter collected by the hucksters.  On the rare occasion that a huckster manages to actually steal some of the Rhelathian sand, the rangers respond swiftly and violently.  It is illegal for anyone to disturb the Rhelathian sands other than the duly appointed rangers..

Theology

Sekolah the Dominar

Life is divided into two parts: the prey, and the predator.  Every living thing consumes something lower than itself for sustenance.  It is this predacious cycle that elevates the lowest wretch to higher standing.  Sekolah is the apex predator, and his chosen are His school, destined to hunt the horizon-less oceans for eternity.  Eat or be eaten; but be sure you’re the former.

To say Sekolah does not care about his followers is to misunderstand the religion’s dogma.  It isn’t that He does not care for them; instead He insists they take care of themselves.  Sekolah personifies the belief of “only the fittest shall survive”, and His greatest desire is nothing less than all His congregation should survive.  It is His greatest commandment, and it cannot be accomplished by mollycoddling they young fry.  If a sahaguin cannot survive on its own skill, it does not deserve to live.

Sekolah, the Dominar, the Great Predator, Devourer of All

Alignment: Lawful evil
Symbol: A shark
Domains: Destruction, Evil, Law, Strength, War.
Preferred unguis (weapon): Jaws
Clerical Weapon of Choice: Jaws. claws, cestus
Cleric Alignment: Chaotic evil, lawful evil, neutral, neutral evil.

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In the fall of 2013, I had the pleasure of commissioning a series of nine digital paintings by Vincent Coviello (V4m2c4 on DeviantArt).  Each image has a tight line drawing, a full color illustration (as seen below), and a final background composite.  Many of the magnificent details in these drawings came from Vincent himself, and his input was spot on.  During the whole process I could not help myself from checking my email compulsively for the newest sketch or update.  I may have suffered a little bit of withdrawal when he finished the project.

Illustrations of the player races in the Endless Blue Campaign Setting.

 

This and some of his other work has been recently featured on IO9.com in the article “Can We Please Have More Diverse Dragon Designs Like These?”  His hard work and talent are plain to see.  It was a pleasure working with Vincent, and hopefully, someday I will again…

Sociology

Societies Submerged in Shadow

Just as there are great dangers lurking in the dark of the ocean abyss, there are conspiratorial organizations hiding among the pisceans of Elqua.  Spoken of in hushed tones, these manipulative groups seek power and wealth for their own purposes, and are quite willing to sacrifice anything, or anyone, that tries to impede them.  They are the shadow societies of the Endless Blue, the moving dark that works for its own sake.

Biology

Vitruvian Sahaguin

Prowling the waters south of the Creche of Civilization are the aggressive Sahaguin.  The area is known as the Sahaguin Lagoons, and is most notable for its shallow, submerged plains.  These plains support a disproportionate amount of life that straddles the border between the waters and the Vastness.  Great trees grow up out of the water, breaking the surface and blooming in the Vastness.  The ecosystem here has evolved in such a way as the lines between surface aberration and aquatic society have become blurred.  Great, massive creatures, like extraterrestrial dinosaurs, wade through these waters.  And among their footsteps, the Sahaguin hunt.

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For those hesitant to read through the ENDLESS BLUE website and its in depth exploration of the water world known as Elqua, I have provided a short synopsis of the 9 playable races you can choose from in the game:

Elqua is a unique world in many ways.  Larger than our own, it possess only a fraction of the land surface, and thus life had little choice but to develop fully beneath the waves.  The result of this isolation produced not one, but nine sentient races to colonize the planet, each one vying with other eight for resources, opportunity, and even simple room to grow.