traits wrote:full base: custom edited (roundfin + ruffle + seaweed)
horn: shell 1
wings: lionfish fin
ears: horse 2
extras: scales
- I used the lionfish fin in place of wings and repositioned/resized. wrote enough lore for three tickets in case they were needed with all the edits. this is itaiz! commander of an inland sea territory called orinna's crown. her lore will join her to my other merfables lirae, as her ward, and mavi the jellyfable as one of the outsiders, both intended to have heavily complicated connections at some point!
Orinna's Crown and Itaiz's Command wrote:
In Terralumin sprawls an inland sea called Orrina’s Crown that splits a knife between two major warring territories. It lies tucked within a ring of coastal outcrops and sloping bluffs that form a natural fortress, keeping its waters severed from the land dwellers above. Along the cliffside rises enchanted spires and jagged formations, an effort put in over time by commanders who have guarded this sea for generations. It is named after the first commander herself, titled by her people through her leadership efforts. She defended their sea from attacks by both unfamiliar oceanfolk and deep water behemoths who were drawn to the water’s active magic. The Crown is connected to the wider ocean through a main canal, deep and shadowed and just wide enough for hunting beasts to find their way through.
For such a fortified territory, the sea is often targeted for attacks through this open canal. The magic in these waters is separate from the ocean’s own rumbling power, making it dangerously tempting for those outside of the reef walls. At the core of the Crown lies life-binding magic that moves with the gentle currents of the inland sea. Those in its waters feel the effect of this power tightly binding life within themselves, healing wounds and purging sickness, and slowing, if not stopping the passage of time that would otherwise wear on them. The deeper abyssal thaumaturgy is unable to press through the canal, as the basin’s power denies and even dissolves corruption magic, curses, and untoward conjurations. If some greater threat could find its way into Orrina’s Crown, the chaos they could bring with controlling this magic would be, in no uncertain terms, catastrophic for the seafolk who have spent entire generations in these waters. Not to mention the power a behemoth could then hold for the deeper oceans beyond.
It has become dangerous for the seafolk to go beyond the canal for more than a few months, as the life-binding magic slowly drains, reversing both healing and life-giving effects. As a result the water’s inhabitants have grown to become fiercely territorial and aggressive to any and all outsiders, protecting both the magic and controlling against overpopulation from those who would rush through, unable to leave after letting the magic bind to them after a specific course of time.
The present-day commander is First Current Commander Itaiz, having accepted the responsibility after the death of her grandmother who held command for several centuries. In Itaiz’s reign she’s reinforced the canal through magical sea pacts and living traps, such as massive poison-barbed anemones, and thick kelp walls that twist and grab intruders with barbed blades. Marine mammals patrol as living defense; paralytic eels more wraith than fish, shockwave rays who soar periodically past the outside canal entrance, and many-eyed crustaceans that line the canal’s chokepoints in ambush.
Itaiz’s authority comes from a long line of former protectors, whose lives were dedicated to keeping their people safe. She has inherited this great responsibility, and does not take its weight lightly. It is in her command whether to fight, to step back in an effort to hold ground, and how best for her forces to handle skirmishes with intruders and deep water beasts. This skill has been honed by training under her grandmother’s teachings for several decades in preparation for the day she would assume command. Over time she has gained the respect and fortified trust of her people. They have come to understand the ferocity in which she commands and to trust in her harsh decisions she must make in keeping their territory safe. Itaiz is measured and deeply observant, and her care shows in her actions rather than her words, which are more than not often clipped and bitingly sharp. When threats arise her focus narrows in, she is the first to lead canal defenses and first to stand as a buffer until her reinforcements arrive.
The seafolk are fortunately not under attack day by day, although minor threats remain from those curious, but those smaller are quickly controlled. During days or weeks of peace Commander Itaiz is a steady presence within her community. She swims the canal briefly during dawn and dusk, checking in with patrols and the magic’s defenses. Then spends the time in-between either observing drills made lighter by peacetime, conversing with artisans and elders during market days, or checking in on those seeking acknowledgement or counsel. Her personality during stretches of the sea’s stillness becomes more relaxed, her dry wit surfacing in observational quips and quickly timed remarks. She makes the effort to remember personal details of her people’s lives, knowing their families and any potential struggles, and keeping an eye on the training regiment of her charges and more decorated warriors, ensuring rest as needed.
(794 words)
Relationship to Lirae and First Meet with Mavi wrote:
Lirae was brought to Orinna’s Crown by Elaithea a couple months after her transformation. Elaithea found herself unable to care properly for a young merfoal tinier than her very eye who had a penchant for excited explorations. She had known of one of the former commanders of the seafolk community in her youth, and so made the journey there with little Lirae bubbling along after. Itaiz and her charges were patrolling the canal near the wide, ray guarded entrance when they caught sight of the leviathan drawing near. Itaiz vaguely recognized her from stories passed down by her grandmother and the older seafolk of the former leviathan pod, calm hearted yet aloof in the deeper waters. It was common knowledge amongst both oceanfolk and those on land that the leviathans of old were long assumed to be dead. Elaithea’s appearance was what granted Lirae acceptance into the canal, a request that would have otherwise been fiercely denied. Lirae was hesitant to leave Elaithea behind, who watched at a distance, her long body nothing but a shadow in the depths beyond the reef. But, she followed Itaiz and her charges through the canal and into their territory.
Commander Itaiz accepted the foal as her ward, but not without pushback from her people. It had been too long since an outsider was allowed in, and many younger seafolk especially were against this perceived intruder. But, they had also not seen Elaithea alongside Lirae and could not completely process their commander’s unusual, abrupt decision. Itaiz took their concerns with grace, when possible, and after time defended herself with vehemence, certain in her choice.
It would be several years afterwards in which the community would learn of Lirae’s true origins. Of her birth not as seafolk, but as a land dweller turned sea faring. By then the majority had slowly grown to accept her, if not begrudgingly. But, Lirae’s direct line from a known, deeply sacrilegious necromancer would push the seafolk to mutiny, to dig up old fears that had already been laid to rest, and eventually rebel against Itaiz’s command and drive Lirae out. To keep the peace Commander Itaiz would allow this, to drive Lirae out herself after this discovery, despite the pain it would cause them both and effect this would have on Lirae’s life-bind to the sea’s magic.
At this point Itaiz’s leadership has been put into question by her people, making it difficult to gain back the trust they once held in every decision she would make. It would not help if they knew of her secreting Lirae into the water’s magic every few months thereafter to halt the reversal of its draining effect, now that she was no longer welcome. But, she had essentially raised Lirae as kin, having taught her their ways and culture, and despite knowing her true origins, could not bring herself to be the cause of Lirae’s eventual death.
--
Itaiz is escorting Lirae out discreetly one night, both of them tense with their timing that had been meticulously planned in order to avoid Lirae’s discovery. As they neared the canal’s entrance, they’re stopped by movement and the rattling of the bladed kelp keeping something contained. Itaiz swims closer, and there lies a fable pale and still in the water, hopelessly trapped in the canal’s defenses. Her body stiff not just from the kelp, but from deep scratches made by some beast that had obviously gotten to her first. Itaiz, already rigid from the secrecy of Lirae’s survival, immediately sees her as a risk. An outsider deliberately caught in the canal could be any number of threats, a spy, bait, a sacrificial ploy to draw out her charges. Her first instinct is to release the fable from the canal and push her back towards the open sea before any of them are discovered.
Yet, Lirae blocks her path, seeing the resolve form in her stance and intercepting her before Itaiz can follow through. She pleads with Itaiz to offer help, who is unconvinced at first, but with time growing heavier eventually gives in, cutting the fable free. Even limp, the tangled tendrils of her bell and tail react instinctively, faint stings pricking at Itaiz and Lirae. Itaiz refuses to bring her through the canal, instead swimming hard for a nearby sea cave to stow her in. It's in a dangerous area, too close to potential predators hoping to get into the inland, but defendable enough with the narrow entrance. It's the best they can stash her at in such short notice. She does what she can for her wounds while Lirae watches on, and then must leave, out of time. Itaiz looks back only once, before dashing back towards the canal.
It's many weeks before Itaiz is able to venture out once more, each day bracing to hear reports of the injured fable being found, of having to explain her actions once more with even more at stake. But, the reports never come and so eventually she steels her resolve and follows the canal one night, swimming warily for the cave. She's greeted by a pleasantly surprised, although exhausted Lirae. When she enters the sea cave, it's the first time she and Mavi will truly meet, but it does not go nearly as well as she had been expecting.
(884 words)
