Triton Protectorates

The Triton Protectorates was an exonym used by Serôsians to refer collectively to Ahlorsath, Pumanath, and Vuuvaxath — a trio of triton city-states that were settled around the Trench of Lopok. The tritons themselves had no collective term for the three kingdoms, instead choosing to refer to each separately.
==Geography==
The Protectorates were located beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars, within the Lower Depth zone, clustered around the upper cliffs of the Trench of Lopok. The kingdom of Ahlorsath rested directly on the trench's eastern cliff edge, with its central capital Ahlors resting on its southeastern edge, though outsiders speculated that further cities and outposts of the protectorate resided on ledges within the trench. Ahlors was situated at the lowest point, on the sea floor below sea level, while the highest point of the Protectorates was below sea level and that peak was reached by a high tower.
Beyond the Trench of Lopok, the undersea mountain Skullmount was part of the extant territory claimed by the Protectorates, being frequently used by triton military patrols as a garrison and outpost.
==Society==
The various races that inhabited Serôs viewed the Triton Protectorates as socially a collective unit. This view had some merit to it, as the three kingdoms were all laid out in similar patterns and had similarly quite regimented, patriarchal societies. This pattern was a grid-like layout, as Protectorates and at a smaller scale their settlements were all built along impressively straightened roads. This design ensured that none of the outposts or settlement were more than a half day of swimming away from one another. These roads also were aligned with city gates, massive double archways of coral or stone surmounted over the major crossroads with guard posts atop where they overlap.
Each of Protectorates were made up of a capitol city, ringed by eight core trade cities, which in turn were ringed by twelve farming towns. Finally, twenty-four outposts surrounded the towns, forming a defensive perimeter. The settlements of the Protectorates, as well as and all other sites within them, were named for figures important to their respective location. All structures within the cities were constructed of either coral or stone and were built according to strict geometric layouts.
Foremost among the structures in each town or city were two central towers, one that acted a place of worship and another that acted as a military garrison. The former was always built on the southern side of a settlement, whilst the latter was always built on the northern side. Both were square in shape and had a wide road between them, measuring wide in the cities, bifurcating settlements.
Like in much of Serôs, time was measured in the Protectorates using the Timesong calendar.
==Governments==
Just as the three kingdoms were viewed by outsiders as socially a collective unit, the various races of Serôs viewed the Protectorates politically as a cooperative, answering to one central authority. In reality, all three kingdoms operated independent of each other, though had similar governance structures. Their governments were theocratic leaning,Page 59 of the Sea of Fallen Stars states that the tritons have a "theocratic society". However, on page 150 it is stated that even though the Pumanath Protectorate has closer ties to the Church of Persana than the others, the "colony is not a theocracy". This in turn implies that the other protectorates likewise do not have theocratic governments. feudal system of nobles with inherited titles, centered around the god Persana. The inner workings of their governments and the titles of their nobility were unknown to outsiders. What was known was that all settlements were overseen by the Persana priesthood, whilst the militaries were relied upon for protection. This relationship culminated in each city and town, as well as an perimeter around a settlement, being ruled jointly by one soldier and one priest that were the highest ranked around.
The Triton Protectorates cooperated only in a shared guardianship over the Trench of Lopok, against the evils that sought to escape it and those who would seek to delve its mysterious depths. When questioned, tritons would vaguely refer to the threat as "Those Who Sleep Below" and krakens, with their guardianship being a sacred duty. Outside of their relations to each other, the Protectorates were isolationist, maintaining neutrality in most conflicts. This isolationism was partly by choice and partly as a consequence of tritons' societal mores.
==Defenses==
The inner workings of the militaries of the Triton Protectorates were unknown to outsiders, as the tritons would not readily share such information. What was known was that the militaries regularly patrolled their waters, ensuring the safety of the cities and towns. And the twenty-four military outposts that surrounded each Protectorate were garrisoned at all times.
Of the three Protectorates, Ahlorsath was situated as the Guardian colony, primarily dedicated to the task of watching over and guarding the Trench of Lopok. Vuuvaxath was the more militarily focused of the Protectorates, focused on foes beyond the Trench of Lopok. This focus was reflected in their population, which had twenty-five percent more military personal than the cities, towns, and outposts of the other two Protectorates. Additionally, Vuuvaxath exhibited a great number of warrior clerics and crusaders.
The magical two-bladed sword Krakenscourge, later known as Kayas the Krakenscourge, was among the greatest weapons in the arsenal of the Triton Protectorates. When first created it was used to slaughter a great deal of the Trench of Lopok's denizens, until most resigned themselves from actively trying to escape. From then on the weapon was passed down over the centuries, being wielded by a succession of war leaders. After the Fifth Serôs War it was lost for sixth centuries, not resurfacing and returning to the rightful hands of the Protectorates until the end of the Seventh Serôs War. It was lost again in the , when the blue great wyrm Iryklathagra plundered the Ahlorsah city of Otanyn.
Over the centuries, whenever the Krakenscourge became lost the Protectorates chose to keep its absence a secret from outsiders. This was because the weapon had long acted as a deterrent against the krakens that dwelt within the Trench of Lopok. If its absence became public knowledge, it would only be a matter of time before the krakens below began testing the defenses of the tritons.
==Relations==
Over the centuries, the Triton Protectorates were frequently be in frequent conflict with morkoths, with their rivalry with the neighboring kingdom Arcanum of Olleth being among the most constant of local conflicts. They worked to prevent them and kuo-toa from trying to enter the depths of the Trench of Lopok, as the two groups believed their ancient gods dwelt below.
==History==
The exact dates at which each of the Protectorates were founded by the tritons was unknown to other Serôsians. In place of these, the Rise of each Protectorate was denoted by the date in which they became widely known. The Rise of Ahlorsath occured in , the Rise of Vuvaaxath in , and the Rise of Pumanath in . Each of them was named for their capital, which were named after their primary founder, and began life as military outposts. These initial outposts consisted of a central tower, surrounded by support buildings used for living space. Other times, nearby caverns were used as living quarters by the early settlers. Overtime these outposts grew into towns as the tritons secured the area surrounding them for further habitation. The kingdoms expanded outward from these initial towns, with the first additional outposts being constructed sequentially in sets of four, each arranged on a cardinal direction out from the central tower. And this grid-like pattern would be repeated as each kingdom continued to grow.
Long before the existence of the Triton Protectorates became widely known to Serôsians, they broke their isolationism to engage in the Fifth Serôs War (-788 DR--777 DR) and ally themselves with the shalarin kingdom of Es'krin. This was because Coronal Vaequiis II of the Aryselmalyr Empire had allied himself with sworn enemies of the tritons, a pair of krakens from the Trench of Lopok, Borapalys and Rylurkarth. During the conflict Borapalys was said to have been killed by a triton Dukar named Kayas using the legendary Krakenscourge, some legends claiming that he had transformed himself into the weapon. The location of the Protectorates remained unknown after the conflict and the Krakenscourge became lost to the tritons, falling into the hands of the Orlson Dynasty of Aryselmalyr. The royal sea elves would lose track of the weapon themselves and it would not resurface until the Seventh Serôs War, in the hands of the storm giant adventurer Lorthar.
In the final year of the Seventh Serôs War, , during one of its last battles Lorthar fell to a legion of elite morkoth fighters and they briefly took hold of the Krakenscourge. Determined to retrieve the weapon and fight their ancient foes, the Triton Protectorates unexpectedly joined the fray, making their existence more widely known among Serôsians. The triton forces struck at the Theocracy of the Deep Ones, sending its morkoths fleeing into the deeper depths of the Inner Sea, and finally reclaimed ownership of the Krakenscourge. Following the conflict the tritons continued to be active for a time, helping to maintain balance between the shalarin and the morkoth of Serôs.
It was later around the Fourth Epoch of Serôs (750 DR to 1369 DR) when the Triton Protectorates were considered to have truly come into their own, rising as a noted power in Serôs and upsetting the control the morkoths long held over the deep depths of the Inner Sea. In , a conflict with the Ollethan morkoths in the Pumanath town of Abydos leads to the death of Xynakt, the founder of Olleth.
When the Twelfth Serôs War raged in , the historically isolationist Protectorates were reluctant to get involved. This neutrality broke when nearly a third of the settlements of Pumanath were besieged by the morkoth of Olleth and their allies, including the cities of Abydos and Pumana. They plundered many of the Protectorate of Pumana's artifacts and magical items, including ones that had been stolen from them. Abydos saw the worst of the fighting, with over half the priests of the temple tower of Numos dying.
Having been forced to face the enemy, the tritons realized the folly in their arrogance and neutrality. Around Roamsong 20 to 22 (Uktar 9 to Uktar 11), the tritons officially joined the war, with more than two legions of Vuvaaxath called to action by the mourning songs of Naahal the Great Whale. They fought against the Ollethan morkoths, took the fight to the Arcanum, and fought at the battles of Myth Nantar and Xadea. After the Twelfth Serôs War came to an end most of the legions returned to the Triton Protectorates, though a few remained behind in the city of Myth Nantar to aid in its rebuilding efforts.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:Triton locations
Category:Locations in Serôs
Category:Locations in the Sea of Fallen Stars