Mea Hanu

"Mea hanu is a world primarily made up of ocean with a few scattered archipelagoes. Many independent nations and peoples inhabit this world, but the largest nation is to live on this planet is Serena.”

## Climate

Mea Hanu is primarily a water world with a series of island masses littering it’s surface. Under the water, The planet's surface is incredibly textures, with plateaus, mountain ranges, underwater volcanoes, trenches, kelp forests and more. Unique to the planet are the wahie wai forests, made of species of tree that roots in the ocean floor and extends its canopy above the surface.  The planet’s climate can be considered tropical, with warm weather and frequent storms allowing for a vast amount of greenery. There is no winter on mea hanu, as the planet is warmed by the nebula the sphere resides in. Some especially notable locations include:

**Kyria archipelago:** Heart of Serena. Composed of the po’o island, the Stithos island and the La’la island, as well as the ampelia island chain.

**The six border archipelagos:** These are six islands or island groups that surround the Kyria, and mark the borders of serenian territory. They are as follows: Entomo in the north east, pouli in the north west, waimaka in west, huelo in the south west, Pena in the south east, and anemos to the east.

**Chaiti islands:** a chain of islands in the western hemisphere, named for their lionen inhabitants.

**Wela caldera:** a caldera to the south of chaiti islands, known for it’s danger. It always seems to come up on magical sensors.

**Drocha forest:** a notable wahie wai forests that is inhabited by a group of merfolk called the Drocha.

## Government

The basic unit of Serenan society is the pod. This is also generally the smallest traveling unit. pods are close nit family groups that tend to raise children communally. The specifics of how decisions are made varies from pod to pod, for example while one may run things fairly democratically, another may refer to a council of elders.

A group of pods makes up a tribe, which is headed by a tribal leader, or chief. These chiefs are chosen by council by the pods in the tribe. Sometimes a tribe will have succession rules, like the oldest member of the tribe to be born in one of the pods, other times the pods in a tribe will form a council of elders in order to choose. regardless, a tribal chief derives their legitimacy by the support of the pods. Serena has a total of 18 tribes.

The highest power in Serena is the small council. The small council is composed of The Ali'i nui (great chief), the two E’foni’mas, and one elected representative of the lunesoli. The Oma'oma'o's leaders are not formally part of the council, but are almost always invited to meetings and included in decision making.

The Ali’i Nui is chosen from a group of apprentices chosen by the previous Ali’i nui upon their death or replacement. The cabal of tribal leaders then chooses from this group, and the chosen becomes the new Ali’i Nui. if a leader should find that none of the candidates seem suitable, then they may propose an individual of their own choosing to the small council, who can then decide to indict them into the election pool.

The tribes meet every hundred years to elect two individuals who will serve as the "direct voice of the people" or E’foni’mas on the small council. At least two chiefs must back a candidate for them to be nominated, and the election is decided by popular vote of all members of the 18 tribes who are of age.

### The 18 tribes

Although Serena is a unified nation, the vast majority of an individual’s life takes place within the tribe they are born. These tribes have their own identities, names, sigils and leaders, all of which influence the tribe's overall character. Although adult Serenians are free to travel as they wish, and the pod groups do not tend to group up with their tribe, a tribe does tend to have a series of routes and locations traditionally occupied by their members. The geography of these locations tend to influence the culture and mannerisms of the tribe. Most tribes have a mixture of Serena's species among their members, but a few historically mostly consist of one of the three major groups. For example: the Au’au tribe is almost entirely merfolk.

The biggest cultural distinction is between Those considered “surface tribes” and those considered “deep sea tribes.” Although most tribes tend toward the mesopelagic and upper bathypelagic zones, a few tend towards more extreme ranges, like staying on coastal waters or occupying the floors of the abyssopelagic zone. In these cases, the simple differences in survival needs cause behavioral and cultural differences as well.

Some especially notable tribes are:

## Prejudices

Internal prejudices: conflict between the tribes is minimal, but due to differences in geography and lifestyle, some cultural friction is inevitable. The most notable instance of this is a general lack of understanding between reef dwellers and those who occupy the deep. Generally, reef folk are seen as demure, frivolous and somewhat insincere by the deepfolk, and the deep folk are viewed as insular, unfriendly and coarse.

External prejudices: Outsiders are generally met with a polite suspicion. In general, Serenians are uncomfortable at the prospect of heavy industry and heavily individualistic societies. Class disparity in particular is foreign to them. Often, they perceive these things as a sign of greed and self-centeredness, as well as a lack of community.  These feelings are however rarely expressed at the point of contact.

## Crime

"Crime in Serena tends to fall under two categories. Crime against those around you and crime against the land. Things like battery, assault, endangerment, child  neglect, and theft fall under crimes against those around you while desecration, destruction, overhunting, and disobeying seasonal harvesting rules falls under the latter category. Most incidents fall under the discretion of the tribal leader, however, should the situation be especially dire or should the incident occur between members of different tribes, then the matter is brought to the small council. Incidents of this gravity are uncommon. Punishments for serious crimes tend to be exile or a labor sentence depending on what is decided by the leader. Child abuse however results in a branding.  While disputes and accidents are common, serious crime is not.

The sentence for outsiders breaking serenan laws is different. Generally, the incident is filed with whichever authority the individual is beholden to, and, often enough, they’re not allowed back until whatever they’ve been sentenced to has been served. Sometimes they are simply banned permanently.

Pirates get their accosted until they either leave, are captured, or surrender. Once that happens it’s either up to who dealt with them or whoever they’re brought too. Enforcement on smuggling is rather lax, however poaching or plundering is usually the immediate cause for altercations. Serenians aren’t pacifists, and will kill in defense should it come to that.

## Major Settlements

While primarily a nomadic culture, Serena does have it’s own permanent settlements. Sometimes, these come in the form of lone buildings constructed for a specific purpose, like a temple, library, or warehouse. Some are small villages populated by Serena’s few sedentary residents. Others are places meant to be traveled between, like the network of strongholds used by residents of the abyssal depths. Few and far between, however, are the places that could be accurately called a city. Those rare few are listed below.