Deep-Ones

Pax, a Deep-One stationed in Compass Rose (circa 2277)

Less Frequent Traits:

* Sharp teeth
* Fins on the back or arms
* Webbed fingers

Hunters of the Threat from the Beyond and executioners of the far-gone, these Unda are the sword of their kin. The last resort and swift finish to an Aether being that their brethren have not been able to purge.

**Leviathans of War:** The Deep Ones are tasked with the breeding and care of the Unda’s Leviathans; living “ships” that serve as mass transport units in times of need. They are rarely used (as it is not an everyday occurrence that requires multiple squadrons of Deep One's to breach the surface and deal with an Aether being), but when they are utilized it is an astounding sight for the denizens of Haven to see great beasts flying through the air or shooting up rivers and across lakes. The Unda have not awakened a leviathan for war for hundreds of years.

### **Art**

While the Deep One's tend not to have time to pursue such “time-wasting” activities, their underwater architecture is incomparable with any other race on the back of Zet’Tallen. The rare few surface dwellers who have managed to make their way down to one of these cities and survived are awestruck by its intricacies and have spread tale of it’s beauty to the rest of Haven, though many wonder whether it is true.

### **Appearance**

Due to their environment Deep One’s scales and gills range from dark navy blues, to purples, to blacks with flecks of occasional silver. They are built for battle and surviving the harsh conditions under the ocean so many of their their teeth have sharpened to a predator-like state and some sport fins on their arms and backs to assist in maneuvering underwater. When on land, Deep One’s tend to wear functional tunics and loose pants in order to maintain their ease of movement and battle capabilities.

### **Cuisine**

Deep One's sport a healthy diet of fish, fish, more fish, and seaweeds. Due to the sheer amount of space they hold under the ocean, they utilize large fisheries and kelp farms in order to sustain themselves and keep all of their forces battle ready. Occasionally while on the surface they consume foods other than fish, but many Deep One's find “surface food” to be extremely dry and difficult to eat sometimes.

### **Trade & Commerce**

While trade and commerce is not a priority for the Deep One's, they do tend to trade pretty bobbles such as pearls, shells, small diamonds, and other small gemstones that they find to the Islanders. Some Deep One's who are stationed in cities around Haven have also taken up training denizens of Haven in the art of war when times are peaceful, both to upkeep their own physical prowess and to improve the innocent’s chances if anything horrible were to happen.

### **Geography**

The Deep One's live within vast, impressive cities in the deepest waters surrounding Haven. Most cities comprise of extensive barrack-like structures, several training or battle arenas, fish and kelp farms, impressive limestone buildings, and various collection shops that retrieve valuable trading goods and interesting objects that flow into the ocean and are lost to the land-dwelling population. The deep ones are chiefly trained in one of 8 cities around the edges of Haven. It is here as well that they, and other Unda who come to be educated in the history and culture of the Unda, are taught that one of their chief jobs as part of their deal with Zet’Tallen is to protect not just all of haven and its circles, but these 8 circles in particular and that no one from outside the most respected of the Unda’s Theurges should use them.

### **Traditions and Holidays**

* **The Reveal** - A coming of age ceremony that occurs once a young Deep One is able to fully control their Birthright. This mastery indicates that the Unda in question is ready to begin their advanced training and be sent on draftings or assignments to the surface. This ceremony is held in one of the largest training arenas within one of the main 8 cities surrounding Haven’s edge. The young Unda must prove to the elders of their people that they are indeed skilled enough to control their Birthright through several tests including various combat scenarios before receiving the elder’s approval to go to the surface.

* **The Bond** - A sacred and secretive ceremony that is held during the conception of a new Unda child where the family and close friends of the couple create a “shell” for this new life to develop within. Seashells, kelp, flat rocks, and other underwater materials are carefully crafted into a protective shell where the combination of a couple’s ethereal energies is placed after conception. This practice is not discussed outside of couples and the Unda peoples, and is generally seen as rude to question.

* **The Departure** - A ceremony of remembrance for when an Unda dies. As a collective, stories are shared, songs are sung, and memories are continuously passed on through the interconnected minds of the Unda while the body of the deceased Unda dissipates into an ethereal smoke. It is known within the culture that an intelligence of someone never actually dies, but is instead recycled back into the collective for them to reemerge at a later date. This ceremony is not usually mournful, and instead tends to be merely one of respect. However, when Unda truly discover how other races die they can be shocked, disgusted, and sorrowful for those who pass on from other races.
* **The Quieting** - The Unda are not from Haven, they’re from the Aether, but the aether is difficult to travel. To do so, The Unda wandered in great living ships known as Leviathans. And when the Unda finally settled on Haven they no longer needed them, so they set them to sleep beneath the waves. But creatures of such size and strength do not always sleep restlessly, and once every so often they stir, waking, causing such storms and quakes that were they to wake outside the frost, all the world would feel them roar. When these creatures awake beneath the waves, the Quieting must take place, wherein the Deep Ones go forth to fight them, to tire them out to such a state that the Leviathans choose to sleep beneath the waves once more. The quieting is a right of passage of sorts for deep ones wherein new warriors test their mettle against great creatures, for only in conquering such a beast can a Deep One truly be deemed worthy to fight the unknowable threats of the aether. Rarely to other Unda or Even the Deep One’s talk about the Quieting above the waves. Better to let sleeping beasts lie.

### **Military**

Trained from a young age, Deep One's learned to fight effectively and as a unit within the context of apocalyptic scenarios. Their training is rigorous and intense, usually leading to hardened soldiers whose main purpose is to be the last line of defense and take the more extreme measures to ensure that Aether is rid from Haven. They participate in arena style challenges to learn and improve their skills, battling predators of the deep such as sharks, angler fish, and giant squid. The utilization of these creatures for training allows many Deep One's to suffer less from the shock of seeing twisted forms that Aether can create , and merely focus on being rid of the beast.

## Social Structure & History

This is a shared structure and history with the rest of the Unda Inquisition