Tholos

## Topography and Climate

Tholos is an underwater city-state on the Mistral seafloor, located approximately 700 miles northwest of Belegost and Malderi. Much like the rest of the Mistral seafloor, the area around Tholos consists of flat, mile-spanning plains flecked with knolls and undersea volcanoes. Tholos itself rests upon a short but flat knoll, almost dias-like in its shape. Much of the seafloor is covered in coral or kelp.

A slightly dark mist formed from the ash spewed by the volcanoes worsens the lack of light at these depths. At this depth, the water temperature rests consistently close to freezing, and the pressure hangs heavy. The constant lack of light and heat ensure that only the speed of nearby currents shows any inkling of the passing of seasons.

Most light at these elevations is artificial, produced by magic or bioluminescent life.

## Population

Tholos and the surrounding area are inhabited nearly-exclusively by Oarfish-folk and the various beasts inhabiting the deep ocean. The hostile environment and various ‘rites of passage’, such as the Min Pethan, limit their population to the 130,000 to 150,000 range.

## Exports and Trades

Tholosians primarily exchange goods with each other and the occasional outsider who stumbles upon them. Commerce relies on Old Kingdom Stone currency, supplemented by bartering. Most precious metals are not highly-valued, as they corrode too easily underwater. Tholos itself is entirely self-sufficient, so few within the city actually trade with any outsiders, and fewer still trade with non-Oarfish-folk.

Tholos has had two main sources of contact with the surface: the short-lived Gramma Project which sent Grammas, magically water-resistant containers describing the city and its people, to the surface nearly a millennia ago with no apparent response; and relics scavenged from shipwrecks, often smuggled into the city.

## Government

Tholos operates under a democratic theocracy, controlled by a religious and political head, the Ilech, and a body of 45 elected officials, the Council of Epitropi. District-level officials are elected to a smaller council, a Council of Meta, by the district’s members, but priests are usually appointed by the Ilech. All elections use a preferentially-ranked ballot to decide the victor. If an elected official is removed, another election for a replacement usually follows within three days.

External settlements within about fifty (50) miles of Tholos are considered under its jurisdiction, but are typically left to their own devices unless they suddenly become valuable to the government.

### Local Level

Tholos is divided into fifteen (15) districts, then politically divided again into three Voting Blocs. Each Bloc holds equal power over the others, and represents a group vital to the progress of Tholos as a whole. The Material Bloc contains all Tholosian non-magic users, the Magical Bloc contains all active and inactive Tholosian magic-users that contribute to the study and pursuit of magic, and the Holy Bloc contains all active and inactive Tholosian priest. Convicted and imprisoned criminals may still vote, and anyone may apply to move from one Bloc to another should their life path suddenly change.

Each district elects nine Meta to govern local affairs. These Meta are evenly elected from the three Voting Blocs; three Material Meta, three Magical Meta, and three Holy Meta. Each Meta remains in power for two years, but can be removed by a 2/3rds majority of their district’s Bloc and the approval of at least one other Meta. Outside their standard governing role, the Holy Meta confer priesthood to applicants with the approval of that church or religious group within the district.

Ater are priests of the Church of Kastis Krisi appointed by the Ilech themself to specific districts. Each district has four Ater, who each tend to have several priests below them. The Ater are largely responsible for coordinating the worship and teachings of Kastis Krisi.

### State Level

The Ilech acts as the representative and ruler of Tholos itself and the Church of Kastis Krisi. The Ilech holds the final veto or approval of laws petitioned by the Council of Epitropi, and can freely propose their own laws for the Epitropi to vote upon. The Church of Kastis Krisi considers the Ilech to be Kastis Krisi’s agent and avatar in the Material Plane, and grants them final authority on religious disputes pertaining to Her and the power to advance new doctrines of the Church. Such proposals and mediations may be voided if the Ater agree it runs counter to previously-established doctrine.

The Ilech also holds the power to reverse decisions made by the Church, but only after obtaining confirmation from every priest and Ater in Tholos that the old doctrine was illegitimate and the new doctrine is the truth. The Ilech can also ordain new Ater, and retract the title from Ater with 2/3rds approval from the Meta of that Ater’s district. The Ilech may also select as many people as they like to serve as Symilechs, the Ilech’s immediate council of advisors. The Ilech may choose not to have any Symilechs, and a Symilech wields no true political power.

The most active legal body in Tholos is the Council of Epitropi. The year after the election of a district’s Council of Meta, each Voting Bloc votes one representative to be an Epitrop on the Council. The Council has an equal distribution between Blocs; fifteen Material Epitropi, fifteen Magical Epitropi, and fifteen Holy Epitropi. During their two-year term, any Epitrop can propose and vote on potential changes to Tholos. Such changes require a 2/3rds majority approval before moving up to the Ilech for the final approval or veto.

The Council and Epitropi each hold a final balance over the other. Any single Epitrop, with or without the endorsement of their district’s Bloc, may at any time petition for the removal of the Ilech. Such a petition requires only a simple majority over ½ approval before the Ilech is removed. The Ilech also possesses the power to disband the Council of Epitropi exactly once during their reign. The Ilech then assumes total state power for the following forty-five (45) days, after which the Council of Epitropi reconstitutes. For the Ilech, this is only to be used as a last resort in desperate times, but even when used correctly it often backfires and results in the Ilech’s removal after the forty-five day period.

## Social Hierarchy and Culture

Tholosians value community and tradition above all else, and place a high value on hunters, magic-users, and priests. While some may be apprehensive towards some occupation or another, Tholosians generally accept their equality by virtue of living in Tholos at all. This is not the case for those with the name “Varos”. Such people are often treated as second-class citizens by the rest of society, assumed to be flawed or dangerous in some way. Once the name “Varos” has been given, it can never be taken away, not even by the Ilech.

### Time

Tholosians use much the same conventions for Months, Weeks, Hours, and so on as surface-dwelling societies do, however their years are based instead from the founding of Tholos itself. Time before the founding of Tholos is designated by “T”, for Tribal, and time after by “ABW”, After Bloodwater. The current year on the Tholosian calendar is 2451.

### Min Pethan

The Min Pethan is an ancient and brutal practice that predates the founding of Tholos by millennia which has since become a rite of admittance for Tholosians. About two days travel away from Tholos, there is a large sinkhole which glows with a deep, warm, green radiance. The origin of this glow cannot be discerned by holy intervention or magical scrying, its nature is completely obscured. Participants heavily regulate their mating, as to make later selection easier. After laying their eggs, Tholosians will take them to this place, the so-called “Heart of the Sea”, then return to Tholos and wait.

In the time it takes for them to hatch, the hatchlings absorb energy from the Heart of the Sea, granting them a temporary boon before hatching. The most common boons are enhanced physical strength, magical talent, and a slight connection to a Tholosian deity. Such boons last exactly five days and produce a faint colored aura around the newborn (red for strength, yellow for magic, and blue for the divine connection). This mysterious energy also naturally draws them in the relative direction of Tholos itself. Upon arriving near Tholos on their predestined path, newborns are pursued and captured in oversized nets by prospective parents. Any parent who catches a child is entrusted by all of Tholos to care for that child as their own, as they came by that child through Fate, divine influence, or their own will and that alone means the child is worthy of love and life in Tholos.

Children who arrive after three days are considered to have failed the Min Pethan, and receive the name “Varos”. Most potential parents give up after seven days, after which point a team of designated infant seekers are tasked with capturing any remaining stragglers. Such children are given to childless parents by a voluntary lottery. Tholosian participants assume that any infants unaccounted for died in the harsh conditions of the Ocean. Such infants are considered not worth love or life in Tholos.

#### Leaving Tholos

The Min Pethan ends upon arrival at Tholos, and only upon arrival at Tholos. As such, if a Tholosian who participated in the Min Pethan leaves Tholos, the Min Pethan has technically resumed. Since monitoring the exact amount of time each individual child spends in the wilderness during the Min Pethan is impossible, participants are permitted one additional day to return to Tholos before they are considered to have failed the Min Pethan, even after a previous success. As before, failure to successfully complete the Min Pethan causes a returning Tholosian to gain the name “Varos”.

Given that many professions, such as hunting and waste extraction, require exiting Tholos, the Ilech can grant a Tholosian permission to leave Tholos for a certain period of time without resuming the Min Pethan. Such permission also allows free entry and exit from Tholos during the allotted time. Tholosians who spend extended periods of time outside of Tholos may receive an unlimited waiver against the Min Pethan, though this usually requires a great deal of trust from the Ilech.

### Names

Tholosians are usually assigned three names after completing the Min Pethan. The first of these names is given by the parents or caretakers, and may have any desired meaning. The second name indicates the ancient tribe one or both parents descended from: Kinisin, Krisin, Sylin, Synkrousin, or Thymin. The third name refers to the boon granted by the Heart of the Sea. Common third names include Macha, Isychyros (Gift of Strength), Kouti, Enomenos (Gift of Faith), Piro, or Gnorizon (Gift of Magic).

A Tholosian’s fourth name is usually given to them at some point by their friends, family, or colleagues, usually some time after they reach mental maturity. This name typically encompasses what that person means to those close to him, but it must be submitted to the Council of Epitropi and the Ilech for approval. The fifth name is conferred to a Tholosian posthumously by their community at large, as a sign of remembrance for their deeds. The names of all Tholosians are inscribed upon a massive network of catacombs and tombs within and outside Tholos.

Failure to receive any one of these names is a massive slight. A Tholosian without a first or third name, one who did not complete the Min Pethan, is considered not even worth thinking about. A Tholosian without a second name, similarly, is often seen and treated as a loner destined to solitude. Lacking a fourth name indicates that one’s colleagues and closest friends and family do not know how to describe that person, and that they are a backdrop in life. Lacking a fifth name means that the community does not remember anything noteworthy about that person, and that they may not even be worth remembering. If someone dies before receiving a fourth name, some may bestow them a name like Omorfi or Apokrypsi posthumously.

Varos can be considered a sixth name, and has horrific cultural connotations as elaborated above.

### Daughters of Thymos and Exposure to the Surface

Though Tholos has never had direct contact with the surface, many things have been revealed about it. Through magic and supposed divine influence of Thymos, a small group of Tholosians can peer into the world of the surface four times a year by means of a ritual. This has granted Tholosians small insights into continent-shaping events, as well as the existence of the varied species and cultures of the Surface. Since the only ones who have been able to perform this ritual have been women, the only group capable of performing this ritual is called the Daughters of Thymos.

### Religion

Tholosians abide by the tenets of normal Oarfish-Folk religion, with the additional caveat of the Min Pethan's religious significance.

#### The Triad

Tholosians also hold a special reverence for the Triad, three people essential to the founding of Tholos. In the years that followed Tholos's founding, each has taken on a few myths of their own.

Machairi was the greatest warrior of the Sylin tribe. Belligerent and irritable from one of the final tribal wars, his loyalty and sense of duty to his tribe prevailed in uniting the Sylin and Kinisin tribes. Machairi also won over Asylo, and many myths recount him battling Kinisi to a draw to earn her favor.

Pirouni was a shaman from the Synkrousin tribe, known for their great wisdom and their frequent refusals to impart any of it. They also possessed an insatiable obsession with alchemy, a passion which supposedly made them less involved in organizing Tholos after Bloodwater ended. Pirouni's unparallelled conversational and debate skills united the factions within the Synkrousin tribe, Sykrousin herself, and the Peacemaker. Some myths also say that Pirouni themself gave the Peacemaker the idea to gain the other gods' attention by tearing off his face.

Koutani was the youngest child of the Krisin tribe's chieftain. Blessed by Kastis Krisi from a young age, she was a prodigy of celestial and phantasmal magic. She also had an innate knack for leadership, administration, and organization, which contributed to her becoming the first Ilech of Tholos, and was “unnaturally lucky” according to many. Koutani earned the favor of Kastis Krisi and Thymos by the unbridled magnitude of her faith.

### Crime

The largest source of organized crime both in Tholos and throughout the Mistral Sea’s seafloor is the Beggars. About 2000 to 2500 members strong at any given time, Beggar activities cover the full range of criminal operations, with two notable exceptions.

Drug trafficking is limited, and usually not too lucrative unless the seller is also the baker. Underwater chemistry faces similar problems to underwater alchemy, and many mind-altering substances come from rare and dangerous sea monsters.

The Beggar’s Black Market operations are by and large the primary focus of the organization, especially for those willing to purchase items from outside Tholos. Hardened Beggars with experience surviving the wilderness, usually called “Pinches”, leave Tholos without the state’s knowledge for weeks or months to scour the ocean floor for curiosities and relics from the surface. Upon their return, bribed guards permit them entry through the Nixi Dome, after which Pinches usually launder their goods through fences, called “Pockets”.

The act of searching for valuables on the seafloor or even owning surface curiosities is not itself illegal, but the penalty for unlawful exit of Tholos is to receive the name Varos, a fate many consider worse than death. Additionally, the illicit and possibly sacrilegious nature of acquiring these items creates a strong social stigma surrounding them, as their purchase is equivocated with supporting the actions of those who found them.

## Districts

Tholos is divided into fifteen districts, plus the Nixi Dome. The districts are named for their original purposes, but have all developed greatly over time. As such, the functions they presently serve, if any, are not elaborated upon. It can generally be assumed that each district offers a bit of everything to its inhabitants.

### Archi

Location of the Ilech’s Keep and the Hall of the Epitropi. Centermost location in the city.

### Nixi Dome

Tholos’s largest defensive measure is an magically-created barrier of ocean currents, which repel any intruders seeking entry to Tholos. Tholos is surrounded by a massive ring of ultra-hardened coral, laid flush in the ground about 100 feet from any buildings and enchanted to the point of nigh-invulnerability. This coral runs through tunnels beneath the city to a heavily-guarded underground ritual chamber, where two teams of thirty (30) Oarfish-Folk druids and wizards work almost nonstop to direct the 30-foot thick oceanic currents to spiral out and around Tholos without harming its inhabitants. This group of magic users, called the Nixi Guard, rotate out its members regularly for rest and recuperation, always maintaining at least fifteen (15) Nixi Guards to maintain the currents. Various smaller rituals may be conducted to swap one participant for another, or to preserve the Nixi Dome for a few hours with no supervision.

The Nixi Dome’s coral has a number of “bubbles”, spaces where the coral seems to loop on itself. Such loops are designated entry and exit points, and have two guards positioned on either side of the ocean current. When someone needs to move into or out of the city, the two guards within the Dome channel magic into pearls fused into the coral ring, which magically creates a protective archway temporarily poking a hole in the current wall. This archway disappears automatically if either guard removes their hand from a pearl, should the need arise.

## Alliances

Given its isolation and inability to contact other civilizations, Tholos has no formal allies.

## Enemy Countries

Given its isolation and inability to contact other civilizations, Tholos has no formal enemies.

## Founding and History

### Historical Revisionism

Over the generations of its existence, many Ilechs in Tholos and their associates in power have deemed it necessary to modify the Tholosian understanding of itself. While it inevitably caused backlash, it has left permanent marks on Tholosian history. Some history is not known to most Tholosians, if any, and this is represented by text between square brackets, [like this].

Additionally, all years will be tracked using the traditional Binturian Calendar of Years (e.g. the regular measurement of time starting from the fall of Old Binturia approximately 10,000 years ago).

### Prehistory, and Tribal Wars

The tribal Oarfish-Folk who would later found Tholos arrived in the Mistral Sea area by 3000 AB at the very least, by which time much of their early culture had already developed. There were uncountably many wars between tribes during this time, particularly between the Krisin and Synkrousin Tribes, and between the Thymin Tribe and every other tribe at some time or another.

### [First Min Pethan, and the Culling Wars]

[Starting around 5461 AB, members of several tribes began practicing the Min Pethan, as described under the “Culture” heading. Many were repulsed by the casual negligence of infants the rite demanded, but the Min Pethan gained traction and supporters quickly. By early 5653, approximately one-third of all Oarfish-Folk in the Mistral Sea practiced the Min Pethan, and entire tribes reorganized their movement patterns to shorten the distance to the Meeting Plateau, where those who passed the Min Pethan ended up.]

[A number Oarfish-Folk, outraged by their tribes’ casual and complicit infanticide, separated themselves from their tribes to safeguard the newborn children, who otherwise would be left to the cruel and unforgiving wilderness. In 5655, these people took up a new name, Epizontes, and considered themselves a tribe of their own. The original tribespeople, incensed that their children were being essentially kidnapped and that the Min Pethan was being interrupted, declared war upon the new Epizontes tribe.]

[This war would be the first of many wars between the Epizontes tribe and the remaining Synkrousin, Thymin, Sylin, Krisin, and Kinisin tribes. These wars, fought to decide the fate of millions of infants, would become known as the “Culling Wars”, or simply the “Cullings”. There were a total of four (4) Culling Wars, beginning with the first in 5655. These wars are structured thusly:

* First Culling War: 5655 - 5695
* Second Culling War: 5703 - 5723
* Third Culling War: 5790 - 5790
* Final Culling War: 5796 - 5849

At the end of the Final Culling War, after nearly two centuries of bloodshed and children exchanging hands, the Five Tribes achieved a decisive victory over the Epizontes Tribe at their home city Akropoli and laying it to ruin. The victorious tribes declared themselves the undisputed masters of their chunk of the Ocean, but would allow the Epizontes to leave should they so choose.]

[After generations of constant war for the souls of so many, the Epizontes departed from the Mistral Sea, defeated. Numerous myths and stories were created as propaganda for this war, which greatly obscured its truth. Through this and meddling of the Ilech Parasyro,] all records of these wars have been lost, save for ancient mythological references to an unspecified Culling.

### Bloodwater, and the Founding of Tholos

The Five Tribes had constructed a handful of permanent lodgings at the Meeting Place, where they expected their young would arrive. One child, who would go on to become called Chima Synkrousin Fonos Ethro Teras Varos, arrived after the expected three days and given the name Varos. [Chima was an anomalous child, seeming to have retained all three Gifts offered by the Heart of the Sea long after their auras faded away. Still, his talent went unrecognized by his parent tribe, Synkrousin. The constant sneers and patronizing his family subjected him to galvanized him against not only the Min Pethan itself, but also the tribes who perpetuated it. Knowing nothing of the Epizontes who felt the same way millennia ago,] Chima departed from the Meeting Place once he reached maturity and travelled deep into the wilderness. Under the guidance of Sykrousi, who supposedly felt that the Five Tribes had grown soft under peace, Chima tamed legions upon legions of the ocean’s most dangerous monsters.

In 7,567, Chima returned with his host of beasts and began a campaign of destruction against the Five Tribes. He laid their camps to waste, hunted those that strayed too far from their fleeing tribes, and kept a near-permanent guard at the Heart of the Sea. Each tribe insisted the problem could be resolved only by their gods and their people, but all such efforts proved fruitless. In the span of one year, Chima had brought the Min Pethan to a complete halt.

Only through the intercession of Machairi Sylin Isychyros Polemos Sidirourgos, Pirouni Synkrousin Gnorizon Chimikos Theama, and Koutani Krisin Enomenos Tycheros Eklektos, who would later be known as the Triad, could the Five Tribes truly and wholly unite as one to defeat Chima and his army of monsters. During the joint meeting to discuss an alliance, talks nearly broke down as each tribe leader dug in their heels over who should lead such an alliance. At the last moment, Machairi, Pirouni, and Koutani all gave passionate and empowered speeches in favor of unification. As they spoke, the sea above them began to take on an unnatural red hue, the shade of blood. [By coincidence, a large asteroid made mostly from pure iron had broken into pieces in Temporis’s atmosphere and fell into the Mistral Sea the day before the meeting. By the time the speeches had concluded, iron had begun dissipating into the seawater in massive quantities, giving the water an unnatural bloody tinge for miles around.]

Taking this as a sign of the gods in favor of an alliance, the five tribes agreed to allow the Triad to lead them into battle. Shortly after, the full might of the Five Oarfish-Folk Tribes crashed against Chima’s Monstrous Horde. Slowly, brutally, Chima’s monsters were slain, and the army inched closer and closer to Chima. [Chima grew more and more desperate, knowing that there was no fleeing from this battle and that defeat meant certain death.] Chima cried out for Sykrousi’s guidance, but was met only with the deafening roar of the Five Tribes closing in upon him. Finally, after three days of fighting, Chima began to mount a retreat with his few remaining monsters. Seizing the opportunity, the Triad rushed forwards towards Chima, killing him in moments. Left listless, the sea monsters were quickly cut down by the Tribes.

Emerging victorious, the Five Tribes agreed to settle their differences to prevent a future conflict from ever killing as many as the war against Chima, which would become known as Bloodwater. Under the guidance of the Triad, the tribes set up a permanent joint settlement at the Meeting Place, which they titled Tholos. Machairi and Koutani formally established Tholos’s government and structure, but Pirouni vanished into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

### Parasyro’s Folly, and the Alithene Riots

In 8,698, the man who would later be called Pisti Krisin Kouti Vasilias Parasyro, or simply Parasyro, rose to become Ilech. Parasyro believed with his whole heart that his dream of Tholos under Kastis Krisi, a dream he believed every other Tholosian shared, was dying. He watched with paranoia as new discoveries were being made about the history of the Tribes long before the founding of Tholos. [First, in the year of his ascension to Ilech, they found the myth connecting Kinisi to her “Forebearer of the Dead” epithet. Then not but two months later, another myth about the first Min Pethan, which appeared riddled with contradictions, was discovered. Finally, a fragmented story about Asylo calling upon a pre-anthropomorphized Thymos for guidance was unearthed at the farthest reaches of the sea.]

[Parasyro noted that the further back in time a myth appeared to be from, the more defined and concrete the details of its gods and goddesses seemed to be, except in the case of Kastis Krisi. Each myth described the Great Circle the same way, with no new additions. Parasyro began to worry. Part of him wanted to believe that Kastis Krisi was simply so old and revered that her whole scope had been preserved through the ages. Another, much darker part of him wondered if such a time never came. The paranoid part of Parasyro wondered if perhaps Kastis Krisi herself, ever-present in nearly every myth even under bizarre circumstances, had been added to myths after they had been written, effectively creating a goddess of authority from something she wasn’t, or perhaps even from nothing at all. This last thought shook Parasyro to his very core.]

Fearing what could happen if the full history of the Tholosian people were ever fully uncovered, Parasyro set about to do the unthinkable. He replaced his staff of Symilechs with authority-minded people, and convinced them to join his cause in secret. At the stroke of the first midnight of 8700, Parasyro invoked an ancient and untouched clause in the Tholosian doctrine to temporarily and secretly disband the Council of Epitropi. This done, he enforced a strict curfew for the duration of the dictatorship and went to work.

Parasyro ordered every relic, text, and reference to anything dated older than 7,467 (100 T) must be destroyed. Homes were raided, precious heirlooms stolen, sacred temples and shrines desecrated, and researchers who translated and studied such things were killed. The only exception to this purge would be those with names predating Bloodwater, as that would be impossible to track. Very little survived this purge, but some small things were smuggled outside Tholos.

A historian by the name Alithene Thymin Gnorizon Istoria Athanatos was attacked and left for dead during this purge, but survived within an inch of her life. She told her neighbors about her experience, who told their neighbors, and so on. Soon the killing of researchers became public knowledge, and Tholos flew into a whirlpool of rioting and protests. In an effort to quiet the outcry, Alithene herself was attacked again, but again survived. She would go on to survive five more assassination attempts, one of which was conducted in the open. By the end of the forty-five days, Alithene led an angry mob and every Epitrop and Meta in Tholos to storm the Ilech’s keep.

Parasyro was quickly found, captured, and sentenced to a long and painful death for betraying the trust of Tholos. Alithene herself was made Ilech by the subsequent vote, and she quickly began recovering what she could. The damage was already done however. Some texts could never be recovered unless rediscovered in their original form, and some relics smuggled outside Tholos were never returned.

### Nixi Dome, and Gramma Project

Construction on the Nixi Dome, the final line of defense between Tholos and potential intruders, was completed in 9,567 on the two-thousand-year anniversary of the founding of Tholos. To further commemorate the occasion, the Ilech at the time commissioned the construction of a number of water-resistant probes, covered in depictions of Tholos’s location on the seafloor and filled to bursting with texts detailing what life was like there. The Daughters of Thymos had been observing the surface for centuries by this point, and Tholos clambered for some way to safely contact the surface.

These probes, called Grammas, were designed to withstand and resist the oceanic currents that imprisoned Oarfish-Folk to the seafloor. They were also designed to be unnaturally buoyant, rising to sea level against nearly any pressure given enough time. The Gramma Project was ready in time for the anniversary, and with jubilation the Ilech and her people sent the Grammas into the sea, and waited.

No answer ever came. No Grammas were ever recovered from the seafloor, so it isn’t as though they failed in their purpose. The Daughters of Thymos cannot focus the scrying ritual enough to locate the Grammas themselves. Tholos is still waiting, even today.