Whaletooth Archipelago Culture
Both southern and northern shipwreckers name their young after bodies of water, types of ships, and any other ocean or nautical terms. Southerners tend to choose ones based more around warm climates, while northerners cold ones.
Here are a few examples:
Here are a few examples:
- Azores
- Aleutian
- Agulhas
- Mindanao
- Okhotsk
- Meridian
- Compass
- Capricorn
Most shipwreckers give little spiritual significance to the means by which the dead are dealt with. Bodies are always burned and returned to the sea. Some care little where their ashes are left, while others leave detailed instructions about when, where, and how their remains are to be put to rest.
In the south, funerals are immense parties where anyone who knew (or claimed to know) them gathers to watch the ashes vanish into the waves, usually accompanied by feasting and music.
In the south, funerals are immense parties where anyone who knew (or claimed to know) them gathers to watch the ashes vanish into the waves, usually accompanied by feasting and music.
Shipwreckers don’t have very complex ‘architecture’ in the South, preferring instead to live on ships and houseboats.
Southerners live on ships or floating houseboats, with most cities built on floating wooden platforms far from shore. What buildings they have are often ramshackle wooden hovels, poorly built and usually only lasting a decade before falling apart. Their skill in making ships would lead one to believe that they would have the potential to build functional cities, but there are a few key reasons why this isn’t the case.
Southerners simply don’t want proper land-based dwellings, as they need to live near water to keep their skin from drying out, but they also haven’t developed much skill in making them as a result. They don’t understand what a foundation is, or why building a home on soft, marshy soil is a bad idea. Often even a proper house built by a shipwrecker will sink into the earth after a few decades. In their eyes, stationary houses are inferior to houseboats, which can be moved and anchored in different places and allows one to travel the world without leaving your home behind.
They make up for their poor grasp of architecture, however, by their magnificent skill in creating ships. They come in all shapes, sizes, and uses, but are generlaly all well-made. Every nation knows that the best ships come from the Southerners, and while they are often hesitant to part with their vessels, large sums of money flow into their claws from all over the Realm to secure such a ship.
Some shipbuilders from the South even collaborate with Ironbrook to create the slim, sleek skyships that float in the skies over the Thundercrack Cascades.
Southerners live on ships or floating houseboats, with most cities built on floating wooden platforms far from shore. What buildings they have are often ramshackle wooden hovels, poorly built and usually only lasting a decade before falling apart. Their skill in making ships would lead one to believe that they would have the potential to build functional cities, but there are a few key reasons why this isn’t the case.
Southerners simply don’t want proper land-based dwellings, as they need to live near water to keep their skin from drying out, but they also haven’t developed much skill in making them as a result. They don’t understand what a foundation is, or why building a home on soft, marshy soil is a bad idea. Often even a proper house built by a shipwrecker will sink into the earth after a few decades. In their eyes, stationary houses are inferior to houseboats, which can be moved and anchored in different places and allows one to travel the world without leaving your home behind.
They make up for their poor grasp of architecture, however, by their magnificent skill in creating ships. They come in all shapes, sizes, and uses, but are generlaly all well-made. Every nation knows that the best ships come from the Southerners, and while they are often hesitant to part with their vessels, large sums of money flow into their claws from all over the Realm to secure such a ship.
Some shipbuilders from the South even collaborate with Ironbrook to create the slim, sleek skyships that float in the skies over the Thundercrack Cascades.
Southerners love art, especially the sort that can be snatched from captured vessels and sold for high prices. Many great works of art have been ‘lost’ to the Whaletooth Archipelago’s pirates in the past.
The southerners’ true favourite arts are that of song, dance, and plays. Crewmates sing shanties at sea and, if someone’s got a good voice, it’s not uncommon for half of a city to break into song during the day and night. Street performances of extremely dramatic ‘real events’ are also common as well, but actors are liable to be chased off if they’re terrible.
Instruments can be anything and everything, even the modern ones they have to steal from Ironbrook. They mostly use their own voices to make music, at least while their hands are occupied with sailing their ships. Some popular instruments are mandolins, fiddles, lutes, small drums pennywhistles, fifes and concertinas.
The southerners’ true favourite arts are that of song, dance, and plays. Crewmates sing shanties at sea and, if someone’s got a good voice, it’s not uncommon for half of a city to break into song during the day and night. Street performances of extremely dramatic ‘real events’ are also common as well, but actors are liable to be chased off if they’re terrible.
Instruments can be anything and everything, even the modern ones they have to steal from Ironbrook. They mostly use their own voices to make music, at least while their hands are occupied with sailing their ships. Some popular instruments are mandolins, fiddles, lutes, small drums pennywhistles, fifes and concertinas.
Tales from Captain Azores
A famous series of books written by the retired pirate, Captain Azores. They are bestsellers in Ironbrook, the Republic of the Spire and Meros. Most novels in the series are standalone, featuring a different crew and voyage, and often centre around rumours spread by sailors.
Some are more lighthearted, while others deal with topics such as madness, horrific and terrifying sea-gods, and ancient curses. Occasionally feature real (and sometimes still living) individuals. And of course, plenty of romance, shenanigans, and fighting along the way. They range in quality from spectacularly good to spectacularly awful.
Some are more lighthearted, while others deal with topics such as madness, horrific and terrifying sea-gods, and ancient curses. Occasionally feature real (and sometimes still living) individuals. And of course, plenty of romance, shenanigans, and fighting along the way. They range in quality from spectacularly good to spectacularly awful.
Southerners love to adorn themselves with jewelry and clothing. A few common pieces of wear include the following:
- Tattoos
- Piercings (tongue, nose, ear, etc)
- Silk/other fabric, dyed in parrot-bright colours with elaborate patterns
- Gaudy jewelry made of gold (or gold lookalikes) and gemstones.
- Feathers from brightly coloured tropical birds
- Large hats/headwear designed to keep the sun out of one's eyes (often these are dyed with their crew's colours/symbols)
The Whaletooth Archipelago is the main source of sugar in the Realm, and thus two food items are very common in the South; sweets and rum. Some other important details about their food include:
- Lots of strange spices, usually very hot!
- Lots of fruits, many of the same types as the sundrakes (mangoes, papaya, dragonfruit, etc)
- Pretty much anything that can be found in the Realm, as some pirates specialize specifically in raiding ships carrying foreign foods
- Rice
- Seafood (a lot of fish, whales, sharks, clams, urchins, seals, etc)
- Food inspired by other nations; although the accuracy is… dubious at best, it tends to taste good.
In the Whaletooth Archipelago, there are few distinctions between classes; wealth is earned by those who can steal, pirate, or blackmail well enough, and it is easy to rise and fall through the ranks. If one is ambitious and skilled, they can go very far - even, perhaps, becoming Pirate Queen or the leader of the Sirens… or dead.
The southerners don’t so much have a religion as a set of superstitions and frightening tales. They speak of ghost ships and phantom Captains, and spread tales of dangerous monsters living beneath the waves.
There is no education system among the shipwreckers. They learn their craft from a parent or a mentor-figure.
In the Whaletooth Archipelago, most sailors join their first crew between ages eight and twelve and learn how to sail and perform their role as a crewmember as they go along. Adaptability and ambition are highly prized traits in a southerner.
Should a dragon wish to send their child to school, they must send them to another nation in the Realm entirely. The Sirens will often do this with younger members, sending them to learn in Meros or the Republic of the Spire - while also acting as spies.
In the Whaletooth Archipelago, most sailors join their first crew between ages eight and twelve and learn how to sail and perform their role as a crewmember as they go along. Adaptability and ambition are highly prized traits in a southerner.
Should a dragon wish to send their child to school, they must send them to another nation in the Realm entirely. The Sirens will often do this with younger members, sending them to learn in Meros or the Republic of the Spire - while also acting as spies.
Common occupations in the Whaletooth Archipelago include:
- Sirens agents
- Kidnappers
- Bodyguards (for foreign visitors who don’t want to be robbed or kidnapped)
- Sugarmakers (extremely undesirable job)
- Pirates (by far the most common)
- Criminals/thieves/con-artists
- Tattoo artists/piercing artist
- Traders (merchant ships are necessary to conduct trade with other lands, and while their crew might partake in petty theft, the Captain must avoid major acts of piracy to be trusted in other nation's ports)
Shipwrecker families are large but very close-knit. Polyamorous relationships are not uncommon, and it is normal for a dragon to have dozens of half-siblings. Relatives work together to succeed, sharing homes, food, and resources. It’s not rare for families to adopt, accepting even children from other dragon species or humans as siblings and children.
Relationships between northern and southern shipwreckers are somewhat uncommon due to geographic differences, but not stigmatized. They are each the same species of dragon, separated only by climate and different values. Given enough time in the other's domain, a shipwrecker’s body will adapt to suit their surroundings. Born northerners that spend time in the tropics retain their narwhal-like horns, fewer fins, and smaller ears, but will gain a lithe and narrow body type and more functional wings, and may easily be mistaken for a southerner by the inexperienced. The same with southerners in the north; they’ll gain extra blubber to keep warm and their wings will become heavier and more fin-like.
Children between north/south pairs come out differently depending on where they were born. In the Moonglow Sea, they'll have a northerner's build; if in the Whaletooth Archipelago/other warmer sea, they’d look like a southerner. They might have a mix of the ‘defining features’ from north and south.
Relationships between northern and southern shipwreckers are somewhat uncommon due to geographic differences, but not stigmatized. They are each the same species of dragon, separated only by climate and different values. Given enough time in the other's domain, a shipwrecker’s body will adapt to suit their surroundings. Born northerners that spend time in the tropics retain their narwhal-like horns, fewer fins, and smaller ears, but will gain a lithe and narrow body type and more functional wings, and may easily be mistaken for a southerner by the inexperienced. The same with southerners in the north; they’ll gain extra blubber to keep warm and their wings will become heavier and more fin-like.
Children between north/south pairs come out differently depending on where they were born. In the Moonglow Sea, they'll have a northerner's build; if in the Whaletooth Archipelago/other warmer sea, they’d look like a southerner. They might have a mix of the ‘defining features’ from north and south.
Shipwreckers generally couldn’t care less if someone is born with an odd mutation, from vitiligo to something as extreme as an extra head. It’s hardly their business what others look like.
Although there is no stigma attached to odd appearances, the Archipelago is home to all sorts of unscrupulous types who might look to make a profit by selling someone with bizarre mutations to an interested collector.
Although there is no stigma attached to odd appearances, the Archipelago is home to all sorts of unscrupulous types who might look to make a profit by selling someone with bizarre mutations to an interested collector.
Southern shipwreckers aren’t malicious towards any specific other dragon species or human nation, but they’re still happy to pirate from anyone. While many avoid them for that reason, the criminal elements of many other countries are happy to work with them to obtain stolen and illicit goods.