"All Roads Lead to Zenithstrand"
MUIR FINAI
Basic Race
Although Muir Fánaí work hard and own little, they are a happy people. They are the first to celebrate the successes of life. Muir Fánaí value acquiring new experiences, even when they are painful, but abhor being controlled.
Muir Fánaí originally took to the sea to escape the control of nations. Though they may tolerate such structure and restriction for a time, it chafes and they are more prone to small rebellious actions when they feel constricted or else return to the sea. They see a nation’s control over citizens’ lives to be a sinister form of mind control and disapprove of unquestioning support of one’s leaders.
THE WOOD FAE OF THE GHOST SEA
HISTORY
Wood Fae in this area used to live exclusively on land, although they had a penchant for pearl diving even before the Scrios, when the Shadow Isle was destroyed. Each fleet has a slightly different oral record of what sent their ancestors to the sea, but all agree that conditions on land were no longer bearable. Time is not an important factor in Muir Fánaí culture, so this broad statement to some means that the first fleet set out due to the Scrios, while to others they built their first boats before or after, due to different political pressures.
CULTURE
Philosophy
Muir Fánaí have two core beliefs. The first is that everyone has an innate sense of duty. By adhering to one’s duty in an honourable fashion, the world can work without the need for strict governance. Muir Fánaí praise reciprocity and believe that considerate interactions between individuals are worth more than kowtowing to authority.
Their second belief is that one’s knowledge comes from experience. Their way of life on the sea is one that allows them to expand their experience in a way that people tied to a single settlement cannot. They respect the wisdom of others without accepting it unquestioningly, measuring it instead against their own experiences to better find the truth.
Religion
Just as Muir Fánaí believe in freedom from borders, many of them also believe in freedom from gods and dragons. Though most do offer prayers, Muir Fánaí rarely devote themselves to a single god. It is more common to offer prayers to whichever god is most suited to a particular occasion.
Muir Fánaí respect the sea, which sustains them, allows them to move around, and serves as home. They believe that spirits influence one’s luck on the seas in the absence of any gods laying claim to it, and they offer up thanks accordingly. Many boats have a small shrine at the bow where Muir Fánaí can pray and leave offerings to the amorphous sea. They have many smaller rituals they perform when a fleet moors, when a fleet takes off, and when a boat is first built.
FLEETS AND FAMILY
Muir Fánaí tend to travel with those whose “duty” best relates to their own, and fleets form around this harmony. Each boat can hold at least five people, and fleets typically include five or more boats for safety from both nature and surrounding nations. Sometimes fleets form around families, but this is not required. Because Muir Fánaí tend to live in close quarters, they prefer to travel with kindred spirits rather than blood relations with whom they may not get along.
When a fleet collectively lands, this is called “mooring,” and a fleet-specific ritual is performed when mooring and when returning to the sea. It is common for Muir Fánaí to spend weeks, months, or even years moored if they find a community or place where they believe they have a particular amount to experience.
PROFESSIONS AND TRADE
Although Muir Fánaí are able to meet most of their needs without help, many still engage in various professions and trade with those on the land. Most Muir Fánaí are excellent divers, especially those that dive for oysters and pearls off the coast of Bileostrav. It is common for Muir Fánaí to rupture their eardrums when they are young to make the diving process easier, which makes divers harder of hearing and leads active divers to refuse magical healing.
Because Bileostravans have a tendency to seize wealth, Muir Fánaí have to be stealthy, creative, or fast in order to leave the coast with the pearls they find. Some Muir Fánaí station their fleet near Bileostrav and make a floating “island” with their boats and added rafts. While some Muir Fánaí continue to dive for pearls and sunken treasure, the rest gear up for prostitution; these services are usually enough to deter raids.
Aside from pearl diving, Muir Fánaí commonly engage in jewellery making (particularly pieces with bone or pearl), mat weaving, and fishing. They dry their catches on the tops of their boats and sell excess at markets.
Muir Fánaí do not trade with Dominion, even though the High Elves in particular covet their pearls. The boat-dwellers will personally moor and trade with Bileostrav and occasionally Sordestead. Pearl trades, however, are done through their shore-dwelling kin. Acasă and Nitrem vie for Muir Fánaí favour to access pearls. As each nation ups its offers, the dominant Muir Fánaí trading partner changes. These trades are performed on neutral ground, the Muir Fánaí shores, to minimize favouritism and hostility between the two nations.
Many Muir Fánaí offer their navigational expertise to wayward ships and occasionally help them find their way back to the appropriate port; when they aid a particularly awaited vessel, various city-states will sometimes reward the Muir Fánaí. They also commonly help ferry potential colonists from Acasă to Zenithstrand.
FUNERAL RITES
Funeral Rites
When Muir Fánaí die, their companions bleed the body then lay it in a net and lower it into the water. Fish eat away at the flesh until only bones remain. The bones are recovered and often fashioned into ornate jewelry and incorporated into the dress of those who wish to remember the departed.
Upon death they do not venerate the flesh. The Muir Fánaí return sustenance to the sea they make their living on to perpetuate the cycle of life and appease the sea.
Once the body is gone and the bones have been carved, the fleet will moor at the first opportunity, find an isolated area, and begin a ceremonial song and dance to celebrate the life of the one who has passed.
POLITICS
Justice and Law
Muir Fánaí expect each other to honourably follow through on their duty to themselves and to their fellows. Because they have no explicit ruleset for what constitutes one’s duty let alone following through honourably, contentious actions are brought to the fleet for consideration. On land and at sea the fleet will form a circle with the aggrieved parties at the centre.
Because Muir Fánaí do not like to feel controlled, the objective of the circle is to understand the actions of both parties. The circle will last until everyone is satisfied with the answers and believe more favourable conduct will occur in the future, at which point the circle is dissolved.
If following one’s duty harms the fleet, the Muir Fánaí will exile the offender to find a fleet or community where their duties will be in harmony. They tend to wish the departed well.
Relations With the Shadow Isle
Acasa
Acasă Muir Fánaí do some trading here and particularly enjoy swapping tales with the Ajaunti, though they find it tiresome to keep track of the ongoing feud between the two clans. Acasă buys most of their pearls, as Muir Fánaí are fundamentally suspicious of Shadow Elves, which they in turn sell at exorbitant fees.
Bileostrav
Bileostrav is one of the freer city-states in the Shadow Isles, which appeals to Muir Fánaí sensibilities, but not all Muir Fánaí are willing to constantly fight. Although some Muir Fánaí spend time ashore either in taverns, brothels or as crew on pirate ships, most flock to the vicinity for the plethora of oysters and high pearl count just off the coast.
Dominion
Of all the Shadow Isles, Dominion’s hierarchy and order are the most oppressive to Muir Fánaí. Muir Fánaí do not like to land here, and the High Elves do not encourage them to. The Knights of Tezoth have run out several fleets who have moored for a funeral celebration for their appellation to gods and spirits.
Nitrem
Though wary of the Shadow Elves’ command over mind-altering alchemy, Nitrem is occasionally their primary trading partner. Muir Fánaí respect that Nitrem takes in the castoffs who don’t belong in Dominion but suspect their motives.
Sordestead
The First Citizen has extended multiple invitations to Muir Fánaí to settle on the island and employ their much-needed skills in the service of all citizens. Because Muir Fánaí have rebuffed nearly all such attempts, the relationship between them and the Stonewalls are tense. They admire the community being built but do not wish to be pinned down to it.
Zenithstrand
Overall, Muir Fánaí disapprove of how stagnant the denizens of the Overgrowth are, clinging to hatred and preventing change to what the Overgrowth has claimed. Muir Fánaí admire that those in the Overgrowth don’t complicate their lives with much politics or possessions, but they are wary of the Kraken who dominate the coast of the island.
GEOGRAPHY
Boat-dwelling Muir Fánaí tend to frequent the northern seas of the Shadow Isles for they are welcome enough on Zenithstrand, and the waters near Bileostrav are particularly rich with oysters, which they collect to eat and to sell. However, Muir Fánaí do not acknowledge borders and freely sail the Ghost Sea, so a fleet could be found anywhere. Many also live for a time on the various islands to better experience the world, sometimes for years at a time, though they almost always are seduced back to the sea.
Farming Muir Fánaí have settled on an island north of Zenithstrand and east of Nitrem. More valuable items, such as pearls, are typically transferred from boat-dwellers to the farmers, and these shore-dwelling Muir Fánaí handle trading these items instead.
Navigating the Ghost Sea
The Ghost Sea is infamous for its erratic behaviour: dead winds, arrhythmic tides, vanishing vessels. Muir Fánaí can sit in their boats for days at a time when they navigate between islands, and they tend to tell more tales of the fabled silhouette fleet and other odd occurrences than most. Many Muir Fánaí swear that they have seen not only the fleet but also some ghostly force that rises from the depths and swallows it whole.
They have perfected the art of tapping into the currents to travel when there is no wind to sail by, which is useful so long as they are inward bound for the Shadow Isles, but they always have oars available to plod their course back to shore.
ROLEPLAY TIPS
● Generally look to the bright side and celebrate successes in life.
● Be open to and interested in new experiences.
● Mind-controlling effects are despicable; react appropriately when they come up.
● If you feel like someone is trying to subtly control you, you might act more rebellious.
● What is your “duty” or purpose in life? Establish what it is to you and how to honourably pursue it.
● Respect others’ wisdom but do not accept it unquestioningly.