"No, there are not many establishments of that sort here. They breed villainy, or at least, they can. But, if you insist, I think there is a drinking establishment close to the sea floor. You'll have to obviously get water breathing rings to get to it though, and those don't come easy to outsiders."

-Watch Captain of Tritoa, Velmes Lenurath

Tritonian Culture

The Amphibious Supremacy

Long ago, a great number of Tritons sought something outside of the eternal churning seas within the plane of water. These Tritons left the elemental plane and moved to the Prime Material one, seeking out the boons to be found in a more diverse world. These peoples traversed the mighty waters, seeking a place to establish a homeland, and along the way, they interacted with cultures across Adra. Eventually, they discovered a series of naturally occurring harbors with gentle coasts and deep waters. These would make the perfect place to build the civilization of their dreams, partially submerged beneath the waves, partially rising to meet the sun. It was here, along the southwest coasts of Arathia, that the Tritonian Supremacy was born. The tritons quickly became a martial people. The inland of the continent they called home was teeming with savage peoples, wild beasts, and horrid monsters. In order to survive, and thrive, the Tritonians trained to become fearsome coastal warriors, specializing in utilizing the coastlines and rivers to cut off and surround their opponents. The Tritonians used the wildness of the continent to their advantage, and went on raids inland, taking spoils as they went. While the Tritonians did not keep slaves, they occasionally sold them to other cultures, so that even a raid on a penniless tribe could be profitable. In cases when the Tritonians became overwhelmed or outnumbered, they would retreat to their settlements, positioned perfectly to resist any assault. When invaders came from the land, they would never be able to take all the settlement, which half laid beneath the waters. When attacks came from the sea, they would never be able to take all the settlement, which half laid above the waters. Only the amphibious Tritons could live in both environments comfortably. The only exception was the Grung, who remained a constant threat to the Tritonians. Therefore, the Tritonians pursued wars of aggression against neighboring Grung, never allowing them to catch their breath, or gain an advantage over the Tritonians. The Tritonians have a unique government, structured around a martial hierarchy, in which a council of the highest generals and admirals rule over the rest of the Supremacy. There are many non-warrior Tritonians, but it is only the warriors in their society that hold any real power or influence. Their skill in battle and advantageous position has allowed them to take hardline stances in diplomatic matters, even snubbing the Gamorans when they were pressured to accept a client state status. Should they maintain their strength, the Tritonians should remain independent and prosperous for years to come. However, a society built around its military might can often be an unstable one.

          As mentioned previously, life in Tritonian society revolves around the military. The Tritonians train their children in warfare from a young age, like many martial cultures. Upon reaching puberty, instructors choose the best children to live as soldiers for the rest of their lives, while the rest then train in various sorts of industries. The smartest and most cunning soldiers are eventually promoted to be officers and leaders, either in the field or at home, while the most deadly soldiers are promoted into the elite Home Guard. Because of all of this focus on military might, the average Tritonian exhorts a disciplined and spartan lifestyle. Pleasures are to be avoided, and a rigorous physical condition is to be upkept at all times. Rule following is heralded as virtuous, and resistance to authority is viewed to be dangerously deviant. Following from all this, Tritonians tend to be socially awkward, especially when dealing with the often jovial attitudes and high flying emotions of other cultures. This can lead to disagreements, and mischaracterizations of foreign peoples as smiling buffoons. Conversely, non-Tritonians tend to think of Tritonians as emotionless robots, which is not strictly true. Instead, Tritonians are merely used to violently repressing their emotions, which can in some cases lead to extreme emotional outbursts under certain conditions. Tritonians are also want to seek opportunities for violent force. While the days of random raids across Arathia are mostly behind them, thanks to the Gamorans, the Tritonians look for opportunities at sea and on their borders to exercise their military forces. This has led them to build fortresses and settlements on islands in the waters to their west, and lead military engagements against bordering Grung tribes in a constant pruning of their numbers. They view this militarism as necessary, for they viewed their nation as a shark, that if it stopped moving, would die. However, the Tritonians rarely seem to consider the consequences of their actions, and many peoples have been left in their wake over the generations.

          The Tritonian people are most highly concentrated in the Tritonian Supremacy, a nation located in and around Capital Bay on the southwestern coast of Arathia. There are some Tritonians living in other parts of Arathia, and even the larger world, where they are often favored as sailors and marines. The races of the Tritonians are most predominately triton, though other landed races are sometimes welcomed into the fold when they prove themselves. Uncharacteristically, the worship in tritonian society is quite heterogenous in nature, with four sects dividing the populace along ideological lines; the pantheons of Sorthal, Dramirus, and Sindra, and the demi-god Alas, each have adherents which argue that only their faith can be completely compatible with the Tritonian worldview; the debate rages on. Tritonians tend to be stoic, athletic, and orderly. They also tend to be obsequious, repressed, and bellicose. The dominant language among the Tritonians is Merspeech.

If you choose the Tritonian Culture, you gain the following:

~Either a +1 to your Constitution score or a +1 to your Strength score~

~A -1 to your Charisma score~

~As a known language, Merspeech~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Tritonian Culture~

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