Ophelia Coventina
"A Lesson in History of Relationships"
Grimpo: Ophelia's friend and familiar. A yellow Octopod with fins at the top portion of its body that look like small flapping ears. She has had the little creature since it was birthed into the abyss. It might have been the only thing she had for companionship while living in the high pressured and bone chilling waters. However, when Ophelia met the marid, Grimpo was put to death, but only so that he might be risen when Ophelia reached the surface. In that world he would return to her as a yellow bird by day. By night his true form would become apparent, but phased out as a spirit.
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Cecaelia: Also known as octofolk or sea witches, cecaelia are mermaid-type creatures whose lower half is that of a squid or octopus instead of a fish. They have greater land mobility their their fish-tailed cousins, and are often seen intermingling with coastal town folk. Although Cacaellans seemed to loathe Merfolk and their lifestyles, a tribe of them in a temple in the abyss raised Ophelia since she hatched from her egg sac. Cecaellans usually worship a couple of different deities, but this one in particular lived in a temple dedicated to The Sea Mother. However, as Ophelia grew older she began to influence their beliefs in Eadro, who was known as the creator of Merfolk. Ophelia helped them believe that Cecaellans could have been created and loved just the same since they were made in a similar fashion. The Sea Mother did not find this ____ so she made it a point to keep the temple of worship about herself by punishing Ophelia by removing her left eye on her day of reckoning for her coming of age ceremony.
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Eadro: The god that is the creator of the merfolk and locathah. He is worshiped exclusively by those two races, though each worships him differently, although both believe their deity washes their gills with the Water of Life before dropping them into the Current of Existence. Eadro is aloof from other races, caring only about the merfolk and locathah he created. He watches them carefully, knowing the potential for conflict between them. He also keeps his eye on the races of evil that threaten them from without. Eadro appears as living water able to take the shape of a locathah, a merman, an amorphous blob, or anything else he pleases. Eadro is a member of the asathalfinare, an Elven word meaning "those who have their being in the sea haunted by the true dream." Eadro has been absent from his realm for over a decade, and even his most loyal servants have no idea where he has gotten to. He said only he had to attend to an important matter, leaving a council of three proxies to rule in his stead. In recent months their powers have begun to wane, so that they have summoned the nomadic triton god Persana to help them protect the realm.
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The Sea Mother: Blibdoolpoolp, the Sea Mother, is the entity worshiped by the Kuo-toa. Ancient and half-mad, she presides over a species much fallen from their former glory, and, through a fog of fury and madness, she impels them to take back the surface that they have been banished from. Her areas of control are darkness, insanity, and revenge. She appears as a human female with a lobster's head and lobster claws in place of hands. She is said to be able to make any creature mad by staring into their eyes with her own multi-faceted orbs. The Sea Mother is mercurial and unpredictable, though her hatred of civilization and her fury at her peoples' fall are true and constant. She sends an emissary to oversee great sacrifices at the her temples of worship. Sacrifices often take the form of drowning living people. She sends omens via sacred black pearls, which she causes to change color. Her worshipers also keep monstrous lobsters in their temples, and the behavior of these creatures is occasionally seen as an omen as well.
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The Kuo-toa: The Kuo-toa are a debased monstrous humanoid fish-like race that dwell in the Underdark and in the sea. They have scaly human-like bodies and fish-like heads. Most kuo-toas worship the goddess Blibdoolpoolp, though a few remote tribes worship Dagon. Blibdoolpoolp is the focus of the kuo-toas' lives, and even has her own monstrous, deformed kuo-toa breed: the giant kuo-toa leviathan. Although Ophelia's encounters with the Kuo-toa were inevitable she luckily never came across any leviathan of the like. The clerics of the Sea Mother, called whips, exercise control over their population. Then there are also the clerics known as monitors that have trained to fight with nothing but their bodies since birth. Much of kuo-toan life and society focuses on religion. The church forms the center of every community, both physically and metaphysically. Each kuo-toa city is ruled by a Sunken Council— a group of nine high-level clerics who direct the citizens in their religious observances. Larger kuo-toa settlements usually have ornate churches that sponsor frequent celebrations in honor of their mad deity, whom they call the Sea Mother. A smaller enclave might have only a simple shrine and periodic visits from a low-level priest.
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The Marid: A marid is a genie of water, an elemental creature of the open seas. Capricious and vindictive, they respect no authority, and have little empathy for mortal beings. They are said to be the most powerful of genie kind, and they certainly act like they know it. Though they are known for arrogance and cruelty, they may also take a shine to an individual once in a while bestowing gifts or a wish to them. It is not common for Marids to make deals with "lesser" creatures or those who don't have an image of the supernatural about them, such as most mortals, or normal sea life. Yet they do expect such creatures to come when they call, and many do, either because they have been domesticated or won over by the marid's charm. In this case, a Marid attended the temple that was hosting a celebration for Ophelia's coming of age. Amused and inspired by Ophelia's vocals she engaged the young girl with opportunity to escape The Sea Mother's temple. Although she wouldn't make it any easy task. For nothing comes without effort or sacrifice.
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Oceanus Dragon: Ophelia sought out the oceanus dragon so that it might take her to the surface unharmed. She traversed even deeper into the trenches of the abyss to find him. Ophelia ran into a zealous follower of the sea mother, but in the middle of the engagement between the two Ophelia let out a shriek like a banshee that woke the dragon from its sleep. The dragon laid waste to the follower Kou-tua and was thankfully obliged to bring her to the surface due to his good nature.
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