Baracúden

The baracúden are strong because they have to be in order to save their communities and families as well as the people who live on the surface, while seeing their work unappreciated. But now, with the war in the heavens, the baracúden people are conflicted. Do they answer the call of the gods, and pick up arms against their fellow Boricubosans? Or do they ignore their deities and act as they always have: as protectors against the violence on the surface?

Basic Information

Anatomy

Baracúden very closely resemble the fish known as barracudas, which are named after the baracúden. They all have long, slender, yet powerful bodies that grow up to 7 feet long, but only about 2 to 3 feet tall. While swimming, they tend to move in a spearlike fashion, perfectly straight forward, using their webbed hands to move through the water faster. The baracúden do not actually have any feet, so whenever they must venture on land, they are forced to slither along, like a snake, staying upright using their strong core muscles. The most prominent feature of any baracúden, however, is most certainly its razor sharp teeth that they can and often do use as weapons.

Additional Information

Social Structure

They place great value in seniority, expertise and rank, and treat people like that with great respect. Even those of other ancestries that embody these traits are treated with respect although most Baracúdens begrudgingly adhere to this custom.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Baracúden often have names that directly translate from Aquan into Common. Some such names might translate into “Defender,” “Guardian,” or even grander names such as “Oathkeeper.” A baracúden’s name is its pride and joy, and most take to emulating them.

Male examples: Aronguo, Bejillo, Darelom, Eguojo, Guolom, Ijulo, Lijimo,Oguopo, Quojilom, Wujo

Female examples: Agoja, Cajara, Figui, Guala, Kajula, Mejoni, Pingui, Rajila, Sajori, Tengua;

Common Dress Code

The baracúden rarely wear clothing but instead wrap their waists or necks in colorful cloths and wear jewerly or symbols. The more intricate and elaborate their decorations are, the more prominent position they have in their society.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Most baracúden have a propensity for more martial focuses, fighting with spears and razorpoint swords. Due to their many battles with creatures from the deep, many baracúden become fighters, barbarians, and rangers though the more religiously minded, such as Ataba’s Faithful have been known to become champions and warpriest clerics.

History

It is said that when the gods gave the other races to the Anabaguas‌ as seeds to plant, the anabaguas planted them in different locations. The Taínem‌ were planted in the dirt, the coquían were planted between a pond and a tree, and the iguaca were planted in the tree itself. Left with only one last seed, the anabaguas made the decision to plant it in the ocean. From this last and final seed, the baracúden were born.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

As the only civilized ancestry in Boricubos to live solely in the sea, the baracúden live in coastal shores to remain close to the other ancestries on the archipelago, and to keep as far away as possible from the insidious creatures that would come from the depths of the ocean in order to enslave or kill the archipelago’s inhabitants. From the commonplace Sahuagin‌ to the monstrous and sharklike Adaro‌, to terrors that have yet to be given a name for they exist only in rumor, the baracúden act as protectors against all such threats.

The only problem with this is the perception the other races have of the baracúden. Because their existence is made up of fighting for territory against these dangers, it often appears as if the Baracúden are doing naught but starting pointless wars over territory and are refusing to share the ecosystem with other races who are just as deserving of a place in Boricubosan society. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as the sahuagin are a slaver race who would like nothing more than to take the surface dwellers and drag them back into the depths of the ocean to perform heinous experiments on them, while the adaro see surface dwellers as nothing but cattle: free food to be rounded up and eaten should they get the opportunity.

This is to say nothing about the creatures who live in even deeper waters than the sahuagin and the adaro. Creatures that even those two monstrous races are afraid of and it is rumored they learned their cruelty from. Most of these creatures have no names, for not even captured prisoners of war would tell the baracúden about them, however, there is one name that always seems to slip. A race that hides in the darkest depths of Boriscubos’ waters: the dragons.