Utility
Wearing this allows a person to breath underwater. It covers the nose and mouth and lasts for 5 hours. It then requires an hour in the air to recharge.
Discovery
It was discovered by the
Vellich in several of the
Place of Spirits around the coast line of
Vellikka. They are unaware that it is technology which was left behind by the
Jakunguh after they tried and failed to turn the planet into a holiday destination. Instead, they believe it was a gift from the Great Spirit (see
Where The Spirits Come From).
Availability
On Vellikka, water breathers were found in several of the coastal
Place of Spirits, particularly in the north and north west of the planet. There are currently 37 working water breathers and 8 that no longer function. Unlike other "gifts" that have been found in Places of Spirits, these water breathers were kept by the communities which found them.
Across the universe, so called "Water Breathers" are commonly used on planets with a high percentage of water, or planets where the dominant sentient species lives under water to allow easy access for those more oxygen bound peoples.
Complexity
To the Vellich, the water breathers are akin to magic.
In other parts of the universe, the technology behind them is not considered extremely complicated, as it is a simple matter of passing water (or another liquid) through the filtration system in order to extract oxygen or another similar component. However, the design of the water breather is where the complexity comes in, as it was required to be as flexible as possible to fit as many different species as required.
Developed within the
Peacekeeper Alliance , it naturally favours those with
Pachian or Pachian-adjacent features. However, as the Alliance grew, the demand for more diverse appropriate functionality evolved. The "water breathers" found on Vellikka are relatively early models and as such don't have the flexibility of later models.
Social Impact
The communities on
Vellikka where water breathers were found, have made great use of the device.
Gatherers no longer need to rely so much on fishing and can instead hunt their prey in the ocean as they do on land. This has prevented many a food shortage in some of the more isolated areas, and has lead to developments in the ways in which fish and other seafoods are treated and stored to be transported inland to settlements who don't have that luxury.
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