Triton of the Siren Sea

Religion and Ethics

Triton society is highly and deeply (no pun intended) religious. They worship Thassa. Scholars have struggled to learn anything specific about their worship, for the Tritons seem wholly uninterested in theology despite being highly religious. They say that Thassa is a “reef to be explored” rather than a series of rules to be developed, and they find our priestly theologies laughable and bizarre. The closest thing they have to scripture is a series of ancient poems called the Sadev. Most of them are mysterious and make little sense to even their priesthood, being steeped in references to the Plane of Water (which no Triton has visited in at least a thousand years). What the Sadev makes clear is that Thassa is the Guardian of the Deep and the Justice of the Depths.
Perhaps deriving from Thassa, or (as I think more likely) a natural result of a reliance on oral contracts and oral history, the Tritons are an almost impossible integrity-focused race. The only word they have similar to “lying” or “deception” is “abandonment”—the idea is that to break a contract or tell a lie is to abandon society. (This has, unfortunately, made them an easy target for con men and has led some to wrongly accuse them of being less intelligent than surface dwellers.)
Their chief (and nearly only) virtue is Justice—but even this they see differently than we do. Justice to the Tritons means that everyone has neither less than they deserve, nor more. Some deserve more than others, based upon aptitude—but whatever is deserved, one should have. Both gluttony and poverty are vices to be avoided.
Other gods are worshiped alongside Thassa often in a minor way, for example, Triton in coastal regions appear to also worship Heliod and there are (unverified) tales of undersea forges near Minifera where Triton also worship Purphoros and craft the very rare metal they call ‘deepsteel’. Tritons bury their dead much like we do by praying for passage to Athreos. Funeral rites usually involve to cover the face of the dead with clay and warped the body in seaweed with a single ‘coin’ (often an exceptional shell or pearl) close to the chest as offering to Athreaos. The dead are usually buried below the seafloor since, but burning the dead has also become a common practice among coastal Tritons.

Military and Fighting

The Tritons have developed a number of military stratagems, which are described in brief below:
The Orca Strategy. Killer whales, or orcas, are (according to the Tritons) the greatest hunters of the oceans. They are held nearly to a mythic level among the Tritons, and the most common stratagem for battle is the Orca strategy. Orcas hunt in teams, focusing on strategies of hording their enemies at once; they also make significant use of their environment—pushing water or using natural ground to pin their enemies. This is the standard go-to approach of Triton armies: always looking for environmental advantages and always hording and flanking enemies for advantage.
The Dolphin Strategy. Dolphins often hunt by creating what the Tritons call a “bait ball”—they herd the enemies into a small area and then rush straight through them one at a time, each at a slightly different angle, wearing them down in dashes. If the Tritons use Dolphin Strategy, they will herd or pin their enemy into where they cannot escape—such as a cave system. Then they will take turns making full-speed dashes at random angles through the system, looping back around to repeat. This is a great strategy used when fighting one or two large creatures who cannot be handled one at a time; it is also a good strategy for the opposite situation, a high amount of small creatures who only present danger when given time to swarm.
The Octopus Strategy. Octopi hunt at night, using their superior vision for advantage. They rely on stealth and camouflage to get close to their prey and attack without even being seen. The Octopus Strategy is used by Tritons when they have a stealth advantage over their enemies and can use their darkvision and/or environmental advantage to sneak up on them. In battles on the mainland, they often will refer to attacks from high ground as the Octopus Strategy, because to the surface-dweller who thinks in two dimensions during a battle, he or she often forgets about someone hiding above.
The Shark Strategy. Sharks are solitary hunters, stalking their prey one-on-one before attacking with ferocity. In the same way, Tritons will sometimes split up into man-to-man hunting, which they call the Shark Strategy. This is generally not preferred as it puts the individual Triton at greater risk; but it is sometimes a necessity.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Amathe, Gnorcys, Leurybia, Margomestra, Nereones, Oleia, Samathe, Saphiro, Tethene, Theaneia, Thectra

Masculine names

Bysseus, Cetos, Galaukus, Galiton, Kenessos, Odexes, Palamon, Pontreus, Rheteus, Thrasios

Family names

A triton’s name is a symbol of choice. Upon reaching adulthood, a triton might shed the name they were given by their parents for one of their own choosing. Some opt to keep their name, but the majority select one that represents the adult they’ve become. Tritons might even go on to choose yet other names, as they shift from one phase of life to another, or after significant life events. Leaving a home community or transitioning to live among dryfolk might constitute such life changes.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

The Triton social structure has three primary concentric circles: the Family, the Lodge, and the Conclave.
The Family is of course the immediate family of the Tritons. Young Tritons associate all sexual activity with committed relationships; they do not have a marriage ceremony or concept as surface dwellers do, but mating until their children are raised is inherent to their way of thinking. (The logic, as it was once told to me, is this: the female Triton must carry a more significant burden during pregnancy, birth, and nursing periods for the young; as such, it is only Justice for the male who impregnated them to share in all other burdens for the child are completed.) Thus, the typical Triton does not engage in sexual activity until ready to bear children; then, once the final child is born, the mating couple will remain together at least until this child is fifteen. They may remain together after, or not; it differs by relationship. As Triton lives are typically around 200 years, it is not uncommon for a Triton to have several mating partners throughout their lives; they are not strictly monogamous from the start of sexual activity until the last child reaches adulthood, but see no restrictive bonds on the other party after such a point. The Family, then, is composed of the mother, father, all children under the age of 15 and maybe some-other blood relatives that help with raising the children such as (possibly widowed) grandparents or aunts and uncles. At 15, the child is free to move out to become the mating-available partner of his or her own family.
Elder members of the Family (parents, elder children, other relatives) see to the education of the children. This is not relegated to the female sex, but is dualy shared. Families generally are protective of one another, but there seems to me a bit more distance (or at least: less protectionism) than what is seen among surface dwelling families. The Triton tends to put their children in far more dangerous situations as young than we would.
Outside of the Family is the Lodge. The Lodge is a confusing concept and even after years of study I do not fully understand it. In its simplest form, we can consider the Lodge to be similar to a tribe: everyone who are second and third and fourth cousins who live in a similar area and share some genetic linkages; however, it also often includes families totally unrelated who are accepted into the Lodge to allow them to move into the neighborhood. In this way, a Lodge is more like a small village within the larger city: a group who tries to ensure that their Lodge could serve as a sort of stand-alone city if needed, fully functional and able to go as settlers to another area and found a new city at any given moment. I believe this comes from their strong military thinking and background as expeditionary forces: Families are too small to survive and fulfill their role on their own, yet cities are too large; so the Lodge serves as a sort of tribe/extended family, but one which also recruits non-relatives to join up when additional skills are needed.
Periodically, a conch shell or other signaling device is sounded, and when this occurs, each Lodge dispatches a representative to form a Conclave. The Conclave debates and discusses and comes to a binding agreement, which all lodges and families follow in turn. It seems that this representative is always changing; it is seen as part of the Preparer role.

Average technological level

Science & Magic

The two primary schools of learning—science and magic—are both very different in Triton societies, again due to the relative disuse of books and written language. (Though again, I must stress—despite the popular racist trope, Tritons are highly literate people, with virtually every child able to read and to write!)
Science and philosophy are virtually undeveloped among Triton society, and unappreciated. They see no value in recording observations over and over and performing careful experimentation. This is partially due to the disfavor of writing, but also is (I believe) somewhat environmental: it takes much more effort to create a controlled environment in the always-moving sea; it often requires fire to break down elementals and materials and refine chemicals or metals; and sitting to study something which may never have a payoff is not seen as particularly useful addition to their society. All of these factors together makes this sort of learning rare and unappreciated; and frankly they find our obsession with science and philosophy just as baffling as we find their lack of the same.
Magic, however, is prevalent among the Tritons in approximately the same proportion as the surface. Both the method of spellcasting and the types of magic seem to fit every surface category I can find. The primary difference really seems to be in the mode of conveying the information. The incredible oral and repetition memories of the Tritons allow them to remember their spells without any detailed spellbook to guide them. Instead, a shell with a few runes sketched on it seems to be sufficient to help them remember and prepare spells. Wizarding training among the Tritons is based upon apprenticeship and experience with repetition—not libraries of books, but of other wizards meeting together. In addition, they seem to prepare spells in about half the time of surface wizards; on the flip side, they have seemingly no knowledge of some rather common spells (like fireball) that surface dwellers frequently use.

Technology

While they may not be much interested in science, mathematics, or philosophy—and while their environment puts them at some significant industrial disadvantages—there can be no doubt that the Tritons are our equals in engineering ingenuity, and perhaps our superiors in the field of architecture.
Regarding the traditional five industrial arts (sewing, carpentry, metalwork, pottery, and glasswork), Tritons are very much in line with us, technologically. The materials are the primary difference: where we might use metal, they prefer bone; where we might use leather, they use kelp. They are our peers in sewing and joinery. They are excellent carpenters (albeit using different materials such as coral). In the art of plumping and pump work they are our far superiors, and their cities can sometimes be found by looking for slender coral pipes in the far ocean sticking above the surface. Pumps in these pipes draw air down to the deep caves and into bubbles used for visiting surface dwellers or activities which require fire. Apparently, as the pressure increases this also requires manipulation of the air via what they call “compression and decompression pumps.” These pumps have long been suspected to be a magical in nature, but I am no wholly convinced that they are simply a far advanced technology that we can barely understand.
Generally built from undersea materials like bone, rock, and coral, it appears that they somehow draw lightning power from the very water itself—they claim that the element of water and element of air combined is where lightning originates, and they have claimed to be able to manipulate this to harness small, harmless levels of lightning power from the water and use this to power these amazing pumps. I have also seen them harvest it from certain serpent-like creatures who seem to have the ability to develop the same electrical powers. It is possible that I have been misled, but I believe this to be a great example of their technological superiority in this area. The two areas where we are beyond them is in Glasswork and Smithing, however as I say, is very rare and not nearly as valued among the Triton people. They have gotten by for centuries without it, and except in how it can help them with weapons and armor, they see these areas as curiosities, not important. They will gladly trade for such items when they need them.

Common Etiquette rules

Greeting

Tritons greet each other with a complex whistle—sound travels faster and further in water, and thus a memorable tune is distinguishable perhaps four times further away. This is used to identify and keep up with who is in battle, and has become just a common way to say hello. The whistle will generally last only a second or two, but will have three components: a personal name, a family name, and a lodge name.
They may also say, “Hail fellow! Well met!” as was once common at the surface.

Visiting Homes

Tritons always bring a small gift of some sort when visiting a home: this is often a shell or a rock or an interesting bone or piece of seaweed. Do not be alarmed if a Triton entering your home hands you a handful of seaweed—it is as though he brought you flowers. They probably smell lovely to him; put them in a bowl on the table and he will be honored.

Food Preparation

A Triton will always be very wary of eating food that isn’t wet. He will tend to prefer fish or cold soups to anything heated or meaty. Bland flavors are preferred: they do not handle spicy food well at all, and may be sick all night in the privy. It is not something a Triton is likely to comment on, but he or she will feel much more comfortable if they see you wash your hands before serving food, or pour water all over his dish.
Tritons eat with miniature tridents very similar to our forks, so do not worry excessively about cutlery. Tritons will use their own dagger to cut their food as a knife. Unless they are purchasing it in an inn or similar location, Tritons feel an obligation to accept any food offered to them and eat it; to not do so is impolite. Be wary of offering plate after plate of food.

Sex

Numerous issues have arisen from a misunderstanding of sex and sexuality between the groups (as presented above). Remember that Tritons mate for the lifespan of the child; yet on the other hand, surface-Triton unions do not provide children. This can be extremely confusing for a Triton, and can cause them all manner of frustration. The safest approach is to avoid any casual sexual relationship; as a result, many Tritons will be cautious about even getting into close friendships with the opposite sex, fearful of sending the wrong message and accidentally beginning a sexual relationship which will be fraught with difficulty.

Quiet Time

The Triton will prefer a post-dinner time of reflection and quiet, looking at the stars and reclining. He or she will prefer for this to be a time of quiet. Do not be surprised if he wanders off from camp for some quiet time.

General Politeness

The Triton’s view of himself is as a protector and guardian. What he or she will view as polite is roughly the same as the treatment expected by a low-level noble or returning crusading knight. He or she may be irritated by excessive familiarity.

Art & Architecture

Architecturally, the Tritons are frankly geniuses. Their cities are vast and beautiful landscapes of coral and kelp and bone and cave, and their primary goal with architecture seems to be both to incorporate and to represent the environment and ecology around them. They will dig and reinforce ingenious tunnel systems to connect underwater caves. They are also patient builders, often planting coral or kelp in such a way that a generation later will cause the desired result—indeed, one of their idioms is, “Plant the kelp whose acids you will never harvest,” meaning to have a long-future view. When you begin to talk to someone who oversaw the creation of one of their many undersea palaces or coral or anemone homes, it is awe-inspiring how every little detail serves to tell a story. In this way, architecture is their primary form of art (see “Art”) below, and often their oral histories are carved or designed into their walls.
Regarding language arts, literature is nonexistent in the Triton world other than bare minimum requirements. The day-to-day language of the Triton is a form of Primordial, which they can read, write, and speak. Likewise, they learned Common long ago, leading to a formal and stilted and antiquated version spoken and taught. (Those among the coastal Tritons who serve in a more merchant capacity as Providers often are much more fluent in our speech.) But they keep few records and even fewer artistic writings; to the Triton, books are a sad and inferior method of sharing a story—dry and dull. Likewise, traditional plays are virtually unknown among the Tritons.
Their oratory and performing arts are excellent. Their bards are known for haunting songs, reflecting both the beauty and awesome danger of the ocean itself. They have seven major epic poems covering their history, dozens of shorter poems detailing heroes of their past, and countless songs. Singing—from the silly improvisational songs at dinners to melancholy tales of loss. Epic songs combined with dancing are the primary forms of performance art among the Tritons, and their bards are highly valued for these skills; generally speaking, a bard using their skill to tell the history and to entertain is seen by Tritons as equivalent service to the Lodge as a front-line military soldier.
The other major area of art is sculpture. Like their architecture skills, the Tritons are master sculptors. I have seen some coral sculptures which would fetch untold fortunes if traded above the surface; however, it seems that Tritons consider this idea offensive. Sculpture is meant to be part of the environment from which is it sculpted, and to remove it they say destroys the entire purpose of the artwork.

Foods & Cuisine

Among surface dwellers, it is well established that civilization advances directly in relation to their mastery of fire and farming. Fire allows the growth of industry. Farming allows us to live together and have periods of leisure to develop our society that hunter-gathering does not allow.
Such is not the case for the Tritons, and their society has developed differently as a result. Fire, of course, is nearly completely out (that said, in Minifera there are large pockets within magical bubbles, and all cities have complex cave systems with air in them, allowing some amount of fire;it quickly burns through the oxygen, however, which must be refilled either through magical or technological means; likewise, apparently there are areas undersea in which fire literally vents from the ocean floor—I cannot tell if they are serious about this, but if so, such vents could be where all smelting occurs and why I see it so rarely; it seems impossible that all their metal could be coming via trade).
Farming is likewise difficult, at least in the manner we mean it: it is much more difficult to pen in sea creatures (three dimensional movement, remember), and in addition it seems to go against the ethos of the Tritons to pen in the natural world, as is reflected in many of their idioms: they prefer adaptation to environmental engineering, in general. As a result of this, there are really no domesticated animals. Furthermore, the sea floor in many of their cities received very little sunlight to help plants grow. What they call “farming” is what we might call more of “gardening”—keeping and protecting kelp forests which already exist.
So then, Tritons tend to be hunter-gatherers. Why do I say that they are civilized, not savages, when I would not say this of hunter-gatherer societies on the surface? Quite simply, it is the plenty of the oceans. Hunter-gatherers on the surface often spend most of the daylight simply to provide one day’s food—and as such, language, ethics, and culture never develop. Yet the Tritons are hunter gatherers with an incredibly rich culture. This occurs because there is food everywhere, and they work together easily. They never over-hunt, and they work together easily as a group.
Their typical hunting pattern is to find a school of fish and begin to swim in large circles around them, while one (the “netman” remains far below). Slowly, all three will close in bit by bit (“tightening the net” they call it)—each circle gets a foot tighter, then a foot tighter, and so on, while the netman slowly comes from the bottom. The fish’s instincts cause the school to congregate closer and closer to the center, until eventually the netman can cast and bring in the entire school. A party of ten Tritons can easily find enough food in a single net-tightening to feed them for days.
Kelp and plants are harvested. Tritons are just as susceptible to poisoning by undercooked food as we are; however, they have developed an ingenious method of using various algaes and seaweeds to “cook” their food without a fire. These are apparently highly acidic and, with proper wrapping and treatment, the seafood is rendered safe to eat. In the coastal villages near Meletis, this technique has been picked up by a few local restaurants, which they are calling ceviche. The surface chefs use lemons and limes to achieve the same result, and the citrusy flavors (totally exotic and unknown to the Tritons) have become quite popular in Meletis. A significant amount of Triton trade along the coastline is now for sealed barrels of lemon and lime juice, to add more flavoring to their undersea diets.
Neither alcohol nor tobacco are used by Tritons underwater, and their bodies are not at all used to their consumption. This has led to more than one incident when Tritons travel to the Surface,and Tritons should be served alcohol only in moderation and with caution—for your good as well as theirs.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Notably absent from the life of the Triton are festivals—so common to us on the surface. I believe that this is because the causes of most of our festivals are environmentally bound to our lives on the surface: our festivals are always about harvests (which Tritons do not have), religious ritual (which is not like the Triton religion), or the change of seasons (which Tritons do not experience except in the temperate zone seas, and even then rarely). Thus, the very lifestyle of the Triton is significantly different than ours: whereas we are often through festival either remembering the past or anticipating a season to come, the Tritons lack this. As such, they are far more focused on what they call the eternal now.
Perhaps the closest thing, then, that I have heard among the Tritons to the beginning of a philosophical development is their view of time. They see the past as we do, and in their own ways through poem and architecture, they honor the heroes of their past. But the present they see neither as fixed (as the fatalists) nor as totally unchangeable (as the free-willists). Rather, they say that the future has a current toward it, and sometimes we should go with the current while other times we should swim against it, depending on the justice of the moment. We cannot know now what will be just then, nor can we know where the current will lead—so why worry about it? A common saying is, “Sufficient for today is its own currents”—meaning, stay focused on the now. They seem to believe that only the Now is ‘real’ in any meaningful sense, and thus they spend little time actually thinking much about either the past or the future.