Triton

History and Lore

Tritons hail in their distant past (in the Age of Trax) from the Elemental Plane of Water. There, it seems that they were a powerful race of warriors, in constant battle against leviathans, kraken, sahuagin, and the like. At the height of their civilization, they had beaten back their enemies into what they called the Darkened Depths. After many years of no conflict, they began to grow suspicious of the quiet. Expeditions were sent into the Depths, only to find that a portal had been discovered and their ancient enemies had escaped into our world.
The Tritons Conclave sent a large group of settlers through the portal before closing it up on their side; the settlers created a massive and ancient coral city near the original portal, called Sitnalta. (I personally do not believe Sitnalta actually exists, as it seems to fit a similar primeval paradisaical archetype as many of our own religions.) Sitnalta is seen as a lost paradise-city, sunken in the depths. The Tritons found that their long absence had allowed the sea monsters to grow far too powerful. The Tritons soon discovered that the continent had rational surface-dwellers (us), and felt it their duty to protect the surface dwellers.
So, they spread out, forming a number of cities and fortifications on the continental shelf, forming a protective undersea wall against sea creature. They appointed themselves our guardians and have silently fulfilled this role for generations before we ever knew they existed.
During the Birth of the Poleis sailors along the western coastline began to interact with the Tritons. The Triton were taught Common, and many of the older Triton cities still teach this (hence their tendency to formal, stilted “thou”, “thee” and the like). The Triton cities on the west coast developed in parallel to our major shipping lanes, and before long these cities merged together to form the metropolis Minifera (see “Cities” below).
In what we now know as the Age of Heroes, the interactions between the “Continentals” (as they call us) and the Tritons famously and radically changed. The triton queen, Korinna, fell in love with a human Erick and abandoned here throne to move onto land. The two married and despite widespread racial prejudice (which, in fairness, appears to have been the case from the Triton side as well), the two lived by all accounts a loving marriage. Their marriage was infertile (see “Biology” below), but seemed to ease political tensions between the Continentals and the Tritons—and apparently was blessed by Thassa. But, as we all know from the famous tale retold in The Akroan War, tragedy struck when a sailor accidentally killed Korinna. Korinna’s death struck the heart of many Continentals and Tritons alike and Thassa herself wept over death, the goddess’s tears giving rise to the Dakra Isles—as legend tells.
Here death made Korrina even more famous and allowed many Tritons to migrate to the coastal cities and in time even take political offices among Continentals. With political representation soon came tourism, improved trade deals, and more and more interaction between the Continentals and the Tritons.
While in Recent Memory some significant racial prejudice remains (and can occasionally flare up, as for example after the Kraken attack on Meletis), it is becoming less rare (especially along the west coast and the Polis of Meletis) to see a Triton or even have a conversation with them. To be certain, they are still rare, comprising less than half of one percent of the population; but this number is growing, as is their important influence on the economy.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Despite the persistent rumors, Tritons are a mammalian species, not a fish-related species. They are vertebrates just like surface humanoids; they have large complex brains; hair; nurse their young; and give live births. They are however somewhat of an amphibious mammal: they have both lungs for surface air and gills which allow them to breathe underwater indefinitely. Though their normal mode of operation is underwater, they see surface air as a sort of ‘dessert’ of sorts, often coming up to float and relax after their evening meal and soak up the nighttime air; this cultural more likely has a biological root cause, as it seems they are much more efficient at processing air through their lungs.
Tritons can swim at a similar speed to which humans can run on the surface. However, Tritons developed in an environment in which movement in three dimensions was the norm; as such, this causes them some discomfort on land. They are much more aware of what is happening overheard and behind them than surface dwellers; and yet, they constantly report feeling strange or ‘trapped’ against the ground, with some developing a full-fledged phobia similar to a claustrophic’s fear of small spaces: the Triton with such a phobia feels trapped or oppressed to be ‘stuck’ to the floor and unable to rise.
Though they lack the thick hair of, say, an otter, Tritons seem exceptionally well adapted to cold water—and this is true of every Triton, even those who live in warm-climate waters. They are likewise completely unaffected by the high pressure of deep water. This gives a piece of circumstantial evidence to some of their lore, as clearly their ancient evolution occurred within extremely cold and deep environments. As dissection of a Triton is never performed (see “Science” below), it is unknown if this comes from blubber or some other physiological feature. Nevertheless, simply from outside observation, some key physiological differences are noted, from gills to their leg-fins to the webbed hands and feet.
Tritons are know to live up to 200 years and have by far the longest life expectancy among all of the races of Theros (with Tortles being the second at about 150 years on average).

Genetics and Reproduction

Reproduction for Tritons happens sexually and their reproductive parts are a physical match for surface dwellers. While sexual partnerships between Tritons and humans are rare, they have happened: yet so far, all have been infertile (such as the famous case of Erick and Korinna). Fertility rates among the Tritons seem similar to surface dwellers, yet their infant mortality rates are significantly lower. The cause for this is not yet identifiable.

Ecology and Habitats

Triton societies fit into a different ecological niche than most surface-dwelling peoples. Surface dwellers tend to fill the niche of the apex predator: the highest trophic level, eating mostly herbivores but through use of tools and intelligence and hunting preference, controlling the prey density of a region. As I argued in my book: “Tritons: Oceanic Keystone”, Tritons fulfill a subtly different role: that of a keystone species, which (like wolves) can sometimes serve as apex predators or (like foxes) often serve as a Tier 2 predator. A keystone species is one whose impact on the ecology is far greater than what its population should demand. It is critical that we surface dwellers remain on good terms with the Tritons, because their removal or withdrawing from their positions would likely lead to major coastal collapse: their architecture reroutes and partially forms shipping lanes; their defense against major sea creatures protects our coasts; their role within the natural ecology protects the undersea kelp forests from excessive damage and maintains crucial balance.
It seems likely to me that this role in the ecology as its keystone protector derives from their religion and ethical system’s view of justice; however, other scholars have suggested that it is the other way around: that as their species’ thriving happened by taking up the role of keystone, this informed their ethical view of everything being properly held in justice for all.

Behaviour

Tritons are diurnal, even when living too deep to see much sunlight. They tend to rise about an hour before sunrise and begin hunting and foraging immediately in the early morning. They have a large mid-morning meal with only their immediate family, and spend midday either resting, at education, or at their work. Around sunset, they will undergo a second foraging or hunting period, and the entire Lodge will eat a large communal meal for dinner, which can last for several hours and is typified by stories of their day and the recitation together of at least one epic poem. It is traditional then to divide into men and women and surface, floating silently on the surface as they stare at the stars, breathe in the air, and let their food digest.
The manner of work varies greatly, though they prefer less job specificity than our surface world. Whereas we have specialists in any given field, they tend to divide into only a few fields, in which they are generalists. The Providers serve roles we would typically call hunting, gathering, and farming. The Protectors serve in a variety of military functions, from front-line soldiers to generals (see “Military” below). The Preparers oversee the functioning of society, from architecture to educating the children to preparing the meals to serving as craftspeople.
Until age 15, the young Tritons are mostly raised by the Preparers, though a huge portion of their education requires spending time in the other areas and testing their skills. By the time they reach 15, they will have at least a year’s experience in all the different areas of society. The Tritons divide up duties by some unspoken combination of need, skill, and desire: it is not at all uncommon for Providers to change to Preparers or to Protectors all within the same year; and yet it is not firmly set in any sort of structure (at least that I can divine). It appears instead that they are each expected to give an honest self-appraisal at their current skillset and of the biggest needs of the city, and adjust accordingly.
There seems to be no caste difference or social value granted to one area above the other. All are seen as critical parts of their social structure. There is likewise no differentiation based upon gender between the roles.

Origin/Ancestry

Elemental Plane of Water

Lifespan

175 years

Geographic Distribution

• Dakra Isles
• Siren Sea