River of Naiads

Turien    World    Locations      The Great Forest      River of Naiads

There are three major rivers in Turien: Rhea, Cybelle and Tam. Tam is the River of Naiads, split into two sections along the river, the Shallows and the Depths. It is the birthplace and home to almost all of the Naiads in Turien, as well as an important source of fresh water and transport for the inhabitants of the Great Forest and the Plains. While not very wide, the river is very deep and very long, crossing the half the width of Turien (approx. 500 km).

"Why is Tam different to Rhea?" A Nymphling asks.

Her mother chuckles, begining the story that answers her daughter's question, "Once upon the river banks, a Human rowed a boat into the Great Forest."

"For adventure?" The Nymphlet asked.

"No!" Her friend cried, "It was to steal our secrets."

"What secrets?" The Nymphlet rolled her eyes.

"Hush," the mother intervened, "It depends on who tells the story."

The two Nymphlets drew closer to the mother.

"As the Human rowed up the river, nearing Tam, a young Naiad from the Depths thought to find a friend."

One Nymphlet whispered, "I heard she was a wicked woman who likes to eat Human flesh."

"Shh," the other whispered back, splashing them with water.

"Upon seeing the Human, the Naiad rose above the surface of the water and took the Human's hands.

"'Play with me!' she smiled sweetly -"

"Evilly," another whisper cut through the story.

"- And drew the Human under the waters before he had a chance to reply.

"As she giggled, she swam down through the Shallows and into the Depths. At last, she reached the riverbed. There, her favourite things to play with were stored. She turned to the Human, but he wasn't moving. No air was left in him. No struggle. No life. He had drowned."

"Booo," A Nymphlet voiced, "They should just breath the water."

The mother shook her head, "Humans cannot do that. That is why we had to make the River Entrance, and separate Tam from Rhea." One of the Nymplet's eyes sparkled, "Is his dead body still there?"

The mother shook her head, "It has been many years. Plus, do you think you could travel the Depths without angering the Naiads who live there?"

The Nymphlet pouted, duckweed sprouting.

"As such, splitting Tam from Rhea was to protect the Humans."

The mother frowned, looking towards the west, where the river changed name. It has been many years since she past the River Entrance, yet the lack of the Depths down river brought a sweetness she could not forget.

by Tara on HeroForge

A mother Naiad playing with the children of the Shallows.

River Geography

Starting from the middle of the Great Forest, the river Tam flows both to the east to meet the ocean and west, turning into the river Rhea that travels through East City and into Mid City, thereby extending halfway through Turien.

by TaraFaeBelle

River Entrance:

The Tam and Rhea rivers are the same body of water, however, the Naiads closed themselves off from the flow into the Plains. A small group of Naiads live at the entrance, in order to keep the Humans out of the Naiads home, and the Naiads away from the Humans. This is primarily for the protection of both races, as the Naiads play can easily overburden the weak Humans, and the Humans machinery is likely to inflict pain and suffering on the Naiads (who will not sit still long enough to hear about the safety measures they won't end up following anyways).

Ecosystem:

(Pic here)

The river is predominantly comprised of fresh water, though there are more 'magical pockets' than any other river in Turien, allowing for the birthing and living spaces of Naiads. The flora of the river is comprised of lilies, lotus, duckweed, water hyacinth, turion & reeds (all of which may be the seed specialty to a Naiad). The river banks of Tam are filled with flora and play (mostly of the Naiad Nymphlets and Dryad Sproutlings). Bugs flit across the waters and under the riverbed, feeding on the magic moss that grows deep below. Nutrients are found in the soil and any tree roots that are along the river bank.

Resources:

Water: is a highly valued resource for drinking, transport and cleaning.

Reeds: have been used as a building material since the beginning of Turien, and have only increased their usefulness as an industrial raw material and energy source.

Bugs: are often sold to Humans and Elves for legalised experimentation, as the various bugs around Turien generally align to one form of magic or another and feed off of it.

The riverbed: includes clay, sand and gravel that are all useful materials for Humans of East City and Mid City.

Magic moss: is only found in the Depths, though as Naiads are generally poison resistant, they often do not recognise the dark-tended potencies of magic moss. They do, however, recognise the pranking activities it allows them in messing with the Naiads of the Shallows, as well as utilising the bioluminescence as a visual border between the Shallows and the Depths.

Home to Naiads

Naiads are freshwater Nymphs, living for many years. Although they are not immortal, no one quite knows their age. There has been a number of deaths by supposedly natural causes in the last few hundred years, however, most of those who died have lived through all five Magic Wars of the continent.

Naiads are quite strong, but only when they are in a body of water as they use the water's strength. Outside of said water, they are of average Human strength (unless they add water around themselves). Creating a water shield around theselves is a general practice instilled by parents to their young whenever they leave the river.

Every Naiad has a seed specialty, based on whichever plant they were born surrounded by. In their full Naiad forms, a Naiad is a literal part of the river. They can be 100% water, or they can be mostly water with plants of their seed specialty grown from within themselves.

The largest magical section of the river Tam (somewhere in the Great Forest) is the source of the waters' flow. This is where the first generation of Naiads were born, and where a large number of Naiads are still born to this day. It is suspected that being born closer to the source will increase one's magical efficiency and give one a larger chance of generating extraordinary abilities. There are outliers to this suspicion though, such as Patricia Clarke, who was born further along the river and shares a magical time compass with the Dryad Jacinta Smith. Regardless, all Naiads treat this area as a sacred space and do not allow the division of the Depths and the Shallows to present itself here. The smell of creation still lingers, and no Naiad will take that away.

The Shallows:

When travelling the Great Forest and peering into the river Tam from above, all that can be seen is what looks to be a typical river that runs a few meters deep. Even in the widest sections of the river, one would not expect the river to be deeper than 10 meters. This is the Shallows. Most of the Naiad population live in the Shallows, and most of the rest of Turien have no idea that anything exists below the Shallows. And it is unlikely that they will ever be told otherwise.

Those that live here are often seen above the water, playing along the river banks and occasionally interacting with the Dryads there. They often switch between Human form, Naiad form and various in-between forms. Particularly, the children prefer forms that can run on land, while the parents watching over them tend to the water forms as they stay partially in the river as much as possible. Many Shallow Nymphlets (particularly those with Sproutling friends) will copy the Dryad petal forms by turning into their water form then separating into hundreds of tiny droplets. Within each droplet they will sprout a seed of their seed specialty, generally growing a leaf or petal. As such, they can flit and flitter in the wind as much as any Sproutling does with their leaf/petal Dryad form.

by AvalonCollierArt

by Artbreeder

The Depths:

The Depths go down deep. Not many know how deep as Naiads from the Depths are about as interracially social as the Fairies. Does the riverbed reach the foundation magic disk? Does it merge with the ocean underground? Is there an unknown underground city filled with magic moss? Naiads from the Shallows find the Naiads from the Depths to be about as suspicious as one can get. Naiads from the Depths find Naiads from the Shallows to be even more suspicious. Over the centuries, the borders between the two have only grown. And this has allowed the Depths to be further dug out and explored by the Naiads that live there. 

In the Depths, it is not the Nymphlets that play outside the river water with friends, but rather the teenager (equivalent) Naiads who often sneak out in groups to the ocean. Some make friends with Mermaids, some with fish or whales, and some sneak out just to stay a part of the group. Most of the time, however, Naiad teens sneak out in order to play pranks on all who live in the ocean. As the ocean is known to be semi-sentient by the Mermaids, pockets of magical water that do not listen to the Mermaid's magic control are seen to be a squabbling of the ocean. This can be particularly frustrating for a Mermaid, rare as it is. For a Naiad, however, watching the frustrations of a Mermaid can be particularly fun. Thus, the area of the ocean nearest the Tam estuary is known as 'Ocean's Wrath'. 

As the Naiad teens grow up, they are expected to stay within the Depths, and cultivate the city in the caves. A select group of Naiads are tasked to wander Turien every century or so and see the developments of the land. The Naiads then utilise any new knowledge to make their own exclusive city. Through eroding the ground and enhancing the soil and water magic of the bugs that live under the riverbed, the Naiads of the Depths have created an exotic city for themselves. 

History of the River

The river Tam has existed since the creation of Turien. However, it's length, depth and name has changed over the centuries.

At first, the river did not extend as far into the Plains as it now does. As Humans began to populate Mid City and some farming towns grew around the river, East City was formed and the river was extended to reach Mid City. As Mid City now had a larger water source, they were able to grow even more. Travel was also easier between the two cities (and the farms between them). Humans that were historically aligned with the Dryads moved to East City and built a logging facility with the Dryad's blessings. This became the largest product to move from East City to Mid City, and was only possible due to the river.

During the Third Magic War (year 12000), a group of Naiads defiantly decided not to participate in the War. There was nothing for them to gain, and only names to be lost. The Naiads fought between themselves and the separation of the Shallows and the Depths took place. From this time, those in the Depths carved out a secluded home for themselves around the riverbed, even lowing the depths the riverbed reached. They are still continuing to change the shape of the riverbed to this day.

Close to the edge of the Great Forest, the river's name changes from Tam (in the Great Forest) to Rhea (in the Plains). They are now considered two separate rivers, even though the water flows along the one pathway.

As East City grew around Rhea, the city itself is cut by the river. At least, it was, before East-City's Logging Facility took over the northern part of the city and declared themselves separate. Now isolated, they destroyed a number of the bridges leading to East City's Logging Facility.