Historical Overview
Founding
One of the newest companies in the Promenade, Deepquest Whaling was founded well into the decline of traditional whaling. With the extinction of the
Coastal Whale, the city's whaling was forced to undergo a transformation in order to survive.
Pike & Sons Co., the largest and oldest whaling company, attempted to adapt to these changing times. Through the introduction of
motherships, large whaling vessels upon which all harvesting-related practices could take place, the Pikes sought to expand the range of whaling away from the depleted coasts.
This innovation met with intense resistance from the people of the Seaside at large, and the
Longshoremen's Guild in particular. As the traditional representative of the skilled workers of the Seaside, the Guild sought to keep the whaling industry in its traditional specialized neighborhoods, rather than aboard ships, where they were powerless. To make their point, the Guild stopped the construction of trypots in the Castworks, and when the Pikes sought to import them, seized the new trypots. Casting these massive cauldrons into the outflow of the Landside's canal, the Guild flooded portions of the city and succeeded in stopping the exporting of labor to ships. In doing so, they sealed the fate of the industry.
Deepquest Whaling was founded by residents of Calettina, an insulated neighborhood in the Seaside populated by Anharans of Litoric Islander descent, seeking innovations abandoned by the Pikes and the Guild. Unbound to the Guild, they were able to begin whaling deeper out to sea. Furthermore, with connections to the Litoric Islands, and the Islands' own colonies in the
Boreal North, they were able to establish whaling towns along the coast of the
Serpent Sea and
Unknown Tides to expand the range of their armadas.
Controversy
"Early Promineres saw the sea as an enemy. It made the low-lying land into salty marshes useless for farming, it swamped the fishers' small craft, and the waves tore away attempts to expand the city. To kill whales was not only crucial for the city's survival, but a way to strike back at an all-encompassing ocean trying to swallow the town." - Isobard Quickquill, Whale Whale Whale, What Have We Here?
Deepquest Whaling faced two major hindrances in their entrance to the whaling industry. These stemmed from the nature of the company's founders. Whilst Calettina has long been a neighborhood of the Promenade, anti-
Islander sentiment remained strong. The cleanliness, organization, ocean-going skill, and general differences between the residents of Calettina and the Seaside-proper caused animosity against the Deepquest company. However, the economic opportunity offered by the colonies forced many of the poor of the Seaside to grit their teeth, while also working to reduce distrust between the communities.
Secondly, those in Calettina hold to a system of beliefs which have amalgamated the Vestria-focused Anharan faith with the
Petrina-focused beliefs of the Litoric Islands. Worship of Petrina, especially during the period which saw Islander immigration to Calettina, puts a focus on combatting
Murk. This
Obscure One is viewed as residing in the deepest depths of the ocean, and thus the hunting of deep-sea whales is seen as combatting his servants. This belief was shared with early residents of the Promenade, but puts the Deepquest company at odds with the residents of Murkhead, a neighborhood of anti-whaling and Murk-focused sects.
Whaling Colonies
The unique innovation which allowed Deepquest Whaling to move into the industry was the use of whaling colonies. These were established off the back of the already-progressed Litoric Island colonization of parts of the
Boreal North. The Calettina residents' connection to the Islands allowed them easier access both to bases in the western islands themselves, and the west coast of the Boreal North. While most colonies on the coast, and scattered islands in the
Serpent Sea and
Unknown Tides, small and focused,
Owin's Station has risen to the status of a sizeable town.
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