Chapter Text
Jaymes Sorrenson - High Elf Wizard
Professor of Mythological studies specializing in Atlantean research
Jaymes always loved myths and legends, it's how he found himself as a grad student in the mythological department despite his parent's warnings that it'd be a dead end. Though perhaps he was never a true believer until he touched that artifact.
Every day since, he's been drowning. Literally. His dreams always begin with him choking on salt water, followed by visions of... something.
Donning a gossamer veil across his eyes and a spellbook in hand, Jaymes threw himself into his studies, specializing his focus and becoming a professor on the believed origin of the artifact—Atlantis.
Who cares that his department is one more wrong conclusion away from cutting off his funding? This time he'll go himself, and this time he'll find it.
Yuvia Fria - Warlock Tiefling
Long before Atlantis sank, Yuvia's family made a desperate pact with Mael, a forgotten deity of the cold deep. They begged for the power to keep their bloodline tied to magic even as the city’s knowledge faded. Mael granted the wish, but divine bargains are never free, every descendant would forever bear the god’s mark. Yuvia was born with shimmering blue skin and faint scales, horns shaped like jagged coral, a long tail ending in a fin, and black eyes speckled with white starlight. She even has small gills at her neck. Many see her family’s appearance as a curse, but Yuvia embraces it. She took up the study of Atlantean ruins, chasing every scrap of lore and every whisper of Mael. The god still answers her prayers, but with the cold reminder of the ocean’s depths. Her magic is not a gift, it's an obligation. She wields it fiercely, believing she was chosen to uncover Atlantis’s secrets. The ancient Shark skin tome she carries is dotted with barnacles and has been passed down through hundreds of years in her family.
Archibald Swimmington - Artificer
Archibald Swimmington grew up in a coastal village, where the waves were both a lifeline and a threat. His family were shipwrights, crafting sturdy vessels for sailors and merchants. But when Archibald was still a boy, a storm tore through the harbor. His family’s ship — the pride of their craft — was dragged under the black waves. Archibald survived only by sheer miracle: radiant light wrapped around him, lifting him gasping from the water’s grip.
From that day on, he bore two truths within him:
The ocean terrifies him. He wakes at night drenched in sweat, hearing phantom waves and feeling his chest tighten as if drowning again.
The ocean calls to him. In still water, he sees ripples of radiant light. In dreams, he feels currents pulling him toward something deeper, stranger, divine.
Nehalaenniae - Mermaid
Nehalaenniae (They/Them) is a mermaid from the distant coral reef village of Coral Reef Village. Despite being sandwiched between a bloodthirsty imperialist empire and the monster ridden Deep Ocean, the village was a proudly independent and thriving community - a safe haven for all sea life seeking refuge. This village owed their independence and safety to the protection of the holy relic bestowed on the village by their patron deity. Generations of Coral Guardians had used the goddess' blessing to protect and defend their home. One fateful night the relic disappeared without a trace, and all protection was lost with it. The village's connection to their patron faded, the guardians slowly grew weaker, and the land fell into poverty and destitution. Now, centuries later, even the name of the deity has been lost to history.
Nehalaenniae was taught growing up that their generation would be the last to live in the village. After generations of seekers had failed to find the relic, the people of Coral Reef Village had given up all hope and begun preparations to abandon their ancestral home. Neha's generation was raised and trained as the last in the line of Coral Guardians, taught to uphold the strict law and order that had been the only thing keeping the village alive during the dark times.
Guardians were prohibited from becoming seekers, but as soon as they were of age, Neha begged the elders to allow them time to seek out the relic. With reluctant permission from the elders, and a time limit of two years, Neha gathered every story and record of the relic that she could and set forth to save her village. Unfortunately there wasn't really much to go off of, as it all boiled down to "I dunno we think maybe this one land-dweller took it?" and "The goddess didn't really talk to us after that so we stopped trying."
Neha was convinced that the reason for the 100% failure rate was because none had sought out the goddess, thinking that she had either died or completely abandoned the village. That part of the story always smelled fishy to Neha, and they could feel in the depths of their soul that the goddess was the answer. As they set out on their quest they resolved to not only find the relic, but find the goddess and return the village to her favor.
The quest was brutal. Every single morning Neha woke up on dry (ew) land, prayed to the silent, nameless goddess for guidance, and spent a grueling day hiking through kingdoms and empires that stretched continent. Every night she collapsed into whatever river, stream, or measly creek she could find to let out one more desperate and unanswered prayer before falling asleep... just to wake up and do it all over again.
After over a year, they were beginning to believe that the search was impossible. They had trekked across the entire continent without a single lead, hint, or even a scrap of a rumor of a legend about the relic. When they reached the coast on what felt like the other side of the world, they fell to their knees in the sand and started weeping - from the joy of finally seeing the ocean again, but mostly from the despair of failure. They screamed to the sky, letting out all the bottled-up rage and resentment towards the goddess loose. And for once, Neha heard a response that wasn't their own echo.
The voice was strong and powerful and gentle and kind. It sounded like the waves of a mighty storm crashing down, and washed over Neha like the warm currents of her home. The voice introduced itself as the lost guardian of Coral Reef Village, Urs'uuelah. It said that she'd heard Neha's cries and pleas for help, that she had been with them the entire time, watching over them. They were her chosen champion, the one who would restore her relic and bring her back home. She was trapped, the voice said, trapped deep in the ocean where the relic was lost. That was why she couldn't answer the prayers, that far from the ocean she was powerless.
She told Neha the relic was hidden deep in the lost city of Atlantis, lost to time and history. There, on their knees, Neha vowed to obey and serve Urs'uuelah to the ends of the earth and the bottom of the ocean. The salty sea wind whipped around Neha and filled them with power, the divine blessing of Urs'uuelah.
Now Neha finds herself on a new journey, traveling to the depths of the ocean to find Atlantis, locate the relic, and restore the Goddess to her former glory.
Iris Ketal - High Elf Druid
Professor of Medicinal Herbology at Nurtec Academy
Self-taught underground poison master
Deep in the forests of her homeland, Lyrica, Iris tucks herself between the arms of a great oak with a medicinal herbology text in her lap. Iris Ketal, heir to House Ketal, a fairly new line of Lyrican medicinal druids, has scarce time to herself these days.
On the surface, Ketal Apothecary provides remedies to the elves of Lyrica. They include tonics to soothe an upset stomach, tinctures to heal battle wounds, and oils to stimulate hair growth. Her family barely gets by selling these products, having to compete with older, more established vendors.
Unbeknownst to her family, Iris runs an underground poison business, catering to those who need an odorless, tasteless, and untraceable solution to their problems. From a Lyrican woman needing to escape an abusive relationship to an impatient son whose wealthy father has lived far too long, Iris provides what they need for the right price. Her profits from these sales supplement her family’s livelihood.
To take over the apothecary and keep it afloat, she must prove her expertise as an herbalist and poison master: one with a broad knowledge of botany, chemistry, and traditional healing. To have greater access to an array of ingredients, Iris took up a medicinal herbology teaching position at Nurtec Academy of the Arts.
Her mission is simple: create the first complete encyclopedia of herbs. Partnering up with her colleague, Professor Jaymes Sorenson of Mythological Studies, Iris strives to bring her collection back to Lyrica and use it to grow her clientele and keep her family fed. With rare Atlantean herbs in her possession, no one in Lyrica can compete with her services.
As we all know, too much of a good thing can turn very, very bad. Iris happens to deal in very bad things. Are you willing to risk it all?
Todd Crunch - Human Druid
A Human Druid trawler fisherman, with a bit of a gambling and drinking habit. He lost his wife's money and his main form was turned to a walrus after losing a game of cards with a god. He's hoping to find treasure and to get his normal life back.. it's hard to smoke a cigarette with tusks.
Billy Goat Seagraves - Hill Goliath
Billy Goat Seagraves was thought mad by those in his Goliath family. Being from the hills and mountains like most descendants of giants, Billy could see the ocean from one of his favorite hilltops. One day he declared that he was going to sail around the world discovering treasures and adventures just like the traveling storytellers spoke of.
Standing at roughly 7 and a half feet tall with bark brown and stone gray skin, weighing in the ball park of 300 pounds, Billy became a very desirable sailor.
His strength and stature enabled him to handle rigging in tough weather and his ferocious temper dominated the battlefield. He never relinquished the large great axe from his origins.
Years haven’t been kind to the old Goliath. The weathered sailor now reaching his late 60s. He decides it’s time for one last adventure, one last chance for greatness and treasure.
Or die trying.