So we’ve lost elves, half-elves, gnomes, and Halflings as PC races and major cultural groups on Ortho… Yes we’ve gained beholders but we still have the room to populate this world with more unusual races, especially those that are normally pushed into dungeons and the deep wilderness on other worlds. A strong part of my mental image of the Harmonium is as a racially diverse society – especially one where ‘monsters’ are responsible citizens.
After a browse through the Monstrous Manual, I’ve had out a few ideas. They’re certainly not all PC race material, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t included in the Harmonium. They’re pretty embryonic at present.
The Sahuagin
“The seas belong to us.”
- A Sahuagin diplomatic letter in its entirety.
Beneath the waves of Ortho is found one of the harshest interpretations of the Harmonium creed. Save for a few isolated enclaves, the water’s depths are the dominion of the sahuagin, as cruel and merciless as a shark’s tooth.
The Sahuagin were a natural choice for allies. Their society had always been founded on strict rules and scrupulously observed ritual. They were also deadly enemies with the sea elves, creatures just as predatory and capricious as their landbound cousins.
These elves had lived almost entirely at sea, forming bonds with savage sea creatures and using their magic to make homes in coral reefs and submerged islands. With wood for ships and other supplies limited, they turned to other means – harness larger creatures as steeds and transforming themselves to live entirely beneath the waves. They became a barbarous nomadic folk, savage even beyond the cruelty of their land-bound cousins. They lived by violence and raiding – fighting outsiders or each other, it soon didn’t matter. Whatever means they used to transform themselves also acted to swell their numbers, and in a relatively few years the sea elf plague began to spread.
Time passed, and the sea elves worked closely with their cousins from the land, despite seeing them as corrupted by weakness and sloth. Sea elf scouts on giant barracudas or flying fish scouted out victims for elven pirates, and launched raids upon human shores.
Eventually human forces were able to turn the tide on the surface, for the sea elves were busy enough at home. Occupied by their war beneath the waves and challenged now on the surface by the great pirate fleets like those of Pan Thaera, the Sea Elves became a minor footnote in history - at least on land…
War between the Sea Elves and Sahuagin was inevitable, bloody, and without end. Finding ‘their’ waters already occupied, the Sea Elves regarded the Sahuagin as rich spoils. The Sahuagin took one look at the elves, called them Hirirua, and set out to wipe them out. The conflict spanned generations with neither side able to seize the upper hand for long.
Mogranhu the druidess and Jhary of Heka were the first ‘harmonium’ to peaceably contact the Sahuagin. It was a dangerous assignment even for them, and several aides and diplomats were killed. Although they were able to arrange a limited degree of cooperation against their mutual enemies, the greatest obstacle was that the Sahuagin regarded all other races as Hirirua to be destroyed.
Eventually Jhary took drastic action:
“Our ways and your ways are the same,” Jhary said, “and I will prove it.” He transformed himself into a Sahuagin, which received howls of anger and hatred from the assembled Shark Lords.
“You are hirirua,” they cried, “It is deceit!”
“I am as you,” Jhary insisted. “Test me however you wish.”
The first battle was against the Shark Lords themselves in a battle of claw and fang. The mightiest attacked him, but Jhary tore out their throats. They sent sharks against him, but he turned them against their masters. The priests brought creatures of the deep up against his but he pushed them down again with his magic, or raised great spikes of coral up to pierce their hearts. Then came the loremasters of the Sahuagin, who tested him on what is Tikapono and what is Hirirua. Jhary passed them all, revealing to them ancient knowledge and secrets only the wisest of them knew.
“Join us” said Jhary, who the Sahuagin now called Hikoi-Ur, the Walking Shark. “And together we shall spill the blood of our enemies until the sea is red.”
And the alliance was done.
Sahuagin Society
Sahuagin society is based around the twin concepts of Tikapono (truth, right worthiness, what is proper) and Hirirua (inside out, wrong way round, bad, and incorrect). Doing things the right way (Tikapono) is as essential to a sahuagin as breathing.
As a virtue, Tikapono embraces truthfulness and forthrightness of action. A good Sahuagin is as focused and merciless as the sharks they keep as pets and steeds. The strong command the weak, the good of the tribe goes before the good of the individual, and the greatest law is survive or die. Tikapono also states that all the sea belongs to the Sahuagin, and that all other races are their prey.
What is right and proper has been proven to be so for countless generations of law and ritual. To question it in the slightest is dangerous breech of etiquette and an act of utmost seriousness in Sahuagin society. Anything that deviates from what is right is automatically Hirirua. Those that commit this sin are a weakness and must be killed.
With the Harmonium’s support, Sahuagin society has swelled and flourished. Cities now exist were once only hidden villages were. Sahuagin move around less than they used to, but enforce a period of travel upon young adults so they can see the world and forge alliances with formerly rival tribes.
War against the other races of the deep is their society's goal. Both an old racial hate and a new fanatacism born from Harmonium prosperity and support.
Sahuagin society is strictly ordered, and each creature knows his place. Māia (warriors) stand at the top of the hierarchy, with all other races pledged to obey and support them. Lower ranks are categorised by their usefulness to Society (read: the eternal bloody quest for Sahuagin dominance). Directly below the warriors are the Mākutu (wielders of magic), and many ranks of Māhatoi (workers).
Sahuagin work hard, because failing to do so is Hirirua – and punishments are often lethal - so most Sahuagin are among the most productive and hardworking races on Ortho. When relaxing, all Sahuagin enjoy games and challenges, both physical and mental. They especially enjoy spectacles of combat, especially Tāitai (wrestling, although tooth and claw are both permitted), which is used to settle disputes, always something done in public arenas. Although Sahuagin also keep slaves for these entertainments, the major attractions are always Māia who can increase their reputation and repute through ceremonial shark wrestling. In fact, it is practically a necessity for young Sahuagin seeking to rise in rank.
Tribal leaders are known as Urur Mākaro – ‘shark wrestlers’ - or simply as Shark Lords, because the ancient tradition of shark wrestling is integral to leadership. Each lord is roughly equivalent to a Baron in land holdings and population, but multiple lords often dwell in the same Sahuagin city. Politics is decided partly by intrigue, but ultimately through formal challenges and ceremonial shark wrestling. The Sahuagin are surprisingly forthright about their plotting, but this is all good and Tikapono to them.
Most divine spellcasters practice druidry rather than clerical magic, for the Sahuagin are not great believers in the Lords of Order. Whatever god or gods the sahuagin worshipped before their alliance with the Harmonium is unknown; all rival priesthoods were disposed of in a bloodthirsty campaign known as the Tide of the Sated Deep (a Tide – lunar month – forming the base of the Sahuagin calendar). Sahuagin still celebrate this event each year as a public display that their loyalty and friendship to the Walking Shark is still in tact.
Civilisation & The Harmonium
Sahuagin are a common sight in coastal towns and cities, but they are always upon specific business. They prefer to dwell among their own kind, far enough beneath the water that they cannot be bothered by their allies. They’re not exactly a friendly people.
Sahuagin visitors are usually traders. Some of their goods are Sahuagin-crafted, minerals and alchemical goods harvested from the sea bed, along with coral and shell jewellery. They also sell surface world goods that they have ‘confiscated’ from pirates and smugglers (and occasionally found in wrecks). Rumours persist that the Sahuagin attack isolated ships and travellers to steal their possessions, but official investigations have turned up nothing. Still, travellers are advised to always have Harmonium representatives onboard when travelling through Sahuagin waters.
Such travellers are frequently stopped by the Sahuagin, who demand explanation of their business, oaths of compliance, and taxes for their generosity. Those who comply receive an escort - those who refuse are deemed to be pirates, smugglers, or other enemies and attacked.
Although they follow the letter of the law exactly, Sahuagin remain a harsh and violent race. Any deviation from the norm is regarded as a perversion to be exterminated, and their high standards apply to both Sahuagin and surface-dweller alike. They are engaged in an ongoing genocidal war against the other inhabitants of the deep, tolerated by the Harmonium because the majority of enemy races are those who oppose them anyway. The Harmonium lends what forces it can to this campaign, more as a gesture of alliance than any significant military aid, but their ability to participate war beneath the waves is obviously limited: They can neither contribute to a speedy resolution, nor hold their allies back.
ADVENTURE SEEDS
1. An elderly scholar finds the location of some records that indicate Mogranhu was the one who brought the Sahuagin into the Harmonium, not Jhary of Heka. Lacking official support, he hires the PCs to acquire the documents – tablets of coral said to have been carved by the Sahuagin when the Walking Shark first came amongst them. The characters will have to find undersea equipment, locate some “friendly” Sahuagin as guides, then negotiate strict and deadly Sahuagin society long enough to persuade the Shark Lord who has it to part with the tablets. Theft is an option for underhand PCs of course, but such an affront will not go unnoticed by the Harmonium... especially when violent bands of Sahuagin pursue the party ashore.
2. The characters are charged with resolving attacks upon a peaceful (harmonium approved) colony of mermen that is under attack by the Sahuagin. Characters will need to show sufficient strength to hold the Shark Lords off, while at the same time seeking a diplomatic solution. They will require both considerable cunning and great charisma if they are to find a solution.
Pretty good, but it needs more info on their relationship with the Merfolk, Sea Peoples, and Aquatic Tieflings, all of whom are more or less loyal to Ortho's government whose genocide the Harmonium would never endorse.
As for the Sea Elves, Sahuagin are a lot more individually powerful than Aquatic Elves, and since they also had the numbers and a home-field advantage, it seems ridiculous that they Sea Elves would ever pose much of a threat to the Sahuagin. Good reasons can be found, of course (perhaps the Sahuagin were spread thin from fighting the Merfolk, for instance), but this still probably could use some more development.