History of the Old Ones to Present

The Caerian’s were the first creations of the Gods of Tortall, whose history was nearly completely erased, leaving only architecture and weapons. They were a proud race, full of their own mystical crafts and magic. They were a race that respected the beauty of nature, Druid’s in a sense, and often painted their bodies with tattoo’s resembling animal markings, thus also making their hierarchy a matriarchal one.

It took a Monarch of the Old Ones to displease the Gods; he had spent his time amongst the mortals, disguised as one of them, and wished to be the ruler, rather then his siblings, or a wife. He wanted the throne for himself, and he gathered both mortal and Caerian supporters to let him have the throne. At the time, he seemed the better one. He had better leadership skills; enthusiasm was his prime talent. Easily, he cut off his siblings painfully and skillfully using the magic he had, for their magic had no side effects, and could create weapons that disobeyed the laws of the Gods.

The Gods became slightly fearful; if the Old Ones could do that much, killing out Immortals in such fashions, and with their own realm being so close, they decided to look mortals out of their world, and with them came other Immortals, such as the dragons and animal gods. In addition, they began to take back the magic granted on the Old Ones.

The Monarch who cheated the throne began to get paranoid about the lack of magic, for other humans had began to notice their overlords were loosing their touch. So, the Monarch sent out the best of the best to find out what was going on; no one knew, both Old Ones and Humans, yet he thought them lying. His torturers would nearly destroy the captured beings until they wished for death.

One of the woman Old Ones, favored by the Goddess, and Head of the Order, was tortured most severely, for the Monarch began to believe this to be the working of the Gods, and that she was behind it. He destroyed all their temples, libraries, and banned offerings. She had promised that she wouldn't give up; she'd fight for what she knew was true. Even though it took long, she finally cracked, and cried out for the deities to bring her the death which she was not gaining, and to rid herself and her race of Immortality, to be given the chance to die and be rid of this torture, and prevent it from happening to others.

The Goddess complied, and with the help of the other Gods, they took away their Immortality as was wished, and a large majority felt themselves began to age and finally pass out of the seemingly doomed world into the Peaceful Realms. From there, everything was falling apart. The Gods then turned to the once proud, deathless race, and saw it fit to both save and destroy what they could. The great cities across the land cracked and fell apart of ruin, the lustful forest blasted into a desert, and that great capital requested to be claimed by the sea.

However, the Goddess of the Seas, the Wave-Walker, or Goddess, had mercy on those innocent. She wished to save the memories of these people, for now their records and documents had been almost completely destroyed. She decided to encompass them in a pocket of air beneath the sea, as if they were in a times capsule.

The mortals had reign over the lands for the thousands of years, rebuilding society to what it is today.

As what felt like eons, the race beneath the waves, the Old Ones, pine to return above the waves, wishing to either be slain, or return to the true air. Being beneath the waves, they felt confined, as if this was further punishment. In distress, the Goddess evolved them to become immune to the effects of drowning, and rather breathe both air and water. This was through the tattoo's the painted on their bodies; every child born from there after was given markings that resembled the animals both above and below the water. When a Caerian reaches water, the tattoos glow, and allow them to breathe the water. However, they were forbidden contact with life above. They complied, just happy to be out of the bubble of their city.

Until now, although the freedom to walk the sea was one they were grateful for, they wished to see what their cousins above were up to. Their curiosity bothered them greatly, causing mental turmoil. The Wave-Walker came down once again to her other people, learning gradually of what bothered them most. She brought this problem to her consort, then the counsel.

This past summer, the Pantheon lifted the ban for them to surface, and to inspect the upper world. Not all the gods were happy about this, for their personalities can be as varying as those of humans. Yet, they had no reason to disagree; the race had suffered in their solitude, and seemed hopeful at the chance of breathing air, the light in their faces was hard to ignore. Once the gods came down to declare this, the current Queen, Her Majesty Ilithyia decided that she would ascend to the air first, and see what it appears as before coming back down. Unknowingly, the Queen’s daughter Kora, and her friend Kallista followed, thinking that the Queen could use two extra sets of eyes, but they yet to confront each other.

Down below, the capitals is anxious and upset about the missing Crown Princess and her friend, and are frantically searching the Ocean in hopes of finding them before the Queen returns. Meanwhile, the two girls are having the times of their lives in the City of Corus, staying far away from their mother’s studying of the humans that inhabit the earth.

The Old Ones
Originally: Caerian(ky-air-e-an)
Commonly: the Old Ones

Current Queen: Ilithyia (45)
Consort of the Queen: Spyridon (Deceased)
Crown Princess: Kora (18)
Capital: Faeromen
Religion: Druidism

Names

The Caerian names are based off Greek, Roman, Mythological Roman and Greek, and any name formed from Tolkein's world will be acceptable -- but none directly. They do not see an importance of names, or the idea of passing them down. Thus, just about every royal name is different, and the names are constantly being varied. The Caerians have also since abandoned last names, and refer to each other by only one.

Appearance

They tend to be tall creatures, the tallest topping seven feet in height in the males. Much like the animals, the males take more care of their appearance, and are normally the more vibrant, whereas the female's appearances are more attuned to that of neutral colors. All of their ears are pointed upwards towards the skies, their movements cat-like. Their complexion is generally tan, the hue depending on how far deep in the sea they stay; white being at the deepest depths.

Every Caerian's tattoo covers the entire body, a dark oceanic a blue, and glow a turquoise when in use. Each also mimic those of animals, whether strips or spots. The tattoo enables them to breathe under water, as well as see objects clearly.

Persona

The persona of this race varies as much as it does for humans. Some can be obsessed with power, and the wish to gain more, while others seek peace and to live life to the fullest. Some envy the humans for the seemingly easy way out of things, whilst other admire the humans, some still wish for control. Some carry themselves with malice, or smugness, and others with wisdom and calmness. Many might even long to regain their immortality, and will go on missions, though few come back alive. Some even venture out to find away to regain the magic they once had.

Government

As stated in the Plot, their government is pretty much ran by females, the head of their hierarchy being female. Although men can get high-ranking positions, all must answer to the Queen, and her daughter. In simplistic terms, the social hierarchy is so:

Queen
Princess
King
Druids
Council Members
Commoners
Prisoners

Although there was once nobility, the only ones left are a small portion, and it has since mingled with commoners. The Council consists of Caerians chosen by the Priestesses and Priests (Druids), for they believe they know best.

They are also family oriented, as in families stick together in homes for the longest of times, taking care of the elders. Elders are seen as the most knowledgeable, and experienced. They take the advice, but will not always go through it, due to the fact that they will want to find out themselves.

About Druidism

Coming Soon

Notes
-- Caerians never bothered with last names, because each Caerian first name is unique, and hardly ever repeated in 100 years. However, the time span has lengthened since their population is small with them being under the ocean.

-- The Gift cannot be inherited by any of them; they are to remain as magic-less as the gods made be. However, all can see where magic is used, which enables them to see the borderline of their enclosed city. Although they do not know this yet, they can also see the magic in others as well, and since they lack magic, the only shield they have from large amounts of magic is closing their eyes.

-- They can only have one child, ever, then reproduction stops, even if a mortal has part of their blood. This is an effect from the transition from Immortal to mortal.

-- The royal family has a tendency of each Queen having a daughter, even if they are married into it. Approximately, every 100 years a male is born into the Royal Family, and the pressure of finding a suitable wife is pressed hard onto his shoulders, for she will be the one whose daughters shall rule. Many believe the next male heir will be from Kora.

-- Each family of Caerians has a small, personal libraries of scripts that varies between; they are the accounts of lives before the city was sunk beneath the way, each narrator having his own story to tell. These are treasured by each family, and are passed down, each person adding their own important invents.

-- Although the Priests and Priestesses judgment is considered most high, they are placed below the Royal Family because that is where they wish to be; ruling a country and keeping justice is a privilege the most ancient line of Tortall. It is the Druid's job to secure the people's faith in the monarchy, and offering wisdom to the council and Queen.

-- Commoners have a very closely integrated order of importance; there are always jobs to be done around the capital city; for the past thousands of years they have tried to rebuild their underwater city to its splendor. Being their population is just over a ten thousand itself, the workforce is low for the near million acres of land, roads, houses, palaces, stables, pastures; and their population was much less when they were submerged.

-- Being a Bard is considered the most honored job for a commoner.

-- Every Caerian is an excellent swimmer, and younger ones are taught. Over the years, they learned to manage movement and weapons in the new watery substance. They also learned to make clothes tighter to the body, for warmth and to not have the clothes practically float away from them. Also, their diet is mostly sea food.

-- Although they live in the sea, they have not mapped out the ocean floor, or cataloged all the new creatures they have, though they have done a fair chunk of what there is, as far as landmarks and what might be poisonous.