The locathah (pronounced: /ˈloʊkɑːθɑː/ LO-ka-tha[8] or: /loʊkɑːˈθɑː/ lo-ka-THA[8]), also known as fish-men, gill-men or kaparl ("slave" in the kuo-toan language),[6] were a race of fish-like humanoids that lived in both the Inner Sea of Faerûn and the wider Outer Sea.[6]
Description[]
All locathah had fish-like heads with toothless mouths, small fins where ears would normally be, and large eyes that were either all-black or all-white. The latter coloration was viewed as a good omen. Instead of hair, they had a dorsal fin and flukes. Their height was comparable to humans,[9] standing on average 5 ft (1.5 m) tall and weighing in at 175 lb (79.4 kg).[2] The fine scales covering their bodies that ranged from olive green[2][9] to ochre in color, although those on their stomachs ranged from sea green to pale yellow. Additionally, locathah had a stripe near their egg sacs, the coloration of which could distinguish whether they were male or female. For female locathah, this stripe bore the same coloration as their stomach scales.[9]
Personality[]
The reason for their enslavement, in their minds, was that their enemies took advantage of periods when the locathah were at odds with their allies or each other and thus, fragmented. As such, they now live in tight-knit communities and, if others prove to be their allies, the locathah will prove firm in their allegiance, trying everything in their power to keep such alliances together. Despite said history of slavery, even when treated with the utmost cruelty, they do not harbor angry or vengeful feelings towards their former captors, though they will do anything within their power short of threatening harm to their fellows to escape if enslaved by someone else. They don't believe that is shameful to be enslaved, but it is to do nothing about the situation.[9]
It is easy to unintentionally offend a locathah as they have many unwritten rules of etiquette. If approached by a creature wielding a weapon, a locathah will always either flee or engage in combat. They do not like to be touched by other species, interactions with others are always done at a distance. They commonly lead creatures unfamiliar with their territory by their wake-currents.[9]
History[]
The exact origins of locathah, like many undersea races, were shrouded in mystery. One theory as to their origin that was widely embraced by many scholars in Faerûn as a "fact", but largely dismissed by the scholars of Serôs, suggested that locathah, morkoths, and kuo-toas all had a common ancestor in the Inner sea. As the theory went, this ancestor was created through a magical fusion of fish and human slaves for the purposes of gathering food and treasures beneath the sea. Who exactly was responsible for their creation varied significantly, with suggested identities for the creators ranging the gamut of dragons, the Imaskar Empire, the Netherese Empire, the God-Kings of the Old Empires, or in someway all of them. This common ancestor was said to have dived deep into the depths of the Inner Sea where they discovered a group of dark gods that promised them power and freedom from those who subjugated them masters in return for worship.[10] Some legends suggested that this occurred in the Trench of Lopok.[11] The dark gods were then said to have transformed these ancestral fishmen into the first kuo-toans and morkoths, though some variations of the story further claimed that ixitxachitls and selkies were also created from this.[10]
Another theory suggested that locathah were actually descended from or creations of the Batrachi.[12] In terms of divine creation, the locathah priesthood of Eadro offered another origin, preaching that they had once been merfolk and were cursed by their creator-god into their current form as a punishment for allowing corruption of their faith. According to these locathah, through faithful worship and prayer their race might one day be redeemed and transformed back into merfolk.[4] Others believed that Eadro had created the locathah as they were, designing their bodies for the purposes of endurance and tenacity, having created them alongside the merfolk to combat the sahuagin. By contrast, sahuagin claimed Eadro's first child was sort of fish and that their creator-god Sekolah had bit it in half, forcing Eadro to place legs on the fish half and a humanoid torso on the fish tail.[10]
The oldest physical evidence of locathah in the Inner Sea were some carvings in undersea caves that depicted them alongside merfolk and sahuagins, dating to around −20000 DR.[13] Over the centuries the locathah of the Inner Sea would experience slavery from all the sentient races of Serôs,[6][14] with the exception of the shalarins.[14] They also experienced slavery under the Netherese Empire, through the subsea colonies known as Deep Netheril.[15]
Society[]
Locahtha were hunter-gatherers by nature, which led many other races to believe them to be no more than simple barbarians. The locathah themselves took no insult to this attitude, simply moving on and paying those with it no heed.[9]
Most locathah lived in communal tribes. Those consisting of a hundred members or less were usually simple hunting parties, dominated by males, but in larger tribes they prefered a matriarchal chieftain. The chieftain would lay a multitude of eggs, which were to be cared for by the rest of the tribe. They zealously defended their hunting territories and kelp farms, but were otherwise welcoming of strangers.[9]
By the 14th century DR, some locathah had adopted the Timesong calendar widely used by the other races of Serôs, but most locathah in the Inner Sea maintained an oral usage of the Calendar of Hmur.[16] During the Timesong month of Huntsong, which spanned a period of Mirtul 23 to Kythorn 28, the Inner Sea locathah joined many other races in engaging in hunting.[17]
Homelands[]
A locathah, riding an aquatic beast.
Locathah territories could typically be found in warm coastal sea waters. They were perfectly happy living in deeper waters, but their former captors tended to live in such places, thus locathah tribes acclimated themselves to living in shallows instead.[9]
In the Inner Sea, locathah nomads lived south of Impiltur and west of Thesk, in a region they called the Bymmalyn Hills. By the 14th century DR, some had moved to more permanent settlements on the slopes of the Hmur Plateau, using it as a natural barrier against their ancient foes, the kuo-toa and the morkoths. At one point locathah also lived within the Alamber Deeps, but the sahuagin there hunted them to extinction, garnering a life long hatred between the two.[9]
A particularly large and advanced civilization of locathah lived beneath the waves of the Crowded Sea, between Rog'osto and the island of Afyal.[18] Small communities of locathah could also be found in some of Zakhara's port cities.[19]
Languages[]
The locathah had their own own racial language,[7] but were also commonly known to speak Aquan.[2] Additionally, the locathah of the Inner Sea spoke Serusan, a pigeon trade language that incorporated aspects of their own language.[7]
Religion[]
Locathah primarily worshiped their creator-god, Eadro, although their manner of reverence was more dogmatic and secretive than that of the merfolk. They were very protective of their rituals, keeping them from the view of outsiders in all but instances of spellcasting. Their clergy were exclusively male. Their worship of Eadro centered around a belief that their bodies and the centuries of enslavement they suffered under the hands of the various races of Serôs were both punishments by Eadro for allowing corruption of their faith. Only through devout faith, prayer, and exclusive worth of Eadro could they one day be redeemed.[4]
By the late 14th century DR, some locathah clerics turned away from the dogmatism of the Eadro faith and converted to other, more liberal religions that were being practiced in Myth Nantar.[4] Some locathah were even known to worship Istishia, going so far as to become waterwalkers.[20] Regardless of which god they followed, these clerics espoused that the locathah should be accepting of the bodies and abilities that Eadro gave them.[4]
In ancient times, one group of locathah living between the Zakharan mainland and the islands of Sahu and Afyal worshiped the evil god Thasmudyan.[21][22][23][note 1]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ This is the case if Land of Fate and The Complete Book of Necromancers are both assumed to be accurate. It is not clear if this was intended by the authors, as it is in contrast to the behavior of the locathah described elsewhere.
Appearances[]
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References[]
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Kate Welch (May 2019). Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7869-6686-8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 169–170. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 62. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 57. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 183. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 55. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Frank Mentzer (January 1985). “Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #93 (TSR, Inc.), p. 28.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 78. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 64. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 156. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (2020-3-21). Batrachi Descendants (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-11-23. Retrieved on 2024-1-17.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 66. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 54. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 20. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), pp. 61–62. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 63. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ Steve Kurtz (1994). Al-Qadim: Ruined Kingdoms: Campaign Guide. (TSR, Inc), p. 6. ISBN 1-56076-815-0.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (August 1992). Land of Fate (Adventurer's Guide to Zakhara). (TSR, Inc), p. 24. ISBN 978-1560763291.
- ↑ Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), p. 80. ISBN 978-0786903849.
- ↑ Steve Kurtz (April 1, 1995). The Complete Book of Necromancers. (TSR, Inc), p. 107. ISBN 0-7869-0106-3.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (August 1992). Land of Fate (Adventurer's Guide to Zakhara). (TSR, Inc), pp. 111, 113. ISBN 978-1560763291.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (August 1992). Land of Fate (Fortunes and Fates). (TSR, Inc), p. 40. ISBN 978-1560763291.