Purdue Fantasy Club

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======Elemental Plane of Water======
The Water Realm is a boundless ocean populated by countless water creatures. The water is boundless in every direction, neither having a surface or a sea floor. No one knows where the light that illuminates the infinite ocean of the plane comes from, so most just denote where the light comes from as "above" with "below" being much darker. The farther one swims up the warmer the water gets which should imply some sort of heat source, though one has never been found. In a similar vein if one swims down, the light dims until you are left cold and shivering in the pitch black abyss.

But it isn’t only water that exists in the Water Realm. There are entire islands made of coral that drift along the currents in the Realm's ocean. These mobile cities float on long loops throughout the plane and tend to consist of mostly native inhabitants. Other city locations include large towers of coral that stretch up from the abyss and reach up into the sunlight zone of the sea. These towers are stationary versions of the drifting coral islands, and are the ones that usually hold guests from other worlds. Many of these towers reside nearby strong currents, which are uses when traveling between the cities.

The towers, more often called Spires, are built on stone spires that rise out from the depths of the abyss. No end or origin has been found for them when the brave few have dived to see, and mages have given up trying to explain it. The coral that grows atop the tips of these spires is excavated and cultivated to make room for people to live inside of them, while still allowing them to grow and flourish. These cities tend to be named after the coral that grows atop them, about some other aspect of the tower itself, or on the rare occasion about the founder/important to the tower.

Similar to the Air Realm, despite the serene nature, the Water Realm is not a completely safe place. Leviathan-sized creatures lurk in the depths, sudden eruptions of steam can boil living beings alive, and unseen currents can drag the ill prepared into unexplored locations filled with dangers. Traveling outside of the Spires is dangerous without the right equipment, and those that get lost within the depths tend never to return.

=====Locations=====
====The Cnidarian Current====
A giant current of water near which most of the discovered coral spires are located which allows for trade and transportation between cities. Despite its usefulness, without the proper equipment and vessels the Current is very dangerous. For no known reason, every 2 months the direction of the Current reverses. Exchanges and trade between cities are built around this strict schedule. 

A powerful family of water mages, the Ederis Family, controls most of The Cnidarian Current. The family were the founders of much of the technology used currently to make transportation safer. They built enter/exit points near coral islands and developed ships for safe travel. Because of this, they have a monopoly over all the trade and travel that goes through it, and are the sole people who decide the prices.

====The Hadalian Vortex====
A current similar to The Cnidaria Current, that goes vertical instead of horizontal. Where the Current is fast, but manageable, the Vortex's currents are extremely violent. It also reverses its flow, though it is less predictable then the Current's schedule, reversing every 4-5 months. Many of the native fauna tends to give the Vortex a wide berth, lest they get sucked into the abyss. The vortex itself is also distant from many of the known Spires, it is unknown if any Spires nearby had been collapsed in the past or if this is just a coincidence.

Nobody tries to control the Vortex, as it has no use to most people within the Realm. Some mages have used it in the past to traverse into the abyss below, but after a disaster that left a few powerful mages dead in the process, the practice has been ceased. This does not, however, mean that the Vortex isn't monitored. While the Vortex is reversed upward, many mages are kept nearby to keep an eye on anything it sucks up. Any creature that is brought up from the abyss is usually killed, as it could pose a threat to the surrounding wildlife if left to wander and roam.

====Islands of Internal Ice====
Many of these places exist, and can be identified by large chunks of ice drifting in the ocean. This ice, often called "Primordial ice" is something produced by Azura as she traverses the Realm. Sometimes these chunks of ice conglomerate together to form large sheets of ice that create their own ecosystems, large enough conglomerations can even begin expanding on their own. Many of the larger sections have burrows and tunnels created by the creatures that call them their home. On rare occasions one can even find ancient ruins and preserved corals within large "continent" sized ice from when they collided and grew over the coral towers that populate the Realm. Because the larger chunks of ice can slowly expand on their own, many of the coral cities tend to have designated mages to help steer away any ice that could pose a danger to them.

The large sections of this are are not something that can just be harvested freely for use in weapons or enchantments, as it melts at an imperceptible rate. The true, eversolid ice is located at the heart of the older sections of Primordial Ice. This central ice absorbs the energy imbued within the rest of its glacier, rendering the center colder then the rest. Once this ice has absorbed enough energy, it forms into the Primordial Ice that never melts and is highly sought after by mages and weaponsmiths.

====Caubalt Spire=====
The Spire of Caubalt is one of the many coral spires that have been excavated and made into a vertical city. The city itself is fairly nondescript, being one of the more distant cities from the Current. Because of this distance, the city is fairly isolated and able to sustain themselves for long stretches of time. They do have a teleportation circle, though it is only used by the offplane mage and is mostly forgotten about otherwise by the locals. Despite this, the circle is used quite often by mages who come here to study the ambient magic of the plane, or who want to learn more about the Primordial ice that resides below it.

Beneath the spire however, resides a large floating chunk of Primordial Ice that is home to a colony of Bakurri and a Txra. The chunk of ice is attached to the Caubalt Spire, through careful observation of the ice up the tower, the mages of Caubalt keep it from overtaking the city.


=====Creatures=====

====Bakurri====
Also nicknamed "Ant Lobsters", the Bakurri are large lobster-like crustaceans that live in colonies in the darkest zones of the Water Realm. They are weak on their own, but pack a punch in groups. Unlike lobsters they have thinner-spinally limbs, used mostly for cutting and dragging objects. Bakurri are blind, but have a series of bioluminescent spots and whistle holes on their carapace that they use to communicate with other creatures. Bakurri will symbiotically ally with larger creatures, trading protection in exchange for food. 

They tend to make large nests within sections of the Primordial Ice, and are the main creator of the caverns and tunnels found within the larger sections of it. The "nests" that they dig are similar to ants in the way that they are mostly tunnels with multiple larger rooms deep within the ice that they use for storing food and young. The only difference between them and ants, is that a Bakurri nest will contain a massive tunnel leading straight to a central "chamber" that is made for their symbiotic protector. If the protector is ever injured, it will retreat back here and allow the Bakurri to tend to its wounds.


====Txra====
Txra are Kraken sized creature that lives in the upper levels of the abyss. They have a series of bioluminescence spots along their appendages that they use to stun similar sized creatures when hunting. Txra have multiple eyes, long octopus tendrils, and other wisping appendages that extend off of their head. Their body is long and eel/snake-like, with smaller arms that it uses to grab onto things for periods of time. Txra are aggressively territorial, the only exception being if it has a symbiotic relationship with a colony of Bakurri.

Txra rarely rise from the dark of the abyss, though those who travel close enough to darkness have reported seeing their lights flashing within its depths. Despite for the strange, sometime erratic movement that the lights give off, their flash can sometimes be mistaken for a large school of jellyfish. This has led many residents of the Water Realm to describe the Txra as a "Squid-like Jellyfish".


====Vatish====
Also known as "Bomb Fish", Vatish are large spherical fish that reside in the elemental plane of water. They have the appearance between an Naval mine and a pufferfish. They start small with hundreds of others when young, using numbers as a means of surviving. The larger they get, the less Vatish they travel with. They grow quickly when young, but slow down upon growing around the size of a car.  They have a series of spines that cover their bodies that can be detonated individually or all at once. At the end of these spines can flicker small bioluminescent "scales" to attract creatures to it. It is an omnivore, but uses the bomb-spines it generates to hunt for meat.

Surprisingly, the Vatish isn't hurt by their scale's explosions, as rather then tearing, the skin hardens whenever exposed to a spread out forces. This makes the skin of a Vatish surprisingly resistant to bludgeoning attacks or explosions. They use this to their advantage, using the bioluminescent scales on the end of these spines to attract prey before detonating the spike and killing whatever is nearby. The Vatish will then consume whatever chunks and pieces that remain.