Ivory Men

When Tarran and Gaeaioa sacrificed themselves to make the world, Gaeaioa blew her fiery breath across her lover, making the men of the north. Tarran, was far clumsier, and had already begun to sink into his new being as the ground. His cold breath traveled many months to the south, creating much ice, from which the Ivory men hailed.

Tarran’s accidental creations are, while of the same species, far different from his lover’s. Their skin is of purest white, and their hair, straw yellow, or fierce copper red. The Ivory men have organized themselves in hundreds of small clans that dot the southern icebergs. Among them, fierce determination, strenght, and above all, navigational skills, are valued. Positions of honor are awarded with medals, tatooed directly into their skin.

Gender roles are strong, with unmarried women growing crops, married women bearing and rearing children, and men (regardless of marital status) hunting and pillaging. The Ivory men are semi-nomadic, their “cities” packing up easily into boats for when an ice berg begins to melt. While a few have migrated out of the South sea, most remain oblivious and uncaring to the society of “true” men.

The White Ones Cultivate a plant known as the Uruspag, a leaf-vegetable that floats on the surface of the water in great fields and vauguely resembles a giant cabbage. Normally, Uruspag fields are moved by the whim of the currents, outrunning the great icebergs. The Ivory men dig “pens,” filled with water, into their icebergs, which will not only shield the plants they net from the surrounding waters from aquatic, grazing animals, but also keep them near the farmers. These pens also house small fish, which children often keep as pets, serving to entertain them, and of course, keep them out of their mother’s hair.

The Ivory men build water craft resembling a cross between pontoon boats and kayaks, or, more accurately, two kayaks stuck together by four long poles. One man sits in either side of the boat, one with a large, paddle-like device, the other with a harpoon. The first man beats the surface of the water, attracting a particular specie of very-inquisitive seal, which in turn attracts the hunter’s prey, Sharks. When the prey draw close, the second man, armed with his spear, will stab the shark, then deposit it on one of the nets at the ends of the boat. This continues until the hunters have filled their nets, or it becomes dark out.

Each tribe migrates to a smaller iceberg roughly every two years, lest their homes melt into the sea. When moving, they take part of their crop, along with their watercraft, meat stores, and of course, themselves. Oddly enough, the leave behind a single, giant totem, built specifically for the migration. These totems represent the guardian spirit of the iceberg, which dies along with it. Some icebergs have been known to carry on long after they are abandoned, never to be inhabited again. The White Ones claim that to set foot on a condemned iceberg is to trespass against its spirit, and to anger a spirit is to invite death.

Unknown to most outsiders their is a large island somewhere beyond the labyrinth of icebergs that is the Southern Sea. In fact this island is so far south, it is actually located far to the north of Tarran. This Island once housed the first of all the Ivory men’s tribes: The Ojjiwa. at the center of the island is the Peace Pool, dedicated to the greatest of all spirits, Mother Ocean. The Ojjiwa have now died out, and no one remains to protect the pool. The Ivory men veiw the place as taboo, and entering it is punishable by death. It should also be noted that the Ivory men refer to themselves as Ojjiwa, a throwback to their first days as the original inhabitants of the island.

Rumors abound that there is a second peace pool, dedicated to Father Tempest, the brother of Mother Ocean. This pool is visited by Sperm Whales exclusively, and it is said that they are his chosen people. This myth is most likely derived from an old Ojjiwa legend, which tells of a sperm whale shielding a Beluga whale from a storm, thus gaining the respect of a great and powerful spirit. The location of this pool is unknown even to the White ones, but it is said to be closer to them than Mother Ocean’s.

I’d like to give a big shout out to Murometz on this one, both for all his help and making the awesome sub that is “The Leviathan Pool”