Editing LeviathanTempest:ChapterTwo (section)

=== Thalassans ===
[The Symbol of Thalassa: A Mycenaean-style funerary mask made of gold, with very simple shapes for eyes (basically one slit for the top of the eye, one for the bottom and a third in the middle for the closed eyelid). The edge of the mask is frayed or ripped apart. The bottom represents chelicera like a crab's where the mouth should be.]

[Picture: Central. A man sits in an office doing paperwork. He is old, and wearing a field gray suit over a white shirt and chequered neck-tie. All his clothing is frayed and looks lived in. The man is bald with liver spots, he is exceptionally thin with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes but has broad shoulders. His right arm is in a plaster cast. The shape of a crab like claw is visible through the cast. The room around him is cramped with peeling walls. The furniture is trying to look expensive but is cheap and battered.]

===='''Morphology'''====

The Thalassans are said to be the Strain most touched by their Vice, cursed with an unholy appetite for wealth and material pleasures, tempered by a mercantile instinct and a habit of playing within the system. After all, an ancient demigod leading a cult of violent zealots to conquer the city usually ends up dead; an ancient demigod leading a cult of high priced lawyers ends up rich. Even among the Tribe money carries a loud voice. Those Thalassans who thrive dominate the perception of their Strain while their less successful kin, facing the same problems as any other Leviathan, find the expectations placed upon them just mean their failures hurt all the more and receive less sympathy from their cousins.

===='''Progenitor'''====

The Thalassans claim to be the descendants of the Progenitor Thalassa, the mother of fishes. A being of immense power who forged islands with mighty claws or shattered them with one blow of her many arms. She was feared and revered by merchants and sailors who would pay tribute in return for safe passage. 

===='''Genetics'''====
Unlike the other Strains Thalassan genetics are pretty simple. Everyone who has more than a trace of Thalassan genetics is a potential Leviathan. Genetics simply aren't relevant past a certain minimum. While it's not the only factor, the most important perquisite to becoming a Thalassan is, in fact, the opinion of your fellows. When a someone with Thalassan heritage is thought off highly – the definition of “highly” depends on the Beholder; one might respect power, another might pass his mark of confidence through love – by her peers her blood takes notice, the tribe grows within her DNA. Not all Thalassans are measured equally. The stronger the Tribe is within you, the more your “vote” counts. This leads to Thalassa's heritage growing stronger over the generations. Once critical mass is reached, and other environmental and mystical factors are in place a new Leviathan is born. 

Sometimes only one Thalassan appears at a time, sometimes it's two, or even three. The biggest factor is how many with Thalassan heritage are present. When a Thalassan begins Transforming she drains the mystical potency from everyone nearby with dormant Thalassan genetics to fuel her transformation. It simply takes more people to fuel two new Leviathans than one new Leviathan. The birth of a Lahmasu has a similar effect, but several orders of magnitude smaller. It can be safely ignored.

===='''Puberty'''====
It begins with dreams of the Rift. In his dreams the Thalassan stands at the forefront of the Tempest. Call it the weight of history, the expectations of the ancestors or just the weight of billions of tons of water. It pushes him ever onwards with no regards to his wishes or direction. As his powers begin to grow dreams become hallucinations. He sees the Shallows in every drop of water. A glass teems with bizarre life, a tap flows with the fury of the Tempest. If it wasn't for milk and fruit juices dehydration would be a big, and rather ironic, threat. Finally the weight escapes from his dreams. This effect is entirely unsubtle, he simply feels as though he weighs several times more, it requires mental fortitude and physical strength to do anything but collapse onto the floor. To free himself a Thalassan must fight back. With each step against the tide his body begins to adapt, claiming the Vestige of Might. In time he will have the strength to swim against the tide, to find his own path, he must do this for the currents of the Rift lead nowhere you'd want to go. 

What separate the Thalassans from the other Strains is that one can actually fail to become a Leviathan. To stop the processes of changing permanently. It's not perfect, you might end up as a Hemitheos rather than a human and you're certain to have some severe mental damage, yet the option to deny godhood and instead live a full and fulfilled mortal life exists. If you swim against the tides and have the strength you'll become a Leviathan. If you get swept away by the tides you'll probably become a Ophion. But if you cling to a rock until you're raw and bloody – that is cling to another person or some other source of direction external to yourself – the waters will eventually recede. Unsurprisingly many Thalassans teach their children to be strong and self reliant encase they get the chance to become a Leviathan. Equally unsurprising is that many Thalassans try to encourage their children to be dependent on others so they won't become a Leviathan.

===='''Evolution'''====
When manifesting their divine natures the Thalassans thrive where the sea meets the land, they are most at home in beaches or rocky pools and living far from the safety of the depth grow strong shells or exoskeletons with mighty claws or grasping tentacles.

===='''Ecology'''====
====='''Family'''=====
The Children of Thalassa are reputed to demonstrate abundant fecundity or possess the ability to weather the rigours of reproduction but rarely do they combine both traits in a single being. Mortal bloodlines touched the Thalassans may have a large family tree marked with dead ends and weaknesses or they will be small and if not lightly touched by the Tribe then they will carry the toughness needed to bear their heritage. However deeply touched by their family's mystical bloodline the Thalassans expect greatness from their offspring and drill them relentlessly to achieve it.  
====='''Lahmasu'''=====
The union of Thalassan blood with mankind produces Hemitheos. The Hemitheos are characterized by both prodigal strength and the drive of their forefathers but not the instinct for more subtle skills, many are simply brutes. Proud Thalassan parents boast that their children are demigods in the truest sense, likening them to heroic dynasties laid out in Greek fable and history.

====='''Cults'''=====
Thalasans are known to drill their cult towards unity and cooperation, not for moral or aesthetic reasons but because they respect that a unified Cult is that much more effective than constant infighting over status and favour. This is aided by the wealth that successful members of the Strain possess, when times are good rewards flow freely in a Thalasan's Cult but this unity is founded on fundamentally selfish values. When times are bad order breaks down as Cultists turn on each-other seeking to escape with what they can carry and their lords favour.

===='''Vestiges'''====
'''Might''', Elements, Fecundity, Vitality 

===='''Symbols and Associations'''====
The sea of Sanji, the Aegean Sea, the Vice of Greed.

===='''Character Concepts'''====
Fishing or shipping magnate, legbreaker, profiteering televangelist, merchant captain, star athlete, get-rich-quick enthusiast.

===='''Quote'''====
''"Can I put a value on godhood? Can I estimate the worship of men and the adoration of children? Can I put a price on the heritage of the heavens? Hell yes I can. Everything I have, everything my heritage gives me, has been taken from another. I am a tick, sucking at the blood of society. The only redeeming feature, the only one, is that all of it was given freely."''