LeviathanTempest:ThalassaClan

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

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.

The union of Thalassan blood with mankind produces Alphestes. The Alphestes are characterized by both prodigal strength and the mercurial drive of their forefathers but with neither the leadership or skill. Many end up as hired muscle or right hand men.

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

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."