Melande's Breadth

A kingdom that’s half-underwater, half on land, sprawling across the entirely of the western coastline. The on-land half is colloquially known as Her Hands, and the aquatic portion known as Her Tail- at least by the Syme who live there. Her Tail is inhabited exclusively by Syme, and Her Hands is mostly made of Syme and humans. Melande’s Breadth boasts both a massive navy, and an extensive trading network through their multitude of port towns. It is governed by Melande herself.

The Syme who primarily inhabit Melande's Breadth are a race with a strong devotion to a god, though for some it’s almost worrisome. Melande, the goddess of water, is the most important figurehead in almost every Syme’s life. Their temples to her all include altars for ritual sacrifice, as they regularly offer blood to ‘stain the waters a brilliant hue and appease her greatness’. Syme tend to be full of a pride that borders on narcissism, as they consider themselves to be the greatest of the mortal races to to being chosen by Melande. Amphibious, most of them have two forms- one more suited to the aquatic half of their kingdom with gills, tails and webbing, and the other much more human to let them blend in easier. Quite a few with more humanoid aquatic appearances choose to appear like that at all times out of pride in their looks.

The Sea Queen’s Jewel is their prized possession as a people. It serves as their Queen, as it’s believed they can commune directly with Melande through it. As such, the most important figure in their society is the Jewel Interpreter- the one who can hear Melande the clearest. The Jewel Interpreter is the closest thing they have to a political leader.

As a society they value beauty and the arts to almost the same degree that they value Melande. Melande’s Breadth, and the Seat of the Jewel(the closest thing they have to a royal palace) is decorated to the gills with depictions of her. Sculpture, paintings, pottery, uncountable numbers of poems, myths and novels. If they could make something beautiful in her name or image, they did. Physical beauty is held to a high standard, and predictably, the more you could mold yourself in the image of Melande, the better. Melande’s Breadth is divided into two parts: Her Hands and Her Tail, as they’re known by the Syme, but most just call them the Upper and Lower Breadth. The Upper Breadth is everything that’s on land, and the Lower is the Symaean-only half of the country that’s submerged completely underwater. Notable places in Melande’s Breadth are Yunzhun Bay, the world’s busiest trading port; the Lightless Conurbation, a city so far beneath the water that light cannot reach it; Soria City, a coastal town devoid of morals and completely dominated by pirates; and The Altar of Melande on a cliff overlooking the sea, where a yearly festival is held by the Syme to sacrifice three newborn children to their goddess and let their blood drain into the ocean.