Larmedi (lar-med-ee)

Summary

One of the most commonly encountered aquatic peoples on Veltrona, the larmedi can be found almost anywhere in the seas and oceans across the world. While physiologically nearly identical, there is a massive cultural rift between them and the ocean dwelling shermadi. Of the two, the larmedi principally dwell within continental seas, river systems, lakes, and sometimes the beaches of certain oceans. In another sense, they are the 'fresh water' dwelling variant of the 'salt water' dwelling shermadi.   When one spots a pair of eyes peering out from the waters, or a mysterious person and their haunting, if beautiful songs, around a lakeside, more often than not that is a larmedi. Unlike the ocean dwelling shermadi, who were usually far away from most land walker civilizations, the larmedi have ever grown alongside their walker contemporaries.   Often the uncontested ladies of the seas and rivers, many visited upon them tribute and trade, seeking the bounties of their worlds. In turn, the larmedi made use of the walkers who brought to them the many things only the lands could realize. In time, as these relations grew closer and bloodlines intertwined, something curious happened. Larmedi anaxials were born, but unlike their jointed humanoid fathers, they were bipedal like their mothers.   Their arrival created a pivotal change in the larmedi way of things: these anaxial offspring could walk on land, and swim pretty well within the waters. With such talents within their family lines, the larmedi eagerly raised up these anaxials, who in turn became a bridge between lands and waters. Most larmedi civilizations, as a result, came to feature both types of larmedi with regularity, something that often confuses those unfamiliar with them.   Unfortunately, limited by their particular environmental needs, the larmedi largely do not live outside of watery locales or humid, tropical areas. While there has been efforts for them to veltronform new areas suitable for them, this puts them in direct competition with other walker civilizations. War, typically, results and so the larmedi are pushed back to their habitable areas. Those fortunate enough to live in seas have a luxury of space to develop within, but there is a very real fear about the limitations of such a space.   This fear deepens when the likes of walker fishing and trading fleets attempt to make use of the waters. Since there are no waterborne Relentless Herds and Packs, no ocean-borne leviathans, and fairly manageable sea-based threats, such trade routes are a premium resource. It is by carefully levarging this value that many larmedi civilizations prosper, and find an accord with their walker neighbors. That same value is also what brings war and destruction when the larmedi deny access, or leverage too many demands the walkers are unwilling to meet.   Control over their own waters is a defining point for nearly every larmedi civilization. It is often through political brilliance or military confrontation that they have been able to protect their waters. The less fortunate among them often end up displaced, or under the boot of a walker nation that uses them as tools for territorial control. Still, Veltrona has many, many bodies of water and countless lakes and rivers–the larmedi are never long for options in how to torment their enemies. Few have the willingness to keep fighting when their cities run out of water, or the sewage lines start back-flooding with rot and disease.   Nonetheless, living space is a chief concern among the larmedi, and the times ever affect how livable their spaces truly are. All sorts of efforts have gone into figuring out means of expansion, the most promising of which tends to be toward the underground. By carving out huge underwater caverns, they can construct more living and farming space there to suit their needs. While that has worked to some extent, many larmedi do not like to live in the sunless waters underground.   It remains to be seen how they'll navigate such a complicated issue, especially as Veltrona and its walkers changes around them. For some, it is a much more pressing problem than others.