A Short Overview of Undersea Kingdoms

The world is covered with water. 71 % of the Earth's surface is ocean, almost 3/4. In the World That Needs Heroes, this is not the domain of a singular king of the sea, or a singular nation.Atlantis, the undersea civilization in the Atlantic, outside the Straits of Gibraltar, exists, and is among the mightiest, but there are so many more.Here is a non-exhaustive list of the most prominent submarine nations, and a little bit about each.

Adlivun: Encompassing the whole Arctic Circle, this aquatic realm takes its name from an Inuit otherworld, sometimes seen as a land of the dead. The people who live their resemble the surface world Inuit in many ways, although they wear little clothing and are immune to the bitter cold. They associate closely with seals and walruses, and their rulers trace their lineage back to the Goddess Sedna. Some of them can take the shape of seals, like the selkies of Tir Fo Thuinne. Primarily nomadic hunter-gatherers, they also have a few vast palaces carved into the lower parts of icebergs.

Atlantis: Myth tells us that Atlantis was once a small continent in the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules. They had large stores of a mythic metal called Orichalchum, but they sank beneath the waves long ago. Their people did not all perish. Some were granted mercy by Poseidon, and a life beneath the waves. Their culture is vaguely Greco-Roman in flavor, but highly advanced, and they hide from surface worlders as much as possible. Thalassa and Pontia are actually former colonies of theirs, now mostly independant. Humanoids and merfolk coexist, alongside other oceanic beings from Greek Myth.

Ixa: A small nation off the southern tip of South America, they resemble the nearby Selk'Nam and Yamana peoples. They prefer a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and are even more insular than Atlantis, well aware of what surface worlders, especially Europeans, tend to do to people they 'discover'.

Lemuria: A truly ancient civilization, their subcontinent also sank long ago, before surface humanity really became dominant. They do not call themselves Lemurians, but they also do not share what they are called with outsiders. The Lemurians are usually scaled, and a relatively large percentage resemble what Southeast Asians might call Nagas.

Moana: The people of the Ocean around Hawai'i strongly resemble Polynesians, and speak similar languages, though not identical. They have a strong partnership with sharks, using them as steeds and hunting animals. Some can even take the shape of sharks in the water, and others seem to be halfway between shark and human.

Mu: Very little is known of this astoundingly old civilization. It is believed their capital is somewhere beneath Point Nemo, that they revere cephalopods, and that they hate surface worlders with a passion, and other undersea folk only a little less. Some claim they are the source of the stories of R'Liyeh and Cthulu. What they call themselves is unknown. Most inhabitants encountered have been cold blooded fish people, often referred to as Deep Ones. (Deep Ones are also encountered in all the deepest oceanic trenches, far down in the midnight zone.)

Orunukun: Found off the coast of Africa in the South Atlantic, it is mainly occupied by beings that are like merfolk, but can often assume a legged form to spend small amounts of time ashore. The Dogon people of Mali call them Nommo, and some of them, like the folk of Lemuria, have serpent tails rather than fish tails.

Palaw: The undersea realm in the Gulf of Mexico has a Mayan name, and its inhabitants resemble the Maya in many ways, with extremely advanced aquaculture and architecture. They trade quite extensively with the transplanted folk of Wayom Agwe.

Pontia: As noted before, this is an Atlantean colony, and like their ancestors, the folk of this nation have close ties with doplhins.

Ryugu-Jo: The Realm of the Dragon King rests in the oceans near Japan and China, and contains portals to the deific realm that the Dragon King rules. A wide variety of creatures make this place their home, from humanoids to cephalopods to dragons. The Mariana Trecnh is in these waters, and the folk of Ryugu-Jo guard it carefully against the monsters that sometimes emerge.T

halassa: The first Atlantean colony, and the one that was in contact with Mycenaen Greece. Tied closely to dolphins.

Tir Fo Thuinne: Both an underseas kingdom and a city guarding a gate to a Celtic Otherworld, this realm teems with water fae, selkies, merfolk, and more. Mormaer the Sea Lord is its current King.

Wardan: This nation off the coast of Australia has very close ties with orcas, and hunts with them as full partners and friends. The people greatly resemble the Noongar, and in fact consider them close kin. The reverse is also true.

Wayam Agwe: Many African people were torn from their homes and taken to the Caribbean. Many died on the way and were thrown overboard, or worse. Their kin and ancestral spirits, many from Orunukun, followed them, saving whom they could, giving them new life beneath the waves. From the capital at Guinee, this vibrant people trade with Palaw, Orunukun, and to a lesser extent, Atlantis. They do not keep themselves secret from the people of the Caribbean, but many Europeans and people in the U.S. don't believe the stories that are told of their nation.

There are others, of course, and some of what is 'known' here may be wrong, gathered at second or third hand, full of exaggerations or even lies.