![[ataphad.png|250]] *High Speaker of the Assembly, Kalimorn, Triton Paladin* **Government.** Tribal confederacy. Each constituent tribe has its own chieftain or prince, who meet to elect a High Speaker as chief executive of the Confederacy once every 9 years **Capital.** Coralis (pop. 9,505) **Major Towns.** Land’s End **Provinces.** The confederacy is comprised of 6 tribes of Tritons, 4 tribes of Merfolk, and one tribe each of Sea Elves and Locathah. Each submarine tribe consists of a province while the land above the waves, i.e. all of the islands, forms a 13th province governed by humans and genasi out of the town of Land’s End **Resources.** Foodstuffs (seafood), gems I (corals), gems II (pearls), salvage **Coinage.** whale (pp), dolphin (gp), seal (sp), shell (cp) **Population.** 56,896 — Triton 38%, Merfolk 26%, Locathah 21%, Sea Elves 6%, Human 4% (B), Genasi 3%, Tortle 2% **[[Languages for Genies & Giants|Languages.]]** Aquan, Baklunish (low) **Allies.** Ekbir **Enemies.** Zeif, Brethren of the Coast, Sahuagin tribes, Qayah-Bureis tribes, Kraken Consortium ___ [[Ataphadi Characters]] ___ The Ataphad Archipelago begins some 150 miles off the coast of Ekbir and extends for almost 500 miles to the north and west. Rising up from the sea floor are the peaks of mountains that once stood above the land. These now form the islands of the Ataphad Archipelago. The beaches of these mountains vary greatly; some descend steeply to the sea floor, while others take a more leisurely descent. A few of the islands are volcanic, with some boasting one or more active volcanoes. In addition, there are hundreds of smaller islands, each measuring at most a few miles across. The majority are the peaks of submerged mountaintops, but some are coral atolls which have grown over volcanic rock formations below. A few islands rise and fall at irregular intervals, their tops occasionally poking above the waves. Many a ship has been wrecked by sailing through what its charts have shown as clear water. At their deepest, the waters around the islands are 200 feet before dropping sharply into the deeps. Its average depth is 90 feet, with many rocks and submerged volcanoes lying only a few feet below its surface. In the shallow seas the waters are clear and warmed by the heat of the sun. Underwater volcanoes, hot springs, and warm surface currents circling counter clockwise around the Baklunish Bight further add to the sea’s warmth. Average temperatures rarely fall below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e.16o celsius), making it a thriving breeding ground for fish and plant life. Dolphins and whales come here to give birth. Young sharks spend the first years of their lives hunting in its waters, before they venture out into the deeper waters to the south. All manner of fish and sea monsters may be found here. The majority of the small islands are uninhabited or only sparsely inhabited by small Baklunish fishing villages. Recently pirates have begun operating on some of the uninhabited islands. Others are populated by xenophobic Tortle tribes. The constituent tribes that make up the Ataphad Confederacy have inhabited the shallow seas and shoals around this archipelago from time immemorial. For most of this time they have sometimes been allied and at others as competitors but all this changed in the early 300s CY when the Sultanate of Zeif looked to regain some of the prestige it lost from the depredations of the Brazen Horde and began expanding its “empire” out into the Dramidj Ocean. In 325 CY, the Sultan of Zeif declared the Ataphad Archipelago to be annexed which immediately resulted in Ekbir threatening war as the Ekbiri had always considered these islands to be within their sphere of influence. The reality was quite different as neither nation truly had the ability to enforce its will on the islands and the small fishing villages went about their business as normal, ignoring the paternalism of both Zeif and Ekbir. As tensions rose the Ekbiri and Zeifan navies found themselves engaged with each other in the waters surrounding the Ataphads between 325 and 335 CY. Both nations landed marines on several islands, planting the flag and declaring themselves sovereigns of the region. The native Tortle tribes refused to ally with either Zeif or Ekbir and more than one landing party simply disappeared, never to be heard from again. Meanwhile, while the Baklunish nations were fighting for control of the islands, beneath the waves, another war was raging. In 329 CY, the *Kraken Consortium* invaded the territory of several locathah tribes in the shoals around Maliqan and Sofran islands. Unable to resist the combined might of the Consortium, the locathah soon fell and the Kraken Consortium pressed their advantage and pushed deeper into the Ataphads, conquering two tribes of merfolk and wiping out an entire triton clan by 330 CY. It is in this year that the remaining free sub-marine peoples of the Ataphads convened a council and signed on to a defensive alliance. Within a year, the newly aligned tribes of tritons, sea elves, locathah and merfolk not only liberated their conquered kin but, with a zealotry rarely found among the submarine folk, they pushed the sahuagin and merrow warriors of the Kraken Consortium out of the northern Baklunish Bight, into the deeps and the shallows around the Jannasib islands. Having learned the defensive benefits of unity, the allied tribes began discussing a permanent union, which finally came into being in 336 CY, with *Ishaan Valim*, the leader of the largest Triton tribe elected as *First Speaker of the Ataphad Confederacy*. As one of his first official acts, Ishaan sent emissaries to both Zeif and Ekbir seeking diplomatic relations and demanding a cessation of fighting in their waters. The Sultan of Ekbir immediately acknowledged the Confederation and exchanged ambassadors with the peoples of the sea. Zeif was not as quick and continued to press their claims. Over the next year, Zeif lost 2 war galleys and 6 merchant vessels in the Ataphads at which point they pulled the navy from the area although they have still not officially recognized the legitimacy of the confederation. Speaker Ishaan also brought the land-based fishermen of the islands into the Confederacy as full members and the town of Land’s End was established as a trading post between the people above and below the waves. Under the second High Speaker, *Illagu Meeshuk*, a locathah, the city of Coralis was settled and established as the nation's capital. Much of Coralis is built into, or around, a giant coral reef. The ocean floor blooms with colour, bright yellows, oranges, reds and purples. The place is swarming with shoals of colourful fish that make it their home, away from large predators. The architecture of Coralis is a mixture of carved rock, re-purposed shipwrecks and organic growths such as coral and seaweed. To outsiders, it looks like an ancient city being reclaimed by nature, like ruins overrun by the jungle, only at the bottom of the ocean. Several buildings have been magically enhanced to allow air breathers to survive while under the waves; this includes a number of inns with “*foreigner*” quarters available at a not insignificant price. Other communities exist throughout the region built around, or underneath, the many rocky islets and outcroppings that make up the archipelago. In the sandier valleys to the east, dwellings are usually made out of weaved kelp, ancient bones and pieces of shipwrecks, embellished with piles of shale or rocks. You would expect these to look primitive or haphazard, but oddly enough they do not. All four of the constituent peoples of the confederacy have excellent craftsmen, and an innate sense of beauty that turns even a pile of rocks into something very deliberate looking. Other communities exist throughout the region built around, or underneath, the many rocky islets and outcroppings that make up the archipelago. In the sandier valleys to the east, dwellings are usually made out of weaved kelp, ancient bones and pieces of shipwrecks, embellished with piles of shale or rocks. You would expect these to look primitive or haphazard, but oddly enough they do not. On the surface, the only settlement of note is the town of Land’s End that is populated mainly by human fishermen and smugglers.