"We ride the sea, not as servants — but as royalty."
Emster is the vibrant tropical ocean kingdom of the Emserai — a race of water-bound elves descended from Leviathan bloodlines and sea-god covenants. Stretching across glittering coastal cities, submerged palace domes, and coral-fused trade routes, Emster is ruled by a powerful matriarchal nobility. Its crown city is Cindrel, but the true strength of Emster lies in the fluid might of its noble houses and tide-sworn alliances. Here, the sea is both stage and weapon — and every mask has teeth.
☾ Geography & Environment
Located along Varethuun's warm northern coastlines, Emster is defined by tropical inlets, glassy archipelagos, and submerged reef chains that serve as both sacred sites and noble estates. Cities float on tide-rooted foundations or are sunken partially below the waves, adorned in colorful glassscale, pearlstone, and breath-hardened sea-lace. Shifting lunar tides govern festivals, bloodbonds, and safe travel.
☾ Culture & People
Ruling Line: Emster is ruled by Queen Tiralin of House Laenyra and her children, including the charismatic tideborn heir Tiranel. Though sons may inherit, only Emserai women hold crowncasting rights and command the ancestral trident, Thessahl’s Call.
Social Structure: High nobility is determined by bloodline, breathform affinity, and artistic or combative prestige. Many Emserai wear mask-crests made of glass and song coral to indicate caste and family domain.
Traditions: Key rites include the Moondrift Gala (a seaborne masquerade of courtship and blood challenges), Tideweld Pacts (oath-bound alliances forged underwater), and Waveburn Trials (breathform duels fought while bound in kelp-silk). Names are given twice — once at airbirth, once beneath the sea.
☾ Magic & Combat
Dominant Magic: Water Breathform, Tide-sculpting, Veil-Ribbon weaving. Emserai techniques emphasize beauty, flow, and feint — with spells often masked as dances, flirtations, or tide illusions.
Military Order: The Seastrike Heralds act as royal enforcers and assassins. Duelists favor curved blades, breath-slick polearms, and ripple-glass armor that hardens on command. Waveweld techniques are taught at royal academies, including the hidden underwater school of Vaelreth's Throat.
☾ History & Legends
Emster’s mythic founder, Queen Nhalyth, is said to have risen from the wreck of a god-eating Leviathan, her breath singing the tides into civilization. Her daughters became the first Tidebound — mothers of the modern Emserai bloodlines. The kingdom has never been conquered. Its armies have drowned empires, seduced invasions into retreat, and sealed threats beneath waveglass tombs. The kingdom’s tangled alliances with surface states remain veiled in trade, wine, and masked rituals — but nothing in Emster is without purpose.
☾ Current Status
Alignment: Officially neutral, though Queen Tiralin maintains quiet ties with Kaedrith, Ishvahnu, and sea-bound Driftline sects. Emster frequently acts as a third-party negotiator between coastal factions.
Notable Figures: Tiranel (royal heir), Tosharel (sworn guardian of House Laenyra).
Recent Movements:
- Whispers suggest Tiranel seeks a bloodbound pact outside Emserai norms — possibly with a foreignborn flameblood or human heir.
- The Trident Tower of Cindrel has begun glowing before storms — a sign once linked to Leviathan return.
- Multiple nobles have vanished during masquerade games — only their masks returned, waterlogged but unbroken.
☾ Threats & Oddities
- The Mask-Eater: A forgotten ocean spirit that devours names and rewrites memories — usually sealed, but recently sensed near Cindrel's tidegates.
- Breath-Spoil: A magic rot that corrupts underwater casting — now affecting isolated noble houses who dabbled too deep into forbidden forms.
- Glass Sirens: Creatures of shimmerlight who mimic noble heirs — said to be born from coral grown near Sliverfall reefs.