The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the 'Living Infinite'...
The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it? In it is supreme tranquility.

- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

🪸 Thalassic 🪸

Humanoid characters inhabit an underwater realm, embodying the cultures and aesthetics of the 18th and 19th centuries.
These characters —primarily royals and nobles— reside in the grand duke's palace, which serves as the main setting.

The Planet

The planet consists entirely of water with no mainland, resulting in the absence of most land animals. However, certain plants have adapted to replace trees, reaching the surface millions of years ago. This adaptation makes it possible to breathe outside the water, though it's of little use to the humanoids who rarely venture to the surface to observe the sky.
The sea ecosystem remains largely unchanged, except for the absence of animals like seals, saltwater fish, and crocodiles. Other underwater creatures may differ from their real-life counterparts in appearance and behavior.

(Illnesses, animals, plants, or environments won’t always resemble real things. Keep it in mind).

Society

Each nation has its own distinct form of government. For example, the kingdom under the Orcinus royal family is ruled by an absolute monarch. In contrast, the Melanopterus family governs a grand duchy.

Royals' names use their scientific name to be presented.

🐡Related Content

Characters' Profiles
Thalassic Theme Playlist
Melanopterus' Palace Aesthetic

🦞Characters' Trivia

  • Arthur loves paintings and sculptures. He used to paint when he was younger to help himself cope with what he was going through.

  • "Is your oc easily bothered by things?" Arthur doesn't get bothered easily because he has bigger things to be angry about; Sorel and Hansjörg are bothered by the silliest things however, the first one tries to get over them; Eleanor has a similar reaction to both Sorel and Hansjörg but it depends to her mood and how close to heart the topic is.

  • "What attracts your character to another person?" For Arthur, someone who has a personality close to his. He enjoys the company of people who speaks their mind when needed, has solid arguments and overall someone who he has a chance to know slowly; Eleanor likes to have lots of conversations so whoever has an interesting topic is on her list, however she's mostly attracted to anyone who inspires her confidence or shows to be gentle and amiable underneath their public image; Although Sorel might give off a stoic appearance, he has a soft heart and finds shelter within people who share his same character trait. Strangers who secretly hide their fiery nature under their benevolent and good-natured appearance fascinate him, although they sometimes come out to be worthless human beings.

  • Before they married, Arthur often visited Eleanor to give her gifts and take her on walks in the nearby woods without her brother or father to know. The young king also wrote her many letters.

  • Cyril witnessed his cousin's death before his very eyes. The food he ate was poisoned.

  • Sorel starts to speak in his native language when he's angry or stressed.

  • Eleanor wasn't too interested in Arthur at first but after some time she viewed him under a different light. After they married however, she began to suspect Arthur's loyalty and affection because of his constant pushing away when sex was involved. She was so conflicted that she tried to find comfort in Arthur's secretary, who took advantage of the situation and attempted to get close to her, although the duchess refused any attention from him. In the end, those actions didn't go unnoticed by Arthur and he and his wife had to come to a confrontation. It wasn't pleasant and they both needed some time but everything got better in the end.

  • Sorel doesn't like orcas. He thinks they are smug, jerks and don't have any appreciation for Nature (some even practice cannibalism).

  • Arthur told Cyril about his father murder.

  • Cyril does not have any friends. The people he feels close to are his father and Sorel, however the latter didn’t seem to initially show the same affection as the prince’s and it didn’t go unnoticed. Arthur brought this up to Sorel once and since then, the dolphin’s attitude towards the shark changed. Sorel might not think of Cyril as his best friend, but friendships come in many forms.

  • Sorel's parents (his father mostly) have been begging him to marry but he has never answered their pleading. At this point, Sorel's father seems to be forced to marry him off with someone of his choosing.

  • Cyril used to hate when Sorel left the palace for a week or two because he knew he had to spend time with Arthur, which meant they'll have political lessons and occasionally attend formal meetings together. Now it has become part of his life.

  • Cyril doesn't display any interest in sexual intercourse. It is unclear whether it's due to the environment he grew up in (Arthur being asexual and the rare conversations about the topic), a lack of desire or a dysfunction.

  • Hansjörg is "occasionally" bisexual. By that I mean he's sexually and romantically attracted to women however it doesn't bother him to sleep with men for pleasure only.

  • Cyril used to make excuses, such as being afraid of storms, to sleep close to his dad.

  • Arthur used to slap his son when he was younger whenever he wasn't behaving well or to show him discipline when the child would get bossy. This lasted a few years, then Arthur stopped. He would still show authority to the kid with menacing looks or cuffs for the same reasons but he wasn't as strict as before. As of now, he doesn't raise his hands anymore. (Note that this was common behaviour in the 1800s).

  • Arthur doesn't have any plans to arrange a marriage for the prince, however he does have a bit of pressure from remarkable dukes and his brother, offering the hand of their daughters to the young prince.

  • Eleanor's brother blamed Arthur for his sister's death. He thought the sire didn't take good care of her when she was sick, that's why he has refused, all these years, to see him or be associated with him; Despite that, many years later he would decide to visit his brother-in-law, mainly to see how he and his nephew were doing. He would still hold resentment towards Arthur but has since then moved on. Cyril hasn't been told his mother had a brother so when the duke invited him to his estate, he didn't think much of it. After this, Eleanor's brother wouldn't be heard from again.

  • Arthur is ace but not aromantic. He never truly experienced strong romantic feelings and Eleanor was more of a desire to have someone near him (although this doesn't mean he didn't love her.) As of now, he isn't looking for a new partner. Even if he ever finds someone who would make him feel love, he wouldn't be eager to entertain a relationship.

  • Arthur, Cyril and Sorel are polyglot.

  • Before his mother died, Cyril was closer to her than his father. It took him quite a while to get used to live with his dad alone. He missed her.

  • Hansjörg steals biscuits from the royal kitchen when everyone is sleeping.

  • The young prince used to be scared of things like crabs or hermit crabs when he was young but his father showed him there was nothing to be scared of... now Arthur has to pay the price due to the many times Cyril picks up weird critters to show him.

  • Cyril resembles his grandfather a lot in terms of personality, although the prince is ten times better than that mad man.

  • Arthur is from the old generation (1700s) so he sometimes takes his walking cane with him when visiting people.

  • Arthur suffers from depression and sometimes too much pressure makes him fall into despair. Cyril grew up very close to him so he knows when his father is at the verge of collapsing mentally. He tries as best as he can to support him...

  • Eleanor used to call Cyril "little whale".

  • Arthur was and still is the sickliest among the characters. That's a reason why his father didn't like the child.

  • Eleanor was supposed to marry an older man. Once Arthur entered her life, her father hurried to have her marriage plans suspended in hopes for his daughter to be the grand duke's wife.

🦑World Trivia

  • Humanoids don't have our typical weather. Yet, there are conditions that can resemble storms, snow or other events. (Not all of these events are fictional).

  • Arthur's servants are mostly humanoid remora remora.

  • Humanoids care a lot about hygiene so they clean themselves a lot. Shrimps, cleaner fish and sometimes remora too have a major role in this and they aren't necessarily only humanoids.

  • Under Arthur's power the death penalty was abolished.

  • Same sex couples aren't as a big threat as it was in our society back in the day, however there are a lot of people who do not accept them and may request the couple to be punished, usually with hard labour for around a year or two. Talking about Arthur's grand duchy, same sex intercorse is tolerated and it is not punished. Of course, not everyone agrees with this.

  • Women are almost as equal as men, however there are still some restrictions. For example, they cannot work unless under particular circumstances, they cannot always share their opinion, especially in special environments and they can't be the head of the family. There are also some individuals who will not listen to what the law says and will treat them poorly.

  • Humanoids coexist with underwater creatures way more than we do. You won't see sharks, dolphins or other large animals swimming around cities everyday but you can still find underwater counterparts of birds, pigeons and rats. There are also a lot of cleaner fish.

  • Humanoids are mostly peaceful creatures who start wars if it's their last resort.

  • The Orcinus royal family are known for being tall. They are also hostile monarchs.

  • Sailfish fin opens and closes mostly for swimming purposes but in humanoids it usually opens when they experience strong emotions such as surprise, anger, fear etc. (this can be applied to any fish who can control their dorsal fin).

  • Humanoids can present face markings other than simple pale skin.

  • All humanoids have a negative buoyancy, which means they are likely to sink if they aren't actively swimming. Reason why all of them walk on the ocean floor instead of swimming.

  • Ocean humanoids use dead/replica sand dollars as coins.

  • Melanopterus royal family tree: