The Book of Many People

Good Food and Creepy Doctors

The Winter Ocean itself was divided into two parts: The Winter Ocean Deeps, or the Winterdeeps, and the Winter Ocean Tops, or the Wintertops. The two halves of the kingdom bickered and squabbled and generally spoke poorly of each other, but they were one people at heart. The people of the Winterdeeps could not survive without Wintertops kelp farms, and the people of the Wintertops could not survive without the fast-moving Winterdeeps hunting pods that provided meat and sealskins for the whole kingdom.

Aside from being each other's 'worst enemies', the people of the Winterdeeps were built differently than those from the Wintertops. Winterdeeps sea-folk had dark blue skin and sharp-finned shark's tails set with bioluminescent organs: eight on each side of the tail, sixteen in total. Their pupils were huge, and the whites of their eyes were grey. Their hair was inky black like a squid's ink, and it could be moved at will like tentacles. Often you would see a Winterdeeps dweller with half a dozen miscellaneous objects held in their hair for safekeeping.

Those of the Wintertops were large and blubbery, with dolphin's tails. They were all a pale white-blue to blend in with the ice, and they had no bioluminescence. Instead, they would communicate like dolphins through clicks and whistles.
The land-dweller forms of both peoples, however, were much the same. They looked like the traditional Talestoran: Red or brown hair, purple eyes, any shade of skin from pale to light olive. The Wintertops people were considerably thinner in their legged bodies, although they were still generally heavier than those of the Winterdeeps.

Incidentally, the entire Winter Ocean was situated off the northern coast of Talestor, in the area the maps called the Frozen Sea.

Hallow knew that, of course. Some of his friends had gone up to live on the surface and currently resided in Sentineon, where the population was more former sea-alf than not.

Some days, he considered going up to the surface to see what it was like. But more often he thought of how happy he was here, under the waves. He was, after all, slightly rich, and he and his sister were respected figures amongst the hunters.

He took a sip of his freshwater and started on his pudding. Cullie had already pretty much shoveled half of her bowl down her throat. Hallow's sister was a fast eater, and an even faster swimmer.

They made light conversation as lunch went by. Cullie talked about an expedition to a sunken ship she was joining after lunch. It was deep enough close to the hydrothermal vents that she wouldn't need a suit, which was good, because hers wouldn't be fixed until tomorrow.

"What are you expecting to find there?" Hallow asked, genuinely curious.

Cullie shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe there'll be some gold, eh?" She nudged him with a foot and winked.

Hallow smiled. "Maybe." He checked the water clock in the corner. "Hmm. I have an appointment with my physician at the thirteenth ridge. The water's pretty much already there... If I hurry, I bet I can still make it."

"Go!" Cullie laughed at him, pushing him up from the table. "Oh, my brother. What am I going to do with you? You're such a lazy idiot! Go then, go on!" She chivvied him out of his seat and sank back into hers, still laughing.

Grinning, Hallow made his way to the restaurant's sealed moon pool room. He opened the first door of the airlock and stepped into the space between the two doors. He shut and sealed the first door, then repeated this process with the second door, which left him standing next to the moon pool at last. He dove into it and summoned his sea-folk form.

Around him, the underwater city was barely visible but for the glowing markers painted on every structure. People swam through the busy corridors in a tizzy, hastily getting to wherever it was they needed to go.