For all of my previous achievements and struggles as a diplomat...when it came to this, I was as fresh as a hatchling. I should have seen this coming...

Another continuation of a previous Thursday_Prompt , this time weaving two different stories together! At this rate, I'll have a novel before I finish my novel XD

Glossary:


magelight: Creation of light is among the simplest of spells that a budding mage can learn, but making it stick around for a long time is more tricky. In locations that are impossible to light by mundane means, a group of specialized mages called phosekions will maintain the suspended magelight spells and recast them if necessary.

magic/spell: Every spell in Alka requires ingredients of some kind, and many of these spells come in the form of potions. The art of spellcraft involves careful measurements, specific techniques, and also a touch of etherial manipulation. Without a mage's inborn talent, not even a person following a spell's recipe to the letter can hope to create one for themselves.

ether: Sometimes called lifeforce or mana, this is a mysterious energy that suffuses the world, allowing mages to cast spells and giving rise to many strange, magical plants and animals.

Meric: Given the difficulty of sound traveling through water, mers devised a language that uses hand signs, not spoken words. In the lands above the waves, it is used for a different purpose, leading to its second name: thieves' cant.

mer: The common term for any sort of marine alk, but especially fish alks.

alk: The anthropomorphic residents of Alka call themselves alks to differentiate themselves from the animals that they resemble.

Dothos: As the largest nation under the sea, Dothos supplies many rare and exotic goods to the surrounding countries above the waves, especially Verdania. Unlike most other societies around the world, the Dothoine are strictly matriarchal.

Verdania: With its numerous trade routes, wealth of magical resources, and status as the seat of Belbatoria's worship, it is not uncommon to hear people say that Verdania is the center of the world.

Belbatoria: The proud goddess of order, light, and knowledge. Of all of the gods and their followers, hers are the most numerous, with devotees across the entire world, even deep in the waters of the ocean.

zoomorphic: Sometimes, alks, especially snakes, birds, and mers, are born missing certain anthropomorphic traits or with extraneous ones, more closely matching their animal counterparts. Depending on the culture, such differences are either accepted or even celebrated, or they are erased with impunity.

Toria: The city of Toria was founded on the Bay of Anat, and it is this bay that shaped the capital of Verdania into what it is today. Once a place of orthodox order as the supreme seat of Belbatoria's worship, the constant flux of trade in and out of the harbor brought alks from all over Alka, each one changing the city bit by bit. Now, it is known as the most diverse and free city in the world.

Cenos: Sometimes referred to as "The Old Man of the Sea," Cenos is the god of not just the oceans, but all bodies of water. Countless military campaigns have failed due to not paying him respect during a river crossing. He often appears in the guise of an old fisherman, handing out advice to unsuspecting mortals.

Twinned: Although the peoples of Hali'Tuin are different in many ways, they speak the same language. ...At least, to a foreign eye. Due to a vast gap in their dialects, Halini and Tuini often have a hard time understanding each other.

Hali'Tuin: This is best described as a continent of extremes. Hali is a humid hellish jungle, full of deadly animals and virulent disease. On the other side of the Twin's Divide mountain range, Tuin is a frozen, desolate wasteland. Despite the harsh conditions, the people that live there, the Halini and Tuini, have managed to carve out a niche for themselves with clever inventions and mighty magic.

raed'yan/fulgurbloom:
-"The seeds lie dormant until lightning strikes."
--"But how did they get to a spot to be awakened?"
-"The seeds attract lightning."
--"If that's true, then we could use those seeds to redirect lightning away from buildings. So...where are they? How do we find them?"
---"Haven't you all been listening to me? The seeds were never in the ground to begin with! They travel in the storm! The lightning plants them!"
These arguments, and more, have been repeated through the centuries by countless mages, but one thing they can all agree on is the flower's unparalleled efficacy as an ingredient in the most powerful spells.

ornithorhynkus: On Earth, this is (part of) the scientific name for a platypus. They are also known as ornikuses among the lower classes. Due to their royal bloodline, they are a mix of traits from many different races of alks.

Zzix: The secretive god of corruption, death, and all the chittering things in the walls. They rule over the land of the dead, far away from any of the other gods.

Sarqquni: The fickle god of wanderers, merchants, artists, smiths, laborers, ingenuity, impulsiveness, and whatever else they might be interested in at the time. Most importantly, she, or they, or he, is the god of the Sarkuuli.

Sarkuul: A vast, mostly flat land consisting of windblasted grasslands, scorching deserts, shifting swamps, murky thickets, and more. The nomadic people of this region, the Sarkuuli, are as diverse as the landscape and its climates, and they are known for their uncanny good fortune.