Kai
Life underneath the surface of the water is very different from what us land dwellers know and love. In the cold, dark depths of oceans, rivers, lakes and seas, there exist tiny settlements, each no larger than a village, host to a myriad of sentient aquatic beings. Everything from naga to mermen, kappa turtles to elongated sea-dragons, and even a few more malignant entities, can be found at various depths beneath the waves.

Most aquatic species prefer to live at the very bottom of whatever body of water they call home. Others create their buildings out of floating materials, anchored to the ocean floor, forming elevated villages mostly safe from sand-dwelling hazards. The rare and elusive aqua-elves live in kelp forests, tying strands of seaweed together to form primitive huts. Many more developing races use natural underwater caves as their habitats.

Last, but not least, there are rumors of a kind of sentient squids, living in the deepest of trenches, where they are protected by the crushing pressure and utter lack of light. It is said they only emerge to kidnap, raid, pillage and kill, dragging unfortunate victims down into the depths, for reasons unknown. But of course, nobody believes such fairytales.

The various budding underwater societies have vastly differing social and economic frameworks. Emerging species adopt hunter-gatherer lifestyles, feeding off of the bountiful fish available all around them, harvesting underwater plants to supplement their diets. More developed kinds of fishpeople tend to have a more diverse set of professions available, ranging from barter-traders to farmers, and even dedicated engineers and scientists, pushing the edge of underwater technology. The most advanced of aquatic nations have recently discovered religion, and throughout waterways the entire world over, a myriad of temples have been constructed, where priests and priestesses chant the names of their pagan gods in praise.

War is a concept unfamiliar to seadwellers. There is simply so much unclaimed space underneath the waves, that few foreign tribes ever come into contact with one another. And even when they do, the ocean is far more than big enough for the both of them to coexist peacefully. There is simply no cause for conflict, and at the current rate of growth, there won't be for millenia to come.

But still, the watery depths are not without danger. While there is no immediate need for a warrior-caste, there will always be threats too great for the hunters alone to deal with. Overgrown sharks, massive schools of piranhas, and the occasional thief, burglar or murderer all need to be stopped dead in their tracks, lest they become a danger for the rest of the village. None of these threats are a match for the champions.

Each village designates a single man, their biggest and strongest of kin, as the reigning champion. No expenses are spared to fabricate or otherwise acquire the very best gear possible for these massive titans of seamen. Once chosen to be the protector of the settlement, champions are plunged into a life of constant training, pushing their bodies to the very limits, to ensure that they are ready to rise to the challenge, whenever they are needed to.

While not exactly the de-facto rulers, champions hold great prestige within their tribes. In between training sessions and glorious battle, they live lives of utmost luxury, or at least as extravagant as things get in the watery world. They are offered the finest selection of foods, almost any woman they set their eyes on can be theirs, and as long as the village is kept safe, they will never have to work a single day of their lives. In some regions, they are even worshipped as venerable avatars of their gods, aspects of the divine made whole.

A chieftain or an elder may govern the village as a whole, but when it it comes to external diplomacy, it often falls to the local champion to settle affairs, especially when the need to go on land arrives. This is why seamen are often regarded as highly skilled, well-trained and lethal combatants by land dwellers. All they meet is the lone, battle-harded champion, and not the many tribal families cowering behind him.

Seeing as not even aquatic traders dare to venture outside of the water, champions are free to recount their own version of the events that take place on dry land. Unbeknownst to their watery kin, the protectors of the less dangerous areas sometimes take advantage of this. Diplomatic missions will start taking months to complete, when the chosen warrior discovers that there are certain luxuries which can not be found below the tides. Beer, wine, women that aren't covered in rough scales, and cooked food are usually suffice to tempt even the most stalwart of fishmen.

In return for these luxuries, the aquatic warrior trade exotic, deep-sea trinkets entrusted to them by their village. Once they run out of baubles to pawn, they pay for their stay in other ways. Nagas in particular, have earned a reputation for being highly valued sellswords. Warriors without equal, who can turn the tides of battle on their own, provided that they are kept more pampered than they were back home.

Kai, the naga warrior, is the designated champion of his tribe. He lives in an underwater village, at the ocean-delta of the river that flows through Varanar city. Here, the nagas have built impressive structures out of the large, flat stones that litter the the depths. They have been hewn and affixed, to form everything from magnificent, unrivaled temples, to simple, functional, practical homes.

Due to its auspicious location, Kai's home-settlement is a quiet and peaceful place. Local fauna poses no threat whatsoever, and the humans that live up above have no reason to interfere with the seadwellers' affairs. As such, the champion's services are rarely called upon. For the first few decades of his life, the most interesting assignments the naga was sent on, were delivery missions to neighbouring tribes.

Then, during another dreadfully boring day, the village's elder council came up with the bright idea to initiate diplomacy with the surface-dwellers. Suddenly, Kai's life became a whole lot more interesting. He was sent to meet with various local lords. The sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the above-water world thrilled the warrior to no end. Like many others like him, he became hooked to the allures of human towns.

Since he wasn't really needed at his village, Kai began to stay out of the water for longer periods at a time, indulging in the joys of life that could not be obtained below the surface of the water. Upon returning to the village, he fabricated tales of tough negotiations, along with, of course, a reason to go back again. There was always another loose end to tie up, a lord to convince, or a diplomatic tension to ease.

But instead of discussing boring politics with ugly humans, the naga spent most of his time on the surface at brothels, bars and other places of ill repute. To pay for his extravagant surface-pleasures, he offered his services as a bouncer, a bounty-hunter and even a city guard for hire. Despite impressive work, the fishman racked up a considerable amount of debt. Usually, he'd avoid having to pay off his fees by slithering back into the water. But one morning, he woke up drunk in bed next to the local liege's daughter, with the ruler himself standing bewildered in the doorway.

And so, Kai was offered a choice. Be levied into the standing military, and join an ongoing dispute between the lord and his rival, or get thrown in prison and left to rot for a few decades, along with the wench of a noble lady he'd spent the night with. And thus, the champion became a man-at-arms, fighting for a cause which he knew nothing of, for a tribe of land-dwellers he didn't quite care for. But hey, at least it was better than wasting away in jail.

The war was brutal and well-fought on both sides. Kai excelled amongst his human cohorts, felling several dozen of infantrymen, knights and archers alike. Consistently and repeatedly, he broke through massive formations, singlehandedly beating seemingly impossible odds. In a duel with an enemy general, Kai lost one of his eyes. But then, with a single, heavy stab of his spear, the war was ended, and his service to the humans, was complete.

Returning to the village, Kai spun tales of his heroic bravery, convincing the newly-crowned chieftain that intervening in the humans' struggles was a well-planned move of great necessity. In a way, he wasn't wrong. It took almost dying to get the champion to realize how good he had it at home, with nothing to worry about, and no work to be done. Back to peace and quiet, although his soul remained in turmoil.

The naga was never quite the same ever since his forced conscription. Losing one of his eyes had made him more paranoid, always gazing around, looking for non-existant combatants trying to stab him in the back. Luckily, the local priestesses were more than willing to ease his burden of mind, offering pleasant chats, relaxing massages and shoulders to cry on. Alas, unlike the ladies of dry land, the aqua-nuns were never willing to go beyond simple pleasantries.

That is, until one day, a strong current drew in a strange, heavily diluted substance from far upstream. The nagas could not smell it, nor see it, nor could they taste it, but everyone in the village could feel a distinct, ever-present, yet exceedingly remote tingling. A tiny hint of excitement at the back of their minds, which gradually grew into arousal, as weeks turned to months. The males and females of the tribe grew closer to one another, inexplicably attracted, increasingly eager and willing to fornicate and to procreate.

Kai knew something was off, when the many priestesses he consorted with, were all of a sudden more than willing to take their platonic relationship to the next level. He wasn't one to complain, finally able to convince the few women that initially refused his advances, to spend the night at the champion's luxurious abode.

With a lot of the women of suitable age growing pregnant, even the ones that swore a vow of chastity, the population of the village was steadily expanding. What prophets and mystics decried as a curse, turned out to be a major boon for the bustling aquatic settlement. It was only when the chieftain caught his own wife in bed with the champion, that he opted to agree with the pessimists calling the heightened libido a bad thing.

And so, Kai was sent on a mission far upstream, to find the source of what ailed the village. The warrior was far less than eager to return things to how they used to be, but denying a request from the chieftain was not an option, especially not after the vile act he was caught in the middle of. Having fun with the priestesses was nice while it lasted. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.