Munark

At first sight Munark looks like the loosest nation of the Elysium Sea, but in many ways it is the strongest. Where most island tribes have joined together only for temporary gain, Munark's Great Tribe is an enduring body to which every member tribe gives real loyalty.

Its way of life resembles that of the Elysium Tritons. Nomadic tribes of extended families roam the sea without rest; each goes its own way, but complex treaties bind them all into the Great Tribe. Every year the chiefs meet in council at Manocnac to settle disputes and share news, and for the rest of the year each leads his tribe as he likes. One account calls them tall and fair-skinned, of unknown origin, primitive and very superstitious; another describes them as dark-skinned, tall and broad, with each tribe marked by its own face paint or tattoos and colorful dress.

Munark is neutral toward Manua, Ogata and Tora, who value the nomads as a source of trade and news and generally let them land anywhere to hunt, gather supplies, make repairs or take shelter. With the Tritons the bond is special and mutual: the nomads count Tritons as kin within the Great Tribe, and the Triton nation shows them favor in return. Munark's three homeland islands, Manocnac, Temareta and Nakua, serve as meeting places, refuges and bases, though no tribe lingers on any one of them longer than about a season a year, and the nomads travel the whole sea and beyond with no home but sea, sky and the rafts beneath them.