Tidesingers

Overview

The Tidesingers are the people of the Surging Deep, the realm of water, flow, life, and adaptation. They speak in song, heal, and see the whole universe as one system to be kept in balance.

Appearance

A Tidesinger is of about Human height, long-limbed and supple, and its skin is like polished sea glass: translucent green, blue, or pale aqua, smooth and cool, catching the light of glowing things in the water. Its hair is like kelp, long ribbons of dark green and brown that drift and lift with every current. Its eyes reflect the depths, so that looking into them is like looking down into deep water. Fine gill-slits run along the throat.

They move with a calm, fluid grace, never against the current. They speak in melodies and rhythms rather than words, and their song carries through water for miles; out of the water it is a low, humming chant. They smell of salt and clean sea air.

Habitat and Range

They live throughout the Surging Deep, in its endless oceans, on its floating kelp islands, and in its cities of coral and crystal, rising and sinking with the currents.

Behaviour and Temperament

They are harmonizers and healers. They see the universe as one interconnected system, and value balance, empathy, and the preservation of life. They are calm and fluid, and they see visitors as rigid or dry. A Tidesinger will heal a wounded visitor without being asked, and is puzzled by thanks.

Abilities

They do not breathe air; they draw breath from water, and they can survive any pressure or temperature the Deep has. They cannot die while the flow continues. Their song carries meaning through water and vibration, and in the Deep it heals.

Life Cycle

Their young are born in the water and sing before they speak. They cannot die while the flow continues; one cut off from the flow is said to fade like a stranded fish.

Uses and Dangers

Travellers come to the Surging Deep for healing, since its life force can cure almost any injury or disease, and the Tidesingers are its healers. Their danger is the plane's: a visitor who surrenders too fully to the flow loses their sense of self and becomes part of the current.

Lore and Belief

Sailors on Caeldon tell of singing in the deep water that calms storms and heals the drowning, and some coastal shrines credit it to a god of the sea. Some of the songs may be Tidesingers', heard through the oceans, rivers, wells, and places of ritual washing that are the Deep's gates. Healers of Surging Magic are said to learn its rhythms.

Where It Appears

• The Surging Deep
• Writers' Guide: The Planes, The Ten Primes, Glossary