The Ketos

Three milleneums have passed since the days when the Ketos lived in the southern waters with the Shining Ones. But they have never kept time so precisely and so the Ketos tell the story like this...

Many ages ago, far to the south where the waters are warm and the tides are gentle, lived the Ketos. When they were still a young race the Ketos explored the warm oceans and came upon a wise and strong race. Their name was lost in time but the ancient stories call them the Shining Ones for they lived in great cities of crystal spires roads like ribbons of moonlight. The Ketos are a symbiotic race and are happiest when their lives have purpose through service. They lived in harmony with the Shining Ones for many thousands of years. But their idealic life was not to last. A terrible enemy came upon the City and demanded it’s submission. The Shining Ones refused and they joined their magic with the Ketos to create great protective domes. The enemy ravaged the domes and tore gaping wounds in the golden walls. Even so the Shining Ones might have prevailed had not the enemy used subtle trechery. They crafted a deadly fever that struck all within the city walls. No magic could heal this plague and the Shining Ones were destroyed. But the enemy was incautious and when they razed the City they too were infected. They fled their own weapon, leaving corpses in their wake. But the Ketos were creatures of vine and flower not like their friends and many of them survived the plague. They slowly began to live again but the city was forever shattered, for the Ketos knew not the magic that had raised the crystal towers. A thousand years passed and the time of Plague passed into legend. That was when the Enemy came back. The Ketos were brave but knew that their magics were not created for war and so they fled before the ancient terror. They continued to flee north until the enemy no longer persued. Still they wandered, lost in the strange creatures and currents of this unfamiliar sea. Then one day they came upon another beautiful city that held people of many colors. The city was called Atlantis. The Ketos came forth and begged sanctuary in this new kingdom but some of the people with skin the color of sand and shell were wary of the Ketos and did not trust them. Perhaps because of their size or color, the other denizens, the merpeople, took to the Ketos and helped them create a home in Atlantis. The Ketos began forming friendships with many Mer-families and some Atlantean families. This was the basis of the first bonding. Centuries passed, and while the Ketos are now accepted, their strange preference fore service is looked on as confusing by many Atlanteans.

The Ketos are a symbiotic race and prefer to give service to those that they deam worthy. When a person is found worthy a Ketos will offer to bond to them. This is a magical bond that allows the Bonded to gain power from the Ketos. They Ketos will also grow stronger and their abilities will naturally lend themselves to supporting their Bonded. Many Mer-families now have bonded Ketos in their ranks. Although there is no genetic pre-disposition to a Ketos child bonding to a someone of the same family as her parents, it is common for the Ketos parents to have their children spend large amounts of time with memebers of the Bonded’s family in hopes of a bonding occuring. Once bound a Ketos will follow any command that their bonded gives as long as it doesn’t violate their moral code, isn’t detrimental to Atlantis and doesn’t pose harm to themselves or their Bonded. A person that is bonded tend to give commands carefully as they can often feel pain or distress that they have caused in their Ketos bonded. There is a danger to those that bond with a Ketos. Thier life span is about 300 years and when they die, their bonding can feel the passing. This can be a comfort to the aged Ketos but there have been case, rare but present, of the Bonded succuming to melancholy and took their own lives.

The Ketos speak the same tounge as the Atlanteans but have some speech patterns that are wholy their own. Terms commonly used by the Ketos are listed below.

Bonded: a term used for a non-Ketos that has completed a magical bonding with a Ketos.

Bond: the magical process in which a Ketos shares their magic with a non-Ketos. This can only be done voluntarily by both parties.

Master/Mistress: A term used to denote one that you are bonded to.

Lord/Lady: a term used to denote an Atlantean that you are not bonded to. This is most likely a hold over from their former lives with the Shining Ones.

Ketos are any shade of green. They are a plant based race and their skin reflects this. (plant top and bottom). While Ketos are note adverse to wearing clothing, they have tough skin and consider clothing decorational. Ketos are diminuative, never taller then 5’ and usually 4’5” or less. They come in all builds. Ketos faces have been described as feline in nature and their eyes are large and golden. (feline face type any markings you wish) Ketos are natural illusionists and it is not uncommon to see a Ketos that has created a Glamour for themselves to make them look like a diminuative Atlantean or Mer-folk. Ketos live for aproximately 300 years. They reach adulthood at the age of 50. They begin to show signs of old age at 200 and extreme old age at 250.

• 991 bce The Ketos form an alliance with the Shining Ones
• 278 ce The Enemy comes and wipes out the Shining Ones with the Plauge
• 1278 ce The Enemy returns to the broken city of the Ketos
• 1297 ce The Ketos flee from the ancient Enemy
• 1403 ce The Ketos reach Atlantis

Not my creation, posted for a friend unfamiliar with VV

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