The Twilight Reefs
Unlike the utter blackness of the eastern abyss, the W Meridian is a realm of twilight. Here, filtered sunlight dapples through the water, illuminating towering palaces grown from mother-of-pearl and cities woven into the very fabric of living reefs. The architecture and the environment are one and the same. Labyrinthine corridors open into grand halls that filter the ocean's currents into song. It is a civilization not of survival, but of breathtaking, meticulous artistry.
The Crudefrudel
Encased in magnificent, self-sculpted shells that serve as both armor and art, the Crudefrudel are a people defined by lineage and grace. Proud and deeply isolationist, they view the chaotic surface world with disdain. Their history is not written in books, but is sung into the architecture of their halls; each swirl of a staircase and arch of a doorway is a verse in an epic poem of their existence. To a Crudefrudel, beauty is logic, and their city is the ultimate expression of a flawless, beautiful truth.
A Dissonant Chord
For eons, the song of the city has been pure. But now, the ancient verses have gained a dissonant chord. The currents have shifted, carrying a strange silence that deadens the outer reefs and turns vibrant corals to a uniform, lifeless grey. It is not a tremor of violence, but a slow, creeping corruption—a threat to beauty itself. The proud Crudefrudel must now decide if their art is worth preserving if it means engaging with the graceless, chaotic world beyond their perfect, shimmering home.