KERMINHAE (Land of)
Location: Hyborean Sea, west of the Klagorst region, Continent of Brun. WB
Area: Islands approximately 1,300 sq. mi. (3,367 sq. km.), size of undersea regions controlled unknown.
Population: Unknown number of hresha-rhak; some human merchants live in the Kerminhae surface cities.
Languages: Ub (official), Visneskayan.
Coinage: No official coinage; all currencies of the Klagorst region can be used.
Taxes: Unknown; resident human merchants are subject to a residency tax, assessed at 5% of their yearly earnings, and collected on Ka. 1 each year.
Government Type: Unknown.
Industries: Unknown.
Important Figures: Unknown.
Flora and Fauna: The animals found in the region are seals, crabs, sharks and whales. Very few land animals, mostly birds and seals, live on the small islands.
Further Reading: None.
Description by Giulio diSergio-Orsini.
The Land
This territory is inhabited by the hresha-rhak, a strange aquatic race. It consists of a small archipelago of five islands, on which stand small cities inhabited by these creatures, plus the few human merchants who live here. A couple of islands cannot be visited, and the seas around them are patrolled by these mysterious sea creatures. Supposedly their rulers and main cities are located under the ocean, but very little information can be gained on them. They are fierce enemies of the hydrax, and seem to have a sort of alliance with the Stygians, but have only marginal interest in the humanoid politics of Klagorst, apart from some commercial ties, carried on by agents or by themselves in the human ports of the Heart Coast.
The People
The hresha-rhak are an aquatic race who worship an elemental water deity known as Hub Eth, Spawn of the Deep; they are man-sized, fish-like creatures, whose bodies are covered with mottled, lumpy green and grey scales. Their hands and feet are webbed and clawed, and their wide mouths are filled with hundreds of needle-like teeth, surrounded by thick, rubbery lips. Protruding from the base of their spines is a vestigial tail, measuring roughly one foot long. An interesting fact is that many specimens seem to have a much reduced tail, and less monstrous appearances overall. These are the only members of the race who travel outside the borders of Kerminhae, and who live in the surface cities of the nation, so sages speculate that maybe these could be younger specimen of this race, that have not yet adapted fully to oceanic life. But who knows really?
History
Nothing is known about hresha-rhak history. Klagorst people have known of these creatures since the first human settlements were established, and so do the other older races of the region.
Do Miss
Kerminhae is really not a place to be visited. The islands are barren, the cities
horrendous mockeries of human ones, built with strange and disturbing
perspectives, as if they used different geometric principles upon which to base
their architecture, and the race is a horrible, fish-like parody of
earth-dwelling humanoids. Stay away
from the nation itself, if you don't want to be haunted in your nightmares by
the horrific things you could see here.