There are many benefits, to being a Marine Biologist

[Observing Future]

Year: 20**

Author: Al*** Mr***
Log: 01

I've been studying an elusive sect of Yama worship among some of the nomadic tribes of Eternia, and for just as long I hadn't made any breakthroughs beyond the ushered utterances of 'The Great Reef'. It wasn't until one of the young daughters of a Matriarch to a nomadic clan of massive Shark-Attuned Sirenians approached me that I was finally able to learn, and even then it came with grave costs. She cared little for coins or trinkets, and requested from me something precious to give to the sea, to prove that I was not a man of the land that was driven by avarice and greed. I gave to her my most cherished namesake, a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation, and dove to the deeps.

I feared at first that I had been deceived, as she did not return for several days. But as I was preparing to pull anchor she returned. This mere child told me that Yama was satisfied with the offering, and in return the Matriarch would allow me to follow their Shiver, that she would be the one to teach me their ways, and that should I, after a few years, be found wanting, that I "Would be returned to the sea, like all things should be."

This journal will log the information I've gathered about religious sect of Yamaism known as the 'Great Reef', to begin I'll go through the basics that the child gave to me.

---

The beliefs of The Great Reef

Inki & Yama

In most Sirenian folklore, nomadic or otherwise, Inki is portrayed as a Great Whale, whereas Yama is portrayed as a shapeshifting serpent. However there is a startling contrast to the beliefs of the Great Reef and normal Yamaism, and it starts with the mythos of creationism. I'll recite what the child spoke to me as best as I can. Her dialect and accent was thick, and deciphering her words was more challenging than I'd like to admit. Hopefully I'll be able to convey it properly through words.

In the beginning there was only Inki and Yama. Yama was a Primordial of strength and prowess, a beautiful and perfect Shark with teeth sharp enough to bite through the core of Eternia, and shape the land into the perfect world it was meant to be. Inki however was a many-tendrils behemoth, strung together in a caricature of his Elder sibling, a mass of writhing undulating envy. Passionless and empty.

Yama intended to create the perfect world, one submerged in his very own lifeblood. His essence. From his chest he carved out one of his hearts, and implanted it within the center of the empty nothingness. His blood would flow from his heart, and the world itself would be formed as a mass of water. The Great Reef proclaims that Eternia did not begin of rock and stone, it began of water and blood. To protect his heart and keep his essence flowing, Yama would slice through his scales and form solid rock and soil from it. Yet only just enough to keep his heart sealed and safe within the center of Eternia.

Inki however, grew bitter and envious with each beautiful creation that his sibling formed. From mountains of coral to forests of kelp, every ounce of passion was put into Yama's work. Whenever Inki tried to create such lavished beauty, he would only build caricatures of his brother's art, as Inki held no passion for the world nor the life that Yama filled it with. When the first fish and sharks were born of Yama's flesh, Inki could only create caricatures of his brothers work, all of which would drown within the sea. Upon realizing that he could not create more dazzling sights than his brother, Inki grew volatile and outraged.

Instead of speaking, instead of learning, he threw a tantrum which rattled the shell of scales that protected Yama's beating heart. In his wild thrashing he pushed and parted the waters, sent sludge of earth far up- creating mountainous paths and flat prairies which flowed above the sea. He tainted the water that splashed upon this thrashed land to hold no saltedness so that none of the sea-faring creatures could survive, and in his envy captured and twisted the sea-life so that it too would be as corrupted and gnarled as him. Becoming hollow beasts that wandered the land.

Yama however would not be enraged at his younger sibling nor his actions. Although disappointed in the behavior of one of his Flesh and Blood, Yama would seek to remedy his brother's envy. To try and tutor him in the ways of his art...

This was as far as the child got in her story before the Shiver begun its departure for deeper waters. I was allowed to follow at a distance, and she would approach me to finish the story ate a later date. The youth informed me that her 'landwalker' name was Coralie, and that I best remember it.

In truth, a part of me is frightened on where this story ends. Yama's portrayal as a benevolent being that can do no wrong has caught me off guard, as nearly all of the variations of Yamaism that I have been able to study have portrayed his cruelty towards Inki, as well as Inki's capability of creating wonders of his own.

[Observing Future]

Year: 20**
Author: Al*** Mr***
Log: 02

My continued observation over this sect of the Grand Reef, and this Shiver of Sharks has been a bit exhausting. The younger generation has taken to using my ship as practice on how to take down landwalkers, and I have barely managed to keep up with repairs. Some of them mock me in a strange language that I have yet to deduce, but it is not hard to understand the tone nor the laughter. They prefer to strike during the night, and I have had to adapt my sleeping patterns just to ensure that my ship isn't taking on water while I rest.

Thankfully there is one silver-lining. Coralie, the one tasked with enlightening me, has been ferrying supplies from nearby islands to ensure that my ship doesn't sink. Planks of wood and nails are plentiful, though I've decided not to ask how she received it. The young girl didn't even seem to understand the concept of trade when I bought it up.

Tonight her Shiver is performing some form of ritual deep beneath the waves. As much as I would like to observe, Coralie has at the very least deigned to stop by and tell me more of the story of Inki and Yama.

---

The beliefs of The Great Reef (Cont)

Inki & Yama (Cont)

Yama in his great kindness would step-by-step mold and shape the first of the Sirenian, the Mermaid, and within the shape of Yama himself. The first of the Mermaid were sharkish in appearance, beings of immense strength, beauty, and posture, some of which held height comparable to the mountains. They were made to be the leaders and protectors of Sirenian kind. From them, the Anguill would follow, as rather than simply show step-by-step, Yama would include Inki within the creation of these deep sea dwellers.

The purpose of the Anguill was that of explorers, researchers, the brilliant and best of minds that could delve to the deepest depths of the ocean and find the mysteries that Yama had sprinkled throughout, to give his creations things to do and enjoy. Inki's mass of tendrils would aid in molding and shaping these humanoids to adhere to such depths of the oceans. Yet it is said because of Yama's willingness to allow his sibling to help in the creation of the Anguill, that all of them hold a portion of his envy and bitterness deep within their hearts. We musn't judge the Anguill, unless they show signs of sympathy to those of Inki and the unnamed one, for they still hold the heart of Yama beating within them.

At first such bonding seemed to bring some form of fruition, much to Yama's elation! However, unbeknownst to the elder, the envious sibling had been plotting. For you see, Inki valued the imperfection of his tantrum, while Yama sought for the errant soil from Inki's tantrum that had formed landmasses, to be swallowed once more by the sea. Thus when creation of the Selkie begun, Inki would work in silence to curse the very essence of the Selkie. Born of Yama's flesh, and gifted beautiful voices that could carry across the water, it was far too late to fix this innate flaw that Inki built into them, and soon many were burdened with a Curse of Air. Some even growing fur and other such traits of the land-dwelling creatures that Inki had shaped in his previous envy.

Yama would mourn, as many Selkie drowned when they first tried to swim the tides of the sea. As they learned of this Curse far too late within their lives. For many an eon would Yama work tirelessly to seek a solution to this Curse of Air, delving deep within himself, and upon his own blood. Thus was the Selkie gifted with unnatural abilities for those cursed to breath above the sea, with voices that could sway the common man and spread the gospel of Yama's will.

Yet while he sought to heal the Selkie, little did Yama know that his sibling had retreated to the surface masses he had created in his envy, and now with the knowledge of creation that Yama had gifted him...

The ceremony was to begin shortly and the story was once more interrupted, and again I find myself feeling far more tense than before. Perhaps this knowledge should be burned, and perhaps I should take my leave. The beliefs of the Great Reef are not propagated within New Atlantis or among many of the Nomadic clans I have met for a reason, and I am starting to believe that may be for the best.

Never have I heard a story of the Sirenian where the 'Sea' was how the world was first born, and that the lands that people like myself live on are simply 'flaws' in the creation. The implications thus-far seem to point out to Inki being the creator of 'Landwalkers', though I wonder where the Pantheon, Azrael, and Kraus sit in all of this. Or maybe they do not, and these sirenians merely see any landwalker religions as blasphemy.

I can hear them singing from the depths. It is muted, but there is a consistent chant among them all. Maybe I shall ask Coralie what it means, but until then I shall write it here to remind myself.

"Jusqu'à ce que la mer prenne la terre."