Pandesi (Race - Human)

The Pandesi (pahn-DAY-see) are the human race created by the ocean goddess, Tidrea, and the only race in the world with the power of magic. Due to poor performance in the early wars of the Great Trial, the Pandesi were left without any territory on the continent and live in a large flotilla of ships migrating through the western seas.

The Flotilla
When they were originally placed upon the world, the Pandesi had control of what would later be known as the Thyran Plateau, a large expanse of elevated flat land in the northwest corner of the mainland. The Pandesi were driven from their lands and to the sea by an alliance of the other human races, the Dromer, Jahr'Ak, and Thyrans, who all agreed that it would be wise to drive the Pandesi away before they tried fighting each other, due to the superior powers of the Pandesi magic.

The Pandesi ships are similar to the real-world dhow, an Arabic sailing vessel, being most similar to the deep-sea baghlah variety of dhow. The Pandesi no longer have any semblance of military muster, though they had the strongest navy during the Ancient Wars, thanks to their natural affinity for the sea. That navy was later modified and overhauled when the Pandesi lost their holdings on the continent, with the emphasis more on survival than combat.

Most of the ships now serve as living space

Magic
Pandesi magic is a kind of Name magic. Every entity in the universe has a Name that can be learned and used by a Pandesi mage under the right conditions.

Conditions for learning and using a Name
A Name can only be used with the consent of the owner of the Name. If a name is learned any other way, consent is not implied

Sikkini Heretics
Following the Pandesi losses in the Ancient Wars, a group of powerful mages broke away from the Pandesi people, who elected to remain devoted to Tidrea. The Sikkini didn't want to follow a deity who had allowed them to lose so badly in the conflicts, so they denounced Tidrea and the rest of the pantheon.

The Sikkini chose to remake their bodies to rid themselves of the constructs and influences of their deity and redesigned themselves as a sign of their independence. They made themselves water-breathing and modeled their new forms after sea-life. They constructed underwater cities and cut off all contact with their Pandesi brethren and the other surface races. Their cities are said to be located so deep underwater that any other being would be killed in any attempt to reach one. No one from the surface knows the location of any of the Sikkini cities, giving the race a nigh-mystical quality.