QUILL’S DECIDED THEY’RE CHANGING A MINOR THING ABOUT THE SIREN WORLDBUILDING IN ANCHORED SOULS
SO SO DON’T KNOW IF YOU FOLKS NOTICED, BUT. Each siren type has a different amount of spiny thingies on their ears! It’s actually one of the distinguishing features for sirens, although it can be difficult to see considering hair can cover them and injuries can break the pattern.
BUT. I have decided that I’m changing the number for each of the siren types! It’s a little thing but the number is gonna be based on the order the Ascendants came into being--so Forest, being the oldest, has one ear spiky; Mist has two; Surge has three; and Light has four.
BECAUSE OF THIS CHANGE, ANY ART OLDER THAN THIS (except for that Celestine ask game thingy) IS NOW POTENTIALLY INACCURATE FOR A SIREN’S (or magic-user’s) EARS.
Today I feel like ranting about siren worldbuilding! So here’s a fun list of tidbits from the Anchored Souls universe about our lovely sea monsters. Check under the cut for more fun!
Siren “Hair”:
Siren “hair” isn’t actually... hair. Sure, they themselves call it that, but that’s because they borrowed the word from human writings they’ve encountered. A strand of siren hair is actually a living filament with actual active nerve endings! It still looks like and acts similar to hair, with various curly or wavy or straight types, but it tends to stand up a lot more when cut short, and tends to be thicker in width than average human hair!
And because siren hair isn’t actually dead cells, and there are nerves present, siren hair is actually somewhat sensitive to touch! So don’t EVER touch a siren’s hair without explicit consent because you’re likely to have your hand bitten off.
The whole reason behind this (aside from me just wanting a reason to explain why my sirens have “hair” other than for pure ~aesthetic~ ^^’) is because sirens typically use these filaments to sense water currents! It helps in hunting, because a nearby piece of prey could be out of sight, but be making a lot of disturbance in the water (especially injured and therefore slow prey)!
Tangles? Oh, those aren’t really an issue when you have both magic and very strengthened filament strands to begin with. Sirens typically “comb” their hair by using said comb or brush as a conduit for their magic, enacting the same motions of brushing their hair, but not actually running the comb’s teeth through.
There are indeed sirens without hair: the Ascendant Mist being the most well-known. Their “hair” is actually just a big cloud of ultra-thick, semi-tangible mist! It doesn’t tend to have enough of a consequence to terribly affect a siren, especially with someone who has particularly strong magic.
Light sirens tend to have the most sensitive hair, with Mist sirens being second. Forest siren hair is somewhat sensitive but they mostly keep theirs long for the sake of storing extra magic, like in braids and beads and other decorations they put in their hair.
Surge sirens are the least sensitive, to the point where they’re actually well known to cut their hair short. Surge magic allows them to control and naturally sense water currents around them without the need for hair, and many find they can go faster without a lot of it. Does it hurt to cut it? YES. But a lot of them find it no more odd than getting a tattoo is for a human!
Community:
Each siren type has a typical gathering behaviour: Surge sirens tend to form shivers, small groups of one or several families banded together into a nomadic, travelling group. There’s usually one leader-like figure, though their authority depends on individual groups.
Mist sirens also form shivers, sometimes even joining together with Surge sirens, but there tends to be a lot less organization--Mist sirens often bicker over shiny objects or prey and the shiver’s next actions. If in a shiver with a surge siren, they’re usually the one to step (er, swim?) in to make the decisions.
Forest sirens live in usually small communities called havens, stationary sanctuaries very similar to human villages. Various guilds exist, each representing the categories of work essential to the maintenance and upkeep of the community. Each guild has a leader named their council member, chosen through traditions that range from a diplomatic vote, a competition, or the previous council member’s pick, depending on the guild. Each council member is just that: a member of a council that makes big decisions for the haven, with a somewhat leader called the haven’s Star Keeper.
Light siren social behaviour is relatively unknown to anyone but themselves. They typically claim a specific territory for themselves and potentially a few others of their family (close friends are usually adopted into said family), but they don’t tend to do much to defend these territories from other Light sirens--they all want each other to succeed, but there’s an innate knowledge among them that down in the deepest parts of the ocean where they live, resources are very scarce.
That said, Light sirens do make guests of the travellers of their kind. Only for one night, though, as again, the limit on resources means no one wants to overextend their stay.
Physical Appearance:
Each siren type has traits that are very common for their specific kind! These tend to be the identifiers for a siren’s type when you haven’t witnessed their magic, but are not completely reliable.
Eye (magic) colours are the least reliable, because differing siren types sometimes have children together, especially between Mist and Surge sirens. That said, the hues within greens and yellows tend to belong to Forest sirens, and if it’s an eye colour that shifts through several different colours depending on environment or emotion, it’s definitively a Light siren.
Do they have a shark-like appearance, with rough skin rather than scales and thicker fins rather than ribbed fins? Is every one of their teeth pointed? Maybe shorter hair, maybe bluish eyes? Probably a Surge siren!
Do their eyes change colour? Do they have traits resembling a cephalopod? Do they have two pairs of eyes and a beak-like mouth? Do they have markings that glow in the dark? Pretty undeniably a Light siren!
Forest sirens have dull, more molar-like teeth and are herbivorous, while Mist sirens have feline-like teeth with longer eye teeth fangs and smaller sharp points for the rest. But aside from that, Forest and Mist sirens are quite varied and can often be mixed up!
Accessories:
Clothing isn’t much necessary for sirens--they don’t have any external genitalia to cover, and keeping warm isn’t helped by clothing when you’re mostly cold-blooded. It’s usually for carrying something, making tasks easier, or purely for aesthetic.
Forest sirens are the most common to wear clothes, mostly because of their stable and sheltered Haven life--they don’t have to care about being slowed down or caught by their fabric covers, as Surge and Mist sirens might.
Styles for Forest clothes depend on what region of the world you’re in, and whether it’s freshwater, brackish, or salt water, as the water type can deteriorate certain materials differently. Macroalgaes are usually the source of the fabrics used, but oxidation-resistant metals (or metals charmed to be) and gemstones, as well as shells and dried corals, are popular for jewelry as well--jewelry that is most often charmed.
As a siren’s entire body is used to moved through the water, clothing remains fairly loose and flowy, but clasped tighter in specific areas so it doesn’t come off (like at the wrists, waist, neck, chest, etc.). The tail is rarely covered as full flexibility is often required, but smaller decorations are common.
Light sirens can wear clothing but they often don’t, as their changing body markings can often be an important part of their communication!
Wow, you actually read through all of that? You have my congratulations! Tell me what your favourite fact was! <3
BIG LONG LIGHT SIREN FACTS RANT UNDER THE CUT HAVE FUN
Sirens are (usually) unable to be directly influenced by other sirens’ magic. This rule DOES NOT apply to Light sirens (kinda):
>> Light magic manipulates light waves/particles, which means Light magic users can manipulate and choose which light waves/particles hit your eyes, and which don’t.
>> They’re not manipulating your vision (which would be manipulating other sirens directly), they’re manipulating what enters your vision.
Light sirens have two pairs of eyes. One pair of these eyes sees the world as anyone else would, although often with a higher tolerance for the dark due to their time in the ocean depths, but that other pair (the lower pair)... those eyes see magic “echoes”.
>> Active magic is visible when its out in the open air. It appears as a glowing, colourful mist-like form that flows according to the user’s conscious control. But when inside an object, or generally inactive, it’s virtually invisible.
>> Except to Light sirens. To that second pair of eyes, a faded (but still visible) coloured mist is visible as an aura around stored magic, or as a colourful glow that trails after where it was previously active. The more recent the magic use, the brighter the “echo”. These “echoes” are not technically... of this world (dimension?), so they can’t be manipulated or hidden by ANYONE.
Particularly skilled Light sirens can actually hide their magic use from others by directing the light waves emitted by that glowing magic mist away from witnesses’ eyes. Those magic “echoes”, though? Any other Light siren can see those, which means they can see through the illusion being cast.
Another fact train! Light siren magic isn’t just one colour per individual as it is for other siren types. Each Light siren possesses a spectrum of colours that fall within their control, and those colours are what their active magic gradients through! Aka their eye colour and that glowy mist that happens when they use magic. This spectrum is usually fairly small, occurring in the visible spectrum of light, maybe from green to blue or red to orange, but on the rare occasion they can range three or four major colours, like orange to blue. (Often a sign of more powerful magic.) So a Light siren’s “illusions” can only fall within those colours!
>> It’s rumoured that only one Light siren had (has?) control over all colours, and not only of the visible spectrum.
On another point entirely! Mouths! Light sirens don’t... really... have one? They do. It’s just not. Human at all. It’s a beak! Like a squid or octopus, with a coiled tongue with sharp teeth on it (called a radula). owo This means they can’t speak the same way as other siren types, being unable to audibly form sounds with their mouth or throat, so they usually communicate with their magic by illusion-formed messages!
>> This is super confusing for other siren types, though, so it’s only another reason for the fear of Light sirens by the other types. :c
Light siren skin is usually too delicate and sensitive towards strong light for them to actually swim too close to the surface: on the rare occasion, some brave souls make a trip towards the sky during the night to see the stars!
>> Stars are still very important to Light siren lore, but as they’re such a rarity to see, they navigate by strong magic echoes instead: certain specific regions preserve powerful magic echoes visible to Light sirens and very, very rarely change, so they’re used as landmarks!
As resources are incredibly limited deep in the dark areas where Light sirens call home, stories are valued more than anything. Anytime Light sirens meet, they’ll share what they’ve learned through their magic illusions, usually making them the brightest, most beautiful things, like artistic films! They also share a meal, share a home, and anything else to help each other out, but only for one day-night cycle. They go on their separate ways after.
Aside from that, Light sirens prefer to be alone most of the time. They have their tight knit, tiny families on the rare occasion, usually when finlings (children) are involved, but as soon as a finling hits their first century, they’re typically encouraged to venture out to find their own story.
Some Light sirens follow a nomadic lifestyle, travelling from place to place, and some prefer a settled one, where they usually keep to a certain territory. They’ll welcome a visitor for a night, but that’s about it!
OKAY LONG RANT OVER (for now). ASK ME QUESTIONS IF YOU’RE CURIOUS? (I LOVE QUESTIONS.)
in my as-yet unnamed space opera wip, MC is from a world called kahal, where their standing military uses whistles and clicks while in the field to communicate that imitate native wildlife! it's partially bc they mostly use guerilla tactics (so surrounding an enemy won't get them suspicious) and partially just bc whistling something tends to be faster + more easily heard than saying it!
[Send me an oc or worldbuilding fact and I’ll reply with my own!]
A very intelligent tactic, but now you have me curious! Has there been any situations where either the wildlife they're mimicking has been attracted by their calls, or, worse yet... has an animal's whistle/click been misinterpreted as an order?
In Anchored Souls, sirens (not including Light sirens) lack the vocal structure that would allow them to speak human-like sounds--even if a siren has learned to understand a human language, they're incapable of speaking it! This is why, in the past, sign language has become the norm for communication between humans and sirens.
Instead of words, sirens use similar sounds to your Kahal military! Underwater, words wouldn't carry anyways because they'd just be nonsense bubbles, so squeaks, growls, and clicking similar to a dolphin's is usually what their communication sounds like, along with a lot of body language.
🧵 💰 💥 for the magic asks pls! (also hello! i hope ur doing well~)
[Send me some magical asks!]
Hello hello Livvy!!! I've been doing okay, just busy with work and such. ^^ Hope you're doing well, too! AND THANK YOU FOR CREATING SUCH AN AWESOME ASK GAME!! I'm loving some good worldbuilding questions~
As is likely obvious, I'll be answering this for Anchored Souls!
🧵is there a form of attire that’s typical associated with magician’s? if so, why? is there a practical reason for it, or is just ~aesthetic~?
So this mostly depends on what magic-user we're talking about! There's technically three base types in Anchored Souls, so let's go over them!
1. Sirens naturally metabolise their own magic that they can use!
2. Human magic-users fall into two categories:
a) Siren heritage/connection: These humans have some form of connection to a siren's soul, either through their ancestry, or from some magic cause. Just like a siren, they naturally metabolise their own magic!
b) Magic was gifted/stolen: The magic these humans use originated at a siren source. Either it was willingly given to them by a siren through a charmed object, or it was stolen in either the form of a charmed object or what used to be a physical piece of a siren.
So so!! Onto the actual question! What would these folks wear? This whole thing got long, so under the cut we go!
1. It's actually rather uncommon for sirens to wear clothing at all, as it impedes their swimming, but occasionally they do! If they're known for using charms or conduits, they'll usually have some way of holding those objects they use, like a belt, sash, or necklace! And sometimes (Forest sirens especially) they'll wear more flowy fabrics just because they're pretty.
2. a) Because human and siren soul mixing creates some funky results, these magic-users usually have to deal with some vivid coloured eyes and hair tips. If they want to travel through society without raising suspicion, they have to hide their hair and often their eyes! So cloaks, scarves, and big hats are common. Also belts, bags or many pockets for their various magical tools and ingredients!
b) These humans have to deal with their hair tips changing colour every time they use magic, but they can either deal with it by cutting it off or hiding it--their eyes aren't usually anywhere near as bright as a). So similarly, they will sometimes wear hooded clothing or big hats! And more necessary for them, they need something to hold their magic sources!
💰are there any magic oriented jobs? if so, what are they? how in demand are they? what are they like?
Among the sirens, magic is in use as a part of daily life! Nearly all the jobs make use of it, though "jobs" are really only a thing for Forest sirens. For example, cultivating seaweed for food? They'll use their magic to speed up the growth, or heal damage, or shape it to grow more efficiently! Even the equivalent of historians or writers use their magic to manipulate the kelp leaves that serve as their stationary!
For humans, the majority of the human world doesn't know of magic's existence! So magic oriented jobs are super rare, and they're mostly a part of an underground sort of... black market? Among siren hunters and witches, who serve the especially wealthy in doing tasks normally deemed impossible. Of course, for those of a kinder heart, there's also magical healing or other jobs serving the general populace. Just be careful not to be caught and killed for suspected witchery!
💥what are the dangers that come with using magic? can spells backfire? can a mage run out of magical energy—and if so, what happens? are there other dangers?
Ooohhhoooh, MANY. There's of course the rules of magic: mainly, don't go about messing with time, souls, or dimensions. If you do, you'll likely have your soul either split into different dimensions or timelines, or end up eternally stuck to a place, person or thing as a ghost, unable to be sensed by everyone but the most practiced of Starkeepers or magic-users.
And yes, spells CAN backfire! If you use the wrong conduit for a spell, they can create a result unwanted by the caster! Let's say you want to sharpen a blade--sure, you could use flint, which is nice and sharp, but... you may also end up burning everything in the immediate area.
If a human who's magic originates from an object runs out of magic, nothing happens unless the spell being sustained does something bad if it stops. They just can't cast magic until they find another source or refill their current one.
If a human who's magic is naturally metabolized runs out, it's not usually too bad unless their magic was being used to sustain something about themselves. That said, they will feel immensely tired and require a lot of rest, both physically and mentally, before they can next cast.
The BAD THING arises when the latter magic-user runs out of magic mid-casting, and they can't stop the spell from trying to get more magic. In this case, their soul is usually irreparably damaged, possibly just causing them to create less magic than before, sealing their magic creation abilities away forever after, or even anchoring their soul and killing their physical form.
And sirens just... die. :c Their soul becomes anchored to something their last spell had to do with, and they're left stuck as an eternal ghost, unable to be sensed by anyone around them.
OOF THAT GOT VERY LONG! BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE QUESTIONS THIS REALLY HELPS QUILL ORGANIZE THEIR THOUGHTS!! <3
