I found an old post today where you were saying how the sharkfolk call the extinct humans "The Dreamfaders", and you mentioned at the time you'd explain that name one day. Did you ever explain it, and is that name still canon?
The term "Dreamfaders", used by the Waiohana (the sharkfolk) to refer to humans, dates back more than two millennia. Its origin is attributed to an ancient legend about an enigmatic fossil found on Aguazu Island.
According to the story, a traveler stopped to rest in a grotto when he dreamed of a presence calling to him from the depths. Upon waking and following the sensation, he found among peculiarly shaped rocks an unusual fossil, curled up in a fetal position, like someone asleep. Today it is known that this fossil belonged to a human being, but for the ancient Waiohana, it was the beginning of a great mythology.
Over time, many mystical beliefs began to surround the fossil. It was said that whoever slept beside it had strange or even premonitory dreams, transforming the piece into a coveted relic for sages and scholars.
The stories attempted to explain its origin by claiming that the skeleton belonged to a very ancient people who, facing their own extinction, had escaped into a collective dream. For this reason, they became known as “The Dreamfaders”, those who faded into their own dreams.
Despite numerous accounts, the legendary fossil has never been found. Perhaps it was fragmented and scattered across the continent, offered in cultural exchanges, and lost forever.
With the passing of centuries and the arrival of the modern era, the ancient name Dreamfader was gradually left behind. As Waiohana archaeology evolved and the Anthropocene era came to be understood on a scientific basis, the previous civilization came to be called Anthropos, The Diluvian Ones, or The Former Ones.
The archaic term only resurfaced much later, driven by the entertainment culture of sharkfolk, where Dreamfaders resurfaced as mythical creatures, monstrous figures in games, literature, and movie themes.
Currently, complete human fossils are extremely rare. Only two specimens have preserved anything significant: one found deep within a cave, crystallized in calcite, the only one with an intact skull, and another discovered on the seabed, whose structure offers the best known glimpse of ancient human body shape.
What is most often found are small fragments of bones and teeth scattered across various regions of world, frequently mistaken for remains of ancient Anthropocene wildlife, which also rarely appears complete in the fossil record. The cause is still uncertain: over the ages, these traces appear to have been pulverized, dispersed, or even consumed by natural processes not yet understood.
Some important archaeological finds include traces called "technofossils", whose true meanings and functions the sharkfolk are only beginning to understand.
Finally, the most distinct characteristic of Anthropocene fossils, whether human, animal, plant, or even mineral formations, is the presence of microplastics incorporated into their structure. Curiously, the best-preserved fossils are precisely those with the lowest concentration of microplastics.
As a final curiosity, one of the only vestiges of urban ruins from human civilization now rests on the white dunes of the desolate island of Kaumaha. It is not known for certain what geological conditions preserved those forms, but it is theorized that some type of microorganism consumed the artificial material, producing crystalline carbonates as a final byproduct, leaving behind only the silhouette of what was once a living city, slowly crumbling into crystal dust.
There are still many mysteries for the sharkfolk to unravel about the forgotten past, although their curiosity is more focused on the future.
(Thanks a lot, your question reminded me of what the Sharkfolk's relationship might be to the vestiges of humanity. It inspired me a lot!)
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