Storyline

 

The House of Oretta

 

The House of Oretta are human-fish descendants of Triton. Incredibly wealthy and politically dominant, the House rules over all known seas, save for the waters surrounding the Cave of the Oracle, on the edge of the Sea of Kumai. These sacred depths are guarded by seven immortal seahorses, sworn to guard over the Oracle. Through exclusive control of the seabed’s oil reserves, the House of Oretta has amassed great power, levying heavy taxes on all who dwell within the waters. An elite force of male sirens enforces these taxes; their chants carry a fatal enchantment, plunging any who defy payment into a deathlike lethargy. Though born of the sea, members of the House of Oretta possess the rare ability to survive for extended periods on dry land; a gift they have used to wage war across the continents. It was this advantage that led to their triumph over the House of Cliza at the Battle of Transterrum. Yet their victory was short-lived. At the Banquet of Rome, Cliza assassinated Oretta, turning the tide once more. Following Oretta’s death, their heir, Orella, charted a new course. They ceased all oil extraction, investing instead in the development of sustainable energy sourced from tides, algae, and thermal currents. In a sweeping act of reform, Orella decreed that the wealth of the seas, its resources, energies, and life, be shared equally among all species, ushering in a new era of maritime justice. 

 

Oretta

 

Oretta, sovereign of the House of Oretta, reigns from a sprawling palace beneath the sea, but moves through the realms of land and water with equal ease and grace. On the grounds of their Roman estate lies a legendary fountain known to alter the bather’s sex; a gift Oretta uses with strategic precision. Whenever political dealings with strictly sex-binary beings demand it, Oretta immerses themself in its transformative waters. Many rivals have fallen under their spell as a result. Cliza resisted, but Filipa, who was engaged to Cliza at the time, succumbed to Oretta’s charms. Oretta is a masterful musician and their instrument of choice is a magical trumpet. When played, its sound shatters silence and sense alike, rendering all within earshot permanently deaf. It is a weapon as much as it is an expression of power. At the Battle of Transterrum, Oretta crushed the forces of Cliza and claimed victory. To mark the triumph, they hosted an opulent banquet in Rome under the ominous glow of a blood full moon. The celebration was attended by the high sovereigns of other Houses. But triumph turned to tragedy. Cliza, long thought dead, stormed the gathering with their warriors, slaughtering Oretta and many of the assembled dignitaries in a ruthless act of vengeance. Yet death did not hold Oretta for long. Through means known only to the deepest magics of the sea, they were brought back.

 

Orettela and Orettona, twin warriors of legendary skill and unshakable loyalty, serve as the foremost protectors of Oretta and the House of Oretta’s most sacred weapon; the Trident of Graphene. Forged in the superheated vents of the deep, the Trident is a relic of immense power, capable of cleaving tectonic plates and disrupting the very tides. Only the twins may wield it, and even then, under strict enchantment; should either ever attempt to turn the Trident against Oretta, their own fins would coil around their throats and strangle them in a slow, inescapable death. Orettela and Orettona are as much guardians as they are symbols of the House’s militarised devotion. They are feared across oceans and continents alike. When the massacre at the Roman banquet left Oretta decapitated and presumed lost forever, it was the twins who endured the carnage. With bloodied fins and broken hearts, they retrieved Oretta’s severed head from the wreckage and preserved it. Unwilling to accept the extinction of their sovereign, they sought out an experimental scientist; a hybrid of octopus and woman known for their experiments in resurrection and neural grafting. Through the fusion of science, spell craft, and the last breath trapped in Oretta’s larynx, they succeeded. Oretta’s eyes opened once more.

 

Orella

 

Orella, the child of Oretta and Filipa, is the living embodiment of two powerful bloodlines. Upon the deaths of their parents, Orella inherits the vast and fertile estates of both Houses, commanding influence over both land and sea. But power alone does not define them. Warrior and poet, strategist and seer, Orella walks the delicate line between legacy and destiny. Their most uncanny gift lies in the ancient art of cleromancy, and their chief counsel in these rituals is an otherworldly six-eyed newt, a creature said to have emerged from the springs beneath the Cave of the Oracle. The newt’s smooth, translucent skin glimmers with the shifting patterns of time itself, and through its touch, Orella gleans fleeting visions of possible futures. On occasions, Orella partakes in the sacred rite of contact: licking the creature’s skin to absorb its secretions, which grant both powerful regeneration and the ability to peer beyond the veil of time. It was through this act that Orella foresaw their mother’s downfall and issued a warning: a blood moon, a banquet, a blade. But Oretta, ever proud and dismissive of augury, ignored the prophecy. At the Banquet of Rome, Cliza struck, and Oretta’s head fell. After Oretta’s death, Orella did not seek vengeance, but transformation, initiating major benevolent changes to the ruling of the seas.

​

​

Full storyline