Vellari

Overview

The Vellari are amphibious water people with gills and smooth wet skin. Their homeworld is Thalassa-Nine, an ocean world. They are the ice haulers of the Drift. Their tug fleets fly to the cold edges of star systems, catch comets and chunks of ice with nets and harpoon lines, and tow them to dry worlds and stations. There the ice is cut up and melted. Most fresh water in the Drift started as Vellari ice.

Most worlds and stations are dry or have bad water. Water is sold by the ton at the docks. Vellari ice is the good stuff. Cheap water is recycled and tastes like it. That makes the Vellari rich, needed, and a target.

History and Worlds

Vellari life began in the seas of Thalassa-Nine, in reef towns and floating harbors. When they reached space, they found a galaxy full of ice and short of water. In the year 3 their haul fleets started regular ice runs to dry worlds. The old hauling families grew into the great ice-hauling houses, and the heads of those houses formed the Grand Council.

The Vellari constellation has four worlds.

• Thalassa-Nine is the ocean homeworld. The Grand Council meets in Tidehall there, and the biggest haul fleets are based in its orbit.

• Brinelight is an ocean world of big reef farms. Its reef-grown hull plating is used in shipyards across the Drift, and it sells preserved fish and seaweed.

• Deepmere is a cold ocean world where Vellari grow kelp for fuel under big domes. Its tanker runs pay well and get raided often.

• Salt Crown turns brine into chemicals and builds pumps. It sits on the busiest ice route in the Drift, and syndicates have run rackets on the Salt Crown corridor for years.

In the year 82 came the Salt Crown ice-jacking wave. Syndicates hijacked Vellari tugs up and down the corridor and sold the stolen ice at dry docks. The Grand Council answered with armed escorts and huge bounties. Ice jacking never fully stopped.

Body

Vellari have smooth wet skin from pale blue to deep green, gill slits on the neck that open under water, and wide dark eyes that see well in dim water. Their legs are strong for swimming and for walking on wet decks. They handle salt water and cold far better than most species.

Their weak point is dryness. A Vellari who stays dry too long gets tired, then sick, then confused. On a dry ship they carry a mister, keep a wet towel around the neck, and sleep in a humid cabin or a tub. Most Vellari wear tight, waterproof clothes with simple house patterns and skip heavy armor.

Culture and Daily Life

Vellari life centers on water. Meetings start with a dish of preserved fish, a jar of brine pickles and a cup of clean water. Wasting water is the rudest thing a guest can do. Deals are settled around a kitchen table or a harbor pool, not in an office.

Most Vellari grow up on a tug or around one. Children learn to swim before they walk. Then they learn to mend nets, handle a harpoon line and fly a tug. Tug crews are usually family and can spend months in the dark on one run. They play cards, sing old hauling songs, and fight about whose turn it is in the tub.

Festivals mark the end of a haul season, the launch of a new tug, and the return of crews everyone thought were lost. The food is good and the water is the best in the Drift.

Vellari manners are direct. Do not waste water. Do not lie about a delivery. If a tug crew is in trouble, you help.

Politics and Law

The Grand Council rules the Vellari from Tidehall on Thalassa-Nine. Its members are the heads of the old ice-hauling houses. The Council decides where the big haul fleets go each season. Friendly worlds get their ice on time. Worlds that cross the Council find their ice late.

In droughts the Council sends free relief hauls to worlds that cannot pay. That has made the Vellari loved on the Rim, where one relief tug can save a town.

The Council's big problem is ice jacking. Pirates and syndicates hijack loaded tugs and sell the stolen ice. The Council posts some of the biggest bounties in the Drift on ice jackers, and their faces are on posters in every Vellari port.

Towns and harbors run their own affairs through house elders and harbor councils. Big fights between houses go to Tidehall.

Work and Risk

Most Vellari work is on the water or on the ice. Tug crews catch and tow ice. Cutter crews break it up at the docks. Pump and tank crews keep water moving through stations and domes. Reef farmers on Brinelight grow hull plating and food. Kelp crews on Deepmere grow fuel.

The dangers are long runs in the dark, ice that cracks under tow, engines that fail far from help, and ice jackers. Hunting ice jackers is one of the best-paying bounty jobs in the Drift. Escorting a tug through the Salt Crown corridor is steadier work.

How Others See Them

Most people see the Vellari as hard bargainers who keep their word. Dry worlds need Vellari ice and do not always like it. On the Rim, a Vellari tug pulling into dock means water, and people cheer.

• Keth lane updates tell Vellari tugs which routes are safe.

• Talarq trade parts for ice and water.

• Caraphex clades often do the ice cutting at the docks.

• Sereans trade storm chemicals for water.

• Humans buy the most ice.

• Synthborn often handle the pay on big ice deals, and Vellari trust them to do it straight.