Natriaraequ Clan

The Natriaraequ Clan is a dwarven clan that specializes in the collection of salt and the shipping of goods.

Mining
The Natriaraequ mine in a particular way, known for the meticulous attention paid at every step of the way.

Water is gathered into large downwards-facing conical containers. The containers have a tube leading all the way up to the surface, and inside the tube are mirrors. The mirrors are angled in a specific way - determined by the mathematicians of the Clan - and pointed at the water.

On top of the tube, a lens is placed, powerful enough to evaporate the water but weak enough not to ruin the carefully slathered coral-rubber watertight insides.

Once all of the water is evaporated, and only salt remains, the mirrors are reversed and locked into position, so that nobody touches them. A ladder is put down the tube, and sacks are filled with salt. The salt is then shipped down to the nearby coral city.

Housing
The Natriaraequ live in large cities, built underwater and in large glass domes. The domes can be as much as three feet thick, and the entrance is through numerous airlocks, after which the submarine (the only vessel capable of getting to such cities) is hooked up to a large crane and brought to the dry docks of the city. The saltwater dehydrators are hung from the outside of the glass dome, leaving the dome studded with hangers for saltwater filters.

Not only are the cities in glass domes and deep underwater, but also on top of large plate corals. The plate corals are grown from usual plate corals, but are connected to tubes into which the Natriaraequ pour the nutrients that the corals need, allowing them to become gigantic. The size of each city is like a typical human or elven city, but several of those stacked on top of each other. When the plate coral becomes too large to fit the glass dome, a new one is quickly constructed around the previous one, the water is drained or pumped out, and the previous dome is dismantled. When a Deg decides that the coral is to stop growing, the coral is given enough to survive, not enough to grow.

The Natriaraequ individually live in varied homes, from small rooms or basements of taverns to enormous mansions at the upper layers of the coral city, with the best view of the surrounding reef. As a city grows, it grows only rarely vertically, mainly horizontally, and when it does grow vertically, the rich are quick to buy.

Leadership
Each city is commanded by a Deg, the count of the city, and the cities are united in a loose union. The Natriaraequ claim all waters within three miles of their city, in any direction. This is contested by elven mariners.