Tarketts

Tarketts are a fictional humanoid species originating from the archipelago world of Thalassa, where countless islands create a maritime environment. They live in coastal towns and shipyards, and rely on sea routes for trade, communication, and cultural exchange. The Tarketts have spread across several island clusters and maintain a loose federation governed by a council of clan representatives and a figure called the High Navigator, who oversees maritime affairs and ceremonial leadership.

Anatomy and language: Adults typically stand 1.75–1.90 meters tall, with lean builds suited to climbing rigging. Skin tones range from copper to olive, and hair is usually dark and worn in braids or knots. Facial markings and tattoos are common and often signify clan affiliation or life milestones. They speak Tarkettan, a polysynthetic language that encodes kinship and maritime knowledge in complex verb forms.

Economy and technology: The Tarketts specialize in shipbuilding, ropework, and fisheries. Their boats range from shallow-draft dinghies to longships designed for open-ocean voyaging. They also cultivate salt-curing, resin production, and trading networks. Culturally, they emphasize memory, navigation, and song, with seasonal gatherings that recount ancestral voyages and celestial navigation.

History and relations: The Tarketts are believed to have originated as a seafaring stratum that settled Thalassa's shores thousands of years ago. They developed early writing on carved bone, and later adopted metalworking and woodcarving from interactors. In modern settings within fiction, they maintain autonomous island communities, form protective alliances with neighboring peoples, and adapt to ecological pressures by migrating to higher ground or diversifying livelihoods.