These beings live near wet areas of the world: on coastlines, in marshes, near lakes and swamps. They are strange looking, with a bulbous head attached 8 tentacles that give the beings their name. Archives from those who live near oceans say that these beings resemble ocean creatures such as cuttlefish or octopuses, even saying that the tentacled are like large octopuses that can live on land. Their bodies are extraordinarily flexible, squeezing through tiny cracks and holes, and can change color and shape at will, and they can also breathe water, an ability they make use of to become the greatest fishers, pearl divers, and finders of anything in the oceans. On land, they do not walk as we do, but instead slide along the ground, surprisingly quickly, using some tentacles to support themselves, and some to carry tools or equipment. In water, they become much more free swimming, propelling themselves without an obvious motion, by blowing water out of themselves.
More than anything else, the tentacled are known for their cleverness. Over and over again, from diplomats to traders to soldiers, tentacled all over the world are known to their ability to find weak spots, trickery, the shortcut nobody else would see, or the easy but hard to see way to accomplish whatever they set out to do. At times, this cleverness draws admiration, such as on a monster hunt where the tentacled know exactly where to strike a gigantic sea monster to kill it as rapidly as possible. Sometimes, it draws scorn and anger, such as when the tentacled turn to assassination and ambush as they often do in warfare.
Tentacled seem to have a connection to the ocean and weather. Their main religious organizers are so called rain priests, storm watchers, or current watchers, and their main role is to predict the weather and oceans. Stories suggest they they are quite good at this, although some think that the rain priests either keep their predictions vague, or change predictions as needed to fit what others know will happen anyway. Some also perform ceremonies to draw rain or favorable oceans, although we do not know if they do as promised, or is the ceremonies are simply performed when the desired weather will occur anyway.
Historically, tentacled have lived in small villages, at the largest forming confederations. They are the most fiercely independent of the common beings, refusing to bow down to even the mightiest empires or rulers. We do not know if this is a natural component of their personality planned by the creator, or if the ease of assassination means a disliked ruler or conqueror is quickly killed. One would think that such independence would lead to infighting, but surprisingly, the tentacled have found other ways to work together, organizing themselves in village councils and confederations, relying greatly on reputation and trust, and other simple but unusual methods to come to decisions. And although obedience is nonexistent among the tentacled, and convincing a group means convincing each member, once a decision is made, the tentacled are known to stick quite strongly to it.
If we find ourselves at war with the tentacled, we must be prepared for a frustrating fight. Even less that the other common beings, the tentacled do not like to fight straightforward battles of army against army, instead, preferring to use assassination, ambushes, and surprise attacks as often as possible. But even if they do fight in a straightforward way, their ability to use 4 or even 5 tentacles to carry weapons and shields makes them hard to fight if they can get amongst our own soldiers. Using their abilities to camouflage and squeeze through the smallest of spaces, the tentacled will likely go for our leaders, sabotage our equipment and supplies, and use any other methods to turn the battles before they are even fought. Moving soldiers is dangerous as well, any delay or disorganization invites a hard to spot ambush, as even large numbers of searchers and swarmers will miss well trained tentacled. In battle, we must still keep watch at all times, the best of assassins can hide in small dips in terrain, and strike our most valued soldiers when we are least expecting it. Training a large number of replacement commanders is necessary, as well as constant vigilance, and a knowledge of what the enemy values, so as to force a fight on our own terms if war becomes necessary.
Despite the variety of tentacled confederations, independent towns, and other groups, their cultures, like all the other common beings, seem to fall into 5 general types. The fact that all common beings, including us, seem to divide this way is curious, and our priests and scholars have suggested numerous explanations. But until we can communicate again with our creator, this remains an unexplained oddity of our world.
The most well known type of tentacled culture are the ocean dwellers. These tentacled groups build their livelihood around the oceans more than any other, whether by fishing, monster hunting, kelp gathering, shellfish gathering, or other ways we do not know as much about. What farming or land living they do is even based on the ocean, growing materials for nets and boats, for example. These tentacled are known to be the most physically powerful of the tentacled. As a fits a group living near the ocean, their culture is full of stories of cleverly defeating giant, powerful, enemies, whether the numerous enormous beasts that lie in the far ocean. It was one group of these tentacled that defeated us in the tribute war.
Some tentacled cultures have an uncanny ability to determine whether rains or dryness will come. These, the "rain" cultures, make much of their living by marsh farming. Crops like floatfruit, tall rice, and glowmoss once came from their villages, depending on the weather predicted for that year. Stories of luck and chance, and how to spot opportunities, are their specialty, more than others.
"sailing" tentacled seem to have an affinity for winds, understanding how to use them, and predicting what they will do. These tentacled are most known for trade and fishing, being the best at traveling long distances, and also for catching migrating birds. These tentacled were the first sailors, and throughout history, navies around the world hired mercenaries from these cultures to crew boats.
Tentacled who live near stormy areas are often "mystical" cultures, far more religious than others. These cultures engage in numerous weather rituals, attracting or repelling storms, waves, currents, or other changes. Tentacled in these types of cultures insist that the rituals are effective, but our own priests and scholars are suspicious.
"seasonal" tentacled are the most adaptable, with a society prizing adaptability to changing weather and seasons. These cultures prize adaptability above other cultures, the mark of a respected tentacled in this sort of society is one who can quickly learn many skills, and thrive in any situation.
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