"The Alraen is the world of Being. The Hraen is the world of Nothingness. But the Oraen... the Oraen is the world of Becoming. And it wishes for all things to become part of it."
—From the writings of a Valari sea-scholar
Overview
To the maritime cultures of Nhera, the sea is not a simple body of water. It is a living, thinking, and profoundly malevolent entity. The Eldar call it the Oraen (lit. "The Expanse"), a term that defines it as a distinct and primal world unto itself. It is the domain of the Elder Fathom, an ancient and inscrutable consciousness that slumbers in the deepest trenches, whose dreams and desires manifest as the currents, the storms, and the insidious song that haunts all who sail upon its surface.
A Tripartite World: Alraen, Hraen, and Oraen
The ancient Eldar do not see the world as a simple globe, but as three distinct, interconnected realms:
The Alraen: The Surface World; the domain of land, air, and the light of Asra. This is the world of the living.
The Hraen: The Dark Below; the subterranean abyss of stone and shadow, the realm of the Druhau and ancient, forgotten things.
The Oraen: The great oceans that connect and divide the lands of the Alraen. The surface of the Oraen is a place of travel and trade, but its crushing depths are a gateway to the Hraen's horrors, and its very substance is the body of the Fathom.
The Mind in the Deeps
The sentience of the Oraen is the Elder Fathom. It is not a god to be worshipped, but a primordial force of nature whose motivations are alien to mortal minds. What scholars have gleaned suggests its consciousness is driven by two overriding impulses:
A Consuming Loneliness: The Fathom desires companionship, but its nature is corrupting. It cannot create, only claim. It draws mortals to its depths, and in their drowning, their souls are remade into the monstrous U'lythia, the Fathom's "children" and eternal servants.
A Possessive Love: The Fathom views everything upon or within its waters as a possession. A ship is a trespasser, a curious trinket to be played with and eventually broken. A captain of great will or a sailor of strong spirit is seen as a potential consort, an object of intense, possessive desire to be lured into its eternal embrace.
The Song and the Grasp
The Fathom's will manifests in two primary ways, making the Oraen the most dangerous environment on Nhera:
The Song of the Oraen: This is the Fathom's psychic voice, a constant, low-frequency broadcast that permeates the deep ocean. For most sailors, it is a source of paranoia and madness, the "whispers" that drive crews to mutiny and despair. For those with stronger wills, like naval captains, the song is more personal and seductive—a direct temptation to surrender to the "peace" of the abyss.
The Grasping Currents: In the uncharted deeps, the Fathom can exert its will physically. The currents of the Oraen can become actively hostile, thickening to the consistency of tar and grasping a ship's keel. This is the Fathom's hunting tactic: to slow and hold its prey, extending the crew's exposure to its maddening song while its servants converge.