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Science
How is the city lit?
The grand capital of Rebma exists approximately 2000ft below the Sea's surface. The sun is a mere bright spot in the distant rippling 'sky', its rays unable to touch the city, and so both nature and magic are at work to make Rebma City a ghostly beacon for undersea travelers. In the tradition of their distant territorial holdings throughout the realm, the bioluminescent properties of various fish, invertebrates, and plants are utilized by the public to light their domiciles and businesses. More constant and powerful are the magic spheres emanating misty green light, along the major thoroughfares and Upper City, leading to the Palace. Adepts of Sea Magic are employed nightly to illuminate significant structures such as the Palace and Great Archives with torchlight that can somehow burn as easily underwater as in air.
What do Rebmans eat and drink?
Rebman diet is as varied as any, requiring the same nutritional basics for energy and health. Most products that occur on land have a counterpart undersea: Wild game and domesticated meats and fats; leafy vegetables and roots; dairy (whale); and grains. Amongst their largest imports are fruits and alcohol. Allll sorts of alcohol! Rebmans, especially purebloods, avoid ingesting extra water that would upset their natural salt balance, therefore recreational drinks tend to have high alcohol content. Rebman mixology is a celebrated aspect of their culture and topsiders partake at their own liver's peril.
How do Rebmans cook?
How do Rebmans eat and drink?
The civilized Rebman serves food in bite-sized portions to avoid clouding the water during mealtime. Drinks are served in closed containers with a one-way spout to preserve the
How do Rebmans dispose of waste?
The Sea is vast and in parts almost fathomless. Most things that sink beneath the waves are lost and forgotten, a notion that also applies as much to unwanted articles as valuable items. Amber's sewer dumps heedlessly into a cesspit that pollutes an area off shore. That and Rebma's own organic waste and junk has to flush somewhere, and that is where the system of undersea currents comes in. Rebman sanitary crews know of a series of connections which garbage can be routed along to take the masses far out to Sea and into the Wild Waters, where it is farewell forever to filth. Even so, there is still a lot of detritus that is swept in other directions, and rumours of a massive collection site somewhere in Rebma have fed the ambitions of salvagers and treasure-seekers alike.
How can Rebmans breathe both water and air?
Intellectual curiosity is all well and good, but the only correct answer to this is to say that Rebmans are the Chosen Ones of the Sea, and that's why they can breathe underwater, plain and simple. When they go up and around on land, who says they are breathing air at all, since the Sea's water remains in their lungs? That said, Rebman physiology is remarkable and complex, and doctors are, at the current level of medicine in Amber, unable to give definitive answers.
Can Rebmans breathe alcohol, coffee, tea, etc?
Short answer is: yes. But as with any impurity in water, they are better off holding their breath, as the accumulated chemicals will intoxicate their bloodstream to dangerous levels.
How do air-breathing visitors survive after leaving Rebma?
Medical
How do Rebmans treat bleeding?
Bleeding underwater is a serious concern, and anything larger than a superficial fleshwound can amount to a death sentence especially as traces of blood will attract predators from the surrounding vicinity. Isolating the wound in a watertight plaster, and then the patient safely indoors, is the typical treatment in rural areas, however the Rebman Mandrake Hospital has developed hydrochambers to promote speedy wound closure and tissue regeneration. Additionally, Dilwen alchemists have created a powerful compound dating back to the Triton Wars that coagulates over wounds and removes blood seepage from the waters. Redeveloped for civilian use, a pack of these vials is a must-have on any trips out of the capital.
How do Rebmans undergo surgery?
Can Rebmans catch colds?
Can Rebmans get thirsty and dehydrate?