Encyclopaedia Elysia | Places / Nemo

Nemo is not only the name of a Nymph commune, but also that of the Gigan Khelonas upon which it was “built”. The creation of this commune was necessitated by the eruption of the Three Sisters, which threatened to destroy the coast where Nemo (a Gigan Khelonas) and the Nymphs of the Nemo commune lived (at the time, the two were separate entities).

The commune of Nemo was comprised of mostly Nyads, with a few Ayads and Dryads. It was a small commune with a population of only 50 individuals, and there was no gender segregation. The isolated location of the commune (on a Dardanian coast at the foot of the volcano) meant that it’s Nymphs were unaccustomed to outsiders, but were particularly attuned to nature, and very resourceful.

Nemo was also the name of a young Gigan Khelonas who had been living alone on that same coast since his mother abandoned him there a year after his birth. Nemo found fending for himself difficult as his body was not fully grown, and was thus unaccustomed to being underwater for any great period of time or at any great depths. He had only a partially grown shell, and he shied away from the ocean depths in his unprotected state. Nemo came to the attention of the Nymphs when in desperation, he began to eat the rocks and trees upon the coast they called home.

The commune took guardianship over Nemo, guiding him into the water and teaching him to feed on waste from the seabed. One nymph in particular, Jules, was a skilled Wanderer who bonded with Nemo and was able to “tame” him completely. With the aid of Jules and the Nymphs of Nemo, the young Gigan formed a sturdy shell with which to protect himself. The Nymphs encouraged the Gigan to leave the coast and venture into the ocean depths alone (as would benefit a creature of such size and hunger) but Nemo had grown too attached to the Nymphs and frequently returned to their commune.

This manner of living lasted for a year until the volcano erupted. Fearing the destruction of their commune, the Nymphs climbed atop Nemo, who – encouraged by Jules – swam them far from the continent, to safety. Their home destroyed, the Nymphs held council on their next course of action. Being a largely Nyad commune, the majority of the Nymphs were comfortable to remain living on Nemo’s back as he swam the oceans, until they came across a land in which they could settle. This way of living was surprisingly sustainable for the Nymphs – the sea offered them materials with which to clothe, entertain, equip and feed themselves. Nemo’s shell (as is typical of Gigan Khelonas shells) was formed of the inorganic structures he had consumed; some large enough to serve as small huts in which the Nymphs could shelter themselves. Shell formed from the prow of a ship provided a community space in which the council met to discuss which area of land to guide Nemo to next, so that the Nymphs could gather land-based resources and scope out potential settlement areas.

As Nemo grew older, however, he increasingly wanted to dive to the depths of the ocean in order to feed from the seabed. The Nymphs, not wanting to deprive him of this, used their elemental manipulation skills in order to create a bubble of air with which to isolate the commune from the water as Nemo dived. The Nymphs worked in teams and shifts in order to allow Nemo to spend greater periods of time in the ocean’s depths. As time passed, the Nymph’s skills grew, and Nemo was deep under the water more often than not.

What is known of Nemo is known only because of a previous inhabitant; an Ayad named Verne Phantos. He left the commune in 9980 XA, and told those he met of his old home. He claims to have left because his fellow Nymphs appeared to be all too comfortable living atop Nemo; Verne feared that they would abandon the search for a land on which to settle in favour of remaining aboard the Gigan. No new information has emerged about Nemo, however. It is not known if the commune was able to maintain this manner of living. There are many who doubt that it ever existed in the first place.