Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish comprise an order of marine mollusks. Extremely intelligent, though short-lived, cuttlefish can change color and texture to hide from predators or communicate with each other. Their unique internal shell allowed them to survive ocean acidification and, along with squid and octopi, flourish in the oceans of the Fifth World.
#Human relations
People in coastal areas hunt cuttlefish for meat. They also frequently save the creature's ink sac and incorporate the brown ink into sauces. They also use the brown ink in art, body paint, and as a clothing dye.
#Cuttlefish People
A community that specializes in relation with cuttlefish will invariably live on or by the sea and subsist primarily on seafood. They will likely respect cuttlefish for their cleverness and shape-changing, perhaps even telling stories about cuttlefish trickster figures. They may incorporate lots of brown ink in their art and clothing, in honor of this creature.
Cuttlefish people will take great care not to hunt too much cuttlefish, so as to maintain ecological balance. Perhaps they'll have a tradition of moving from place to place, fishing in certain places only at certain times of year. Their wizards may go into trances to communicate with the cuttlefish, a spirit representative of the local cuttlefish, or an aquatic Keeper of the Game, to ask how many they may take in that particular season. Any more than the agreed-upon number constitutes murder rather than hunting, and the community will have to answer for that transgression.
Cuttlefish people must, by necessity, also have mastered boat-making, sailing, and catching other sea-meats. They'll likely catch cuttlefish with hook-and-line fishing, making use of bait. All of this -- wood for boating; and materials for making sails, nets, lures, and fishing lines -- will require some time on land. Cuttlefish people may care for the trees they use to make their boats, perhaps developing a scouting tradition to protect the forests from outsiders who might cut them down. Or they may practice a small amount of gardening; growing hemp or bamboo for rope, sails, nets, and lines. Alternatively, they may simply trade with people on land for the materials they need to survive at sea.
Cuttlefish love flashing colors like orange, red, purple, and green, and bright, colorful lures provide some of the best means of catching them. Communities specializing in relationship with cuttlefish may therefore have a tradition of “cuttlefish callers”: people skilled at luring cuttlefish to the surface with shiny or colorful objects. People will likely pass down particularly effective lures from generation to generation. Some of these lures may have originated in the ancestors' ancient landfills -- bits of old glass or metal or CDs or plastic beads. A truly dedicated cuttlefish caller might go so far as to delve into old landfills or ruins for new lure material -- a dangerous endeavor.
As sailors, cuttlefish people understand the necessity of food that keeps. They likely dry much of the cuttlefish they catch, to preserve it for long sea voyages. If they themselves don't like to sail far, they may trade dried cuttlefish with communities that do, or with sea traders on regular sailing routes. They may make dried cuttlefish in a variety of flavors, mixing it with various spices grown on land, or even coconut sugar for a sweet-and-salty taste. Certain community members might become known for their excellent dried cuttlefish recipes, impressing neighboring communities when they bring their dried cuttlefish to yearly festivals.
The cuttlefish's intelligence, creativity, and adaptability will inspire any community that gets to know them. The cuttlefish may become the subject of that community's trickster tales. Communities that specialize in relationship with cuttlefish will likely have ceremonies and/or festivals honoring the cuttlefish. Celebrants may dress up as cuttlefish and dance in ways that emulate their speed and grace underwater, imitate the cuttlefish's color-changing and camouflaging abilities with body paint, or even playfully throw brown ink on each other!