Anglerfishers

Family names are earned by anglerfisher children when they come of age - up until this point, they have only a first name, while their parents have their own family names. Their parents' family names are sometimes different, though this is rare. Family names are not based on relations, but on seafaring style. A child comes of age and earns their family name on their first trip to sea as captain. As in Gallo's case, this can happen for children as young as ten years, for some, not until they are twenty. Those who leave the Anglerfish Harbour and/or are never witnessed to captain a ship never earn a family name.

As said, family names are not given based on relation, and marriage does not result in any family name changes, however, when a child earns their family name, if it is different from their parents', the child's new name will become the parents' family name. However, this name change usually only happens for one parent, as anglerfisher culture is very mentor-oriented, and usually there is only one parent who is the child's mentor. This mentor-parent is chosen mutually between the parent and the child, and is solidified though the child's coming of age. If there are no parents, or no parents are willing to be the child's mentor, the child and anyone else - usually another adult who has taken on a parental role for the child - can agree to a mentor relationship. In this case, when the child earns their family name, the mentor will still change their family name to match the child's.

The family name always resembles a sea creature, and the name is agreed upon by the crew aboard the ship which the child is captain, and the trip will take as long as it must for the crew to make a decision on the name. There are common names which are given to child anglerfishers whose seafaring style fits into a common box, and oftentimes, since the mentor is often one of the child's parents, the seafaring style will match the parents and thus the family name will match the mentor-parent's. Sometimes, however, a child will captain a ship in styles that do not match their mentor's, or will be completely different from what the crew has ever seen before, and thus a new family name will be crafted among the crew, or a different name will be given to the child, and the mentor will change their family name to match.

The child is meant to lead the way into future generations of anglerfishers, which is symbolized their the name changes being led by the child's coming of age.

After the earned family name is given, there is a party hosted by the village in which the child lives. The child and mentor are both celebrated in different ways, because the mentor must be celebrated for bringing the child through into future generations, and the child must be celebrated for the feat of carrying on anglerfish values.

If an anglerfisher does not seafare, they are preparing seafood, drying seafood, eating seafood, preparing boats, or supporting the seafaring way somehow. Anglerfishers have a rich culture as the oldest Umbra settlement on Milfoil Continent - the first Umbrae on Milfoil landed in Seagora, the capital of the Anglerfish Harbour.

It is expected of parents that one of them will be a mentor to their children, who will take on the main role of teaching their child the ways of the anglerfishers, whose lives revolves around the sea and celebrating all that comes from it.

The mentor-mentee relationship is a sacred one which emphasizes the strength of the younger generation and the gentle guidance of the mentor. It emphasizes family who chooses each other for the long run, and resilience of the relationship and the anglerfish culture.

Above all, the anglerfishers respect the sea and all associated with it. The wind is a reflection of the sea's moods and patterns, the cliffs are a result of the sea's relentless perseverance, the sea creatures are the community of the sea.

These values have roots in the Melting, which gave Umbrae the means to come up from Polutin and live on the Surface, as they always believed was meant for them. There are flaws to their values due to the fact that the Anglerfish Harbour and the early seafaring Umbrae who first arrived on Milfoil are colonizers and led to the intimidation and deterioration of many native communities throughout the Molten World. For example, anglerfishers do not acknowledge that fact that they, as the oldest Umbra settlement on Milfoil, were the landing place of the colonizers. Despite this, they tend to see themselves as respectful outsiders, and in many cases they are respectful, but their origins are not. They look down upon manufacturing cultures such as Sparrow and Phoenix Hill for being extractive and whose practices leech into the ocean, without looking at the extractive methods of their own practices.