About ARIA * The Manga * The Anime * The PS2 Game * Characters * Aqua * People Neo-Venezia * Other Places * Aqua's Calendar * Professions on Aqua   Professions on Aqua　アクアでの職業     In Neo-Venezia, there are four special professions which support and encapsulate the very essence of the city. Not a day could go by on Aqua without the important work of the salamanders and gnomes, who keep the planet's weather and gravity under control. Similarly, the city would grind to a halt without the contributions made by the sylph messengers and undine tourist guides. It is also a curious coincidence that the four professions coincide with the four elements; undine - water, salamander - fire, gnome - earth, and sylph - air.   Undines　ウンディーネ   Undines are by far the most easily recognisable of Aqua's workers; you can't go far into Neo-Venezia without seeing a graceful undine go by on his/her gondola. Unlike Man-Home, the majority of undines in Neo-Venezia are female; however, larger companies employ both women and men.   The job of an undine is predominantly to give tours to visitors on the city's canals. Alongwith an extremely intimate knowledge of the city and its most interesting sights, undines may also have beautiful singing voices as part of their repertoire. Undines can also be helpful in planning the rest of your holiday in Neo-Venezia, giving information about places to go once you've alighted from their gondola. Occasionally, undines can also be employed as transporters of goods, especially of the more delicate type, such as Murano glass.   There are three distinctions marking the level of an undine. When an undine first begins their training, they are known as a 'pair'. This name refers to the fact that they wear two gloves in order to protect their hands. As the undine progresses, they will 'lose' one of these gloves and become a 'single'. Finally, upon finishing their training, the undine is known as a 'prima'. Only upon reaching this milestone may an undine take passengers without an instructor or charge for their services.   The uniform of an undine is distinctive; each company has a different design and colour to differentiate their employees from other companies, however all undine uniforms are white and in a sailor-style. Each company also employs different uniforms for the winter and summer periods; the winter uniforms have longer sleeves and ponchos, while the summer uniforms are short-sleeved.   Salamanders　サラマンダー   Salamanders are very rarely seen upon the surface in Neo-Venezia; they live upon the many floating islands in Aqua's atmosphere, as their job is to monitor and control the planet's weather and temperature. Similarly to undines, there are also many trainee salamanders learning the skills they need to progress.   Gnomes　ノーム   Gnomes live beneath the surface of Aqua. Their job is to watch over the network of pipes in Aqua's crust, along which are fired small but high density gravity balls. Aqua's natural gravity is much less than that of Man-Home, however because of the pipe network and the hard work of the gnomes, Aqua's gravity is kept at a constant 1G.   Sylphs　シルフ   As no vehicles are allowed within the confines of Neo-Venezia (aside from non-motorised waterborne vehicles such as gondolas), a high-speed delivery service is in operation, based on the floating islands. As the ban does not apply to airborne vehicles, sylphs use hover scooters to make deliveries in Neo-Venezia and between the city and other locations on Aqua.