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**Mer** is a [[technology:avatar|default-avatared]] Fragment <del>based on</del> essentially identical with Hanna Barbara's **Pirates of Dark Water** (with some differences). ===== Description ===== Mer is a moon of a ringed gas giant in the habitable zone of its star. It is a warm world consisting of considerably more water than land; about 90% of its surface consists of ocean. It has no polar ice caps, but it does have bands of weather, where the equatorial temperatures are higher than those of the poles (where it can get very cold, just not to the point of developing lasting ice). Due to its erring on the side of warm, it is quite prone to thunderstorms, and completely cloudless days are essentially unheard of. It's inhabited by several sapient species, the fewest of which live in perfect harmony with each other - but active trade bridges the worst of the cultural clashes and the species do not commonly live in segregated areas. It's more common that groups or clans of a particular species splinter off the mainstream culture of their kind and live by themselves. The major threat to anyone on Mer is a substance called **Dark Water**, a sentient, shapeless predator that drifts amongst the oceans and can reshape itself at will, tearing ships into the depths much like the mythological Kraken on Earth... but unfortunately infinitely more resilient as well as considerably more common. A minor threat on the side is that the degree to which Dark Water has thinned the population of sapient species in general has led to instabilities - and pirates are a real problem, with one pirate lord, Bloth, extorting whole harbour cities. ==== Deviations from canon ==== Removed: * Mer has no //Dark Dweller//. (We just don't like one-dimensional villains like that.) * Mer has no //Morpho//. (See above. It does have //Dark Disciples//, though! But they're different, obviously.) * We killed //Ren// in Mer's backstory. That's screwed up a lot as far as canon plot goes, of course. ;D Interpretation: * Dark Water as a pain killer stems from pinkgothic's interpretation of "//A Drop Of Darkness//" - //Cray// seems horrified, not in pain, despite //dissolving// thanks to the drop she ingested. * The planetary system is my observation of the greatly varying moon size in Mer, and their erratic lighting, plus of course the gas giant in the sky. * Ecomancers in canon //probably// take their energy from Andorian soil only, but since we never see //Tula// obsessing with the substance (at all), I consider her taking her energy from the wind; which in turn spawned the thought that if wind and soil can be a source (where //Teron// clearly could not take his strength from the wind alone, so it would seem like each individual has their own source, rather than all sources working for all ecomancers), perhaps less... orthodox sources are also possible. * Leviathan skin is frequently cited as the only thing able to withstand Dark Water. I consider this an urban legend, since we see Dark Water trying to ensnare people repeatedly and being repelled without leaving any acid marks or any lasting damage whatsoever. I think any substance can 'withstand Dark Water', providing it isn't enveloped in it or (if it's a creature) has ingested any of it, in which case all bets are off. I also imagine that Dark Water can't stomach non-organic substances, so rocks, sand, glass and comparable objects are quite capable of containing it. * Treasures can be guided by skilled ecomancers to half-merge with a creature and protect it - but it does a shoddy job at it. See Andorus. Addition: * **Tsawa** are strange creatures with the neck and head of a swan, a long, whip-like tail, and distantly bat-like, triangular leathery wings attached to a hindlegless body. Singular is 'Tsawan' or 'Tsawar' depending on context; former is self-claimed, the other term is more of a reference to the species, thus used in a derogatory fashion. Like //many// sapient winged species on Mer, Tsawa are chiefly oppressed. They're rare, though, so their story is hardly well-known - even to members of their own kind. * **Rael** and **Vesh** are two major gods alongside Kunda, considered a rough triad with the prime deity. * **Nado** is [[http://pinkgothic.deviantart.com/art/Synnecrosis-Part-1-201332698|the island Azur's backstory plays on]] and is entirely non-canon. * **Mnadira** is [[http://pinkgothic.deviantart.com/art/Mnadira-217696045|a somewhat freakish looking island]] that takes after the Dragon's Maw's idea of physics, i.e. we can make water do crazy plateau-like things in the middle of the ocean. * **Vool** and **Cascadea** are the locations for two Treasures that have yet to be described. Naming: * The character in the Abbey of Galdabar has been named //Tafar//. * The island of the Mobos has been named //Azacea//. * The sea around Cray's Citadel has been named //Setadi Ocean//. * Firfrey's species has been named //Jacorda//. * The island the Atani live on has been named //Atanon//. * The ocean from The Little Leviathan has been named //Natai Ocean//. ==== Religion ==== Kunda is considered the god of wind (also the benign lack thereof) and air and the two Merian moons (partly responsible for the tides as they are). Meanwhile, Vesh and Rael are responsible for the sky-and-sun and ground-and-water respectively. In other words, Mer has layer system of gods. Also, Kunda's the only good-guy, which is why no one in their right mind would praise anything else. ===== Activity ===== ==== Sessions ==== * [[http://wildcard.thorngale.net/news/log-012-mer/12.html|#012]] * [[http://wildcard.thorngale.net/news/log-023-mer/24.html|#023]] {{tag>[work-in-progress]}}