Berbous

Berbous was the original merfolk Empire of the Otarian Sea on Dominaria. It was ruled by Emperor Tajaras. 
==Description==
This empire used a 30-year cycle of renewal to bolster its ranks, where most of its population would sacrifice themselves to magically hatch a new, larger generation of eggs. This also ensured that hatched merfolk would be magically compliant to follow their Emperor's directives during the first 10 years of their lives. 
Hatched in exactly this way, Laquatus was deeply resentful of Tajaras having dominated his will in the first years of his life. Laquatus had risen in ranks to become a courtier and advisor to Tajaras, but secretly plotted to overthrow him. Tajaras called Laquatus out on his schemes and humiliated him in a duel. Seething, Laquatus contacted the rivaling cephalid kingdom further south and recruited king Aboshan to his cause. Together, Laquatus and Aboshan staged a coup during the Festival of Rebirth, disrupting the ritual after most of the merfolk had already sacrificed themselves to the Emperor's spell, and laying claim to the magically hatching eggs. As fighting broke out, the eggs, morphed by cephalid ink and Laquatus's magic, hatched not a new generation of merfolk, but cephalids instead. Tajaras and the rest of his court then quickly fell to the large force of cephalids taking over, with Aboshan instilling himself as the new Emperor of the Mer Empire, with the former glory of Berbous fading into obscurity.Vance Moore, J. Robert King, ed. (2002.) "Stolen Harvest", The Secrets of Magic, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 0-7869-2710-0.
==References==
Category:Otarian locations