Meragi

## Meragi General Information

### History

Commonly known as “Merfolk” or “Sirens”, Meragi are denizens of the oceans and seas. The reason for the two separate terms is simply because of the two different factions of the Meragi. In ancient times, some 3700+ years ago, a village sank beneath the waves, swallowed by the rising sea levels. The elders, desperate to save their people, made a deal with a dragon of the deep. In return for protecting the dragon and serving it, the dragon used its magic to alter the humans into an entirely new creature. Thus the Meragi were born.

However, the exertion of creating the Meragi drained the dragon and when it came close to the surface human hunters finished the job of weakening the dragon before mortally wounding it. The weak, wounded sea dragon drifted down to the ocean floor, where the Meragi found it.Efforts were made to heal it but there was nothing they could do, the wound was too deep. Once the dragon was dead the Meragi chose to eat it, and in eating it they were infused with the residual draconic magic. Once humans, the Meragi were now so different they erased any mention in their oral history of them ever being human at all. There are very few Meragi left alive who remember the truth.

The once small village grew through the eons, turning into entire cities spread across the ocean floor. Most cities remain a closely guarded secret, though both factions do have a capital city. After a few hundred years the Meragi suffered a major division of ideals, one side believing they should try to broker peace with the other species, if only for the benefit of trade with them and genetic diversity. The other side believed the other species were beneath them, since Meragi came from the magic and blood of a dragon, and wanted to be isolationists.

The war was long and bloody, but it ended in the isolationists being banished to the depths of the oceans, forbidden to return to shore. The exiles came to be known as Sirens, a name engineered by the faction who came to call themselves Merfolk. Though of the same species, the two factions have been divided long enough for their cultures to be vastly different. Meragi who have been exiled but refuse to join the Sirens are known simply as the Forgotten. They are shunned by both factions, will often be killed on sight by both, and rarely survive very long on their own.

### Meragi Special Features

* Tail - All Meragi are born with a long tail in place of legs. These tails are covered in miniaturized Dragon Scales and can be near any color. Meragi are often hunted for their tails.
* Eyes - Meragi eyes may sometimes appear to be completely black, including the whites of their eyes. This allows their eyes to take in all available light when in the absolute darkness of the ocean’s deepest depths. Otherwise they look and operate the same way that feline eyes do.
* Bones - Due to needing to withstand the crushing depths of the deepest ocean trenches their bones are extremely dense, making breaking them using conventional force near impossible. This along with a little bit of their innate magic prevents their bodies from being crushed.
* Size - The Dragon blood coursing through the Meragi means they are typically larger than an average Human. The oldest Meragi that yet live measure just slightly over 9', unless one includes the fins at the bottom of their tail in this measurement which can increase this measurement up to 2'. The older a Meragi, the larger they are. It is not known if they ever stop growing, they simply grow at a greatly decreased rate after they reach maturity.

## Siren Specific Information

The Sirens built their capital city atop the bones of the Dragon that created them. This city came to be known as Delphria and is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Sirens. Deep in the heart of one of the ocean's darkest trenches one can find the center of Siren civilization and the seat of their Queen Alpha. The city itself has been built into the walls and along the floor of the trench but the heart of the city was built within a large cave found near the base of the trench.

### Society

Sirens prioritize personal strength, quite usually of the physical variety. A weak willed or weak bodied Siren was not known to live very long past birth. Some of this was born of necessity, as when they were first exiled they had few trained warriors, and even fewer hunters. They had to learn how to survive in an ocean full of things that were bigger and stronger than them.

Sirens are, almost, exclusively female because the children of male Sirens are prone to violent madness. The cause of this has never been discovered, though it never was truly investigated. The Alpha Queen made the call to kill all living male Sirens and the order was carried out throughout their cities. Male Sirens born after this order were also subject to being killed at birth. Only around 1 in 10 males are kept alive, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how many they have alive at the time.

These males are treated as little more than rabid beasts, good only to be trained and unleashed for battle. Otherwise they are kept in cages, they are not taught to read and write, they are not taught anything beyond what

they need to know to fight alongside their handler. Male Sirens also are forbidden from breeding. If a male Siren ever tries to speak to an Alpha, a Priestess, or the Queen Alpha they will be killed where they are.

Alphas are the Elite Warriors among the Sirens and often serve directly under the Queen Alpha, Thalassa.