Merfolk Society
Keywords:
MERFOLK-SOCIETY
With the exception of those young enough to be drawn by the Calling, merfolk culture is reserved and their civilizations are largely isolationist. Merfolk empires do not allow themselves to be drawn into wars or conflicts outside those which directly impact them, their people, or their Creator. Beyond those either currently fulfilling their Calling or those exiled from the seas of Tirradyn, merfolk generally lack both the opportunity and desire to interact with the majority of other sentient races. Visitors to the deeps are not unwelcome, but are typically subject to degrees of increasing scrutiny depending upon their stated motivation for visiting.
The structure of merfolk society is a fairly standard monarchy. The monarch must always be female, however, and whomever she chooses for a mate or mates serve the realm as her consort, unable to wield political power of any kind, but expected to perform philanthropic work for the people who serve his Queen.
The factual explanations behind the merpeople's insistence upon a matriarchal society have been lost to time, but the legends surrounding it infer that at some point in the race's distant history, a King's ego and blood thirst drove him to declare war upon the God Nereus, the creator of his species, in a foolish attempt to claim the final "throne of the deeps" for himself. The "Nameless King," as he has since been known, was thus unmade by the God who had created him, and from there forward no merman was permitted a position of ruler ship over others.
The structure of merfolk society is a fairly standard monarchy. The monarch must always be female, however, and whomever she chooses for a mate or mates serve the realm as her consort, unable to wield political power of any kind, but expected to perform philanthropic work for the people who serve his Queen.
The factual explanations behind the merpeople's insistence upon a matriarchal society have been lost to time, but the legends surrounding it infer that at some point in the race's distant history, a King's ego and blood thirst drove him to declare war upon the God Nereus, the creator of his species, in a foolish attempt to claim the final "throne of the deeps" for himself. The "Nameless King," as he has since been known, was thus unmade by the God who had created him, and from there forward no merman was permitted a position of ruler ship over others.