Merrow

Merrow

Sobriquets

Tritons, Deep Ones, Fishfolk, Fendwellers, Vodyanoi, Mentats

Realm Affiliation: Day

The Merrow are touched by the realm of Day, a realm where sky and ocean merge. They are rational, calm, curious people who look as if they are at home beneath the waves as they are on land. They are a Lineage that expresses itself physically in a number of ways, and Lineage strength varies greatly based on part how inhuman they appear (as opposed to Changeling and Cambion Lineage, for example, which tends to appear more human at all levels).

The Merrow Lineage is intended to appeal to players who want to create “clever” or magical character concepts, but it would also work in conjunction with espionage agents, scouts and loremasters of all types. Fans of Lovecraft and his successors can be mysterious or sinister Deep Ones and play up the alien and magical elements. People who don’t like Lovecraft can play more with the calm, focused elements, the “Wu Lung” elements, and become civil servants and canny warriors.

The Merrow encourage an element of “eastern”, “vulcan” or even “vorlon” roleplaying tropes without becoming Japanese/Chinese. The concept allows for “alien” roleplaying by having apparent character aberrations, but without tipping over into comedy Malkavian madness.

Merrow Trappings

Merrow combine elements of fish, dolphin/porpoise and Eastern Dragon. The Eternals of the Realm of Day have a “split” based on whether you are going “down” or “up” in the Realm. The deep eternals are more fish-like, and a bit more “Cthulhoid” wheras the high eternals are more like eastern dragons and swim through the air. The rank-and-file Eternals are more humanoid, closer to the Merrow PCs.

With an eye to the trappings – the physical changes that set a Merrow apart from a human without Lineage – I’ve put together this short list. The “required trapping” is intended to be the baseline thing that defines a Merrow as a Merrow – a starting point from which to build a look based on how “lineaged” a character wants to be.

Required Trapping : Gills or Barbels

Latex gills (not lines drawn on the neck). Barbels are hanging tendrils around the mouth, like those of a catfish, the “moustaches” of an oriental dragon, or even something suggestive of D&D illithid facial tentacles. Most likely the gills will be the required trapping and the barbells move down to the other trappings list.

Other Trappings

Webbed fingers – possibly with talons. Mottled skin – blue, green or blue-green colouration is likely, but there is also the possibility of brighter shades (like a carp) or more metallic shades to underline the Day theme. Hair colour may naturally complement skin colour or be absent altogether. Pale or bulbous eyes – costume contact lenses or mask prosthetics. Fins on head or forearms – Maelstrom Axolotl-style head fins, for example, or arm pieces that suggest fins or fronds. Quiet voices – Merrow don’t have to whisper but they often have quiet voices.

Roleplaying Merrow

Merrow blood influences the character of the one who possesses it. Not every Merrow expresses these effects to the same degree, but characters who strongly express these roleplaying effects often possess stronger blood than those who do not. Merrow are curious. They want to know things. Some are experts – they are fascinated by an area of understanding and seek to master it. Others are polymaths and want to know absolutely everything.

Merrow are calm and cerebral. They think about things before they act, they are rational, and they try to keep strong emotions in check. When their emotions break free, however, it’s like a storm or a tidal wave that carries them along.

Merrow are focused. They pursue the things that interest them with stubborn doggedness, persevering despite the setbacks and having remarkable fortitude. Once they set their mind to something it is very hard to dissuade them. They are very goaloriented, making them excellent researchers, spies, civil servants and the like.

Some Merrow become alien. Their pursuit of knowledge becomes all consuming, their calm restraint becomes cold emotionlessness, and their focus becomes obsession. They perform horrific experiments to expand their knowledge. They watch dreadful events out of interest as to how they will play out. They stop thinking about things in a human way and start to think about them in a detached, monstrous way. They satisfy their curiosity for the sake of learning something new rather than to gain any practical advantage. They ignore and discard anything that doesn’t fit in with their obsessions, and are quite capable of just killing anyone who has something they want or gets between them and something they are interested in.

The Blood

Despite their appearance, Merrows are as warm blooded and mammalian as any human. They mate and breed just like humans do, they often have hair, and they give birth to live offspring. Merrow children are born with gills – they may actually be more fishy when born and get less fishy as they get older. I have a vision of Merrow babies spending most of their time in the water, and coming out onto land later on, but this might be too peculiar for the field.

Possible Advantage : Underwater Breath

Merrow with gills may be able to breathe underwater for about an hour before they need to surface and use their lungs. I don’t think this is anything more than a “roleplaying effect” or the ability to win bets about how long you can hold your head in a bucket of water.

Lines of the Merrow

Merrow have been included in Nation briefs in a few places. They exist as “Fendwellers” in the Marches, as Boatmen in the League, and as Brass Coast orphans sent to be raised in Orison. Inclusion in other briefs could follow this formula – underlining the idea of the Merrow as being slightly outside normal people, distanced by their appearance and their