Mero

The unfettered mero are nearly as old as the erephim. They awakened with the first river and found comfort in its shallows. Though they learned agriculture from the erephim, they prefer to flow with their rivers. They are cyclic nomads, maintaining loose camps called harborages to which tribes of mero come and go. Often a harborage is surrounded by lightly cultivated stretches of both land and water crops and its waters stocked with fish. Most harborages have at least one resident spirit who can advise which chores need tending when a new tribe arrives. Although the other races mistake the mero's wanderings as random, the folk adhere to a complicated but flexible pattern of migration that allows them to anticipate when any given harborage will be free for their use.

The mero love story and song and are renowned for their beguiling voices. Riverlands populated by the mero ring with near constant song. Celebration comes easily to them, the slightest event inspiring them to rise in joy. Other races sometimes find the mero frivolous for such behavior, as extended stays in their presence seem little more than an unending festival. In truth, the mero attend their daily routines through such celebration, which helps them maintain their focus for long periods of time.

Though the mero can breathe underwater, they are more comfortable on the shores and shallows, entering the deep mostly for play and food. They need not stay near water, and their wandering regularly takes them away from it. A return to the riverbank is always cause for a grand festival, though.

The mero are a willowy, lithe folk. Their skin is covered with tiny, metallic scales and often speckled with rosettes of algae that glow faintly in the dark. Their hair is commonly flowing and long in the greens and browns of water plants. Short fins line the back of their arms and legs, and some have whisker-like spines that sprout above their lips.