MerMarch because i said so

[blackmagicduck]

 

Types Of Mermaid:
1.Good: Everything said about merfolks is wrong. They are reclusive, but not evil. Especially not this one. Maybe they even saved you. No matter what, they love you, absolutely. And, were you to be honest, it was love at first sight on your end, too. But that doesn't mean you can be together...at least, not easily.
2. Bad: Come, jolly sailor bold. Come into the arms of a mermaid, and you will not regret it. They will hold you, and you cannot resist, even as you're dashed against the rock.
3. Wild: Good and evil cannot be applied to mermaids here, for they are like any other wild creature, more beast than man. Yet the more they're exposed to the kindness of humans or others who live on land, the more fond they grow towards it - and those who show them that kindness.
4. Ignorant: The mermaid's intentions are good, yet he or she doesn't realize what they could do to hurt their land dweller lover.
5. The Mermaid Dilemma: What can be done if someone wants to do more with a mermaid than give them kisses or sweet words? Not much, it seems. At first glance, that is, though who knows what can happen if one puts their mind to it.
6. Not What Was Expected: Beauty is always expected of a mermaid, but what if such a creature looked more like this? Who could care for such a beast? Well, there's still charm there, and with enough personality, appearances can be looked past.

Scenarios:
1 ♢ Little Mermaid
♢ Mer
♢ One of you is a mer person with something you want. The other is a powerful mage who can possibly give it to you. Can an arrangement be made...?

2 ♢ Exploration
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Whatever you are, your curiosity has gotten the best of you. Whether it's a sunken shipwreck on the bottom of the ocean or a mysterious cove hidden away along the cliffside... Venturing with a friend or running into something unexpected... What will you find?

3 ♢ Exchange
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Sometimes, territories are broached, but it's not always a bad thing. Whether you're of entirely different species, or just from different seas, you've met in peaceful circumstances- perhaps as a direct result of those! So it's time for a cultural exchange. Just ignore the fresh water mer. 

4 ♢ For Science
♢ Mer and Human
♢ This is a one in a lifetime chance.... for at least one person. Are you on an isolated island? A ship far out to sea? A highly funded aquarium? Or perhaps even a laboratory with more than questionable methods... Either way, you have the chance now to study something rarely seen before. How will it turn out for both of you?

5 ♢ Ariel's Dream
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Some say it's impossible for a mer to live on dry land... except that's been quietly proven wrong. One of you has taken to living among humans, whether for years or still learning the ropes. As for the other... Are you a concerned friend, checking in on them from the sea? Or are you a landdweller, stumbling onto a great secret?

6 ♢ Sea Life
♢ Mer and Human
♢ While they have the legs for landdwelling, some humans seem to have more saltwater in their veins than blood, and those are the kinds of humans that end up with dealing with the mysteries of the sea the most. A surfer catching waves with shark mer? A pirate bartering with sirens for safe passage? A fisherman working together with those who know fish best? There's all sorts. 

7 ♢ Stranded
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Well, carp. Good job. One way or another, you're stuck where you shouldn't be. Whether that's a human lost in the tides, or a mer trapped against the land, you need help.... So don't be picky with what you do get. 

8 ♢ Siren Song
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Sometimes, there's a good reason people fear the too wide expanse of the sea, or how deep its depths an reach... Strange songs which string through coastal towns and cause disappearances... The sound of something slipping through the water around a ship in the dead of night... Unexplained shapes which flicker outside of deep-sea vessels or submarines or installations. Do you want to know what's out there? 

9 ♢ Capture
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Sometimes, there's a good reason why people fear humans. You don't belong here, being gawked at through thick aquarium glass or trapped in a too-small freakshow tank, but what can you do? Is there anyone who cares for your plight, or are there only people responsible for it?

10 ♢ Chance Encounter
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Well, this is awkward. You didn't mean to stumble onto a mer just... there, doing whatever, on the beach or by the docks or tangled up in your fishing net, but, well. It's happened. Now what?

11 ♢ Transformation
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ For one reason or another, you want to go where you've never gone before... A mer, venturing on the land either as a rare chance or every day business? Or a human, accepting some sort of trade or just to run away from the life you have now? Either way, it might get messy.... Feel free to mix in with other scenarios. 

12 ♢ Fantasy Meets Fantasy
♢ Mer and OTHERS!
♢ Who's to say that humans are the only other creatures in the world? Maybe people living beneath the sea's waves aren't the only strange things. Maybe there are centaurs who travel along coastal roads to watch the night sky along with mer astronomers. Perhaps selkies are just distant cousins. Or who's to say that mer can't be a host of things unto themselves? The ocean's the limit. 

13 ♢ Sci-fi
♢ Mer and Human
♢ Some say astronauts are nothing more than sailors venturing off into another unexplored sea, one that's above instead of below. And, befitting those same sailors of older days, they seem to tell tails of strange melodic frequencies coming in over the radio to their ears, and strange comets that look like tails passing them by on a landed planet. Do they not know what's accompanying them in space, or is that what they're actively chasing?

14 ♢ Divinity
♢ Mer and Human
♢ There are stories told of what exactly it is that could be both human and fish... So it's not surprising that, eventually, one would land upon calling them divine entities, either gods of the sea or lakes, or just their messengers. Is that true, or just a very clever, long lasting ruse?

15 ♢ Afterlife
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Some say mer are just humans, wrongfully forced overboard by superstition or cruelty and welcomed by the sea into something more. Others say that they're the spirits, haunting a particular sea or lake town for a wrongful death. What's the truth? Time to find out. 

16 ♢ Peaceful Living
♢ Mer and/or Human
♢ Not everything has to be a dramatic mess. Sometimes, things just... work out for the best. These are better times, and mer are just another part of life. Water-side towns where everything is built around those that share the waters with them, or huge metropolises with water tubes and sprouts for mer to travel through. How will you imagine this sort of life?

17 ♢ Wildcard
♢ follow your dreams, make up whatever

Mix and Match the two, or pick one!  Pick one of my characters to play with! 

Comments

[richestduck]

"You have. Multiple times."

However, he let her go, waiting until she'd disappeared farther down the beach before he put on his seal skin and went out to sea.

He would check and make sure she caught something before he went on his way. There were was a ship graveyard quite a distance out. There might be something she'd like there...

[blackmagicduck]

As expected, Magica made it to the ocean, and with his help, caught a great haul. She still didn't understand why her luck was so good in this area, but she wasn't going to complain.

Night fell, and she slept, and days resumed as they always did as she took care of the garden and animals more than herself.

[richestduck]

Scrooge made a few more appearances as a seal but kept his duck form hidden. (He couldn't swim away from lots of pets and being flattered by her.) However, he began exploring the wrecked ships, ducking into them to nose about for anything valuable.

Then he struck pay dirt.

In one of the ships' holds was a few rusted old strong boxes. It took some effort and magic to force them open, but inside were jewels, jewelry, and shiny bits of metal. The metal he always thought was odd, but he knew the shore-dwellers liked to trade bits of it for things. Maybe that would work.

He snapped up a couple of the coins, being very careful not to swallow and began swimming back to shore. If this worked, he could have a collection to give to her!

[blackmagicduck]

It was a warm day when Scrooge returned, and Magica had just finished planting seeds in her garden. She had to dig deep to make sure birds wouldn't take them away, and all the work had built up an appetite.

Out at the shore, she spotted the seal making his way over, and she smiled, holding up her wicker basket and ready to share with him.

"If it isn't my little prince, come to say hello."

[richestduck]

He'd buried a small cache of coins in his usual hiding spot for his seal skin. What he carried in his mouth was a string of pearls (how delightful!) and this he didn't see a reason not to give to her.

"Hello!" he barked, some of the pearls falling out of his mouth but the string getting caught on his teeth. "I brought you a present!"

[blackmagicduck]

Magica blinked - what just fell out of his mouth? A turtle egg?

She knelt down to pick it up. It took a minute for her to understand what it really was, and when she did, her eyes almost popped out.

"Pearls?! Actual pearls?"

[richestduck]

"You like them?" he asked, wiggling happily at her expression. "I found lots of pretty things for you!"

[blackmagicduck]

"Where in the world...?" How did a seal find pearls - a whole string of pearls! She carefully removed them from his mouth so he wouldn't choke on them, wiping seal slobber off them with her fingers.

Actual pearls! She'd only seem them worn by rich villagers, and knew they'd never be hers. Think of the money she could make selling them! ... Although that might be difficult, given how much they hated her. What was stronger, their greed or their hatred?

Then there was the idea of not giving them away at all, of keeping these pretty things for herself. Would that be so bad? She quietly placed the fallen pearls back on the string as she contemplated. "I've heard of not looking a gift horse in the mouth... perhaps that applies to seals too."

[richestduck]

Scrooge shamelessly shoved his head towards her. "You like them, right?"

[blackmagicduck]

Magica looked at him, thinking more. Was this really an ordinary seal...? She was getting a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't.

(Ratface was going to be pissed.)

Slowly, she moved to stroke the seals' head. "Thank you, my darling."

[richestduck]

He wiggled happily, nuzzling her hand. Yes. Good. She was pleased.

It made him wonder which of the sparkling bits he should bring her next time.

[blackmagicduck]

She pulled her hand back in an effort to put the necklace one. With the string broken, this took a few attempts, but she eventually managed.

"Hm. Like putting a diamond on a mud heap, I suppose. Still, how do I look?"

[richestduck]

He reared up to clap his flippers together.

"Beautiful!" he told her. "They suit you!"

[blackmagicduck]

Magica laughed, child-like again. "That sounds like approval! I suppose I'll keep them awhile."

Until life reared its ugly head and reminded her she wasn't meant to have nice things.

[richestduck]

If Scrooge had his way, she'd have so many nice things that she could swim in them.

He flopped back down, still wiggling happily at having made her happy. It really didn't take much.

...He was definitely smitten with her.

[blackmagicduck]

She scratched his stomach for being a good boy, before fetching fish from her basket and offering it to him.

"Here, fair's fair. Can't imagine you wanting anything else but this."

[richestduck]

"I want your affection in my other form," Scrooge told her honestly, but he took the fish.

[blackmagicduck]

That got him another good head-pat. "Good boy, good boy, eat it all up. That's better in your mouth than any jewelry." As happy as she was to have the necklace, she'd rather him not choke on anything so precious.

[richestduck]

"There's all kinds of pretty things I can bring you though." He butted his head into her leg, reveling in her affection.

[blackmagicduck]

That got a laugh out of her. "You act like a child instead of an adult! Maybe you'll grow even bigger, my darling." This time the pettings came with scritches!

[richestduck]

Yeeeeessss, scritches. He sighed happily, enjoying the feel of her fingers scratching lightly away at his skin. Oh, he could spend all day like this...

[blackmagicduck]

And she felt the same, honestly, and much time was wasted in scratching, petting, and cooing.

But of course she couldn't spend all day like this. She sighed, and began to stretch. "Alas, dinner and my stomach calls... and the end of the month nears closer."

Tradition called - toward the end of every month, she made a prayer and sacrifice to the old gods.

[richestduck]

Dinner? Perfect. He could see if those shiny metal bits were something she'd want in trade.

He began shuffling towards the sea, intending to swim to his usual hiding spot for the seal skin. That was also where his cache was hiding.

[blackmagicduck]

Magica waved him goodbye, and headed for home.

Ratface cawed, interested in the shiny things around his mistress' neck. She ignored him for now, and began to make dinner - fish again, as always.

But as she waited for it to cook, she sat down and began working on tying rope and netting together, leftover from the net. A sacrifice for the gods required something that took effort - fish were getting surprisingly easy to come by, so to offer one of those might be seen as an insult. She'd aim at catching a rabbit or boar, which would be a grueling, all-day effort.

[richestduck]

Scrooge hesitated, looking through the cache and realizing he had a problem:

How much was he supposed to pay?

The metal bits had come in gold, silver, and copper, but he'd only taken the gold which had retained its shine. Was one more valuable than the other? Did he need to give her multiple bits to pay for a meal? The last thing he wanted was for her to think that he was trying to buy her...he just wanted her company.

In the end he took two of the gold bits, placing them in a pocket of his shirt. He'd offer one and, if it wasn't enough, he'd give her the second. That solved that problem.

He waited for a few minutes longer before walking to her door and knocking.