Ruler: Her Supreme Majesty, Mershella, Empress of Mer (N female merfolk, Wiz 18/Brd 5)
Government: Independent monarchy with hereditary rulership; government controlled by a emperor or empress who is advised by a powerful council of nobles; all members of the Imperial House and nobility are merfolk
Other Notable Figures: Lord Jarlial, Imperial Counselor (NG male merfolk (Wiz 9/Clr 7 of Urshana)
Rule of Law: Neutral. Country is morally ambiguous with a moderate amount of written laws. Actions are neither evil nor good and tend to remain distant from international affairs.
Capital: Midlantis (pop. 69,000)
Major Towns: Oceanthis (pop. 49,500)
Population: 10,200,000- Merfolk 96%, sea elf 2%, locathah 1%
Major Religions: Urshana, Shastra, Nephele
Major Resources: Fish, coral, pearls, sea salt
Military: 65,000 (includes mainly light infantry and light cavalry riding hippocampi)
Allies: None
Enemies: None
Coinage: None
Much of the great body of water known as the Midland Ocean is controlled by a vast network of merfolk communities all united under the influential banner of the Empress Mershella of the Sunken City. The hub of this watery domain is the great city of Midlantis, located approximately twenty leagues southeast of the Peregine Isle. The Empire of Mer is said to control most of the waters in the region between the Floating Kingdoms in the West, the isle of Galorand in the North and the continental shelf off the coast of the Shafarian peninsula.
Ancient Hyerunean legends speak of the Sunken City of Midlantis as once being a powerful haven of humankind located in the region known as the 'Dark Triangle.' In those days, the humans were said to possess advanced knowledge in both science and sorcery however they grew arrogant in their accomplishments and where punished by the sea-god Shastra. A mighty tidal wave slammed into the island sinking it forever beneath the waves. The city was eventually rediscovered by the nomadic merfolk who annexed the region. In their explorations of the lost treasures of the Sunken City, the level of merfolk technology greatly surpassed that of the surface whom many of the modern merfolk equate as being similar to the neanderthal.
Merfolk culture is both ancient and wise. It is centered around the harmonious blending of both magic and this long-lost technology. The enchanted cities of the undersea world are a marvel to behold in their unearthly beauty and grace. Merfolk knights protect their homeland mounted atop metallic seahorses and carrying enchanted lances. The population in general travels through the oceans in graceful vehicles shaped like angelfish and manta rays.
The vast majority of the merfolk of Mer are extremely xenophobic and very distrustful of other races and species, particularly air breathers. A small minority have broken with tradition and established contact with the races of humankind for purposes of trade and simple curiosity. The most influential of these new "enlightened" thinkers is the Empress' own counselor, Lord Jarlial of Oceanthis.
The Empress is a powerful and enigmatic figure on the world stage. Highly influential among other undersea kingdoms, she is a relative unknown to the people of the surface world. It is merfolk custom that the Empress is such a highly revered figure that no commoner may look upon her face. In that respect, she only appears in public wearing a bronze mask that hides her face. Only her family and most trusted noble advisors known what she looks like. The Empress is said to be a powerful wizard capable of casting some of the lost spells of the ancients.