The Sovor'n Tribe
Please note~ The Sovor'n tribe has gone missing in the last number of years. The tribe went missing sometime between Ymiden 719 and Ashan 720, though the very day they went missing is not known.
Tribe name~ The Sovor'n tribe.
Tribe location~ The Hollow Sea, a number of days' swim west of Scalvoris. The tribe is located in the middle of the Hollow Sea between Scalvoris and the Empire.
Type of tribe~ Not of a leviathan.
Nearby tribes~ The Akktava tribe, of the leviathan Sotong. The Kizoran tribe, not of a leviathan.
Tribe demographics~ The Sovor'n tribe is mostly category II mer. Sometimes category III mer are spawned in the tribe swarmings, but rarely does a category III mer live to adulthood in the Sovor'n tribe. Those that do live to adulthood are driven out of the tribe.
The Sovor'n tribe is a tribe of saltwater mer.
Tribe swarmings~ Like other mer tribes, the Sovor'n tribe swarms every six years. The last four swarmings were in the years 703, 709, 715, and 721.
Tribe numbers~ Until the last number of years, the tribe has numbered in the hundreds. Very little of the mer spawned in a Sovor'n swarming survive through the beginning six years of their lives, and very very little of the tribe lives to be older than forty years old.
In late years, the tribe has numbered little more than zero, due to having gone missing from its tribal grounds.
Tribe history~ The Sovor'n tribe originated from the Akktava tribe. The Sovor'n mer did not wish to serve the leviathan Sotong, and were otherwise thought to be genetically undesirable to the Akktava tribe. Because of this, the mer left the Akktava to begin their own tribe. The Sovor'n tribe is not an old tribe, having left the Akktava only forty years back. The Sovor'n tribal grounds are next to the Akktava grounds, and despite the two tribes' history, the Sovor'n and Akktava have remained neutral because ~though their grounds are near to overlapping at their boundaries~ their tribal niches do not overlap.
The Akktava, loyal to the leviathan Sotong, serve Sotong's ambitions~ information gathering and shipwrecking. The Sovor'n, mostly, do not interact with ships; only rarely in their forty years have the Sovor'n interacted with ships, having little to do with either of their bordering land nations~ Scalvoris to the east and the Empire to the west.
When the Sovor'n do interact with ships, it is opportunistically; this means that the Sovor'n do not intervene in Sotong's conscientious shipwrecking, as the likelihood of the Sovor'n opportunistically interacting with one of Sotong's ships is very low.
Tribe doctrine~ The Sovor'n tribe is a simple mer tribe, with little ambition other than to survive. The rule of the tribe is that of most living things~ the tribe rules by survival of the fittest. Those who are fit to survive, live; those who are not fit, do not live long.
The Sovor'n tribe is mostly category II mer, and views category II mer as genetically desirable. There are some mer in the Sovor'n tribe which hold within them category III genetics, so sometimes category III mer are spawned. But, rarely do category III mer survive to adulthood within the tribe, and those that do tend to leave the tribe when they are adults to live on as solitary mer.
Those category III mer that do not leave the tribe, die by the tribe's rule. Desiring category II genetics, the Sovor'n destroy category III mer eggs, so that no additional category III mer will be spawned in the swarmings.
Tribe lifestyle~ The Sovor'n tribe is an opportunistic tribe with a simple way of life. The tribe does little in the way of construction or consumerism, living a simplistic lifestyle within the tribe's low-resource tribal grounds. The Sovor'n consume a lot of fish, and rely on fishing to survive. The tribe is considerate of its sparse resources and, through simple but conscientious management, cultivates the land so that no one resource is consumed to devastation. The tribal grounds are of the utmost importance to the tribe. Cultivation of the waters, and of the grounds' life-sustaining resources, is of the utmost importance to them.
Tribe governance~ Like most things in the Sovor'n tribe, governance is simple. The tribe is ruled by majority rule, with no one ruler. Survivability is desirable in the tribe, and those mer who have proven their survivability are looked to, to lead. Dissonance and disagreement about the governance of the tribe and the tribe's direction is ok, and the mer spend much of their time on governance and resource management.
That being said, it is tribal rule that the tribe is first, the tribal grounds second, and the individual last. Any individual mer who defies this rule will die.
Reisah~ The one law in defiance of all others is the law of reisah. In reisah, one individual mer's grievance with another becomes utmost. The only tribal doctrine related to reisah is this: reisah will not be declared against a member of the tribe. The Sovor'n mer who declares reisah against a member of the Sovor'n tribe, declares reisah against all members of the tribe, and because of this will die.
Tribe relations~ The Sovor'n tribe is neutral to the Akktava and the leviathan Sotong. The tribe does not know of the nearby Kizoran tribe. They are neutral to most other mer tribes, but are hostile to leviathan tribes other than the Akktava. The Sovor'n are neutral to most solitary mer. They are neutral to hostile to the land people and all land nations. The Sovor'n tribe is hostile to any tribe or nation that does not honor their grounds, their grounds' boundaries, or their laws when in their borders. The Sovor'n tribe is hostile to the immortal Chrien.
The Sovor'n tribe will do trade with any tribe or nation that it is not hostile to; however, trade tends to be limited because the tribe has little resources to spare. Trade is strictly trade- or skill-based; the tribe doesn't trade with money.
The Sovor'n tribe desires treasure and considers land people money to be treasure, but it doesn't trade for treasure; the tribe's treasure is gotten opportunistically from the land people and their ships, and not from trade with the land people or with other mer.
Tribe religion~ The Sovor'n tribe serves no leviathan or immortal.
Tribe life and death~ Like with other mer tribes, the tribe swarming is once every six years. Newly spawned mer are left in their swarms to survive or die. Young mer, until six years of age, are not thought to be "one with the tribe" though they are "of the tribe"~ the tribe will protect young mer, but not how the tribe protects its integrated members. When a mer is six years old they become "one with the tribe" ~integrated~ and are given a tribal, mer name.
Because newly-spawned mer are able to survive on their own, and because of how mer spawn, there is little sense of genetic relationship in the tribe. A member of the tribe doesn't have a genetics-based relationship to the mer who spawned them, or to their genetic siblings. Neither does a member of the tribe have a genetics-based relationship to their spawn, or a romantic relationship to their sexual partners.
Sovor'n mer who die will be consumed by the tribe. Enemies of the tribe will be consumed by the tribe.
Other~ Most Sovor'n mer have never shifted from water form to land form. Most Sovor'n mer have never interacted with a land person, and know little to nothing about the land people, their nations, or their laws.
Developed by~ Areia.
References~ Mer tribes map, via the mer lore. Eastern Continent travel times map, via the travel times lore.
Tribe name~ The Sovor'n tribe.
Tribe location~ The Hollow Sea, a number of days' swim west of Scalvoris. The tribe is located in the middle of the Hollow Sea between Scalvoris and the Empire.
Type of tribe~ Not of a leviathan.
Nearby tribes~ The Akktava tribe, of the leviathan Sotong. The Kizoran tribe, not of a leviathan.
Tribe demographics~ The Sovor'n tribe is mostly category II mer. Sometimes category III mer are spawned in the tribe swarmings, but rarely does a category III mer live to adulthood in the Sovor'n tribe. Those that do live to adulthood are driven out of the tribe.
The Sovor'n tribe is a tribe of saltwater mer.
Tribe swarmings~ Like other mer tribes, the Sovor'n tribe swarms every six years. The last four swarmings were in the years 703, 709, 715, and 721.
Tribe numbers~ Until the last number of years, the tribe has numbered in the hundreds. Very little of the mer spawned in a Sovor'n swarming survive through the beginning six years of their lives, and very very little of the tribe lives to be older than forty years old.
In late years, the tribe has numbered little more than zero, due to having gone missing from its tribal grounds.
Tribe history~ The Sovor'n tribe originated from the Akktava tribe. The Sovor'n mer did not wish to serve the leviathan Sotong, and were otherwise thought to be genetically undesirable to the Akktava tribe. Because of this, the mer left the Akktava to begin their own tribe. The Sovor'n tribe is not an old tribe, having left the Akktava only forty years back. The Sovor'n tribal grounds are next to the Akktava grounds, and despite the two tribes' history, the Sovor'n and Akktava have remained neutral because ~though their grounds are near to overlapping at their boundaries~ their tribal niches do not overlap.
The Akktava, loyal to the leviathan Sotong, serve Sotong's ambitions~ information gathering and shipwrecking. The Sovor'n, mostly, do not interact with ships; only rarely in their forty years have the Sovor'n interacted with ships, having little to do with either of their bordering land nations~ Scalvoris to the east and the Empire to the west.
When the Sovor'n do interact with ships, it is opportunistically; this means that the Sovor'n do not intervene in Sotong's conscientious shipwrecking, as the likelihood of the Sovor'n opportunistically interacting with one of Sotong's ships is very low.
Tribe doctrine~ The Sovor'n tribe is a simple mer tribe, with little ambition other than to survive. The rule of the tribe is that of most living things~ the tribe rules by survival of the fittest. Those who are fit to survive, live; those who are not fit, do not live long.
The Sovor'n tribe is mostly category II mer, and views category II mer as genetically desirable. There are some mer in the Sovor'n tribe which hold within them category III genetics, so sometimes category III mer are spawned. But, rarely do category III mer survive to adulthood within the tribe, and those that do tend to leave the tribe when they are adults to live on as solitary mer.
Those category III mer that do not leave the tribe, die by the tribe's rule. Desiring category II genetics, the Sovor'n destroy category III mer eggs, so that no additional category III mer will be spawned in the swarmings.
Tribe lifestyle~ The Sovor'n tribe is an opportunistic tribe with a simple way of life. The tribe does little in the way of construction or consumerism, living a simplistic lifestyle within the tribe's low-resource tribal grounds. The Sovor'n consume a lot of fish, and rely on fishing to survive. The tribe is considerate of its sparse resources and, through simple but conscientious management, cultivates the land so that no one resource is consumed to devastation. The tribal grounds are of the utmost importance to the tribe. Cultivation of the waters, and of the grounds' life-sustaining resources, is of the utmost importance to them.
Tribe governance~ Like most things in the Sovor'n tribe, governance is simple. The tribe is ruled by majority rule, with no one ruler. Survivability is desirable in the tribe, and those mer who have proven their survivability are looked to, to lead. Dissonance and disagreement about the governance of the tribe and the tribe's direction is ok, and the mer spend much of their time on governance and resource management.
That being said, it is tribal rule that the tribe is first, the tribal grounds second, and the individual last. Any individual mer who defies this rule will die.
Reisah~ The one law in defiance of all others is the law of reisah. In reisah, one individual mer's grievance with another becomes utmost. The only tribal doctrine related to reisah is this: reisah will not be declared against a member of the tribe. The Sovor'n mer who declares reisah against a member of the Sovor'n tribe, declares reisah against all members of the tribe, and because of this will die.
Tribe relations~ The Sovor'n tribe is neutral to the Akktava and the leviathan Sotong. The tribe does not know of the nearby Kizoran tribe. They are neutral to most other mer tribes, but are hostile to leviathan tribes other than the Akktava. The Sovor'n are neutral to most solitary mer. They are neutral to hostile to the land people and all land nations. The Sovor'n tribe is hostile to any tribe or nation that does not honor their grounds, their grounds' boundaries, or their laws when in their borders. The Sovor'n tribe is hostile to the immortal Chrien.
The Sovor'n tribe will do trade with any tribe or nation that it is not hostile to; however, trade tends to be limited because the tribe has little resources to spare. Trade is strictly trade- or skill-based; the tribe doesn't trade with money.
The Sovor'n tribe desires treasure and considers land people money to be treasure, but it doesn't trade for treasure; the tribe's treasure is gotten opportunistically from the land people and their ships, and not from trade with the land people or with other mer.
Tribe religion~ The Sovor'n tribe serves no leviathan or immortal.
Tribe life and death~ Like with other mer tribes, the tribe swarming is once every six years. Newly spawned mer are left in their swarms to survive or die. Young mer, until six years of age, are not thought to be "one with the tribe" though they are "of the tribe"~ the tribe will protect young mer, but not how the tribe protects its integrated members. When a mer is six years old they become "one with the tribe" ~integrated~ and are given a tribal, mer name.
Because newly-spawned mer are able to survive on their own, and because of how mer spawn, there is little sense of genetic relationship in the tribe. A member of the tribe doesn't have a genetics-based relationship to the mer who spawned them, or to their genetic siblings. Neither does a member of the tribe have a genetics-based relationship to their spawn, or a romantic relationship to their sexual partners.
Sovor'n mer who die will be consumed by the tribe. Enemies of the tribe will be consumed by the tribe.
Other~ Most Sovor'n mer have never shifted from water form to land form. Most Sovor'n mer have never interacted with a land person, and know little to nothing about the land people, their nations, or their laws.
Developed by~ Areia.
References~ Mer tribes map, via the mer lore. Eastern Continent travel times map, via the travel times lore.
