Merin

Merin
Astrography
Star	Asterion system
Satellites	Nix, Ran
Gravity	1.1G
Day length	36 Earth hours
Demographics
Population	800 million

Merin is a planet approximately 70 lightyears from Yeddo. Located in the Asterion, it is a prosperous settlement as the galaxy's largest exporter of oceanic-based goods.

Merin has a small population relative to its size, being comparable in numbers to the Oraulan Commonwealth, one of the largest countries on the planet Yeddo. As such, like many colonial worlds, the entirety of the planet Merin is often used interchangeably with the Kingdom of Merin, the body of government that occupies it.

Merin became the start of the Virtual Wars which sparked after King Mithran Aquarius died during the Federation One Thousandth Anniversary Massacre.

Physical characteristics

Merin is covered entirely in oceans. With its two moons Nix and Ran causing extreme tides, permanent settlements are very difficult. As such, the population lives almost entirely on large ships that use hydropower to generate electricity. Some of these ships contain terraformed surfaces with trees, grass and other vegetation atop them to give the superficial appearance of islands. There are a few underwater establishments, including a few ancient Valerian ruins, but due to the difficulty of maintaining them, they are usually reserved for research purposes.

Merin also possesses a ring system which automated drones mine for minerals. It serves as a much easier alternative than mining the sea floor. Oceans on Merin are much deeper than average making it difficult to reach without special equipment.

Ecosystem

Merin is also one of the few known locations in the galaxy with a thriving alien ecosystem of multicellular life. Life on the planet is thought to have origins around the microbial environments around the geothermal vents. Species similar to Earth-based arthropods evolved which superficially resemble crabs and lobsters. One such identified species is known as the lobber - the name of which is a corruption of the ancient English word for "lobster". When they were discovered to be edible by humans, Merin became a major exporter of exotic food.

The overwhelming majority of life in Merin is aquatic. With the exception of microscopic organisms in the atmosphere, virtually no life lives in the air. Due to the planet being covered entirely in ocean, the ecological niche for land-based organisms seen on other planets never developed on Merin.

Pods of humpback whales, killer whales and dolphins have also made their home on the planet, often serving as stewards of the ecosystem. They coordinate with humans to figure out the best fishing spots and to ensure that overfishing does not occur.

Flora

• Great kelp - Many of the kelp forests on Merin are actually single organisms, with some specimens being over 700,000 years old.
• Blue algae - Algae that is a dark blue color. It is edible and sometimes used in the creation of spices.
• Merigrass - A common type of sea grass, notable for helping to reduce erosion.

Fauna

• Deep coral - These coral-like structures are filter feeders. They are pale in color as they are mostly found around deep sea geothermal vents.
• Lobber - A common crustacean that serve as a local delicacy for the Merinians.
• Plasm jelly - A jellyfish-like creature with some powerful toxins that cause intense hallucinations. They are often poached by dolphin gangs who trade the toxin on the black market.
• Groove crab - Close relatives to the lobber, these giant spider crabs have a leg-span of thirty feet. They spend most of their time wandering the ocean floor. Their name comes from two major traits - their bodies flash with all sorts of bioluminscent patterns and their pincers make powerful, rhythmic snapping sounds capable of stunning prey. For this reason, Groove crabs are rather famous on the vrNet, being noted for their superficial association with making music.
• Metalshell crab - A small crab that feeds on minerals to grow a tough carapace around itself, making it resistant to many predators. It has not changed in appearance in hundreds of millions of years.
• Leapray - A manta ray-like creature that dwells near the surface of the water. It can breach the surface, leaping into the air and gliding for a brief time. It is not well understood why it does this.
• Merinian kraken - Sometimes just known as krakens are enormous cephalopods with spiny tentacles. Their primary prey includes large arthropods although they sometimes mistake ships for their prey, making them a threat to sailors. The local cetacean population hunts them for both food and sport.
• Paint squid - A small, five-tentacled squid that produces multi-colored ink to confuse predators. The local cetaceans use their ink as a form of dye.
• Merinian anomalocaris - A creature that convergently evolved to resemble ancient Earth's anomalocaris. They are apex predators capable of hunting in packs.
• Spiral coral - An assortment of coral and sea sponges that appear in elaborate, twisting spiral shapes.
• Sweet coral - A type of coral that produces crystalline sugar coated with their eggs which entice other animals to eat them. Folk tales emerged that they eating them without proper cleaning would result in them growing inside one's stomach although the truth is that the eggs are completely harmless to humans, only having a mildly bitter taste to them. The eggs are more than capable of surviving digestion, simply passing through the body and using the resulting scat as a germination ground. The sugar crystals themselves are considered a delicacy, especially for nanomages.
• Storm jelly - A relative to the Plasm jelly that rides the winds in the skies above, drifting with the storms. Their sticky tentacles catch plankton in the air.
• Emperor crab - The single largest crustacean on the planet. It buries itself in the seafloor sometimes for decades while an assortment of corals and other rock formations accumulate on its back. They were nearly hunted to extinction by Merin's original colonists.

Points of interest

Noble Fleet

The Noble Fleet is a series of seafaring ships, several which are dedicated to specific noble houses. Each noble house has multiple smaller ships of their own to serve them. The ship known as Poseidon is the largest of the fleet as well as that of the entire planet. With its earliest parts dating back 7,000 years, it is large enough to be a city of its own, while the bridge is where the monarch's throne is located. It is thought that the virtual life form of the same name originated within the ship's computers.

The fleet carries within it its own shipyards. New ships are assembled with the aid of nanotechnology, often directed by nanomages.

Submerged Plateau

A large expanse of flat, underwater land around the planet's equator and one of the areas closest to the planet's surface. As one of the easiest to reach drilling locations, it is one of the most disputed areas of the planet over mining rights. The area is also home to an impressive coral reef with life forms that evolved very similarly to ancient Earth's sponges.

Mages' Tower

One of the rare permanent structures on the planet, the Mages' Tower is situated on the Submerged Plateau with its base located on the ocean floor with the part of the tower above the ocean's surface extending over a half a mile high. It is a large tower-like structure that was originally a space elevator during early colonization attempts of the planet. However, a massive hypercane destroyed the upper portion of the tower while it was still under construction. Despite the lower half of the tower remaining intact, it was deemed impractical to attempt to create any more space elevators on the planet in favor of using flying drones to ferry goods from orbit to the Noble Fleet. Many years later, the abandoned ruins were retrofitted to become an academy for nanomages - individuals who could manipulate clouds of nanobots using their minds. It soon became tradition for the noble families to send their most gifted to study in the tower to become nanomages themselves.

Atlantis

Main article: Atlantis

Named after a mythical city from Earth's history, Atlantis is an ancient Valerian complex built entirely underwater. It consists of a complex series of glass tubes and large panoramic windows likely designed to be able to view the wildlife outside. While it has remained abandoned for millennia, it is curious that Poseidon's programming is compatible with the computer systems found in Atlantis, suggesting a possible shared origin.

The Rift

The Rift is the deepest part of the planet's oceans with pressure so immense that it has never been fully explored. Rumor has it that a subspecies of giant lobbers lives here. They were thought to be extinct for millions of years as their fossilized remains have been found all over the planet, but remote scans of the Rift have detected highly unusual activity. A lack of availability of direct observation has given rise to many myths and legends of sea monsters.

Toxic Ship Graveyard

An assortment of wreckage from ships surrounded by toxic waste that appeared as a result of the Virtual Wars. Due to the sheer size of it, cleanup efforts have yet to be completed, but the area has been contained to prevent the pollution from spreading any further. Designated as a Condemned Zone, the area is large enough to be seen from orbit, making it appear as if it were a scar on the ocean's surface.

Akupara

A mechafauna likely of Archaetronian origin. It appears as a gigantic robotic sea turtle with vegetation on its back.

Government

Main article: Kingdom of Merin

Merin is ruled by a monarch which serves as the head of state. Directly supporting them are over 200 noble families of varying positions with higher-ranked nobles overseeing larger areas than lower ones. The noble families also serve as governors and administrators. Territories are roughly marked using a series of buoys. The monarch in turn acts as a colonial representative for the Federation of Stellar Systems.

Known houses

• House Langusten - House Langusten specializes in the fishing trade. It popularized the fishing techniques to catch lobbers and other similar deep sea creatures. As such, their family crest is that of the lobber. They do this by piloting underwater drones to hunt them down. Because these drones are very expensive and must endure the dangerous conditions of Merin's seafloor, lobber hunters must train extensively in virtual reality before making real-world attempts.
• House Zauberin - House Zauberin specializes in scientific research, specifically the study of the moons and how they affect the tides. Their family crest is a stylistic depiction of Nix and Ran as two adjacent crescent moons.
• House Oberon - House Oberon is known for its strong navy, specializing in weapons development. During the Virtual Wars, House Oberon split in two after the jointly ruling brothers chose different sides of the war. Thus, a large portion of House Oberon ended up becoming pirates. Their crest is a kraken.
• House Titania - House Titania specializes in social life, developing high fashion and entertainment trends on Merin. They pioneered the development of commercial submersibles and underwater habitats. Their crest is a manta ray.
• House Othello - House Othello specializes in mining and shipbuilding, having developed techniques to construct ships directly at sea without having to import them from orbit. Their crest is an anchor.

Economy

Oceanic planets are considered highly difficult to settle due to their lack of landmass. Merin having far larger and deeper oceans than other habitable worlds like Yeddo coupled with an incredibly dense biodiversity made it an economic powerhouse. One of Merin's main exports is its seafood. The local wildlife for the most part is considered edible by human, resulting in a variety of unique culinary dishes as well as the production of various organic counterparts to otherwise difficult to obtain materials. For example, the Paint Squid's rainbow ink has allowed for the production of colorful dyes that are otherwise difficult to obtain. Sweet coral's naturally occurring sugar crystals makes the obtainment of baking ingredients trivial on Merin.

Merin also features expert seafaring shipbuilding. They have developed techniques in creating ocean-going vessels that can withstand extreme deep sea pressures and even navigate non-water liquids such as hydrocarbons. Many of the ships within the harbors of Port Oraulan are of Merinian design.

Prior to the Virtual Wars, Merin was also a major tourist destination. It was a hub for cruise ships and for underwater exploration tours. The larger ships which contained terraformed vegetation also served as locations where one could find hotels and water parks. Following the Virtual Wars, interest in tourism declined due to the mass pollution during the war as well as the stigma of the planet being ground zero for the start of the conflict.

Personalities

• Mithran Aquarius
• Kristoph Langusten
• Alphonse Reefwood