Sea Magick:
A Tale of the Deep.
Prologue.
A long time ago, there was a people that believed in magic and legends. They spoke of a race from the seas, of a group of half-humans, half-fish. These people went by various names across the world. The Irish called them Merrows, the Greek called them Tritons. These myths still exist, but are now put off as faery tales, as pure imaginations. Today, we would call these people Merfolk. They are guardians of the sea and can be quite fierce to humans. Most stay pout of the way of humans, hiding in reefs or even disguising themselves as manatees or dugongs. One preferred disguise that they used to use was the Stellar Sea Cow. But then they were hunted by sailors and had to abandon that idea. Some of them protect certain animals. There is one such race of Merrows that protects manatees. They try to move them out of the way of boat motors, but often are too late in moving the heavy animals. The blood mixes with their tears. The more manatees are injured, the angrier they become. Humans take heed, their vengeance is swift.
A cloud of red polluted the brackish water, swirling and mixing in the current. He watched, his eyes narrowed, as the manatee was hit on its already scared back. She was an old cow, having survived a great many accidents. But this was bad, the cut was deep, the blood pouring out was too much for her to loose. The boat, of course, just moved on, the person not bothering to check what he had hit. The merman swam swiftly through the water, trying to drag the cow to the shore where she could get the medical help of one of the humans up there, but it was no use. He was too late. She sank to the shallow bottom, slowly giving up on her own life. He poked his head up, trying to catch a glimpse of the human's boat that had done this, but the man was already getting out of the water, towing the boat up on a metal... thing. Diving back under, the merrow headed back to the near-by colony, but not before first leaving a token of respect by the cow's body-- his shark-tooth choker. It was his most prized possession, having won it off a shark that he had to fight in order to become initiated as a guardian. With his jaw set hard, he headed off to the colony to gain permission to go up on land. This human would pay.