While much attention has been paid to the individual experiences of those involved in the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Program, at this time it is important to make note of the fact that the world's human nations are not the only ones cataloging the results of the interspecies relationships that happen within their borders. While some liminal societies lack the political organization of human society, choosing to live in isolated communities or adopting nomadic lifestyles, the Mermaid Kingdoms possess similar characteristics one would expect for a modern nation.
Agreed upon national borders (which are largely based on underwater geographical features), agricultural industries, established trading relations, and a firmly established system of governance, these are all traits possed by each and every one of the Mermaid kingdoms which reside in the planet's oceans.
Though it has proven rather difficult to establish regular contact with the aquatic nations that rest far away from the coasts, the ones surrounding the Mariana Trench being a particularly good example, the kingdoms that dwell in shallower waters have been most agreeable in the attempt to foster improved relations between human and liminal kind. With some of them being safe for long term human visitation.
The following entry does not show case a successful example of interspecies romance, but rather the viewpoints of the aquatic version of Japan's Human and Liminal Relations department, which in this case would be the Aegean Kingdom of Pearla.
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Though it is only in recent years that we've established more public relations with the neighbouring human countries, in truth Mermaid and Human relations reach back to the days of classical antiquity. Though it must be pointed out that the relationship between the people of the sea and the land dwellers was not always a peaceful one.
This was largely attributed to the manner in which humans tend to treat those that are different from them, and the circumstances that forces them to come to an understanding amongst themselves.
Our ancestors kept records of such occurrences, for they served as a reminder of how quickly humans could find common cause in a mission they deem to be just. Though it must be pointed out that once said mission has been accomplished, the most powerful members of the coalition tend to come to blows.
And indeed, if one traces it through history, a pattern can be clearly seen.
Dozens of Greek Polis (i.e. city states) band together to wage war against a city state on the Eastern side of the Aegean sea.
Then hundreds of years later, the more prominent amongst them form a truce to successfully fight off a more numerous invader. And then, a scant 50 years later following their victory, war breaks out between 2 political alliances/confederations that are led by the two most powerful city states.
Recognizing that humanity would forget their minute differences if faced with an opponent that was clearly of a difference species, our people resorted to a much more…clandestine form of warfare for every crime that was committed against us.
Luring sailors to their death through seductive song.
Directing our fellow ocean dwellers to feast on those who foolishly entered the water at night.
And compromising the integrity of their ships.
These were the methods chosen to strike back against the species whose greed seemed limitless.
But as humanity's population continued to expand, while ours increased at a much slower rate, such methods became less and less common place as our ancestors chose to practise a more isolationistic policy.
While we did not follow the example chosen by much of our brethren, who chose to sequester themselves in the deepest parts of the ocean, the leaders of Pearla relocated our citizens to the waters that surrounded the islands that were too small or inhospitable to support a human colony.
In this manner, we were able to remain hidden from the outside world for generations since the only human contact we had was the occasional lost at sea sailor.
However, this state of affairs would soon come to an end due to humanity's revived interest in not only learning about the world around them, but also in trying to create new methods of doing so.
For thousands of years, the primary method of human naval transportation rested on the hulls of wooden vessels that required the frequent misery of humans for propulsion in order to supplement their rather meager attempts to harness the wind.
Then, over 400 years ago, these ships were replaced by sturdy ships that required only the power of the wind. Until finally, this method was replaced by ships of iron and steel that required neither wind nor sail.
With humanity's increasing ability to venture where their predecessors had been unable to reach, it was only a matter of time before our people once again interacted with a species that had no issue waging war against members of its own kind.
This problem continued to plague the kingdom's leaders until one fortuitous day, a solution presented itself.
Despite the increased ability to successfully traverse the waterways, human ship design was far from infallible. Which meant that the odds of discovering ship wrecked humans, while lessened, was still a reasonable way to discover what was happening on the land.
At the time of the man's rescue, the Kingdom of Pearla was able to discover that his people, while joyously celebrating their new found freedom from the humans who followed the flag of the crescent moon, were in dire straits.
While no longer under the heel of the nation that controlled the surface passage between what the humans called the Aegean Sea and the Black sea, this new nation of Greece lacked the currency to ensure its continued survival as a independent nation.
And thus a deal was struck between the new human government, and the surrounding mermaid kingdoms, of which Pearla was the leading voice.
In return for a rather minor fraction of the mineral bounty of the sea, which would be delivered to the mainland through the use of trusted agents, the Greek government would declare various island chains off limits to any human settlement or fishing boat. With the understanding that any human that violated this decision could be dealt with however we saw fit.
Of course in our desire to preserve our security, more than one unlucky fisherman or prospector lost their life. But their was also a limited number of human men who were offered the chance to live on these islands in order to be as close as they could to the women who spared them from their fate.
This arrangement, was maintained for nearly 200 years, until the decision was made to reveal our presence to the wider world.
As with most important decisions, their were supporters on both side of this argument. Some wishing to foster better relations with our human neighbors, whether because personal or financial reasons, while others believed that humanity would act like they always did when confronted with something different from themselves.
But seeing as more merfolk wished to attempt what our ancestors could not, the King and Queen of Pearla decided to join with the other kingdoms in the process of fully abandoning the isolation that we had upheld for centuries.
And like the human nations that opened their arms to welcome young liminals in adapting to their society, we extended similar offers to those that wished to learn about the nature of merfolk society.
It was safe to say that this offer attracted its fair amount of interested parties. Not all of them good.
Thankfully, those that wished to harm our people were greatly outnumbered by those who possessed more personal or professional curiosity to our civilization. And apart from the queen of some more Northerly Kingdom abandoning her husband because she allowed her personal desires to get in the way of her duties to her people, this has largely gone without major issues.
We can only hope that as time passes, the bonds that formed during this enthusiastic desire to learn more about each other will ensure that our people never have to return to the violent ways of our ancestors.
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Once again, Japan's Liminal and Human relation department wish to extend their thanks to its Mermaid counterpart in providing this information. And we hope to ensure that relations between our specieis remain as harmonious as they are now.
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And another chapter done XD.
Apologises for the wait, actually have had half of this chapter done for a while now, but other stories, life, etc…you know how it is XD.
Plz review, no flames, til next time.