Merfolk Trickster

In Dominaria's ancient past, merfolk were a common sight in any of Dominaria's oceans. Split into several dozen kingdoms and empires, the merfolk were the undisputed masters of the sea. Though their decline was slow, it was thorough. Beginning with the destruction of Old Vodalia after the Brothers' War, one by one the kingdoms of the merfolk fell, either to the wrath of nature or the vicious spite of their land-dwelling neighbors.   Eventually, the kingdom of Vodalia would recover, surviving the Phyrexian Invasion only thanks to the intervention of the powerful mage Bo Levar. Though most of Vodalia was ruined, this sacrifice protected the members of the Eliterates, a deep-dwelling commune of artists, philosophers, and poets. The members of this commune would probe instrumental in rebuilding the Vodalian Empire.   Saved From Destruction The Eliterates survived the destruction of the rest of Vodalia only by the nature of their own self-exile. Their artistic ideals, at odds with the mercantile, war-like nature of the rest of Vodalia, forced them to take refuge in a deep ocean trench. When Yawgmoth, leader of the Phyrexians, arrived on Dominaria in the form a virulent, poisonous cloud, it was only by the intervention of Bo Levar that the cloud was kept from reaching the deepest points of Vodalia.   When the war was over, and the Invasion repelled, the Eliterates rose from their trench to find the rest of their homeland in ruins, and many of their fellow merfolk dead. Rather than leave the society that had rejected them to it's fate, the Eliterates took inspiration from the kindness that had saved them, extending it to the rest of Vodalia, and helping to rebuild. Though the restoration took several centuries, the Vodalian Empire has been restored and remains the only merfolk empire to survive into the modern-day.   Kindness Survives Though they helped to rebuild Vodalia, the Eliterates chose not to rejoin the Empire. Instead, as repayment for their assistance, the Eliterates were given complete independence from Vodalia as its first sovereign nation-state. Through the centuries, the Eliterates have managed to survive Dominaria's recurring tragedies, growing from a commune of artists into a group of like-minded pacifists, bound together only by the inspiration of the sacrifice that saved people.   Any merfolk are welcomed to join the Eliterates and those who do swear an oath against the taking of life. Instead, they split their time between artistic pursuits and patrolling the waters of the Voda Sea, rescuing those in need and destroying the ships of poachers and pirates, bringing punishment through the economic ruin, rather than the pain of death. In modern times, members of the Eliterates are known for being free-spirited, and many sailors view the waters of the Voda Sea as the safest waters in all of Dominaria.