Merdhrai, Untamed pride

The fur of both males and females of the Merdhrai ranges from tawny brown to oily black, with various patterns of stripes, spots and dappling that often clearly identifies an individual as a member of a specific family group to other Merdhrai in the world. Two small but ever-growing tusks jut down on either side of their mouths; short enough in most young Merdhrai as to go without notice until the individual begins talking in their distinctively curt and inarticulate fashion.

While the majority of Merdhrai belong to a clan they may not always travel with them, and indeed may temporarily or permanently join another in their travels or in the pursuit of a shared goal. Most of such clans have little in the way of social hierarchy and are best understood as communal rather than one to which the members owe fealty or duty.

Those who cannot abide by the shared values and ideals of the clan simply seek out another that aligns closer to their own. Entire clans may split over disagreements or new clans form of two or more who find themselves at shared purposes.

The design of the clan is one of practicality and community, rather than patriotism or obligation. This lends most Merdhrai a strong suspicion of traditional authority, much less that of monarchs and tyrants.

Merrish children are almost always named after a friend or clan member of their parents and in some cases may be granted a name borrowed from another race if such an individual has so endeared itself to the family. The Merdhrai do not differentiate between male and female names when choosing a first name. This name is joined by a family appellation inherited from their opposite-sex parent and a surname of sorts shared by all members of their current clan.

With such little interest in history, they instead concern themselves with the finer points of today and (on occasion) tomorrow, reveling in the moment over the details of their yesterdays. “There is nothing so useless as worry, but regret.” is a mantra heard often around Merrish campfires along with the more characteristically terse, “It is done.”

Having relatively brief lives in a world where both friends and enemies’ lifespans may be measured in centuries or millennia, perhaps there is wisdom in the efficiency of such a philosophy.

Though they toil at little of what the other races view as admirable craft, the vagrant Merdhrai are reputed as some of the finest glaziers, lens-grinders, bead-makers and stained-glass artists in the land. No Merrish home is complete without several elaborately-leaded and colorful windows, and some few artisans are rumored to use esoteric alchemical additions to craft weapons as strong as any steel.

Though they are rarely public in their worship, the dutiful Merdhrai have a deep and abiding animist faith which imbues their culture with a reverence for nature matched by few outside the races of the Fey. The simple act of felling a tree for the purposes of building a boat or bridge, or even slaying a vexatious predatory beast, has a countenance of solemn ceremony. Where their caravans and flotillas pass they leave little trace, apart from tending to diseased or devastated flora and fauna along their meandering paths.

Some families and clans augment this honoring of the natural world with the worship of a god or gods who look favorably upon such works. On occasion these gods smile back upon them, granting blessings of divine power to the most devout in order to better protect the wilds.

The origins of these vagrant creatures are shrouded in the fog of forgotten history and confused ever more by the thousands of conflicting and fantastical tales of clan and family histories they share among themselves. While this would infuriate many an academic or archivist, to the Merdhrai it is little more than amusement.

Some tell of how they arose fully formed from the sand and sea-foam, others claim they came ashore in longboats or on the backs of whales after a treacherous journey across many oceans. Whatever the truth, they have quickly established themselves along the coast and up the many rivers of the north. Beyond those stony banks and wild evergreen forests the more adventurous of individuals and uncommon of clans have continued to southern shoals and inland kingdoms; walking, riding and rowing ever onward to the next shore, be it over land or water.