#merrow lore

Answer: In the "First Ink" Merrow Short Story that I have out, both on my Patreon and as an individual short, it follows one of those traditions--where young Merrow get a specific tattoo to allow them to travel/portal themselves where they need to be/to safety. This is to account for the shift where their magic may vanish (the usual dragel inheritance cycle where they're being rewired for the magical and physical upgrade), and it keeps children from 'vanishing'.

The exception for this, in the case of the LCOTM(Lost Children of The Merrow), is that the children have to be old enough for their bodies to handle the process/possible discomfort and to be able to articulate the activation for the spell. In the First Ink short story, we see an older sister taking her baby sibling to get the tattoos done and then to celebrate afterward, as that's a worthy milestone.

some Merrow that have extra features (a second set of eyes, dual ears, jaw that unhinges, tentacles or bioluminescent growths, etc), may have colorful or geometric styled tattoos to warn/highlight the fact and it is often done in colors that suit their scaled morph.

Baby's first scales, fangs, claws, are kept, and bespelled each year on the birthday, to turn them into extra potent magical ingredients that are unique to the individual, in case of a medical or magical emergency at some point in their life. When they use up the baby items (if at all), they contribute their best scales/fangs, etc. from their current year of life, so the set doesn't really get used up, just a bit of altered potentcy.

That's all I have off the top of my head for now. Apologies if there’s anything vaguely spoiler-ish in there. I do try to keep my answers spoiler-free, but I also get quite a bit of questions outside of the official discord Q&A’s and I’d rather not answer the same question all over again when I can put my muse to something else—like edits or a new chapter. This question was originally asked during a Q&A last year.

Thanks!

-Chera