The Mother

The brood mermaid holds a low rung in the caste of the working class. Taken as they come and cheaper than those in the sister-profession of prostitution, they are virtually disposable to the no-longer-quite-underground industry of larvae trafficking. In its quickly deteriorating society, the ruling caste has joined forces with masterminds of the underground, launching yet another "humane solution" to halt the growing problem of unwanted diffusion or dilution of noble blood. In an attempt to cleanse the hierarchy of all existing half-royal underlings, all brood mermaids who have knowingly reared seeds of the noble were drawn to scattered, isolated meeting spots with promises of rare reward--but what met them instead was, surely enough, the very rare Mother.

The Mother has long been a suspect of the mer race's nearest (but taboo) kin, very particularly due to the close resemblance they bear to the mer larva; though, unlike the mer, they retain their many eyes and globular body mass and do not moult or cocoon to reach adulthood. Their gender demographic or mode of reproduction has also been a largely speculated mystery, as it would appear that all members are born? and remain female. They are known in mer children's tales as monsters who lure and snatch away the misbehaving child.

Far too many generations have lapsed for the general public to recognize or remember that, in actuality, the legendary Mother has an affinity only for mer children in the larval stage. Sending and receiving globules of themselves, they "charm" away the developing larva, kidnapping them to unknown, un-mer territories, never to be seen or heard from again. However, they do not and would not even dream of wounding the child, as this has become clear; they treat and rear all catches of larvae as one of their kind with the gentlest mother's care.

But the brood mermaid remains.

She wails.