Meet the MerSims

Meet the Zalrian Pod

Over time this post will be updated as new merfolk join the Zalrian Pod.

Finn Zalrian

Kemps and Calum's father, the original Patriarch of the Zalrian Pod, and the Original Guardian of the Sea from the Blue Tail Bloodline. As one of the original merfolk, Finn was born from the magical resonance of the Sea and Song.

His sons were among the first generation of merfolk born from the Sea, Song, and the Expression of Love.

His bloodline can hold the power to hold back the dark and chaotic forces of the ocean. Him and his life partner, Naida, passed away protecting their sons from Humans that were manipulated by forces seeking to unleash the Chaos of the Seas on the world.

Kemps Zalrian

Kemps is loyal and devoted to protecting his family. After the twins joined the pod, he's become a little more protective and overbearing. This has led to a more strained relationship between Kemps and his nephew, Alex.

Out of the three brothers, Kemps is the most responsible. He’s had to look after his younger brothers for a long time. After Calum and Reef started their families, the Zalrian Pod was re-established, and Kemps became the Patriarch of the Zalrian Pod. His number one priority is ensuring the safety of his pod.

Kemps is Calum and Reef's older brother. He doesn't approve of his younger brother's interest in humans, but he learned to accept Arihi after she became a mermaid. Despite this, Kemps had his own encounter with Humans as a merboy.

Since Kemps was older than Calum, he inherited his father's powers as a Guardian of the Sea when he passed away protecting the pod from a human-merfolk conflict. Finn Zalrian was able to share everything Kemps needed to know as a Guardian before he passed away. While Sea Sorcery can bring humans back to life as reborn merfolk, a mer can't be resurrected from death with Sea Sorcery. Consequently, Kemps had to take on responsibilities most young merfolk wouldn't have at an extremely young age.

Shortly before the Zalrian Pod returned to the Seas around Sulani, Kemps transferred the Guardian Power to his nephew, Alex. While Calum was technically the next in line to inherit the power. Kemps wanted to do this as a precaution for safeguarding the seas and avoid further complicating his relationship with his younger brother. Kemps had reservations about what the pod might encounter so close to the human world.

While Alex had a dangerous interest in the human world, Kemps still felt that he would be the best one to give the power to. Unlike his father, Kemps never explained what it meant to be a Guardian of the Sea to Alex. He didn't bind the Pod by Law to keep it a secret, but he made it clear that he didn't want anyone to reveal that knowledge except for him. The only other member of the pod that knew was his younger brother Calum.

While Alex was taking his first steps on land, Kemps went to the surface to look for him. Under the cover of darkness, Kemps was ambushed by Camilo's minions. Anika and Ronen dragged him out of the sea. Kemps did his best to resist, but once they got him out of the water, he couldn't escape.

In the end, Camilo captured Kemps, believing he got his claws on the Blue Tail Guardian. He took Kemps's Voice and added him to his collection of imprisoned merfolk. After Kemps was secure in the tank Camilo set aside for the Blue Tail Guardian, he realized that, while Kemps was the Blue Tail Guardian at one point, he no longer possessed the power Camilo needed for his own goals. This angered Camilo because of how close to one of the Guardians he was, but his minions failed to capture the right merman. He had one guardian and two merfolk that were extremely close to two other guardians.

Despite his capture, Kemps took comfort in knowing that he was able to protect his pod and delay one of the bigger threats to the sea. Because he was still alive, he remained the Patriarch, but in his imprisoned state, he was powerless to do more for his pod.

Reef Kailani

Reef's brothers are Kemps and Calum. He's the middle child among the three. Reef was adopted by Kemps when Kemps was still a merboy and Calum was a merling. All three brothers were orphaned at a young age. Despite the Human-Merfolk conflict playing a significant role in them becoming orphans, Reef doesn't pick a side when his brothers argue and debate about humans. Reef remains neutral preferring to mediate and keep the peace between his brothers.

Out of the three brothers, Reef is the peacekeeper in the pod. He’s gotten a lot of experience settling disputes between his brothers. Reef is the Patriarchal Heir of the Zalrian Pod. Should anything happen to Kemps, he's next in line to lead the Zalrian Pod.

While most mermen never wear any accessories or other forms of apparel, Reef often wears a shark tooth necklace. The Shark Tooth came from a close encounter with a shark before Kemps adopted him into the Zalrian Pod. Reef has a close relationship with a lot of sea life, except for sharks. Most merfolk don't play with something that can be so dangerous.

Reef does not use the Zalrian name despite being a member of the Zalrian Pod. He is of the Kailani Bloodline. Despite not sharing the Zalrian Bloodline, he is a member of the Zalrian Pod and bound by that pod's laws. For merfolk, family groups are defined by the pod and not the bloodline they share. Merfolk of the same Bloodline don't partner, but they associate more strongly with the Pod, their established family group, they are bound to under a Matriarch or Patriarch. If Reef met another mer of the Kailani Bloodline outside the Zalrian Pod, he would not recognize them as family nor would the other Kailani outside the Zalrian pod recognize him as family. Merfolk don't need to remain in any one pod, and Reef would always have the option to go to his Pod's Patriarch and unbind himself from the pod to join a pod that shares his Bloodline.

Sarah Kailani

Sarah is Reef's Life Partner. Sarah and Reef had twin sons named Kylen and Rylan. She lost Rylan to ocean predators. The loss wasn't easy on her, and she played a major role in convincing Kemps to finally move the pod. 

Originally, Sarah was on Kemps's side when it came to humans. It wasn't until the loss of one of her sons that she decided being closer to the human world was worth the risk. While Kemps dislikes humans, Sarah's feelings about humans are heavily influenced by how little they seemed to care about the oceans. Sarah values life, especially life under the sea. She saw human pollution as a danger to what she wanted to protect. For her, living away from humans and around the deeper reefs seemed like the safer option for raising her sons. Her nephew, Alex, was raised around the same reefs, and she never expected one of her sons to get into danger.

Sarah exchanged her maiden name for the Kailani Name. By taking the name of her Partner, she left her original pod and joined the pod her partner belonged to. The transition from one pod to the next also meant the laws she lived by changed.

Once reef merfolk partner, they partner for life, and partnered reef mer will never choose another partner for the rest of their immortal lives. This devotion to each other and the exchange of song is where the power for new reef merfolk to be born comes from.

After losing Rylan, she became fiercely protective of the merlings in the Zalrian Pod. She's often the one that Calum and Arihi will ask to look after the twins if they can't do so themselves. Now that the Zalrian Pod has moved into the Zalia Grottos, both Reef and Sarah are spending most of their time with their sons, rarely leaving them without one of them to look after them. Sarah has made it very clear to Reef that she does not want to see another merling suffer the same fate as Rylan. 

Calum Zalrian

Calum has an unusual curiosity concerning the human world. He’s proud to be a merman as much as he’s fascinated by humans. He's found a balance between his interest in the human world and his life as a merman. While some merfolk might seek out a sea witch to pursue their own interests beyond the sea, he's content with his family under the sea. Calum would never seek more than what he has, but he will always have some interest in things from the human world. Kemps chose to give Calum's eldest son the Guardian Power because he didn't want the power to complicate things more between them.

Calum's life partner, Arihi, left her life on land and chose to live in the sea as a mermaid. Calum and Arihi's love, and their song brought their eldest son and the twins into the world. Calum is naturally family oriented. 

Out of the three brothers, Calum is the most compassionate and understanding one.

Arihi Zalrian

Ages ago, Arihi gave up her life as an elemental to be with Calum in the sea. Her sisters and brothers in the spirit realm did not make her transformation permanent. If Arihi wanted to return to the spirit realm, she has the option to do so.

Arihi is a Halfling, half-mermaid and half-elemental. While Halflings age like humans do, her elemental origins allowed her to retain her eternal youth and immortality.  Arihi has the ability to take a human form and doesn't need to make a deal with a Sea Witch to walk among humans. Kemps forbids members of his pod from interacting with the human world. Consequently, Arihi hasn't walked among humans for a very long time.

Arihi practices light sea sorcery. Her spells require the same payment as dark sea sorcery spells, but they lack the potency to be permanent. When time runs out, her contracts lose their power, and the magic tied to it gets undone. Arihi grants a signer's wish for a limited time, and for the most part, this is enough to help whoever seeks her out. 

Alex Zalrian

Calum and Arihi's oldest son. Even though his mother is a Halfling, Alex is a Reef Merman, the pure-blood shallow reef variant. Before returning to Sulani, Kemps transferred his Guardian Powers to him. While Alex loves his ocean home, he wishes to see more beyond the sea. This causes most of the conflict between him and Kemps. 

Because his mother is half-elemental, Alex inherited some of the powers unique to the Elementals. As a merboy, he has an affinity for Ice Mermadic Magic. His connection to the Elementals limits him to one Mermadic Elemental Magic.

He shares his father's curiosity about the human world and often gets too close to humans, breaking his Uncle's Rules. Unlike his father, he isn't content with his life in the sea. As a Reef Merman, he is incapable of taking a form that would allow him to leave the sea without the help of Sea Sorcery.

Alex fully understands that no Reef Merfolk can take human form without help, and the help of a Sea Witch often comes with a heavy price few would pay. However, before he resigned to his life limited to the sea, a chance encounter led to a decision that would change Alex's life forever.

Alex made a deal with Damion that cost him his voice. While the merboy gained the ability to see worlds beyond the ocean, he lost the ability to speak, laugh, sing, or make a sound of any kind. Damion is known for never going back on a deal, and Alex is learning to accept his new life without a voice.

While Alex explores the human world, Damion is holding onto his voice. Damion didn't reveal his intentions to Alex, but he sensed a threat to the ocean and took Alex's voice as a way to further secure the safety of the seven seas and his own pod. He felt that Alex was too naive to shoulder the responsibilities given to him by his uncle. Unfortunately, he couldn't fore see the effects his sea sorcery would have on a Guardian's Power. By taking Alex's Voice with a contract instead of alternative means, the power became unbound to Alex and broke into two halves.

Dylan and Zephyr Zalrian

The twins that have always been a part of everything from the beginning. I turned back the clock to give them their mermadic childhood I always wanted to give them.

Dylan and Zephyr inherited powers unique to the Elementals from their mother. Dylan has an affinity for water mermadic magic. Zephyr has an affinity for air mermadic magic. Their connection to the Elementals limits the mermadic magic they can learn. Dylan and Zephyr are identical twins with no visible difference in their appearance. Despite their identical appearance, they are very different individuals. 

Dylan is a creative prodigy with a talent for capturing the essence of emotions in his artwork. He's gifted with any instrument and can tell epic stories that will trick you into believing they are true. Dylan is aloft with creativity and inspiration. For him, his influence on emotions is as fluid as water.

Zephyr is a gifted genius. Only his twin can beat him in a game of chess, and he always notices whatever Dylan misses. He's an inventor and an innovative thinker that can bring out the full potential of many things. Zephyr has an extra ordinary understanding of logic and reason. His knowledge gives him the tenacity and flexibility of the wind.

Dylan and Zephyr are inseparable and will rarely be far from each other. Together, Dylan and Zephyr overcome each other's weaknesses with their own individual strengths. The Twins are best friends and extremely close.

Kemps recognized their close bond and didn't want to disrupt their relationship with his Guardian's Power. Instead, he chose Alex as his successor. When Alex went to Damion for the power to go on land, the contract he signed had an unusual effect on the Guardian's Power. The power, unrestrainable by a sea witch's contract, passed on to the next in line for the Guardian's Power. Half the power went to Dylan and the other half went to Zephyr. As merlings, they can't use the Guardian's Power, but the Power can still hold back the darkness of the deep like this. Additionally, the power itself is not whole without both of them.

Kylen Kailani

Kylen is Reef and Sarah Kailani's son. Despite the Patriarch having a blue tail, Kylen inherited his father's orange tail and shares the Kailani Bloodline. Mermadic Bloodlines can be traced by tail color, but members of a pod don't need to share the same bloodline. In most instances, tail color is always determined by the father.

If two mermaids or two mermen partner, the name the partner chooses will influence their children's tail color. The child would then inherit the name associated with the bloodline that matches their tail color. The name a partner takes will depend on which pod they are joining.

Kylen had a twin brother named Rylan. Rylan passed away after an unfortunate encounter with sharks. Not long after Rylan passed away, Lir was adopted by the Kailani when they found him alone in the sea. It was the combination of Rylan's encounter with a shark and the twins being born that finally made Kemps concede to moving the pod back to Sulani.

Lir could never replace Kylen's twin brother, but Kylen loves having his brother around. He often tries to encourage Lir to be more confident and supports him the best he can.  

Lir Maelstren

Lir was a merling in the Maelstren Pod before he was adopted by the Zalrian Pod. Lir is actually Stevie Maestren's younger cousin. Despite sharing a bloodline, Stevie does not recognize Lir as his cousin because he is bound to the Zalrian Pod.

A conflict with the Human world left many merlings, merboys, and mergirls orphaned. The Maelstren Pod suffered the most during the Human-Merfolk conflict. Lir and his cousin, Calden, were hidden in a deep-sea cave by Stevie the night humans hunted the pod. While Stevie swam to warn the other Reef Merfolk, the merlings were ambushed by a Deep-Sea Mer. Both Lir and Calden escaped, but they ended up getting separated and lost at sea. Lir doesn't know what happened to Calden. Lir would have lost his life to ocean predators if the Zalrian Pod didn't adopt him.

For a merling, Lir is particularly shy and gets most of his confidence when Kylen is with him. The two brothers are jokesters and are notorious for their pranks in the Zalrian Pod.

The Zalrian Pod Social Structure

The Zalrian Bloodline is actually very small in comparison to the Zalrian Pod. This pod is bigger because it's a composite of multiple bloodlines. Bloodlines that make up this pod are Zalrian Blue Tail, Kailani Orange Tail, and Maelstren Green Tail. This pod is well established and stable without any potential internal conflicts threatening to break it. Many pods usually stay with a single bloodline out of fear of different views creating a struggle for Patriarchal or Matriarchal Power. The way this pod was established has largely removed this potential issue.

Ironically, pods with a single bloodline tend to suffer significantly more from internal conflict without diversity within the pod.

The Zalrian Pod's Patriarchal Line of Succession

In the Zalrian Pod, the Patriarchal Heirs are always mermen, and the line of succession is determined by age. The heirs do not become the Patriarch until after something happens to the current patriarch. As long as the Current Patriarch lives, there will be no change. While Reef, Kylen, and Lir do not share Kemps's Bloodline, they are able to become the patriarch of the Zalrian Pod. If there aren't any mermen that can become a Patriarch, the pod would no longer be established and any mermaids that remain would be free to establish a new pod of their own or with another merman. If a male merling remains but is underage to become the Patriarch, their mother can be an acting Matriarch and hold Matriarchal Power over the pod until their son is an adult.

A pod's Patriarch or Matriarch does not need a specific tail color to be in the line of succession. 

1. Current Patriarch: Kemps Zalrian
2. First Heir: Reef Kailani
3. Second Heir: Calum Zalrian
4. Third Heir: Alex Zalrian (Matriarch Arihi if Alex is Underage)
5. Fourth Joint Heirs: Dylan and Zephyr Zalrian (Matriarch Arihi if Dylan and Zephyr are Underage)
6. Fifth Heir: Kylen Kailani (Matriarch Sarah if Kylen is Underage)
7. Sixth Heir: Lir Maelstren (Matriarch Sarah if Lir is Underage)

The Blue Tail Guardian Line of Succession

The Line of Succession for becoming a Guardian of the Sea is different from the Line of Succession for becoming a Pod Patriarch or Matriarch. Several different things can influence who the Guardian is. 

• The power can be passed on to another in the shared bloodline by choice.
• The power can transfer to the next in line by age if the current Guardian passes away.
• If there isn't a merman, merboy, or merling to inherit the power, a new bloodline holding that power would be born.
• The merman, merboy, or merling must have the same tail color as the current guardian for a transfer from one bloodline to another.
• If a bloodline that holds the power dies off, another bloodline with the same tail color can inherit the power instead of a new bloodline being born.

The Six Guardians of the Sea possess voices that resonate with the primordial song that brought the first merfolk into existence. The power of their voices are exceptionally powerful, and their existence in the sea alone holds the Chaos of the Seven Seas at bay. A Guardian of the Sea is always a merman, merboy, or male merling without exception.

Potential Blue Tail Guardians

1. Finn Zalrian (Former Blue Tail Guardian)(Deceased)
2. Kemps Zalrian (Former Blue Tail Guardian)
3. Calum Zalrian
4. Alex Zalrian (Former Blue Tail Guardian) (Can't regain the power without his Voice)
5. Dylan Zalrian and Zephyr Zalrian (Current Blue Tail Guardians)(Half the Guardian Power Within Each)