"Contrary to popular belief, the way merfolks live underwater were more often than not dictated by necessity instead of preference. It is but one reason why "land tourism" is a popular activity amongst them." - Scaemille Avudnia, Elven Water-affinity Archmagus and long-time dweller in Gtou'rergh.

Scaemille offered Cal's group her house to stay in, an offer they accepted. Merfolk settlements rarely have buildings meant for housing land dwellers as it was, for while the merfolk loved to visit the lands, the reverse rarely happened. As it was, Scaemille's residence is one of the very few buildings in the settlement built more for land dweller accommodation.

Most merfolk "houses" are more like a creature's lair, just simple structures large enough to accomodate a family, with no other function other than maybe some spare room to store personal belongings in. The concept of personal belongings itself was rather foreign for the merfolk, typically something only the merchants amongst them employ often.

For most merfolk, belongings were things that belonged to their settlement as a whole, shared amongst themselves as needed whenever needed. That said, they understood well that land dwellers had very different views on the matter, and when they left the waters to visit the land they would always do so with adequate preparations and funds.

Even their concept of "merchants" differed, for amongst merfolk those who took up the trade were ones assigned to do their best to help enrich the settlement as a whole. Scaemille was considered a representative amongst the merchants, as she and Silas had been the best performers amongst the merfolk by a fair margin, mostly thanks to the unfair advantage Ragiula lent them.

After they had some refreshments, Scaemille showed them around the merfolk settlement. Other than the lair-like dwellings the merfolk favored, there were larger buildings as well. A large library/archive collected the equivalent of merfolk literature as well as the history of the settlement, their hieroglyphic writing etched on slabs of stone either by chisels or magic.

Arts and crafts - be they meant for trade or to beautify the settlement - were produced in a large communal building, where artists worked their trade whenever inspiration struck them. A similar communal building was present for mages with applicable trades to work their crafts for the community.

Mages of mud affinity - relatively common among merfolk - helped turn the city's collected waste into compost. Then non-magician laborers - at times aided by water affinity mages - distributed the freshly made fertilizer on their fields of seaweed.

Around the settlement itself guards armed with harpoons and curious paddle-like swords lined with teeth of obsidian or bone patrolled the perimeters. Their purpose was mostly to look out for large predators that veered too close to the settlement. Unlike most merfolk who only wore a loincloth - if they wore anything at all -, the guards on patrol wore armor crafted from what looked like thick cured leathers under a layer of bone plates. Officers amongst them wore armor with a layer of scales instead of bone.

Scaemille told them of their story while she brought the group around. She had first met Skae'rgh, the merfolk who later became her husband and Silas's father over three centuries ago. At the time, he took his trade ship far afield, all the way to the Great Emerald Forest, where she lived at the time.

As a water affinity mage, she had worked by the harbor at the time. The sight of the merfolk visitors from afar - they had merfolk visitors from nearby settlements often - and the exotic goods they brought to trade sparked her curiosity and wanderlust. When Skae'rgh left the harbor, she had joined his ship as a crew member, a water affinity mage always welcome aboard ships.

One thing led to another and the relationship between employer and employee turned into lovers over the years. They were formally wed when they learned that she was pregnant with Silas, and she became a daughter in law of the family.

She had lived in the settlement for a decade straight after the birth of her son - it was not a good idea to raise a merfolk child elsewhere, at least during their early years -, while her husband plied his trade. It was during those years that she applied her knowledge as an enchanter, and gained a hobby of making carvings.

Over the years she grew to love the tranquil way of life of the merfolk, and she stayed at the settlement even after her husband passed away from old age two centuries ago. The trade ship was passed down to their son Silas, while she mostly remained in the settlement and enjoyed her tranquility.

As part of the family she became very familiar with their family's unusual trading partner, and sometimes joined the ship on trips where they were scheduled to meet up with Ragiula just to have a chat with the kraken who she considered an old friend by now. That said old friend had just basically moved in next door was a source of celebration for her.

Gtou'rergh was located to the north and west of Al-Shan Empire's largest island, after which the empire was named, and where its capital stood. Ragiula and her brood made their home to their south and west, in a deeper section of the sea surrounded by islands of the archipelago. Several small uninhabited islands also dotted the area, where delicacies and booze tributes to the kraken were delivered to.

As they swam through the city, Cal noticed that other than merfolk, several kinds of aquatic therians also inhabit the settlement. Merfolk and aquatic therians had coexisted for a long time, as their shared habitat and preferences coupled with the abundance of room allowed easy cooperation.

Scaemille explained to them that some merfolk settlements were set in the deeper areas of the sea, areas normal merfolk were unable to enter as the water pressure there would have pulped them. The merfolk and therians who lived there lived a more isolated life, as only occasionally would they send representatives to shallower waters to trade with their cousins.

Cal had spotted Silas as he chatted amicably with two such representatives, one of whom looked like a bloated merfolk - Scaemille said that under the depths the deepfolk lived, they looked barely different to normal merfolk - and a therian that had a large head. The therian's head had large eyes, an antenna which ended in a light-emitting organ, and a humongous jaw filled with horrific fangs.

It was quite a strange sight to witness such a creature of horrors laugh and chat in a friendly manner with others, though the merfolk were clearly used to it, other than some children who stared or asked their parents.