MerMay 2022The waves crash loudly as the Sea Witch stares at the midday ocean. Her familiar shading

MerMay 2022

The waves crash loudly as the Sea Witch stares at the midday ocean. Her familiar shading her from the sun. Another year, another exchange, she wonders if it’ll be any different.

The waves crash and washes up a floundering creature, scales battered from wear and hair rough and tangled like netting. Scale pale pink and almost translucent, white scales picking the light.

They bring offerings in exchange. Some are as the largest pearls you’ve ever seen and others the smallest bead of glass that catch the light beautifully. Anything they may prove worthy. For The Sea Witch, none of it really matters for her, she doesn’t have use for it, only to see how much it means to the poor sour that wishes to trade their life for a new one.

Weapons she crafted can cut anything, even it means to cut your life and give you a new one, a fresh start. People have heard stories, but those that have experienced it are never, if rarely, heard from again. Perhaps it’s true that they leave everything, even the rumours, behind.

The islanders are aware that creatures try to live among them. Normally, this is fine. But when catches are low and morale is starving, the fisherman don’t see any harm in procuring extra meat for their quota. No one dares to question it. The Witch feels they need to learn just how terrible humans are, no matter how kind they appear. Doesn’t stop the island being known for it prized ‘jellied salmon’.