Setting & Lore

The west shore of Goldberry Lake was once home to a bustling and scenic town with nice weather year round, making it a wonderful spot for vacations and even weddings. Many jobs formed from the tourism industry, such as family owned restaurants, meaderies, and the like. Before the tourism boom, the town of Goldberry was an old fishing and farming town. The berries native to the area, the goldberry, became the main crop, and lifeblood of the town as they travelled through distillery and into the local venues. The fishermen's lighthouse became the town's new branding after tourism took over, and still is to this day (despite the sore lack of tourists).   

Since the declining number of tourists to Goldberry, many businesses and storefronts have become run down and in need of repair. Many townsfolk have accepted it as part of the charm of the town, while others are taking it as an opportunity to give the old quaint town a more modern facelift. In recent years, a community college opened up about 20 minutes away. It's got no reputation besides being a small school, and no one's first choice.  Many kids who've been raised in Goldberry eventually go to that college... just to return back to the town.  

There’s also a motel outside of town, but… none of the locals like to go there for any reason. Despite its 1 star reviews, it somehow stays open. It's the local enigma, but at this point... nothing bad is happening to question it, so why bother messing with it?

The climate is relatively chilly and lately its been rainier than ever before. Summers never peak above 65°, but locals never find the conditions too uncomfortable.
The town also gets a big snowfall in the winter, which turns it into a winter wonderland.

As long as humans have lived near the lake, children were told the tales of creatures swimming just beneath the water. Your great-great-grandma might have still believed in the legends. Nowadays, its near impossible to find anyone who believes those silly stories. The tales are now just ways to remind the children that we must respect and share the lake with the fish and creatures who live in it. 

There’s a whole civilization underneath the lake. God knows how long its been there, but it most likely, outdates Goldberry.

The mermaids who inhabit the lake like to keep to themselves. There's not too much reason to go to the surface outside of private reasons. While surfacing is not illegal despite the possible dangers, it's frowned upon due to inherent dangers. Many decisions for the mermaids are in part made or approved by the elders - mermaids who have remained in the lake for generations upon generations. A fair few hold ancient knowledge, lost to current mermaids. They are considered to be as old and wise as the lake itself, and as such, are a pillar of the lake society.  They decide when rules are established or removed or outdated. Some of them have walked amongst humans, but most of the elders remain in the lake, lest any problems arise in their absence. 

Many of the elders who remain value the studies of the younger mermaids who come and go - bearing information, observations, and ideas broadened by the humans. The elders are not always in agreement on the level of interaction, but know outlawing it on some level would only bring rebelliousness - far easier to manage those around them if they let it be known they are surfacing.

The natural curiosity of mermaids will only occasionally win out, and some mermaids live joint lives both on land and in the lake. For most of the mermaids of the lake, they never choose to leave it. Those who do choose to go to the surface are given instructions from a hidden Reliable Source on where to go first for help adjusting to land life. After this first stop, they are then sent on their way to the motel just outside of town. For years, the motel has been a safe place to sleep and live for a bit before going back to the lake or choosing to make themselves another life on land. 

However, recently, no one has been able to reach this middle man that leads the merms to the motel. The Reliable Source has realized it'd be best to send mermaids directly to the motel. If they get hurt or found out... well, that's their own business. They accepted the risks by going up to the surface. The Reliable Source isn't about to stick their neck out.

Whatever it was that brought the mermaids to the surface, many have chosen to wander from the lake of their own accord. Some merms who choose to go to the surface are there for scientific research and observation purposes. Others are simply curious about the life and ways of land-dwellers. Perhaps some are "escaping" the city, where everyone knows someone who knows everyone else. Whatever the case, it's rare and practically unheard of for a merm to be "banished" to the surface. They may be banished from the civilization, but there are options of where to go outside of land. 

Mermaids on land may form a community or keep to themselves. Mermaids may not recognize other mermaids personally, but there's a chance they can be visually recognized by their mermaid traits; ex: extreme heights or naturally odd colored hair or eyes. Additionally... social awkwardness a la the Little Mermaid. Best not to let the mermaids be recognized as a mermaid by humans though... who knows what could happen...

Mermaids have a special way of communicating to other merms on land as to whether certain establishments are safe/unsafe or comfortable/uncomfortable.  Similar to hobo code, they use knives and carve barely noticeable symbols on trees, fence posts, or telephone poles that vaguely resemble shells. Humans usually can't find these marks, and when they do, they don't see any meaning past the shell resemblance.

Roughly scratched shells represent that the area is unsafe. Scribbly carved lines on these shells will sometimes go inside and outside the design-- The original mark makers sometimes had little time to create their marks, so cleanliness was not their focus.
As you may have guessed, cleanly marked shells represent that mermaids can find safety in this area/business. Often this is reflected by the sort of attitude that workers/frequent visitors have. 

Conch shells represent comfort, while Oyster shells represent discomfort (again, easier to carve quickly in case of a bad experience).
Friendly and charitable locations are marked as clean conch shells, since they are both safe and comfortable.
A certain bar in town has a smooth conch (safe, comfortable) that's been scratched out. Next to it is a new carving of a smooth oyster (safe, uncomfortable)