So...I'm so glad my main character is psycho; he's perfectly willing to throw Virgil off the boat if he starts to get too moody. *glee* I think I know where I'm going from here; I just have to do my homework first, and then I shall write. Have a Moneta meeting tonight, too, and that should help.

So, the mermaids (merpeople, if you feel like being PC; they don't have a name for themselves) are capable of breathing above water, though some species are more comfortable doing so than others. They tend to resemble various types of fish; there are shark people and marlin people and eel people and the like. Supposedly in the very depths of the ocean, there are vampire squid people, too, but they are (understandably so) rather reclusive and not well adapted to surviving at depths of less than a mile. The different species are of varying levels of intelligence; some are little more than particularly canny predators, and others surpass humans in every way.

The dolphin based species is the dominant species of Atlantis, and is now nearly extinct. Atlantis sank beneath the sea some two thousand years ago and the resulting climate change and falling debris in the water wiped out the underwater mirror city. The human Atlantis and the mermaid Atlantis cooperated to the benefit of the citizens of both cities; the dolphin species, like actual dolphins, are air breathers and actually prefer to breathe air rather than rely on their mostly ornamental gills. The humans of Atlantis were also incredibly advanced with all that spiff technology and whatnot; it really is a shame that their all dead and no one really remembers what happened, because then maybe the flooding wouldn't have happened, but hey, I need some easy plot devices.

The mermaid survivors of Atlantis lived in the ruins of both cities, but have since taken to living migratory lives now that those pesky landmasses are no longer blocking their primary travel routes. There were no human survivors.

The mermaids communicate using a complex form of code that involves noises, phosphorescence, and body language. Their written language requires three different alphabets of symbols that translate into sounds, gestures, and concepts. The use of the written language depends on the intelligence of the species in question; their "spoken" language is universal, however. So a shark based mermaid could easily communicate to a clownfish based mermaid that there is a reef nearby full of oysters, though he wouldn't necessarily conduct a philosophical debate with it because clownfish are notoriously idiotic, and shark based mermaids are, as a rule, incredibly snobbish.

There will only be a few base types showing up in ADG, because I honestly haven't created any mermaid characters yet...they don't show up until at least the second quarter or third of the story, so I've got a little while. Really only the more intelligent species mess with the ruins of humanity, since the others have only noticed that their hunting grounds are somewhat larger than before.

Crossbreeding is possible but not common; different species are technically cross-fertile, but not very. There are also strong rivalries between various species, so cross-breeding, if successful, is still looked down upon. Most mermaids are either monogamous or polyamorous...I haven't decided how sex works yet, but I think they resemble platypi in terms of children.

I don't think it'll matter much in the end, since Trent's likelihood of caring about mermaid sex is rather slim but...I honestly have no idea where the plot is going. Who knows? Maybe Evil Trent will decide to molest a mermaid...although I, personally, would rather not write that particular scene...

Gah. That's definitely not a happy thought.

I need to look up stuff on boats now...and engines. I know it's possible to convert an engine so that it can burn alcohol, but alcohol is in short supply without any grain or mass quantities of fruit...they have come up with a fermented seaweed beverage that really shouldn't be used as anything but fuel (though I hear it's rather popular where Japan used to be) but I need to know if trying to burn fish oil could work without really messy results.

I can still see into the room on the end of the other corridor...I feel like such a voyeur. :D

Also: possibly one of the best things you can possibly do when feeling down is listen to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Or, if you can't read and downloaded it first, "The Devil Went Back to Georgia". Because hot damn that's some fine fiddle playing. Shall have to ask the brother for some Charlie Daniels Band, because 'tis good. I can't find any celtic/peruvian flute music, so southern fiddling will have to do.