Mercane
Where do the Mercane come from? Who are they? Why do they sell their helms? Surely profit is not their only motivation. Who among us has ever even learned how a helm works, let alone manufactured one?"
Mercanes are the mysterious, magical creations of one or more deities whose portfolios revolve around fair commerce. Standing 12 feet tall, they are lanky blue beings who dress in elegant robes and have elongated heads and long, spindly fingers.
Mercanes conduct most of their business in Wildspace and the Astral Sea. To a mercane, commerce can take many forms, from the trading of goods and services to the trading of ideas and information. Mercanes are best known, however, for procuring and selling magic items, including artifacts and spelljamming helms. It’s rare to see more than one mercane at a time, though it’s common for a mercane to be accompanied by underlings or bodyguards.
Mercanes will conduct business with anyone, fairly and reliably, provided the other party has neither harmed nor swindled another mercane in the past. Mercanes have a special form of telepathy that enables them to communicate with one another across the multiverse. A mercane often uses this ability to warn another mercanes about individuals who are dangerous or unreliable. Once a mercane has been offended by someone, getting back into their good graces is next to impossible.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Mercane looked like tall and slender blue-skinned giants with long, delicate fingers. Some reported that each finger had an additional joint; others claimed that they had five fingers and a thumb on each hand. They had narrow shoulders and a sunken chest. Their skulls were narrow and double-domed, with a slight bulge over their brows and their dark eyes sunk into their heads.
The Mercane typically dressed in robes.
The entire Mwrcane race had a type of collective telepathy. They became immediately aware if a member of the race was harmed, which made it impossible for an aggressor to conduct business with any other Mercane until amends were made.
The Mercane typically dressed in robes.
The entire Mwrcane race had a type of collective telepathy. They became immediately aware if a member of the race was harmed, which made it impossible for an aggressor to conduct business with any other Mercane until amends were made.
Behaviour
The Mercane were viewed by other species as a very cool, efficient and uncaring race. Their response to attempts at haggling was unpredictable, but they invariably reacted badly to threats. Wronged Mercane did not forget a slight, but took their time in exerting revenge in non-violent and subtle, albeit damaging, ways. In addition, the Mercane were very suspicious of newly contacted groups and never initiated contact themselves, preferring to negotiate through representatives. This irritating behavior led other species to tolerate the Mercane as a necessary evil.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The Mercane were the major (often the only) source of Spelljammer Helm's for most spacefaring races, including humans, elves, mind flayers, lizardfolk, and even beholders. The only exception were the neogi, who were capable of acquiring their own helms through other means. For that reason, the Mercane kept themselves neutral in all situations and did not get involved in any confrontation whatsoever between factions. In fact, it was common for the Arcane to supply both sides of a conflict, even at the risk of mutual annihilation, which the Mercane viewed as a small loss compared to the magnitude of their business.
As skilled merchants invariably connected with the business of spelljammers and helms, the Mercane could only be found in crystal spheres that contained races at least aware of the possibility of space travel. They were completely absent from superstitious or isolationist worlds but were remarkably easy to find in places where spelljamming technology was at least heard of. Since they most commonly traveled alone, some more primitive cultures visited by the Arcane viewed them as deities themselves, sometimes even spawning cults that prayed to them asking for power.
It was not known whether the Mercane themselves produced space travel technology or acquired it from another mysterious dealer. It was uncommon to find an Mercane traveling aboard a spelljammer: they were ubiquitous all over space and came and went as they pleased. This suggested that they traveled by a different, unknown, means.
The Mercane were the only non-beholders that were authorized to freely land and conduct business on the planet H'Catha. They provided the planet's inhabitants with all their ships.
According to the illithid Estriss, there were likely many Mercane residing on Toril. He knew of at least one each in the massive cities of Calimport and Waterdeep, City of Splendors and had heard rumors of the Mercane controlling the Dock, which was located in the Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains. (Estriss did not believe this latter rumor, however.) At least two Mercane lived on the Beacon Rocks in the middle of the Great Sea.
Despite their reputation as eternal wanderers, some Mercane were permanent inhabitants of Dweomerheart, the realm Mystra (Midnight) shared with Azuth, Savras, and Velsharoon.
Some Mercane were known to revere the "Departed Elders"; whether these elders were considered a pantheon in their own right is unknown.
As skilled merchants invariably connected with the business of spelljammers and helms, the Mercane could only be found in crystal spheres that contained races at least aware of the possibility of space travel. They were completely absent from superstitious or isolationist worlds but were remarkably easy to find in places where spelljamming technology was at least heard of. Since they most commonly traveled alone, some more primitive cultures visited by the Arcane viewed them as deities themselves, sometimes even spawning cults that prayed to them asking for power.
It was not known whether the Mercane themselves produced space travel technology or acquired it from another mysterious dealer. It was uncommon to find an Mercane traveling aboard a spelljammer: they were ubiquitous all over space and came and went as they pleased. This suggested that they traveled by a different, unknown, means.
The Mercane were the only non-beholders that were authorized to freely land and conduct business on the planet H'Catha. They provided the planet's inhabitants with all their ships.
According to the illithid Estriss, there were likely many Mercane residing on Toril. He knew of at least one each in the massive cities of Calimport and Waterdeep, City of Splendors and had heard rumors of the Mercane controlling the Dock, which was located in the Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains. (Estriss did not believe this latter rumor, however.) At least two Mercane lived on the Beacon Rocks in the middle of the Great Sea.
Despite their reputation as eternal wanderers, some Mercane were permanent inhabitants of Dweomerheart, the realm Mystra (Midnight) shared with Azuth, Savras, and Velsharoon.
Some Mercane were known to revere the "Departed Elders"; whether these elders were considered a pantheon in their own right is unknown.
Civilization and Culture
History
There was little known about the origin of the Mercane. Rumors abounded about their origins. One tale claimed that the home world of the arcane was not within a crystal sphere but instead was hidden somewhere within The Astral Sea . A Thri-kreen legend told that their origin had something to do with the legendary Spelljammer, in that they gave up their homeworld in exchange for the ship with an ancient deity. Failing to properly control the ship, they ended up as eternal wanderers, and their planet ultimately fell into its sun. The Mercane themselves did not comment on these legends.
The illithid Estriss theorized that the Mercane had learned their magic from the ancient spacefaring race known as the Juna. For their part, the Mercane denied that the Juna had ever even existed. Estriss, admitting his bias about Juna-theories, also proposed a second theory that the Mercane had received their technology instead from the reigar. He noted that esthetics, the Reigar's strange spelljamming craft, were almost always crewed by the Mercane.
The illithid Estriss theorized that the Mercane had learned their magic from the ancient spacefaring race known as the Juna. For their part, the Mercane denied that the Juna had ever even existed. Estriss, admitting his bias about Juna-theories, also proposed a second theory that the Mercane had received their technology instead from the reigar. He noted that esthetics, the Reigar's strange spelljamming craft, were almost always crewed by the Mercane.
