“No one lives their life in the absence of terror.”
Least of all the meer.
In the heart of the desert families of meerkats fight for survival, pitted against each other by the natural elements and bitter rivalries. Matriarchs known as dominant females struggle to remain on top as their sisters and daughters lead coos, meanwhile dominant males guard their mates and their hearts against the challenges of brothers. With leadership in constant jeopardy and the seasons harsh these small mammals are in for the battles of their lives.
The desert is divided into several sections. The Sunlands, the Outlands, the Darklands, and the Lonelands. In the Lonelands, dominant female Moon clings to power over her family the Watchers but her territory is constantly threatened by the neighboring family known as the Threads. Meanwhile within Watchers territory a splinter gang led by Moon’s daughter Adder is attempting to form their own breeding group, the Vipers.
The Darklands has been ruled by two families for longer than anyone can remember and now shadows stretch across the sand. The Zeroes and the Scavengers, both evenly matched, are about to come into conflict again and this time neither side may win. The tiny Blazes family is just trying to stay out of it and escape the gruesome grudge the Zeros hold against them. Without the numbers to stand up to their rivals the Blazes are pushed farther and farther into the Outlands which is home to many of the meerkats’ predators including The Clan, a savage band of wild cats, and the resident pack of blood-thirsty jackals. Among those creatures is the bat-eared foxes, who may not eat meerkats, but they do share the same taste for insects. Will the Blazes survive such pressures?
One family claims a portion of the Outlands and that’s the little numbered Brights. Their territory runs to the border of Clan territory. What they lack in size they make up for in temperament. No other family is so welcoming to outsiders. The other parts of the Sunlands are owned by the determined Alphas and the power-hungry Deltas. The Deltas and Alphas have expanded their territory and attacks over ground are common between the two groups. With the dry season tightening its hold, can Queen and Pride, dominant female and male of the Alphas, find a way to avoid bloodshed, or is war inevitable?
The Powers, exceeded in size only by the Zeros family, keeps to themselves. They’re notorious for being big, mean, and secretive. Rarely are roving males or single females allowed to join and if a female has been evicted there is no hope to return. Once one is forced out or chooses to leave the Powers, they are seldom welcome back. Across the small river that spans their territory is a strange and little-known group of meerkats called the Dragons. With their gray-tinged fur, dark stripes, and ghostly pale eyes rumors about them and their purpose can be found as far as the Lonelands. Most meerkats don’t even realize they exist and as far as anyone else can tell they never cross the river…
One thing all the meerkat families share though is their belief in their ancestors, The Before Us, and their following of The Three Truths. Though facts and opinions are sometimes muddled leaving The Truths full of painful lies. Only by working together can the meerkats overcome the deception and see the truth right in front of their noses.
They call themselves the meer, and these are their stories.
