Heart Guard

"Serving in the Heart Guard might not be a profession that will let someone be the richest, have the most children, or influence society... but to every mer saved, that's a ripple effecting society as well."

— Heart Guard Elder Pilouniase

Career

Qualifications

To volunteer for the Heart Guard, a mer must have these qualifications: 

1. Be of 23 years in age [the official reason is so that they are ready to be on the next stage of their life, helping others, but unofficially the number 23 is a good luck number because it comes immediately after a "bad luck number" which is a doubling of the same digit: 11, 22, 33, etc.).
2. They must be able to communicate and emphasize with the person they are talking to (this is checked in the interview with questions and role plays). 
3. They must have written acknowledgement from their immediate family that they are undertaking a job which has the possibility to injure, or even kill, them and that there are no visitation rights when a Heart Guard is at the station (exceptions are not made for special holidays or events). 
4. The applicant must be well-regarded in their community (or at the very least, not be known for causing trouble). 

If an applicant can provide/prove all of this, then they will have an interview for placement in the Heart Guards; interviews do not equal acceptance. A person can pass their interview and not be accepted into the Guard for any number of reasons*. [However, it is noted that there might exist prejudices between people from the same settlements, so to avoid negative or positive responses unconnected to the interview, mer from the same area are not to be paired]  

Career Progression

There are two types of ranks in the Hear Guard, the official one and the "nickname" ranking that the Guard give each other. 
Official Ranks 

• Aid [1 year or less] (the official 1st rank of the Heart Guard, this is the name [taken after the tenacity of sea grass] is the title given to those still in their first year of service. They will need to set down roots so that they don't allow the horrors of failure to eat away at them. 
• Assistant [after 1st year to end of 4th year] is the title given to those who have stayed until the end of their 4th year. For a mer to continue serving in the Heart Guard, at this point there are qualifications to work toward, such as being able to speak a 2nd language, apprenticing with mer doctors during shifts away from the stations, and taking leadership classes to help the new Aids adapt to the rigors of the job. 
• Professional [end of 4th year to end of eight year] is the title given to those who have passed or are passing the qualifications given to them at the end of their Assistant period. If those qualifications haven't been met, they cannot continue and be a Leader of the Heart Guard. If this is the case, they will be at the Professional level until the qualifications are met or until they leave the service. 
• Leader [end of 8th year to end of 12th year as long as qualifications have been met] is the title given the mer who have met all of the qualifications needed during their Professional period. At this point they will lead workshops, mentor in groups Assistants and Professionals, and will glance over the incoming volunteer lists to see what problems may occur in the future.  
• Elder [more than 12 years, with 4 of those years spent being a Leader] is the title given to a mer who has been a part of the Heart Guard for more than twelve years. Most of their work is done in the background, making sure supplies and logistics are kept up to date, checking in on all rankings, from Leader down, and making sure every mer is doing well (and if not, seeing how they can help them). These are the ones who take time to interview all volunteers and ultimately decide on which ones will enter the ranks of Heart Guard.

Nicknames 

• Nicknames Tourist (the 1st "rank" of the Heart Guard, this is the name given to those mer who have decided to join the Guard, but who haven't stayed entirety of their 1st month)
• Volunteer (anyone in their 1st year of service) -> This nickname changes to Rech if the mer quits during that first year. 
• Float (most mer leave the Heart Guard between the start of the 2nd and the end of their 4th year). This nickname is given to those who stuck around for a few years and then decided to go on their way.  
• Anchor (for those mers that have "sunk" themselves into this work and will never leave). This nickname is given to those who have been in the Heart Guard for more than ten years.  

Payment & Reimbursement

[quote] The pay? Well... I think that best pay is knowing that we've helped people. Wouldn't you agree?  | Heart Guard Officer Deirsiea 
The pay is actually one of the abysmal things about being part of the Heart Guard, and as the common saying goes, nobody actually joins for the paycheck. Hours are as long as needed, there's the ever-present danger of a mer accidentally pulling a Heart Guard into The Broken Barrows after them and killing them both, and they need to stay at the station for at least 1 moon without visitation from friends or family.  
Why do people take up this mantle? Because for enough mer, this is a way to follow in Aoriaas fins. She stood up to the gods in the current and rescued the land dwellers that were dropped into the ocean; these mer are rescuing others as well. Because of that, many of the Heart Guards wear a sign of Aoriaas, either as a tattoo or an amulet, and invoke her when rushing off to prevent someone from crossing the coral barrier.

Other Benefits

For the most part, a Heart Guard's benefits become greater the longer they spend in time in the service. For all of them, there is a social benefit as this is seen as a needed, but undervalued profession. After that, the pay is added to (but so are the responsibilities) as a person goes up in rank. It's said that one of the reasons many of the Heart Guard leave before becoming a Leader is that they don't want the extra responsibilities and they use the need of qualifications as their excuse to leave.

Perception

Purpose

This fulfills the role of a living safety net in society.

Social Status

"To be honest, when I'm away from the stations I don't go home. It's... embarrassing. I didn't go into the Guard to be offered discounts on food and drink, or to be told I'm such a great person. And all the time they're praising me, I'm thinking of all the mer I failed..."

— Assistant Heart Guard Muiruos

When a person from the Heart Guard is off duty, they are allowed to go home and be with friends and family again. The mer's return is celebrated, and they are praised/lauded for their contribution to society. When a person from the Heart Guard is off duty, they are allowed to go home and be with friends and family again. The mer's return is celebrated, and they are praised/lauded for their contribution to society. They can, if they so choose, bring with them any mer they are currently helping. When they do so, they say they met the mer near the stations, and the mer in question can talk about wanted to use The Broken Barrows or they can say they are an Aid to the Heart Guard (and leave their past choices behind them). Mers who say they are an Aid are not forced to help with the Heart Guard and may leave once they wish (and have been checked over), but many of them are happy to help others who were in the same position as them.

Demographics

The number of Heart Guard at a given time will equal no more then 101 mers on duty, with another 101 mers off duty at the same time. This is split between Elders, Leaders, Professionals, Assistants, and Aids. However, looking at the history of the service, there have been more than 5,000 mer who have devoted their time to the Heart Guard, so even having less than 1% of the population in service has a greater impact on the people they help.

History

The Heart Guard service was called into being when too many mer were lost to The Broken Barrows. Mers who have served come from all types of kin, which is important since it allows people coming there to interact and be friends with someone that has familiar scales.

Operations

Tools

Heart Guard tools fall into two categories, those to be carried at all times and those that can be kept in the stations. 

Carried

• Water
• Food
• A non-metal knife, worn at the hip and kept sharp
• A messenger fish that can silently alert other guards and tell them the location of where it was released (this cannot be done by vibration or scent/taste since that would alert the mer that more people were coming to stop them)
• Paralyzer - enough to make a mer relax, and possibly on those who are at a slight weight, go limp. 

Station Items 

• Logbooks to list any events/occurrences, mers found, injuries, etc. 

Workplace

Stations are a cross between a living place and a working place, and are crafted with the intent that up to 20 people can be there at the same time. 

• Kitchen (cooking supplies, dishes to eat from, staples and basics from different settlements/ethnicities/kin so there might be a familiar taste of home for people)
• Rooms (hollows to nest in, pillows, blankets) 
• Living area (able to have people sit together and chat, table for writing/working, games, etc.)
• Medical bay (basic medicines to treat body illnesses and injuries, items to stabilize a being if they break a limb, etc. but most of these items are for stop gap measures and anyone severely injured will need to go to a place equipped to deal with those injuries). 

Provided Services

At the Leader level and above, a Heart Guard is able to speak two languages (the second one to a degree that they can at least stall the mer while a fluent native speaker is fetched), be a leader in their community, and be able to mentor others in groups. Elders are able to do all of that, tutor one-on-one, conduct interviews, and be able to keep logistics and connections running. 
As imagined, if a Leader or Elder leaves the Heart Guard, then there settlement is usually happy to place them in a semi-powerful leadership role (though there are those who say that Heart Guards don't have the guts for governmental leadership since they're too busy worrying about how policies will affect people as individuals and not as a whole).

Dangers & Hazards

There are mental, emotional, and physical hazards inherent to this service. 

Mental

This job requires quick thinking from service members and Guards need to be able to manage the extreme pressure and stress. Because a mer is considered "on duty" the entire moon phase they are there, there are easy games to play during time marked for sleep. 

Emotional 

The emotional pressures of this job are strong, and there are many mer who swam away after feeling defeated. This usually happens within a 1 moon period after a mer sees another mer swim into the The Broken Barrows. Usually a mer will talk to an Elder if they feel their emotional turmoil is growing greater, but there are records of Heart Guard never seen again. 

Physical

A mer can easily be injured by someone swimming past the coral barrier, or, as has happened in a few extreme cases, the Heart Guard can be pulled by the mer into the inhospitable area. If that happens, the family of the now deceased guard is given the mer's belongings and a certificate of service recognized (signed by all the mer that knew the deceased). If the guard is pulled in, but is fished out in enough time, injuries may only be moderate to severe. In that case, it's the mer's choice if they wish to continue with the Heart Guard or if they wish to be honorably discharged.

Legality

The profession itself is legal, but there are several cavorts within the job.

• A Heart Guard may stay for a second shift, but only if they have written permission from their significant other or immediate family. 
• A Heart Guard and their significant other(s) may stay in the service as long as they live and serve different stations. 
• A Heart Guard may become involved in a relationship with a Barrows' mer, but the relationship itself is not supposed to start until the mer has been cleared by the health officer that they are sound in mind, heart, and body. 
• A Heart Guard is allowed to accept gifts from others, but cannot ask for gifts. 

In other cases where legality is unsure, an Elder is asked for their decision, and if an Elder cannot make a firm decision backed by understandable reasons, they are to form an Elder group and arrive at a decision within one moon.