Pushed from paradise they crawled
Into the world of land,
Named themselves the same as called
The weapons in their hand.

Axemaster

Splinter - ΛZMΛRÉ

Set - Reward Edition

Class - Close Range Attacker

Size - Axemasters are all from the same hybrid race called meru, a combination of mer and human, but they are strangely larger than either of their parent races. The average blue-skinned Axemaster stands about 7 feet tall. Females are only slightly shorter in general than males. In spite of their height, the Axemasters are very athletic and agile; each is able to move and strike with all the quickness of a mer hunter.

Lifespan - The lifespan of an Axemaster is similar to that of a human, but theirs are lives full of risk so they often perish before their natural time. The blue shade of their skin keeps the meru from withering through the years in the sun as humans do, but they can never hope to live as long as their mer ancestors, for whom the sea water acts as a preserver of life.

Habitat - The entirety of the meru race and the clan of Axemasters are one and the same; every surviving member lives in the same place. On the eastern edge of the ΛZMΛRÉ jungles, they live in shallow cave dwellings. Their home is far enough from the shore that they are safe from attackers from the water, and far enough from the deep jungle that they are not pestered by the predators of the trees. Because they are amphibious, meru could live underwater if they wish, but their stories say that that “the sea is not large enough” for them to cohabitate with the mer race, who they despise. Many of them would prefer to live somewhere else (in the islands perhaps) but they live in the jungle to fulfill what they consider a sacred duty, which is to protect the Palace of Eld from foolish invaders and intruders.

Weapon - The meru take their weapons very seriously, and as the nickname Axemasters implies, the one-handed axe is their weapon of choice. As young children growing up in the harsh jungles, meru are trained to wield dual axes as early as they’re able to hold them. These axes can be thrown as easily as they can be used for close-range battle. In the wild jungles, they are used for both hunting and defense, and in Moxian arena battle, axes put on some of the most enjoyable shows for the spectators of the great battles. The axes used by the Axemasters of the meru are unique to the clan, crafted using extremely secret proprietary methods and materials that can only be found in the depths of the ΛZMΛRÉ jungle.

Diet - The jungles of ΛZMΛRÉ are rich in food sources as long as you know where to look. A stranger to the jungle can be killed by poisonous plants and venomous prey in thousands of unique ways. Conscious plants like the burning bush and the killy pad are hunters themselves, and if a passerby is not extremely careful around them, these vegetative beasts will make a quick meal of the unsuspecting wanderer. There are a great many animals with good meat, but every one of them is also equipped with some horrid defense, designed to turn hunter into victim. Only visitors to the jungle, such as the data-collecting scout parties that are constantly sent by Khymeria’s Order of the Silver Shield, are foolish enough to hunt the wild four-armed gorillas, the elusive sasquatch, the deadly skamelion or the deceptively adorable cudgel badger. The Axemasters of the meru are fully aware of which plants can be eaten and which animals can be safely killed. They have even developed certain methods of cooking meals that would earn compliments from the richest nobles in the Splinterlands at the tables of lavish feasts. Still, without their generations of knowledge, finding safe food sources in the jungle would be impossible.

Allies - They greatly enjoy combat for sport, which is why the only place Axemasters ever travel is Praetoria, where they sometimes watch the Mount Mox tournament battles. They have great respect for the Gloridax masters who created the tournament so many years ago and still run it to this day. The meru get along well with most air-breathing residents of the Water Splinter as well, especially the fishers who live in the islands of the Archipelago. These fishermen are some of their favorite people because they share the meru’s disdain for the merfolk who live underwater in the city of Poseidar. Axemasters do not keep boats at all, so they must hitch rides with fishermen, merchants and pirates in order to leave the Water Splinter or travel between islands. Alric Stormbringer has also been a longtime friend of the meru people, but recently in his extremely old age, he has not traveled as often to see them at their home.

Enemies - Everyone knows that the meru who live in the jungle and the merfolk who live underwater are sworn enemies forever. The Axemasters will never forgive the mer for ostracizing their people hundreds of years ago from the underwater mertropolis of Poseidar. The stories say that when the first generation of meru was born, they were thrown out of the city and not allowed back in. Many of the young meru were picked off by monstrosities of the Dark Water, but they were a resourceful race and some of them survived, realizing not only that they could hide from the monsters of the deep, but that they could survive out of water. Only a few years after their exile, the original meru ancestors emerged from the water and headed for the jungle, where they developed a new way of life with a sworn and eternal enmity for their mer fathers and mothers. One day, when they are stronger and more plentiful, the meru may attack the city of Poseidar and get their revenge, but for now they are satisfied sharpening their axes on the land and patiently waiting.

Pastimes - The duty of the meru Axemasters is to protect the treasure of Eld from being taken from its rest. Stories of ΛZMΛRÉ do not tell the tale of the treasure’s origin, but they describe its curse. No one who has ever taken so much as a single coin from the piles has lived more than a few weeks after. The curse kills its victims in creative ways that seem like accidents, and the stolen treasure always somehow finds its way back to the overgrown Palace of Eld, where it must stay forever. The meru do not consider themselves the owners of this treasure, but the stewards who keep foolish outsiders safe from it. The Serpent of Eld is perhaps the one person in the Splinterlands who can claim ownership, but the same curse that fell upon the treasure is what turned the ancient king into a huge and wild serpent so many years ago. The serpent has no interest in returning to his palace, but instead resides in the water and attacks unfortunate ships.