Amalgam'verse Expansion: Mermares, Sirens, and Mako Island Founding Royal House · 8:22am Sep 2nd, 2016
Reposting and adding a lot of stuff both to make things easier to find and because I am heavily considering doing a sirens prequel detailing what all went down about 1,020 before the present. Anywho, new stuff is mostly at the bottom and chapter 33 is done and being proofed.
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Mermares are an excessively secretive species. Known of but not often known. Most of the time that one might have met a mermare was strictly a case of obliviousness when they were transformed. It's a common manner of speech in seaside settlements that if one suddenly has a spat of good luck, they must have unknowingly aided a mermare in disguise. Bad luck means one attracted their ire. It took until 500 years after the Founding of Equestria for knowledge of them being a real species to be widespread, and even then only a small few have ever seen them in their true form.
Mermares a race of very diverse, aquatic omnivores that inhabit the eastern, western, and northern oceans bordering Equestria; as well as sometimes swimming up into deeper harbors, rivers, and lakes with connections to the sea. While some are nomadic, the larger groups of them prefer to establish settlements on reefs near deep water. Having an elongated body, mermares swim with two flippers, a tail fin, and a long dorsal fin on their backs. The dorsal fin is very flexible and can even be styled like hair, helped by most mermares keeping them long. Body mass, coloration, fin length, and overall size can vary wildly due to the species’ unique way of reproducing leading to vast genetic diversity. However for the most part they tend to be far larger than the seahorse-like seaponies aside from rare individuals of the latter like King Leo.
As culturally diverse as they are biologically diverse, mermares from different regions can behave drastically differently. Western mermares tend to be highly nomadic, living in groups (called pods) of up to around fifteen lead by a matriarch. These mermares are also very hostile and skittish of terrestrial species, an influence of the group frequently having had bad run-ins with pirates after their charm items in the past. This group has been known to cause trouble for groups moving into or through their territories. Near constantly mobile, these groups hop around from settlement to settlement every couple of days and often move through vast stretches of sea to do so. Settlement locations are often reefs, underwater caves, blue holes, and deep water crevices.
Eastern and northern mermares on the otherfin are more localized. While distrustful and often keeping their distance from most terrestrials while being very secretive, they aren’t as hostile. Less nomadic, Eastern and Northern pods then to cluster in permanent dwellings in the form of hard to access islands, sea caves, and deep water plains to form villages and even towns. Several large pods in Celestial sea is so well established in their locale that they formed a Queendom several decades before Equestria was even established; and it persists to this day. Most eastern and northern mermares belong to this nationality and consider themselves subjects of the queens, even if they don’t live in the capital citadel. The centarlity the queendom is centered on is an uncharted island called "Mako", which is inaccessible due to 'The Shroud'. Composed of dangerous reefs, strong surface currents that push boats away, and a ring of near constant, enchanted mists and storms even pegasi can't break. Many encounters with mermares were of explorers or travelers intentionally or accidentally getting close and the locals having to warn them away for their own safety. Mako itself is apparently reasonably large and formed from an extinct volcanic atoll. The inner caldera is a hollowed out structure and at least part of it apparently had once been a construct of some sort. Information is extremely limited, as only Princess Celestia has ever been to the island, but there is a strong possibility Mako Island used to be inhabited in some bygone era by powerful magic users, whom left behind some relics and ruins that survived the ages even as most of their island home sunk into the sea. Abandoned, the mermares of ages past discovered this island's magic and used it to tie into their island's crown, which has been passed queen to queen since then.
Mermares can be long lived, up to twice the normal lifespan of an earth pony for some, but aren’t immortal. So their is a dynasty ruling Mako along with a pod selected council, instead of a constant rule under one queen. The founder of this queendom was Queen Amatheia, who lived over a thousand years before the present. However, though it seems there was a lineage shuffle as her immediate successor wasn’t either of her daughters, Crown Princess Melpomene or her younger sister, Princess Hymnia. Instead it was a regent named Li’ban who followed, with Li’ban’s daughter Veridia becoming the next queen. What exactly happened to Amatheia or her daughters roughly 10 years before the Equestrian founding is still unknown as any mermare who seem to know refuse to talk about it, the royal family just dropped off the record. Some details talk about some sort of crisis and Melpomene and Hymnia disappeared for a time, resulting in Amatheia passing while they were gone. Then the princesses returned but then just disappeared again. King Leo also seems to know the specifics of what happened, as his great, great grandfather was a contemporary to Amatheia. However when asked he falls into a depressed mood and changes the subject. It has also been suggested that whatever happened to the founding family might be tied to some following event that soured relations between the mermares and the seaponies under King Leo's ancestor some fifteen years later, as the two groups were on neutral to good terms before that and had been bitter ever since until several years ago. The mermares said the seaponies sheltered criminals and the seaponies retort in saying the mermares were attacking refugees.
The knowledge of mermares by the surface was largely spread 500 years ago when the Queen from Mako Island's monarchy demanded audience with and approached Princess Celestia. Together they settled out accords to avoid damage to reefs and stop unscrupulous attempts by some sailors to capture mermares out of misplaced fear or desire for their magic. Since then the relations between the two nations have been distant, not hostile nor friendly, with each of Mako's queens having meetings with Celestia every few decades. Recently however, due to the Elements of Harmony Bearer's efforts and the will of the current queen, Maui, openness has started to become more and more proposed.
Mermares are a single sex species, thanks to a unique type of genetic makeup and magic use. While it is possible to change a male of another species into a ‘merstallion’, this change is temporary. Mermares instead reproduce by crossing with males of other equine and equine-like species. Each mermare has a ‘charm’ that draws in moonlight over time to build a magical charge. The charged charm is often a piece of jewelry or shell ornament. They then can use this charge via song or action born magic. In the case of reproduction, this is done to transform the mermare into a female of another species. They then find a mate, determined by magic helping guide them to a good fit, usually a male with an agreeable personality but one who won't get attached or care about her departure. She then tries to seduce him and if successful, they ‘do the deed’. Mermares typically do not settle down with or marry their matches, often due to above mentioned criteria, returning to the ocean soon after to raise the child with her family. Though some do return off and on with their partner and a few have stayed permanently, most don’t grow any more attached than the donor male does as most stallions picked are ones the charm indicates won't mind what amounts to a one-night-stand. Many of them never even would guess the mare they were with was a mermare.
Even in the cases they do settle down, most never reveal their true nature. The resulting offspring of these visits has its species determined by its sex. If it’s a girl, it’s a new mermare with a few of its father’s traits. If it’s a boy, they’ll be their father’s species with maybe a few extra traits or skills from its mother. The difference is caused by the mother being able to sense what sex her offspring is while she’s pregnant and either turning off her transformation magic to turn back into a mermare (girl) or keeping it on to stay transformed (boy) for safety reasons. Daughters also outnumber sons by a wide margin of over 98-2. While identical twins are possible, fraternal twins aren’t due to how mermare ovulation works. For the resulting daughters, it’s the origin of the father that determines what trait a mermare might have and this accounts for the species’ diversity.
Pegasus - larger fins and faster swimmers. Their magic in controlling sea winds is stronger.
Earth pony/Zebra - Better endurance. Magic involved in shifting water currents stronger.
Unicorn - Uncommon. Capable of limited telekinesis or floating, as well as photographic memory.
Changeling - Extremely uncommon. Can shift their coloration to perfectly match the water around them. These crosses often roam further inland and are called ‘kelpies’.
Horse - Very uncommon. Larger body and taller stature, physically strongest.
*Crystal Pony crosses are unknown due to the empire being landlocked
Mermare sons have traits of their mother primarily in the form of skills. Many will feel some sort of connection to the sea and often become very adept sailors, boat builders, and swimmers. Cases where the son’s magic is influenced by the mother could be seen in example with mermare descent pegasi, who often have an affinity for manipulating seaside currents. Male offspring after being born are usually left to live in a place the mother knows they’ll be well taken care of, on rare occasions with the father if he seems to want to be a parent, and she will pop up in secret ever so often to ensure it is so. It’s often considered a very unwise choice in seaside pony settlements to poorly care for baby that mysteriously shows up at your dock, otherwise storms and bad luck will miraculously start following you if you abuse it and it ‘disappears’. If you care for them well, you'll find favorable luck in providing for them and help from an "anonymous" source which is usually the mother returning in secret.
Mermare magic, like those of seaponies, is primarily based off influence. Their songs can project magic influence the emotions of other beings who listen to them. They also have the unique ability to give ‘luck’, good or bad, to an area or person. Some isolationist mermares use them to hex their island or settlement areas with back luck to keep boats away with frequent storms or choppy seas. On a more benign case, they can also give good luck to those who’ve helped them. There is an old tale of a boat builder who found a young mermare stranded and drying out on a beach. After helping her back into the water, she blessed his family and shop with so much good luck that none of his or his descendants have ever had any of their boats sink. Other mermares might be more than happy to lend a passing ship a fin with favorably currents or smooth sailing.
However because their magic is based off their charm items, some have taken this as something to exploit. Many pirates or less than scrupulous souls have perpetuated the tale that if you steal a mermare’s charm, preferably while she’s on land and transformed, she has to do what you say to get it back. This can range from forcing her to marry them to granting them a wish. While to some extent this can be true, one should keep in mind mermares rarely live alone. The luck magic you get from one captive isn’t going to counteract the unholy amount of angry hexes you’ll get thrown your way from her ticked off sisters, mother, aunts, and cousins. Other types of magic they are known to use is altering water and marine air currents, changing the state of water from solid, liquid, and gas; or combining all these traits when in a group to cause storms. They can also alter their water friction and pressure to drastically reduce drag forces as they swim, allowing them to 'rocket' through the water at high speed of over 300 knots. Granted this can only be done in a straight line for obvious reasons.
Mermare transformation isn’t as advanced as a changelings’ and has some specific vulnerabilities. Namely, it can break under a few select circumstances. If their charm hasn't been out of direct moon light for too many nights at a time it can run out of power. The change might also break if they stay submerged in or get splashed with a large amount of seawater for more than a couple seconds at a time, however freshwater is fine. One can also tell if something is a mermare in disguise as they will still have a few scales somewhere on the body, often on the inside of the limbs or stomach. Mermares in any form also have a pathological fear of cats and will react with terror at the mere sight of one even when disguised. Mermares from more tropic climate might also get a rash from sudden exposure to ice or snow. The myth they are attracted to ambergris (a waxy substance made by a whale's digestive system) was actually spread by mermares themselves a practical joke to see what some races would actually do with the stuff in hopes of luring them in.
Mermares in general are known to give disproportional reactions (good and bad) so the wisest choice is to try your best not to piss one off. One should also take caution not to try and charm a mermare unless in very particular circumstances. As younger mermares are known to overreact, a casual flirt from a sailor to a receptive teenage mermare might be taken as a lot more and if one has a significant other the mermare might feel jilted and seek retribution. Thankfully the adult females ages thirty to three hundred have their fins screwed on straight and are less prone to this sort of reaction.
Something of note is that mermares are not the same thing as seaponies, which are a completely different species. Seaponies, which primarily live in the eastern sea under King Leo, are much smaller and more closely resemble seahorses (the fish). Mermares don't resemble any type of conventional fish, though they may have traits of different species depending on region and parentage, and are on average twice the size of a seapony. The two types are about as far apart as a breezie is to a pegasus and mistaking a mermare for a seapony is a pretty easy way to tick one off.
Above, two seaponies with a mermare floating in the background. Note size difference and different body form. Image from books.
Some scholars have suggested that the Sirens, a trio of unique beings who trekked across Equestria several moths after Nightmare Moon was banished, were related to mermares in some way. There are some similarities in body shape, save the forelimbs, size, the siren hearts having a similar function to a mermare's charm; and shape. Their hexing song based spells is also similar to the song based magic used by some mermares in the eastern seas, but invoking different emotions that they fed off of. Because of the similarities and differences, as well as knowledge that mermares gain some traits from the father's species, some have speculated the sirens were a hybrid crossing similar to a kelpie; a mix of a mermare with some other type of species. This evidently is entirely true and the sirens are the result of crossbreeding between two mermare princesses and a male or males of an unknown rare or unique species. Seeing as no other sirens have ever been seen since such a crossing, this sort of union has never been replicated. Some mermares, particularly ones who say they are from Mako, appear to be aware of the sirens but refuse to speak of them as a mass cultural taboo.
Mako Island Founding Royal House
Queen Amatheia Sairíne
Born: 386 Years Before Founding
Died: 20 Years Before Founding, Exact cause unknown, wasn't poisoning or assassination
Relation: Princess Melpomene Sairíne (Daughter)
Princess Hymnia Sairíne (Daughter)
Regent Li’ban Tonn (Second-Cousin, Successor)
Adagio "Dazzle" Seirína, Sonata "Dusk" Seirína, and Aria "Blaze" Seirína (Granddaughters)
Notes: Discovered of Mako island and moon pool, unified of the Eastern, Southern, and Northern pods, first chosen queen of the Celestial Sea mermares, often regarded as the most powerful mermare of all time
Princess Melpomene Sairíne (Left)
Born: 37 Years Before Founding
Died: Approximately 19 years before founding of Equestria
Relation: Queen Amatheia Sairíne (Mother)
Princess Hymnia Sairíne (Younger Sister)
Adagio "Dazzle" Seirína and Sonata "Dusk" Seirína (Daughters)
Notes: Crown Princess of the Celestial Sea mermares, frequently went on 'shore leave' to explore Equestria. She died shortly after
giving birth to Sonata. Sonata and Adagio may be half sisters.
Princess Hymnia Sairíne (Right)
Born: 32 Years Before Founding
Died: Approximately 14 years before founding of Equestria
Relation: Queen Amatheia Sairíne (Mother)
Princess Melpomene Sairíne (Older Sister)
Aria "Blaze" Seirína (Daughter)
Notes: Innovator of song based magic and a prodigy in the use. Taught the sirens a song that caused
discourse out of malevolence for the mermares who banished her and her sister. Before she died however in a show of love to her daughter and nieces, she taught them a lullaby that has the opposite effect and enhances benevolent feelings.
All art done by the lovely Faith-Wolff!
Links Here and Here!
In regards to the sirens, technically if one ignores the rules and law changes; they are the heirs to the Mako island queendom. This is because their grandmother died with an heir present but due to the death of Melpomene, the crown would then pass to the crown princess' oldest daughter; thus being Adagio. Adagio probably knows this via Hymnia and this is likely the origin of her pride and power lust which only recently got sated once she saw it was driving her remaining family away from her. Mellowed out, she actually is quite a bit like her grandmother in more than just coloration. In terms of personality with the other two sirens though, Aria and Sonata are actually more like their aunts than their mothers. Though any idea of going back to rule Mako has long since left the group seeing as they dislike mermares in general for what happened to their mothers. This also means they got little regard to follow custom aside from where it fits them, hence why Aria had no problems getting a mutual attraction to Monster X.
In terms of biology the sirens are slightly larger than your average mermare. About equal in length at full size, which none of them are at the moment, but a bit bulkier. They're also more carnivorous, still able to graze on seaweed but mostly dining on fish. The aversion to cats is still there though. In comparison to each other, Adagio is the tallest/longest, Aria is the most muscular, while Sonata is a bit pudgier than the other two. This carried over to their human forms. Adagio is a knockout by beauty standards, Aria has an athletic build; and Sonata has just enough fat to cover and give rounds or curves to any build she gets from swimming.
The gems on the trio's necklaces are often called "Siren Hearts" due to them originally being attached to their chest. These gems act like a mermare's charm and function as conduits, channels, and amplifiers to their magic. While a siren is wearing her necklace, no force other than themselves can remove it and killing a siren also destroys their necklace. Attempting to remove or grab it results in the offender getting shoved back, but the siren herself might get a jolt in push back. The hearts recharge their energy by absorbing the emotional magic given off by individuals in times of extreme emotion. This often is, but isn't required to be, while the siren is singing a hex upon them. If the emotion is strong enough though, especially if it comes from a source with a lot of energy or magic themselves, the absorption can happen without the siren being conscious of it. The energy the gem intakes also can have an effect on the siren's biology, tending to mimic whatever they just absorbed to better be able to use it. This is why Aria effectively became a psuedo-kaiju and gained gravity powers after repeatedly copying a good amount of power from Monster X and Kaizer Ghidorah and if the sirens fed off the energy of a Rainboom; they'd gain a form similar to the "Pony'd-Up" state.
And now for rapid fire factoids~
-The sirens are older than the Rainbooms by about 2-4 years, managing to blend into the crowd via bit of hex magic, bit mermare/siren biology making them mature differently; and the age range for most human women blurring to the point they could pass as highschoolers.
-While they got their initial sum of money to live off of came from hexing a lottery ticket office, the trio have worked on gaining skills or experience to survive in the human world should the need come to it.
-Aria still has a fragment of Kaizer Ghidorah's powers in her. Not enough to influence her mood or transform into Kaizer Aria again, but enough she's a touch stronger and tougher than she looks. Physically if she manifests the residual energy she's got, her eyes get speckles of red in them and her hair and skin turns a bit darker. If she concentrates she could probably still move a small object around with some gravity.
-If any of the sirens had an offspring in the human world, that offspring abides by the same rules as mermare reproduction should that offspring visit Equestria. If it's a girl she would be a new siren and if it was a boy he would be whatever his father's species would be.
-You can tell Adagio and Sonata are sisters by their natural magic color. They both have a magenta-purple magical aura color when using a personal spell. Aria has a teal colored aura.
-Some bits of their marine biology persists in human form. The sirens feel a natural attraction to water and heal faster if they are damp. They also don't suffer from hypothermia as easily. On the flip side, hot and sunny weather can make them feel light headed and lethargic.
-Every single one of the sirens is lactose intolerant, though if this is by biology or choice reflex is unknown. They found out where most drank milk came from while sipping a glass in Equestria, they all spat it out at the same time and sat in a river with their mouths open into the flow for an hour.
-Adagio has one big rule imposed on her by her sister and cousin. She is not allowed to drink Monster. There is good reason for it.
-Aria used to be a lot more light hearted and pleasant before they got banished, usually being the middle ground voice of reason between the spastic Sonata and ambitious Adagio. She was always reserved, but the grouchiness only set it after they got stuck in the human world. Ironically it was after multiple near death experiences during the Enjin calamity that more of her old personality returned and she became happier.
-Neither Aria nor Adagio knows how Sonata manages to pull so much stuff out from behind her back. They stopped questioning it long ago.
-The original plan Adagio had to gain the trio as much power as possible as to effectively take over Canterlot during their "shore leave tour" by soaking up as much adoration as possible and then hexing or incapacitating Celestia. She thought it was doable because this was just after Nightmare Moon was banished so between the grief and stress from the precursors to the Night's Rebellion, so Celestia was emotionally broken and often staying inside Luna's chamber in the castle and not coming out. To her credit, it was working but she didn't expect the previously overpowered Starswirl to have that magic portal mirror.
-Sonata's favorite color is green and she often flirts with green colored guys.
-Aria retaught the other two sirens Hymnia's song and they've since taken to using it more frequently since it results in a larger charge boost due to positive emotions being more common around them and in general being stronger. They relearned it quick as her singing it probably helped Adagio remember it as well. The whole reason they forgot is because it was very buried in memory for the two (Sonata likely only had vague fragments of it) and they'd spent so many years of their lives driven by anger that the more hateful hex song just came naturally to memory more.
-When her curls are pressed down, such as when her hair is wet; Adagio actually has the longest hair of the group.
-Until X in the first encounter strong armed her into doing it and then later she put it on him to save his life, Aria had never taken her heart necklace off before. Adagio and Sonata probably never had either until they did so in the final Enjin encounter.
-Side effect of strong singing voice? The sirens snore. Very loudly.
-Aria was the first one to get a mutual crush, do not expect Sonata especially to let her hear the end of it. Adagio, once putting two and two together probably just shrugged it off going, "So what's why you always were on watch duty during his training."
-Of the three, only Adagio has recollections of both her mother and aunt. She was however still young when Melpomene died so her memory of Hymnia is much clearer. Melpomene wasn't a bad parent, she just died too early for Adagio to get many memories of her. Often when she thinks the word "mother", it's Hymnia's face that comes to her. Aria has some recollections of her mother, but wasn't even a year old when her aunt died. Sonata doesn't remember her mother at all and only has a few fuzzy visual memories and a few auditory ones of Hymnia.
-The sirens were not conceived in a conventional mermare manner. It wasn't their mothers who did the hunting.
Oh wow a updated version of those posts with new info! And look at all this neat info on the sirens, I wonder wa-
-Reads last line-
....
Well that got dark. O_O
So, in a time just before Grogar's students started to act on their own, something unusual decided it wanted mermare daughters. Something who's kind has never had children by mermares before or since. Very interesting...
Also, if two daughters share the same mother but only might be half siblings, that rather implies a high likelihood they may also share the same father, and are in fact full siblings.
was it ever said if pegasi Mermares were similar to flying fishes?
Tya's pony form = Kelpie.
i.imgur.com/KHgUV9w.png
Yes. Truly monstrous.
Horrifying, isn't she?
That final note gives me pause.
Hey wait a minute, are you talking about....... if he makes a cameo in your story, I may just go Pinkie for a minute.
4187134
Yes the blank page with an x is truly the stuff for nightmare fuel. Sorry Corona but I don't see it.
4187424
XDD
At the very least I thought it be a cute little nod.
4187365
i.makeagif.com/media/3-13-2015/95v82i.gif
4187016
Pretty much.
4187002
Attentive to detail as always. There are few coincidences.
4186999
What, you thought an entire species (mermares) would react so harshly if the daughters of their royals were children by love of choice?~
4187424 [curse you imgur!]
i65.tinypic.com/16ke0r6.jpg
Try this.
4187543 Now I see....... and I wish I hadn't, son of a b****.
4187543
4187588
Um, just clarifying since it was brought up, the kelpies I spoke of don't look like this. We got a kelpie from IDW.
derpicdn.net/img/2014/9/3/713988/full.png
4187590 I knew it wasn't, but a long while back I commissioned art of Tytanna as a Kelpie. and that's what the artist made. Also, that doesn't look that horrifying.
4187592
I know, I was just clarifying should anyone see it and get confused. Put in context seeing something like that IRL. Wavy fins around eyes, bizarre iris, spiny fins; etc.
Also for some reason FiMFic hates Imgur. Nothing works anymore =(
4187593 one day I'll get updated art but, again, I don't find the MLP Kelpies that horrifying. actual mythology kelpies? yes, but the MLP Kelpies look wierd more than anything.
Plus, the 'How horrifying' thing was sarcasm[because it doesn't resemble a real kelpie, either and, frankly, looks fittingly aderpable for tya]
*insert DUN DUN DUUUUUN!!*
Still, like everyone has already figured out, there's something a-sinister-afoot.
But that begs the question: Who, or WHAT wanted the Sirens to be born? This can't be just a mere coincidence, considering both the political and power-related ramifications here. Someone is playing a game of some kind, but whom could have that much patience and desire to create the sirens?
Bagan? Grogar?....or do we have another player here? Equestria seems to be a haven for a lot of villains or bad elements, both in and out of said universe, to what to come in and disrupt the peace. Only time will tell what Game of Thrones is being played here.
The following is half idol speculation, half deductive reasoning. It is not intended to be a certain rout to finding an answer, but rather reflects my flawed reasoning.
The Sirens were fathered by a unique (or nearly unique) being.
Said being appears to have been malevolent.
In the time period the Sirens were conceived, Grogar was most likely either still teaching his four students, or had just finished.
These five (Grogar and his students) are the most likely of those to date reveled to us to be both near-unique and malevolent during this time period.
Ergo, it is somewhat probable one of these five would be the Sirens' father.
Since the results of a changeling and a mermare mating is known, Chrysalis is out.
As a god, it's unlikely Grogar would bother with conventional biology if he wished to create progeny, so he is unlikely to be the father.
If Discord has anything like conventional biology, it is unlikely to resemble anything equine, plus his personality makes such a move seem uncharacteristic, so he's probably not the father.
While Sombra has an affinity for crystals, which might link in with the Sirens Hearts, he is otherwise a normal unicorn, and as such is unlikely to produce such an atypical result.
That just leaves the centaurs... which would fit with the behavior of the mythical centaurs (calling them a race of rapists would be putting it kindly,) and the magic draining ability may be inherited. As such, barring further data, my current guess for the Sirens' father(s) would be Tirek and/or Sendak, depending on which was active at that point in time.
Again, just a bit of idol speculation. We will (or will not) learn the truth when the time comes.
4188501 You know, I was thinking the same thing.
4187593 Imgur had FIMFiction blacklisted... for using Imgur as an image sharing site.
I wish I was joking.
4188501
Interesting hypothesis. Personally, I'm gonna guess the Sirens/ Dazzlings were fathered by something along the lines of a Dragon, a Sea Serpent, or a Leviathan or possibly even the Fijian shark-god Dakuwaqa (due to the sharp teeth and the scaly skin and all that).
4205175
Since I was limiting myself to known potential fathers, any of those would be outside of the parameters I was limiting myself to, but all as valid as previously unknown parental candidates.
One factor that occurred to me since I posted my reasoning that supports a Centaur father is the fact that all known results involve four legged fathers and produce limbless daughters. Centaurs have six limbs that are all analogs to legs (anatomically, arms are specialized legs.) If all Mermares have four fewer legs then their father....