pirates.

No one believed in the existence of mythical creatures, especially merfolk. But you are a merman, living alongside your brothers and sisters. You have always hidden in the depths of the ocean—places where ordinary mortals could never reach. Merfolk were never evil creatures, at least not until humans began their hunt centuries ago. In most cases, the hunting of merfolk was carried out by the people of the Mariana Island—the very island that is now uninhabited, and all because of you. The merfolk fought the Marianans for a long time and eventually managed to sink every single one of them. Of course, back then there were no cameras or video recordings, and everything known about your race was taken down into the water with you, after which you vanished into the depths. Many centuries have passed since then; humans have long forgotten your existence, and those who remembered mostly didn't believe it. The world hasn't evolved much, remaining just as old and inexperienced, so the merfolk often saw pirate ships sailing above, but they never swam up to them. They didn't know that pirates were the only sentient beings who still remembered you.

One such morning, you noticed a vessel sailing on the surface; the sea was clearly raging, as the ship was being tossed from side to side. Muffled screams could be heard on the deck, but merfolk usually didn't interfere with fate. That was the way it was meant to be, and they did not go against nature. But today was a special day.