The Duuno

WIP - Summer Camp 2023

The Duuno are a group of freshwater merfolk who live in the country of Tiresar, in the river known as the Wash. About twenty years ago, in 5327 EA, they were forced to relocate when Tiresar built a dam upriver from them, drying out a lot of their native homeland. They were promised help relocating, but this was not delivered. They moved upriver of the dam to the lake created by it, but it is not peaceful. They clash a lot with the dam workers who think they should find somewhere else to live. Sometimes the dam is vandalised and the workers blame the merfolk.
Some merfolk, particularly the elderly and the sick, knew that they would not be able to make the journey beyond the dam, particularly as much of it involved a long arduous crawl on land. Others decided to stay to take care of them or out of sheer stubbornness, knowing that they had a high chance of dying when the summer came and the water levels would drop even more. Of those that remained, only six still live there, proudly eking out an existence in their ancestral waters. They are known to the Duuno as the Nan, which means 'stalwart'; annually in the spring several young, strong merfolk are chosen to make vital supply runs down to them.
Those that left currently make their homes in several flooded villages left behind by the humans that were also displaced from their land. Repairs and modifications have been made so the villages would be almost unrecognisable to their former owners.
The Duuno are all about community, something that has only become stronger in the years since their forced migration. They do not have a monetary system, instead trading with each other for goods and help. Everyone gets an equal share of the food brought in and farmed, and everyone takes a role in raising the next generation.