The Skytracers of the Mershael

The Mershael were already navigating the seas when the Krai Jan only dreamt of Empire. They traded with the people of the Oba Mis long before others could depart from the relative safety of the coastal routes.
The Mershael were always sure of their travels. They have a deep understanding of the stars as an instrument of navigation. Only the Trilians rival the Mershael in their knowledge of the stars.
While the Trilians have their own enigmatic reasons for studying the stars, the Mershael have always used them for navigation. They have several millennium worths of charts and can trace the celestial bodies in their movement across the skies.
When the City Ships of the Mershael fled west, they were guided by the most educated navigators in the known world. Any that thinks they landed on Ryshael by chance knows little of the Mershael’s navigational abilities.
Mershael revere navigators and the word in their private tongue for a leader comes from their word to navigate. Before coming to the shores of the southern continent, The Mershael’s economy was based on trade with other peoples.
The Mershael retain their navigational knowledge and skill, though they do not boast about it. Situated on the northeast shores of Ryshael, they are a land-based power and a naval power. Mershael no longer has the ocean as a buffer between them and their opponents.
Mershael Navigators are special. They do not merely read maps and look to the sky for guidance. They are magic users who employ celestial magic and have a deep affinity with the heavens. The Mershael call them Skytracers. A captain may be in charge of a Mershaeli ship, but it will only get where it’s going because of its Skytracer.
The Skytracer can wield their navigational abilities anywhere they can see the stars. If the stars are clouded, they rely on centuries of collective knowledge to guide the way. Skytracers spend their formational years studying this knowledge and committing it to memory. Even in the worst of storms, the Skytracer can guide a ship to port.
On land, the Skytracer’s wayfinding abilities are also appreciated. A Skytracer will often be employed by trade caravans that must navigate the deserts surrounding their Kingdom. Freebands find Skytracers especially useful when operating in foreign or unfriendly areas.
The Mershael prominently use Illusion Magic and Ancestral Rites. Ask any foe that has met the Mershael in battle, and they will regale you with stories about their use of those magics. Celestial magic is equally familiar to the Mershael. However, it is used in combat less often than Illusion and Ancestral magic.
Skytracers range in ability and education but can find employment easily in Mershael. Every city of any size has a school that educates young Celestial magic users. Most of them will graduate to study at the Skytracer schools in the major cities of the Kingdom.
Of the Skytracer schools, the most venerated are those in Shardel, Mertor, Ardanol, and Palantis. These schools produce superior Skytracers, but each has its own specialty depending on its location.
The Skytracer school at Shardel produces excellent navigators that practice their skills on the Shining Sea. Merchant ships who travel the routes around the Shining Sea seek out graduates to guide their ships to ports in Falkaar, Thormenal, Koronna, Tehradim, and Traazor.
The mighty fortress city of Mertor stands on the southern slopes of the Bar Tormun, and it commands the northern banks of the Fel Taljen. It is both a military garrison and a trade city. The School at Mertor sits in the north confluence of the Tar Mish and the Jubarah Mish.
These great deserts surround Mershael and present the first real impediment to trade beyond its southern borders. Graduates from the Skytracer school at Mertor know the routes through these arid regions, even when the wind whips the sand up into the dreaded Suti Anirashe, the sandstorms of the northern deserts.
The dense forests of the Nirdarion cover the southern regions of Mershael. These forests have confounded invaders for centuries, making them one of the most important defenses the Mershael employ against the Traazorites.
Powerful and ancient illusions are at play in the Nirdarion, making the primeval forests equally deadly and difficult to navigate. Where the enemies of Mershael fear to tread, the Skytracers of the Ardanol school learn their craft. Graduates from the school at Ardanol have an uncanny ability to navigate through the densest of forests and see through even the ancient illusion-wards that protect the southern borders of Mershael.
The Skytracers of Ardanol is eagerly sought by Freebands that travel abroad, knowing they will face unknown regions and terrain. They work closely with the Takar Hunters and Lookouts that scout and guard the borders of Mershael within the Nirdarion.
The Skytracer school at Palantis uses the Oba Mis, the Great Ocean, as its training ground. Its Skytracers learn how to navigate the open ocean and the shipping lanes outside the Shining Sea. The Mershael Navy recruits heavily from the school at Palantis, knowing students graduate with the experience they need to patrol the sea lanes and fight the pirates that sail from the Shakrim Isles.
Though it is not their primary training, Skytracers are more than capable on the battlefield. They use their Celestial magic to confound and demoralize the enemies of Mershael. The Skytracers call upon the power of the stars to imbue their brothers and sisters with powerful buffs to help them fight their foes.
The Skytracers bring honor to the Houses they are born into. Some Houses, such as House Starfire and House Obala, are even known for producing excellent Skytracers and can directly track their houses’ power and prestige to those magic users.
Without Skytracers, the entire culture of the Mershael is in jeopardy. They may not hold the religious sway that a Mender does, nor protect the realm as an Illusionist. Still, the Mershaeli way of life would fall into nothing without the navigational knowledge and the magical abilities of the Skytracer.