(All use of days and years will be based on Mercury’s actual orbit. 1 mercurian day= 58.5 earth days, 1 mercurian year= 88 earth days. For ease I’m dividing each day into 4 cycles, Day, Dusk, Night and Dawn. Each are aprox. 14.55 earth days long. Mercurians measure time in Days and Cycles.)

Backstory:

Messur began his life during the end years of the Mad Lord Mercury to six parents with only one sibling. Born to a starving and beggared people he went on to pursue medicine in the footsteps of three of his parents. Due to their method of reproduction nearly all Mercurians are in some small way related to the first Planetlord. When the Mad Lord Mercury was killed Messur was a parent looking after his first grouping of children, while he had a very strong genetic marker to be a potential Planetlord, Irian the Delusional had more of a genetic match.

A people just barely recovering from a Mad ruler were now forced to the barren surface of their world to search and hunt down a threat that didn’t exist. The monstrous Chom that had apparently done countless atrocities to their new Planetlord and bore a strikingly similar resemblance to Martians. Messure lost two of his first children to this was with a delusion. Being part of the troupes forced to stay out on the exposed surface though even the hottest and coldest portions of the long days.

When Irian left his post and abandoned Mercury it was decided that the candidate presented to Sunstar had to be someone both sane, and dedicated to the healing of their people and world. A council was formed to question and test the dozen of candidates pulled from the ranks of Medics and Doctors. Even a few Caretakers to the young. Through rigorous testing and questioning and research into their lineage Messur was decided to be their first choice of candidate. A role he plans to take with the utmost of seriousness.

Mercury:

Mercury is a harsh world with incredibly long days, the people’s cities are built within the walls of the scar-like Lobar Scarpes that cover the world. The deeper into the city away from the harsh surface the more likely you are to find young children. The Nurseries themselves being the most protected portion of the mercurian cities.

Due to the loss of population many of the cities are abandoned and those that are still inhabited centralize around the Temple of the Sun. The deep Scarpes used to flourish with bioluminescent arthropods, fungi and lichen, but the arthropods are sparse and many species of fungi and lichen have died out completely.

The cities are not colourful, in fact they are very drab and utilitarian looking, Mercurians prefer to express their creativity in their clothes, murals and dancing. Murals are common within homes, especially those where children are being raised. Teaching murals are found at nearly every temple and academy of science and learning.

Larger animals are found on the surface, Mercurians have domesticated a large arthropod species that they use as pack mules for long journey across the surface. A common threat to travelers on the surface are sand leaches. These are kept away from camps and cites using ultrasonic technology.

Mercurians:

Physical: While their height and weight does flux depending on how much fluid they have access to, and if they have recently lost any limbs, Mercurians on average stand between 5'7" and 6'2". They are agendered, though when speaking of those of other species tend to take on a binary pronoun to ease confusion.

Their epidermal layer is thin but incredibly tough, allowing them to survive the sudden and drastic temperature changes on the surface of their world. Thought they are unable to survive while exposed more than thee days. The colouration of the epidermis ranges from caramel to ash brown, with a green undertone if they are in good health.

Their undergoo is incredibly vulnerable to damage, and an injured and exposed Mercurian is a dangerous Mercurian. Often resorting to straight out absorbing enough energy from their attacker to kill them. Normally Mercurians use their ability to absorb energy to calm each other. Often using it to help patients or infants sleep, and to keep rowdy teenagers from deciding to explore the surface before their epidermis has toughened enough.

Their eyes range from a dark red to light pink, with deep brown/red sclera. Their hair actually consist of thin tubes of epidermis, These tubes allow gas to reach their undergoo and perform gas exchanges. This is how they breath. Typically they keep their bodies in a humanoid shape, finding it to be the most efficient. Their feet are trunk-like, with two thick hoof-like ‘toes’ that flex very well for climbing. Their hand typically have 5 fingers, though variations such as 6 or 7 fingers have been known to happen.

Mercurians are omnivorous, thought their diet consist mainly of lichen, fluids and fungi. Mercurians do function on a limited genetic memory, it allows the to have an innate sense of timing, knowledge of what things are edible and affinities for the trades of their parents.

Mercurians do have a number of soft mold-able organs withing their undergoo, these do not interfere when they are forced to reshape themselves to get into tight places.

A Healthy Mercurian is a tacky, sticky to the touch Mercurian. And incredibly healthy Mercurian is slimy, babies are slimy. An unhealthy Mercurian is dry to the touch, feeling much like suede. A dying Mercurian has cracks in their epidermis.

Cultural: Mercury is a communistic society. Wealth and knowledge is shared freely. Each child has the opportunity to go in to whichever trade they choose, though if the majority of their parents are from one trade they tend to follow in that path.

A wealth of friendship and family is considered more valuable to Mercurians then gold or trinkets. Thought they recognize the values of such baubles to others. And are more then willing to trade for the things they need. Young Mercurians often have to be taught a sense of ownership, and are likely to take what they need if they do not observe someone else using it at the time.

Their religion as a whole centers around Sunstar, and his temples are always the last place to be abandoned within a dying city.

Mercurians do decorate their epidermis with symbols pertaining to their home city, trade, accomplishments,and parents. The city symbol is found on both cheeks, with their trade above or below either eye. Accomplishments and family are shown on their upper arms, backs of the shoulders and upper chest. These marking can be willfully flushed fro the epidermis, but to do so requires a great deal of fluid.

Mercurians dress in many layers of hydrophobic fabric. These protect them fro both the harsh heat and freezing colds of the surface. They wear these even when off world, often only showing their hands and eyes to strangers until they feel safe.

Reproduction: Lacking gender or sexes Mercurians reproduce by sharing tissue. A group of between 4-6 Mercurians will decide to produce children together and start working on the birthing 'tub’. This tub needs to be deep enough to contain all the tissues, non porous and with no sharp edges that may harm the developing time. Tissues donated are usually given in the form of a self removed limb, arms are very common for this.

Children separate into 2-4 individuals after gestating for three days. It takes 75 additional days for them to reach adulthood. The youngest of children are kept in damp nurseries and are visited by their parents often. As they grow older they shadow their parents in their work, picking up education and training along the way.

Memory Stones: An ancient technology, these crystals are able to record the thoughts and experiences of their users. There are very few of these left on Mercury, and are used mainly on long term research projects. Quickly bringing new scientists up to date with the current research. They do not typically record entire lifetimes. The only one to do this is the memory Stone used by the Planetlord. Giving them insight into the past and wisdom beyond their years.

Direction:

Mercury wants desperately to heal his world and bring his people back to the height of their civilization once more.

Sample Post:

He had been chosen, out of all the doctors, all the medics and caretakers and healers of their world he had been chosen.

Because that is what Mercury needed, a chance to heal from the damages done to it by its previous Planetlords. Someone with ideas for their future, who wouldn't abandon them. And even more importantly, someone sane.

Messur ducked his head so the disciples of Sunstar wouldn’t ask him why he was overcome with a small smirking smile, maybe even a little snicker. Sun above there had been so many tests to make certain his mind was sound. All the candidates had gone through the same tests, their minds and heritages picked apart till only five suitable candidates had remained. Then it was all but a political campaign.

He was certain that he was going to loose that portion of the application, he'd never been good at politics. He spoke his mind to freely, point blank said if he found something unfair or not to his liking. But it seems that the deciding council had liked that, found him to be 'refreshing’.

High praise indeed.

But now he waited, he’d been in the temple of Sunstar…and Apollo, for six days now. The markings of his family home and profession had been flushed from his epidermis. A layer that had never been so spongy with excess fluid before. Now he only bore the dark green marks of Mercury itself. They extended down his face and and across his chest.

He stood, waiting before Sunstar’s throne, to one side of it was the armour of the Plant Lord Mercury, so rigid and bold. On the other side on a small table was the yellow oval Memory stone. The most famous of them. Worn by every Planet lord since the first. A repository of knowledge and wisdom and in the case of the last two, possible insanity.

It could be less then a cycle, it could be days till the Sungod decided to show himself. But he would wait here until that time. And if he couldn’t succeed in saving his world, then the next would try, and the next and the next, till there was nothing left of them but memories locked away in pretty little stones.

(Please let me know if you need anything changed)