Of Mermaids, Riddles, & Treasure Maps

Interactive Fiction. A low-stakes, cosy fantasy about mermaids set in The World of Dely’rae. About 19.1k words. Published in Unearthed Stories. Warnings: None.

Luris, a newly graduated mermaid botanist, leaves her home city of Meptrei for her first real assignment: surveying a nearby kelp forest. It’s routine work—until she stumbles across something decidedly not routine: a sealed magical bubble with a scroll inside. Protocol says she should take it to the Guild of Navigators. Coincidence says her childhood friend (and former co-conspirator) Tempes works there now. Unlocking the bubble sets the two of them on a quiet, curious adventure through riddles, strange creatures, and the kind of secrets that don’t stay buried forever.

It’s a cosy, clean fantasy tale set in Dely’rae—and your choices determine how the friends navigate what they find, what they trust, and how deep they’re willing to go.

“We need to choose the right inkeel, because if we ask them out of time, with the wrong caligraphy, and at an inopportune moment… they’ll write ‘rude’ all over us! If that happens, our reputation will be doomed forevermore!”

This story is illustrated by the author.