Eras on Land vs the Ocean

The Ocean is a massive body of liquid which constantly churns enormous amounts of matter on the planet's surface. The heaving of the oceans tug and pull not only at the continents but at the fabrics of time and space.

But don't wrack your head about these profound notions. All you need to know is whatever era you find yourself in, when you pop that empty little head of yours out of the water, may have been a different one had you dallied to surface for another half an hour.

Breathing the air anchors the merfolk to that time. The consequence of this may be varied, for one you might find it hard to find your way back to your original merfolk society and the sea might no longer be the one you are familiar with. Other times, nothing may change and all your local landmarks and friends are just where you expect them to be.

However, just to be safe, should you have a partner you wish to explore with it is best that you surface together with them in order to be sure you stay within the same time frame.

There are any number of ways to unhook yourself from any time ear, the easiest may be to find merfolk who dabble with time magic or alternatively allow yourself to be sucked down into a maelstrom. Dragons have been documented to aptly call them "pools of time".

Note: maelstroms are not a safe means of time travel.