Lore of Gnaw and Merms

[Szczuku]

We now know quite a lot about merms but there are also new questions that now need answering.

So to what we know already:

-Merms originate from Gnaw

-They are humanoid. It seems that Gnaw can't/doesn't need to turn simple animals like rabbits into fishes

-They function like normal animals: they can reproduce (Wurt's existence), evolve (Fishermers in Sw) and develop (own language, monarchy)

Now about Gnaw, it's relations with merms and lore of the dst

Gnaw appears to be some sort of god/higher being with magical powers. As of now we don't know if Gnaw is only a mouth in the sky or if that mouth actually belongs to something. It sufferms from ethernal hunger and is developed enough to be able to be picky- a hungry beast would simply eat anything. Gnaw travels from land to lands searching from (I assume) humanoid/developed creatures that will feed it. When they fail to do so Gnaw will mermificate them. After an entire civilization is destroyed Gnaw will search for other to terrorize. 

Now the big question: why does Gnaw turn beings into merms. The merms don't seem to obey Gnaw and so won't feed it. Is this simply the only power that Gnaw has and so it uses it as a way of punishing? Or are merms actually a part of a hive-mind that simply haven't activated yet? Maybe Gnaw is building up and army of merms and when the time comes it will take control of them.

So did Gnaw play a big part in the history of dst? Maybe. @QrChuck made an interesting theory that Ancients escaped into the caves because of Gnaw. It could actually make sense as in the Metheus murals we see some sort of circe in the sky as Ancients are leaving the surface.

Spoiler

Now I know that Metheus came before the Gorge so Klei might not have actually planned these circles to reseble Gnaw. But that doesn't mean that they can't make that canon. After all we know that caves are able to protect from the dangers of the sky as many characters comment on moon dial in the caves that 'Moon' can't see them here.

[QrChuck]

To simplify, I think this moving circle is representation of Gnaw and his plague being the reason ancients had to leave the surface. We can see them taking food that isn't affected by plague, we know that merms were in Constant from ages. It's coming together  kinda

[MondayNight]

A Giant Mouth in the sky imbued with magic would be much more prevalent in said murals, depicted in many stages to remind future generations what dangers such cosmic horror entity brings upon the lands and their inhabitants. Mermification (or some other mutagenic process) would be shown (by contrast look at all those scenes illustrating the ills of Shadows and that Shadow Oculus being), what desires/requirements Gnaw has from plagued sapient species it terrorizes, the fallout of its "reign" and whatnot. Just a passing shell-shaped drawing in a corner seems too flimsy for the Gnaw's magnitude and effects. Even the birds are shown to be more important relative to that shape in size. Most likely is a pictograph for passing time/seasons. To me it looks like a symbol for seasons and possibly migrations.

[SinancoTheBest]

I don't know why people argue that all Merms are created by Gnaw. It's very likely that Merms existed in the constant as a despised race of ugly creatures, in an endless war with pigs. It seems like gnaw just likes to punish goat people by turning them into merms, just like Zeus would punish the vengeful husbands of the women he sleeps with by turning them into satyrs. Similarly, just because Apollo turns Medusa into a gorgon doesn't mean he's the creator of the gorgon race. While unofficial as of now, I like how Gnaw turns Wurt into a Pig if she fails to satisfy it on the off-season Gorge; because turning her to a Merm would be rewarding her.

[1bubbainpa]

So basically, the gnaw is an *******. Got it.