abstract
| - Merdegraw was a tropical planet in the Drogol Sector of the Polaris galaxy. It was unregulated by both Tachyon's Cragmite Empire and Free Polaris because of the thriving pirate activity on it. The planet was home to the locations: Hoolefar Island, Morrow Caverns and Darkwater Cove. The enormous ocean separating all these areas was called the Azorean Sea. The primary sentient species of Merdegraw were purple, reptilian beings known as Hoolefoids. The caves of Merdegraw are also inhabited by Heliogrubs, small creatures that glow in the dark when they are afraid, and more notoriously, Pythors, large, fire-spitting monsters resembling the Basilisk Leviathan. Merdegraw seems to have been the primary headquarters of the pirate Angstrom Darkwater and his crew before the mutiny. Darkwater kept most of his loot in Darkwater Cove, which is full of booby traps and puzzles designed to let only Darkwater pass. Darkwater constructed a telescope powered by a Fulcrum Star called the Obsidian Eye in Hoolefar Island in order to keep track of the Zoni, which were rumoured to keep fabulous riches. Darkwater was eventually killed in Morrow Caverns when his first mate, Romulus Slag, led a mutiny against him. Slag apparently moved his headquarters to Ardolis, which was on the other side of Polaris, but many pirates remained on Merdegraw nonetheless. Ratchet and Talwyn Apogee traveled to Merdegraw many years later seeking Darkwater for information on the Zoni's whereabouts. Their quest led them to Hoolefar Island, where their friend of sorts, Rusty Pete, started using them as puppets in his plan to use Darkwater's body in Morrow Caverns to revive the deceased Captain Slag. His efforts were successful, but ended up also reviving Darkwater and his entire crew due to a curse he had placed upon his body before his death. With Slag and Darkwater free to pillage Merdegraw, the first thing they did was raiding Hoolefar Island to activate the Obsidian Eye and pillage the Zoni dimension. The attack was stopped by Ratchet, who eventually defeated Slag/Darkwater and retrieved the Fulcrum Star to find the location of the Zoni. {C Due to the humid tropical climate, Merdegraw was prone to cyclones and thunderstorms.
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