As a separate point, does anyone know if sMerit can be gained thorugh activity increasing? E.G, every 14 activity you get a merit or is it just when you get merits that you get a 50% sMerit?
Nope, no "free" sMerit other than what we all got initially. You can only get sMerit if someone sends you merit (0.5 sMerit per merit received), or if you're a merit source yourself (fixed amount per month).