Appearance

The human halves of merfolk have the same range of body types and skin tones as humans, but it’s not uncommon for them to have shades like murky grays, purples and blues with slight blotches or stripes for camouflage purposes. The merfolk who interact more with other races on land tend to be more aesthetically pleasing to humanoids, while those who stay in the depths of the ocean take on more animalistic features, like bioluminescence, more grotesque fins and horns, sharp teeth, webbed fingers, and so on.

The closer a mermaid lives to land, the more likely they are to follow fashion trends, adorning skirts and blouses that billow delicately in the water. The majority of mermaids wear at least a bandeau, loin cloth, or some form of bra. Feral mermaids are completely in the nude. Mermen typically do not wear clothing at all, regardless of subspecies or location, but are often fond of jewelry and other lavish adornments.

Mermaids often have long flowing hair, but it's not unheard of them to have cropped hairstyles. Mermen generally follow the same pattern, but their hair is typically tied back and out of their faces. Males have been known to sport beards almost as luxurious as their hair, but it is entirely a choice. Their hair comes in a rainbow of colors, but it is most likely that it will correlate with the color of their scales.

Their eyes are most often silvers and blues with a prismatic or opalescent quality about them, but browns and greens are not unheard of. Deep sea mermaids are known to have bright crimson eyes, daring amber eyes, or possibly even bioluminescent glowing eyes. Their animal lower halves can be any swimming aquatic life-form, and they can begin anywhere, but generally start from around the waist or hips. Merfolk with fish halves will have gills on the sides of their hips, but those with mammal lower halves cannot breathe underwater and must surface every few hours and sleep above water.

On average, from top of the head to tip of the tail, mermaids average around six feet long, although some legends of "giga mermaids" have been known to dwarf even whales. Female tend to be larger and more physically fit than males, as the gender ratio of the species is skewed towards producing more females than males.

Freshwater: Their upper halves are very human-like, with skin ranging from pale alabasters to deep and rich browns. while their lower-halves resemble river and lake fish such as goldfish, bettas, and bass. Mermaids with koifish, or other carp lower halves sometimes have whiskers on their faces.

Swamp: Their human halves look unsanitary, to say the least, often taking on murky green hues and splotchy brown markings to better camouflage within the bogs. Their lower halves often resemble catfish, mudskippers, and other bottom-feeders. Fin rot is a common issue among these merfolk.

Tropical: Here is where the most diversity occurs for lower halves. Tropical merfolk are renowned for their dazzlingly bright tails with complex patterns, but have been known to encompass dolphins and seals, and also gentle swimmers such as cuttlefish, octopi, and seahorses. Their upper-halves, like their Freshwater cousins, are very human-like.

Deep Sea: Deep sea merfolk are very diverse, only barely resembling humans at all. They take more qualities from their lower halves, such as bioluminescent danglers from their heads, or lengthy spikes jutting from their bodies. Their skin is usually a shade of blue or purple, stripes and spots are typical. Common lower halves are often gulper eels, angler fish, and lantern fish.

Abilities

All merfolk have the capability to produce a neurotoxin that they can secrete from their skin, but this ability is restricted to high-content merfolk. Half-blooded and lower content merfolk hybrids cannot produce this neurotoxin naturally and must reproduce it via artificial means, such as consuming abnormally large quantities of poisonous foods.

What this neurotoxin does depends on the purpose for it. For siren-type mermaids, who sing songs and try to shipwreck people, it aids their attempts to drown sailors by amplifying the hypnotic powers of their song. For mermaids who are more animalistic, it paralyzes prey on contact. For those who come into contact with humans frequently, it acts as an aphrodisiac for reproductive purposes, or even a truth serum for kicks and giggles. Ultimately, their neurotoxin works in tandem with their subspecies, if they are able to produce it at all.

Physical

All merfolk have the ability to communicate with most aquatic creatures, and some saltwater merfolk can emulate the same echolocation techniques that whales and dolphins use. There's something charming about a mermaid calling out the various noises associated with whalespeak.

Beyond their feral magic skills, most merfolk have magic that occurs naturally at birth for them. Certain subspecies have areas where they outshine others of their kind. Siren-type mermaids are particularly talented with singing-based spirit magic and destruction magic, exerting their magic as minor mind control and perish songs. Mermaids with these powers are rare, as they are commonly hunted by fishermen to protect their crew. Deep sea and other more feral mermaids tend to have skills in the arcane arts, using blasts of pure raw magic to stun their foes. All other merfolk have a knack for healing magic, having been known to rescue drowning creatures and resuscitate them.

For a commoner to gain the ability to shapeshift their lower halves, it was believed they had to trade their soul or their voice to a demon, but now it can be purchased in high-end boutiques in the form of a potion called “Wayfarer’s Wish.”

The Champion has the ability to shapeshift their lower halves into human legs and walk on land, but the further they get away from the first champion, the more likely it is that the current Champion will have some difficulty. The Champions encourage only marriage with other equally strong mermaids, even if it means inbreeding, as they believe it is to "keep the blood pure" out of fear of losing their recessive shapeshifting gene.

Culture

Their natural predators are typically Sea Dragons, although the occasional Rukh is not above eating them when times are desperate. It is believed that Sea Dragons ferociously hunt them because they associate them with the humans who drove them to the deep depths many years ago. There is competition from other sea-dwelling predators, but it is not enough to classify it as a predator-prey relationship.

It is not only possible for merfolk hybrids to exist, but it is very likely--mermen are very far and few between, so mermaids often mate outside their own species. Some legends say that a merman is only born once every hundred years, but this has not been proven. The current birth rate is presumed that one male is born for every thirty females.

Small, docile Sea Dragons and humans are the most likely to breed with mermaids, but others aren't unheard of--there have been rumors of Bellonese mating with mermaids and producing offspring. A Mermaid/Human hybrid will retain their mer-parent's lower body, but have reduced magical capabilities as a result of the birth. If this hybird offspring mates with a human, the child will have no magical capabilities, nor have a fish lower body. If this child is born at sea, they will surely die. Sea Dragon/Mermaid hybrids will have much more hardened scales on their lower bodies than normal merfolk, more varieties of skin tones, and more fins/gills throughout their bodies. The higher content of Sea Dragon, the larger and more physically imposing they become.

Mermaids were once thought to be mortal, only living until young adults and being killed by predators. It was discovered that they are just very hearty, slow-aging creatures. They can easily live a thousand years without any difficulty in the right conditions, but their average lifespan dwindles in the hundreds due to being hunted. It is possible that they may even be immortal until killed, but this cannot be proven due to the impossibly high mortality rate.

Humans occasionally hunt mermaids for their flesh, which they believe grants immortality when consumed. This old wive’s tale is grossly incorrect, and mermaid flesh has an acrid taste, and in large enough doses has been known to numb the face frozen.

History

The first of the mermaids is thought to have been a joke of the gods. A pair of bellonese had mated together to produce an offspring. They believed that the child would have been a woodland bellonese considering that both parents were native to the forests. However, upon birth the child had a long, fish-like tail rather than a mammal found on land. Angered by the oddity of the bellonese, the male had thought his mate had cheated on him. She cried to him and begged that, that had not been the case. They found that the child could not breath above water as easily due to the gills that were on its sides. The mother placed the child in the nearby tide pool that collected by the ocean. The child was happy enough and soon began trying to swim around the little pool.

Everyday the mom stayed near the child to protect it and feed it. Others from her community shunned the mother for keeping watch over the child. Her mate had left her believing that she still cheated or that the woman was cursed by the gods. Still, the mother tended to her child day-in and day out. Local marine life had seen the pair and started to help bring them food that they could eat to keep the child alive. At night, they would keep watch so the mother could get some sleep. Haliea, Goddess of the sun and moon, having come across the two watched every day and night as the creatures tended to the lone mother and child. She was so moved by the touching gesture these creatures showed them and wanted to do something special for them. Haliea went to Feaya, Goddess of the rivers and oceans, to tell her about the pair and what she wanted to do. Haliea wanted to provide the mom endless days with her child without having them be separated by the ocean. This in turn, would allow the pair to stay together forever, but she needed Feaya to approve because it was her domain. Feaya, wanting to contribute as well, decided to provide the animals who helped tended to the duo the option to transform into the same creature the child had been. Both goddesses took to their oracles to relay their messages to all that were involved.

The mother exclaimed in pure joy at the prospect of staying with her child. Haliea smiled at the mother and soon transformed her animal half into a beautiful sea-dragon. Feaya spoke with the marine life that helped the pair. Most were more than willing to take on another form and soon were turned into a half human, half animal with the lower half being the animal they were previously. These became known as the first mermaids with the mother sea dragon mermaid as the Mother of All. There have been no other accounts of another mermaid similar to her in terms of her animal counterpart.