Appearance

Nixies are humanoid beings covered from head to toe in beautiful scales. These scales come in all manner of colors, though it’s not uncommon for them to match their environment, giving them an element of camouflage. They have a fine pair of gills on their neck, which allow them to breathe in water. Their hands and feet are webbed, making them excellent swimmers. Nixies have the ability to turn their legs into a single tail, and vice versa. Their teeth are razor sharp, and can bite through steel. And being rather vain creatures, they've been known to adorn their hair and bodies in all manner of finery from shells to pretty stones.

Nox: Nox look similar to nixies, with their only differences being that they tend to be of darker scale color, and their eyes are one solid color (usually black). Their scales are rougher in texture, much like shark scales or sandpaper.

Abilities

Nixies are able to thrive both on land and in water. With both gills and lungs they’re able to spend as much time in either environment as they want. They’re excellent swimmers, much like the fish they hunt, and their teeth are strong enough to bite through steel.

Seen as water nymphs by common folk, it’s no surprise that nixies have great mastery over water magic. This primarily comes in the form of manipulating water that’s already present.

Nixies also possess a rather unique ability. Their spit, when consumed, grants an aquatic form to whomever consumed it. This form is triggered by water, and lasts until the user is completely dry. To gain an aquatic form once dry, more nixie essence must be consumed. Nixie spit is commonly sold on the market as “Nixie Essence”, because no one wants to admit they’re consuming spit.

Nox: Nox have very limited control over water, unlike their nixie kin, and many have instead taken to fighting primarily with tooth and claw. They possess incredible strength to compensate for their lack of magical talent, and battles with ox tend to leave the water red with blood. They’re devious, dirty, and underhanded in a fight.

Culture

Nixies are a very free and open people. Their settlements are few and far between on all continents except Prasinos. With most of their major cities being in lakes, many nixies live in the river systems around Antarsia in small family groups, or even groups of close friends. They mingle well with other species, and are not above several casual flings with them. Many nixies even forgo clothing, as their bodies are covered entirely in scales.

They’re generally a very playful species. Fond of pranks, many nixie will kiss land dwellers before plunging them into the water, and laugh about the effects of nixie essence. Their pranks and jokes are often good natured, as they’re generally not malicious enough to cause harm.

Nox: Nox are more malicious in their jokes and pranks, and are seen as significantly more savage. Their disputes are solved with teeth and claws. Nox are significantly less trusting of surface dwellers, and are more likely to eat them than they are to trade with them. However, they get along quite well with others of their own kind, and similarly those who live underwater. These cunning tricksters should not be trusted by land dwellers, lest they face a watery grave.

History

Nixies are believed to have come from the Mother of All, the first mermaid. 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.

The Mother of All and her child, due to the ordeal they had gone through, were granted another power by the gods. They were able to switch between their mermaid forms and split their tails to walk on land whenever they desired. They could freely breath as easily in air as they could in the water. As time went on and the child grew up to take on a mate, the new pair had produced new children who had the same ability to walk on land or swim in the sea. The Mother of All also had additional children throughout the years who also inherited this ability. As the years passed, these creatures became less known as mermaids and more commonly known as Nixies.