Merfolk
Basic Information
Anatomy
From the stomach up, merfolk largely resemble humans with a similar overall body structure, besides their 4-fingered clawed hands and the gills on their neck. Their head is slightly shorter than that of a human, it also sports large fin-like ears and 3 pairs of mobile antennae that are used both in communication and to sense prey in the water.
Their muscular tail starts at their hips and narrows out to a point and, along their sides, runs a fin made from semi-translucent skin that flares out into a large oar-like structure that they can use to propel themselves through the water. Their tail makes up the majority of their body length, being up to 1.5x the length that legs would be on an equivalently proportioned human. Their tail is packed with muscle and can serve as a powerful weapon if needed.
Merfolk blood is toxic and foul-tasting to a majority of species, this means they have few problems with predators found in their waters. Merfolk are also able to regenerate body parts with surprising ease. Lost fingers can regenerate within a day or so while entire limbs will take a few weeks, provided the proper nutrition is available from their diet. They can even heal from losing their entire lower body from the hips down, assuming they are given support, though it will be years before they can swim outside of the shallows again.
Their skin comes in a range of colours, typically mottled muddy blues and greens and, less commonly, greys and browns. They usually have strong countershading, their faces and belly being significantly lighter in colour.
Merfolk, like many species in their world, have trimodal sex categories, giving them 3 sexes (though there are outliers, who are fairly common), as opposed to humans who are bimodal. Unlike other local species, merfolk's sexes have largely converged, all being able to produce and fertilise eggs, and sexual dimorphism only effecting things like size and some subtle patterning. The convergence lead to them assuming that they were a single-sex species and not developing a concept of gender, it was only recently learnt that they have distinct sexes during recent genetic research on Home.Dietary Needs and Habits
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
The faces of merfolk are similar to that of a human, besides a few minor differences.
Their eyes are slightly larger and more rounded, featuring large pupils and irises. While their eyes do have sclera, the size of the pupil and iris makes it uncommon to see them unless the eyes are put into an uncomfortable position. Their eyes are covered in a very thin, yet very tough, transparent layer that keeps their eyes protected from salt, sand and other particles that could otherwise irritate or damage their eyes while underwater. In cases where this layer is damaged, it is fairly standard for merfolk to wear glass goggles to protect against further damage while it heals. Due to this layer, their eyes can be gently touched without much discomfort, this comes in handy when being cleaned by Violetglow Cleaner Fish.
Their nose does not protrude from their face, instead, appearing as a pair of slit nostrils that will close up tightly as soon as they submerge themselves, preventing them from breathing in water, underwater their antennae take over their sense of smell.
Their mouth looks similar to that of humans when closed, but, when opened, it can open much wider than the average human, revealing their sharp teeth, perfectly suited for biting through fish with ease and flat plates in place of their molars that can crush through shells that their front teeth can't break.
On their head, they have 3 pairs of antennae, the first pair situated on their forehead, the second on the lower back of the head and a third smaller pair placed just below. These antennae resemble the external gills of axolotls, featuring a similar frilled appearance, though these don't have any respiratory capabilities, instead, being used as sensory organs. The antennae are electrosensitive, allowing them to detect other living creatures in the water around them, the frilled edges are used to sense smells and tastes underwater. These antennae are fully mobile and are often used in communication.
Average Intelligence
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Civilization and Culture
Gender Ideals
Average Technological Level
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Common Dress Code
The level of dress varies a lot between individuals, many will wear bracelets, hairbands and piercings featuring gemstones they have personally found or seashells they like the look of, but actual clothing isn't common. They may wear clothing appropriate for the activities they are performing, but casual clothing isn't generally the norm. In the case of merfolk going off-world, they will often try and dress in the local fashion to stand out less from the crowd, also, since they spend a lot less time in the water than they would back home, clothing is a lot less of an inconvenience.
Common Myths and Legends
Merfolk mythology tells that the stars they see in the skies are the hearts of higher beings that guard the worlds that surround them, this extends to their own star, Ondine. These higher beings are thought to be intangible and imperceptible to mortals, their "hearts" being an extension of their power into the physical world. While invisible to the eyes of onlookers, that hasn't stopped them from coming up with their own interpretations of what colossal titans these hearts belong to, Ondine, their own star, often being portrayed as a gigantic entity that hybridizes the anatomy of merfolk with the extinct species that inhabited the world before merfolk evolved.
Each of these beings is believed to represent a handful of concepts that shape the worlds that orbit them. Ondine is seen as embodying water and resurgence, influencing the sea of ondine and the merfolk being the second known civilisation to inhabit their world. Their mythology has a surprising has some surprising coincidences to the real world. Day Light, the star that Home orbits is the same star as Bossa, the closest star to the sea of ondine. Bossa was traditionally portrayed as a giant tree, with the star as its singular fruit, and was thought of as an embodiment of growth and nature. Similarly, there is increasing evidence that Sonne, the parent star of The Sky is the same as Lucta, as star that is portrayed as the heart of a giant bird that represents cold and resilience. While no other world has had such evidence, there are candidates for other stars that may correspond with those other known worlds orbit, justified by the figure Merfolk use to represent them and the concepts they embody. These strange coincidences have raised questions about whether this is a coincidence, or, at some point in their history, they gained advanced knowledge from somewhere, possibly a since lost record by the civilisation came before them who were known to have held the stars in high regard.Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Countershaded underside
Comments
Author's Notes
This is very much still a work in progress, but any suggestions for improvements would be very much appreciated.