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Merfolk

Merfolk are a race of semiaquatic semi-humanoids native to the waters and islands of sea of ondine. They are adapted to be at home both underwater and on the shore, able to breathe with lungs on the surface and through gills on the sides of their necks when underwater along with strong arms that help them move on land and navigate easily around tighter spots in the sea.

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

A diet of freshly caught raw fish and crustaceans complemented with fruit gathered from islands is generally all they need, however, many consider this to be a fairly bland diet, they prefer to prepare food when possible. For those with time to spare, it is not uncommon for merfolk to go up onto the shore of islands to cook food, this is much more palatable since being out of the water allows them to add herbs and spices.

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

Merfolk intelligence is on par with that of humans. They are slightly more inclined towards curiosity and are adapted as predators, otherwise, they think largely the same.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Merfolk have a symbiotic relationship with Violetglow Cleaner Fish, a small fish found in the waters of Ondine Sea. The fish pick dirt and parasites from the merfolk's body and hair and, in return, get a meal and don't get eaten by the merfolk. Cleaner fish do this for most large species of fish around them and other animals living in the waters.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

Merfolk do not have a native concept of gender, but have had some influence from  seafolk and other species that they've interacted with. In recent years, some individuals have adopted genders from humans or fae, but such things are still early days. Those individuals have been welcomed into transgender spaces in other societies, making up for their own not having such a space yet.

Average Technological Level

Merfolk technology is somewhat lacking compared to other societies. On their own, they developed agriculture, basic water-powered mechanics and metalworking, along with being the pioneers of Ondinite stabilisation. Their stable environment, along with being incredibly well adapted to their world didn't provide much pressure towards technological development, in fact, phenomena such as Ghosts may have actively discouraged some development. When the people who would become the Seafolk arrived in their world, they traded some of their knowledge, bringing more advanced textiles, precision metal working and improved land-based agriculture. In the modern era, they have access to the same level of technology as others, primarily through the trade planes that visit from Home. That said, waterproofing of electronics is an ongoing development so some tech is still limited to usage on land.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Like most other races, they speak a variant on Interworld Basic. Their native variant shares a similar dialect to others, though shows a much more limited range of sounds, though their range has widened as they have interacted more with Sea Folk and other non-merfolk.   As regular speech is difficult underwater, they have developed a flag-semaphore-like system of communication that maps different common syllables onto different positions held by their 6 head antenna.

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

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Genetic Ancestor(s)
Average Length
7-10 ft
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Mottled blues, greens, greys and browns.
Countershaded underside
Geographic Distribution
Related Materials

Comments

Author's Notes

This is very much still a work in progress, but any suggestions for improvements would be very much appreciated.


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