Race: Merfolk

 Merfolk 

The Dwellers

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Merfolk are a race of warlike, aquatic-dwelling creatures, living in the deep recesses of the Maetallean oceans(though they originated from the plane of Paesorea). Afraid of outside creatures, they are incredibly athletic, even on land, and are known for having strict, bandit-like hierarchies which to them are ‘tribes.’ They are strong fighters, and even have dabbled in alchemy, becoming one of the leaders in the study despite their fragmented society, and their origins from the primal plane of Paesorea.

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Obvious Outsiders

Merfolk are strange creatures to say the least. They have serpentine faces with long horns (varying from straight horns, to curled, spiraled, and even ram horns), and lithe athletic bodies. Between their fingers and toes are thin, almost translucent webbing, and on each toe of their oversized feet is a long claw. Frills adorn their heads like Mohawks, along with spines. Their colorful bodies (ranging from shades of green to cyan, blue, purple, black, and all colors in between, with silver and tan scales on their bellies) are covered in small barbs which glow with the same soft light as their golden eyes, though the most striking detail about them is their tails.

Each Merfolk has a tail that is easily twice the length of a normal human body. When they swim they tuck their legs against their tail (which makes them appear like Nagas instead of Merfolk), but were it not for their legs, they would fail to turn under the water. Their legs and feet function to rotate them as they swim, and the tail serves to angle them up, down or side to side. Together they allow for full three-sixty degree turning, but apart they make swimming difficult for them, as their legs are not strong enough to propel them alone, and the frails of their tail and the barbs around their body cause rotation as they swim, meaning they would spin around and get disorientated without their legs.. This tail ends in a long frail as the rest of their bodies, causing further twisting while swimming. Outside of water, these tails move with as much fluidity as the rest of their bodies, and are also prehensile. The only problem are their weight, yet Merfolk seem to not mind it.

It is known that Paesorea is their homeland, however it is unknown how Merfolk came to spread their race into Maetall. Some scholars suspect underwater ley lines in the abyssal depths of the ocean, where several Merfolk tribes are located.

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Acrobatic and Alchemical

Beyond their affinity with aquatic and martial matters, Merfolk are natural contortionists, their bodies and muscles moving as fluidly as the waters in which they live to air in agility beneath the waves. They are able to squeeze through holes smaller than one would think possible (they can fit through holes as small as five inches smaller than what humans can fit through!) along with bend, stretch, leap, and climb in strange ways. This makes them great at feats of athleticism and acrobatics, but on top of this is their alchemical potency.

Merfolk are famed for creating several types of droughts and poisons still in use today, and while they did not invent the art of alchemy, the skill is often attributed to their race. They are proficient in magic as well, and often a Merfolk alchemist will combine science and magic to great effect, which is why Merfolk alchemists are so sought after for their incredible skills. However, Merfolk are warlike and a very shy race, so it is hard to acquire their services.

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Strange Societies

Merfolk tribes have bandit-like hierarchies and are often small groups. Tribes have conflicted relationships - some are allies, while other are sworn blood enemies. Despite their feudal lifestyle however, Merfolk have advanced quite greatly, especially since they originated in Paesorea. Merfolk have little culture aside from the art they have, but what little they do relies on three things - family, weight, and laziness.

Merfolk hierarchy, despite being martial, relies on how fat and lazy a Merfolk is. It is in their beliefs that the fatter and lazier one is, the more wealth they have, and the happier they are (paired with their low muscle mass, Merfolk were the first race to ever be reported with ‘modern obesity,’ yet these individuals still lived to the end of their 150 year lifespan). This is why it is not uncommon to see blubbery, overweight Merfolk being adorned in all manner of jewelry and typically followed by a harem or reverse-harem. Despite Merfolk nobles often being fat (as such, unable to fit through nearly as small of spaces as other Merfolk, along with being much heavier) they are still dangerous adversaries, for their contortionism and athleticism allows them to fight with ease, and even use their weight and bulk to their advantage.

Sex and gender matters little to the Merfolk, meaning no more to them then the fact that males and females are needed to lay eggs (females will carry a clutch of 5-20 large eggs inside of their bodies for a span of several weeks, before laying them in coral beds or soft seaweed), and make new children (however, Merfolk have long lifespans, are laid in large clutches, and mature to adulthood by age 16, so breeding festivals are not common). Clutch-runts in Merfolk society are often seen as the slave caste, and considering the size of the laid clutches, it is not uncommon to get a runt, though to be seen with a runt is quite distasteful. So distasteful that sometimes mothers may even eat the runt, if it ever gets into public.

 Traits 

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Amphibious

Merfolk are amphibious, and along with this, they are impeccable swimmers. Their incredibly long tails allowing them to swim much faster than most people can sprint. Most have no hope of being able to keep a swimming merfolk in sight, never mind catching up with them without the aid of magic.. However, Merfolk are also great at climbing, too being able to climb as naturally as they can swim. Running on land for them is awkward because of their tail, weight, and low muscle mass in their legs. Many fall when running, but they can walk well.

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Contortionists

Merfolk are natural athletes and contortionists. They are able to jump very long distances both vertically and horizontally, and fit through incredibly small spaces for human standards. They can also bend in. Incredible angles, able to dodge attacks in unique and sometimes mind-boggling ways, and crawl through strange angles with relative ease. It’s almost as if they themselves are as liquid as water!

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Bioluminescence

Merfolk have bioluminescent spots running down their tail and over the scales of their stomach. This is a common physical feature of Paesoreans, but Merfolk are some of the only ones able to minorly alter the colour and affect the brightness of their spots.. This causes them to attract small animals and fish to them for easy hunting or capture, and allow them to display their emotions in unique ways, but makes them bad at hiding in darker environments. They also use it as a form of visual communication, along with body and sign language to hold conversations underwater.

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Camouflage

A Merfolk’s scales allow them to blend in with their surroundings when in swampy, cold-castel, or aquatic environments, as a result of the subtle shifting of their scales to blend in. This makes them expert hunters, but they stand out when not in an environment suited for their natural stealth.

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Blubber

Instead of getting fat like most normal creatures, Merfolk get blubber. This thick substance helps control heat in  Merfolk, along with making their vitals harder to hit (like normal fat), at the cost of making them… well, bigger, and much heavier. The difference of blubber to fat is that blubber does not lead to heightened health risks, despite working the same as normal fat. This has little to no effect on the merfolks’ buoyancy.

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Adapted Eyes

A Merfolk’s eyes are adapted to seeing in low and almost no light. This comes at a cost, as Merfolk have trouble seeing in daylight. While this doesn’t come up in things like reading or fighting with melee Weapons, crafting, ranged fighting, and precise actions are much harder for them, if they rely on eyesight and they’re in bright light.

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Siren Song

The most infamous of all of a Merfolk’s abilities is their power to lure and charm unwary travelers. When underwater, a Merfolk can spend their energy and active concentration to release potent pheromones from their blood and bioluminescence glands. These pheromones saturate the water, and when paired with the vibrations made from the distinct song, fill the air with a potent attraction towards the Merfolk. If one listens to the song for the full minute, they will feel themselves being charmed almost completely by the Merfolk, adhering to their every verbal command to a rational extent. The Merfolk will fill the charmed one’s mind, to the point where it can almost be debilitating for them to be away from the Merfolk.

Curiously, other Merfolk can be affected by the Siren Song. It is a sign of either great stupidity however, or great trust to go above land and listen to another’s Siren Song.

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Strange Phosphorus

A strange thing in certain cultures is the use of Merfolk blood as an ingredient in… food. The blood itself has huge sweetening and fattening properties, a mutation caused by their Paesorean homelands. Their blood is so potent that Merfolk themselves drink the blood of their enemies during ritual combat. It is estimated that because of their tendencies, the Merfolk are thought to be the most vampire-friendly race that exists, due to them living far away from the sun, and the amount of fighting they do means vampires oftenly have a source of food.

Written by Juan_Plays/A Lizehrd#9406