Mermaids
A mermaid having a quick midnight snack...
Mermaids are half women, half fish. They can be found in the rivers, lakes and seas all across Felarya. They breath freely in or out of the water and can even move on land, albeit very clumsily. They are often extraordinarily beautiful with alluring voices. The average Felaryan mermaid tends to be around 100 feet in length, with the sea species being even longer.
Felaryan mermaids are naughty, voracious, and represent the main danger for swimmers and adventurers sailing the rivers or seas of Felarya. They use their sweet voices and some illusion spells to charm and attract their prey. If they are in a hurry, they can use their powerful tail to sink a ship and then devour the crew falling in water. Some Felaryan mermaids also possess a very long and sticky tongue they can extend to catch a prey, much like a frog.
Mermaids and merfolks in general can live both in salty or fresh water. They are extroverted beings, but speak surprisingly little of their life underwater. They are said to have a few large underwater cities in Topazial sea and they regulary go there to mate or simply spend time with their kind.
A cute mermaid resting on a rock on sunset. Picture by wnxgreek from his Deviantart gallery
Contents
Known Mermaids
Royal Mermaids
under construction
Sea mermaid. Powerful water spell caster. also called "tideweaver"
Appearance : whale half
Leviathan Mermaids
The legendary leviathan mermaid is very rarely seen, and some say there is no more than one dozen of them in all the seas of Felarya. Like their name imply, they are absolutely gigantic ! It's difficult to get an accurate idea of their real size through all the tales that have been weaved on them, but one can assume safely that their total lenght easily go past the 500 feet.
Despite their intimidating size, leviathan mermaids are some of the most potentially benevolent giant creatures in Felarya. They feed mostly on fishes and very rarely on humans. Moreover, they are deeply aware of their surrounding, thanks to their keen senses, and won't sink a ship unawarely. They are usually surrounded by a school of much smaller mermaids swimming in their wake. Leviathan mermaids have acquired an excellent reputation and are viewed by sailors as kind guardians and guides who will often offer their help to a lost ship and transport it to the nearest island. Sometimes they will swallow small enough crafts, and store them in a second special stomach, a scary but perfectly safe way to travel.
They possess a very developped sense of navigation, stemming from an intimate knowledge of underwater terrain and ocean currents. Thanks to powerful muscles in their tail, and despite their massive bulk, they are able to move at a good speed. A typical leviathan mermaid can cover around 200 miles in one day's travel, better than most sailing ships, and not terribly slower than more modern vessels.
Though they are usually very kind, leviathan mermaids should not be mistaken as mindlessly benevolent giants. They are clever and fiercely protective of their schools, which they rarely leave unattended. Needless to say angering a leviathan mermaid is generally not very healthy ( ^^; ). Anyone foolish and suicidal enough to try, will most likely find themselves, their ship, and their crew digesting within the giant mermaid's real stomach, to join her fat reserves for months to come.
River Mermaids
A smaller species of mermaids. Their average length is between 70 and 90 feet. River mermaids have a more elastic tail and prefer the shallower fresh waters of river tributaries.
They're fast and very agile and often catch prey stuck in the mangroves and other river vegetation. They can easily jump out of the water and can even climb trees for a short distance. They are also a lot less clumsy on land than other merfolk and can use their powerful tail to bounce along the ground in rapid succession.
River Mermaids are found in most places, anywhere from frigged mountain streams to jungle rivers, to swampy estuaries at the mouth of a river. Their color varies greatly depending on their location.
Flash Mermaids
Flash mermaids, also called Abyssal mermaids, are one of the strangest and unusual species of mermaids in Felarya. They are much smaller compared to most of their cousins, ranging from 15 to 40 feet long, though some have been reported to reach 50 feet long or above. They also are completely incapable of singing, and some can’t even talk for that matter.
Flash mermaids are found in the Topazial sea, deep down in the darkest depths of the lowest trenches, where there is little or no light. At this depth, food is extremely scarce, so flash mermaids are known to migrate from the abyss up towards the surface at night. They are generally blind or have very poor eyesight, relying on heightened senses, and dislike the sunlight. Most flash mermaids are rather slow, clumsy swimmers. They are usually solitary, recluse hunters, hardly seen communicating with even their own kind.
One of the most unique traits of flash mermaids is their physical appearance. Unlike most of their cousins, their overall appearance differs from one another and you can't really find two flash mermaids who look the same. Each specimen has a different shape, ranging from a slender, serpent-like figure, to a larger, thicker, globular figure. On top of that, some have a more monstrous appearance, to the point where their upper torso is barely even human.
The most notable feature of flash mermaids is their lights. Each specimen is adorned with a serie of bioluminescent lights on different parts of their bodies. These lights may appear in the form of a long, whip-like lure, thread-like filaments, or small glowing spots on their bodies. These lights contain a high energy source which can be manipulated by the mermaid, adjusting its brightness. This is their primary tool for hunting as well providing illumination and protection. They rear up their lights, attracting the interest of a potential meal. Once the prey is close enough, the mermaid intensifies the light and flashes it in short strong bursts. The intense light blinds and stuns her prey, allowing the mermaid to proceed with consuming it.
Flash mermaids have a highly expandable stomach and jaws that allow them to swallow prey four times the size of their own body. This special adaptation allows a flash mermaid to eat as much as she can during nightfall and return back into the depths during daylight, awaiting the next evening. Flash mermaids typically feed on fishes and other mermaids but are known to eat anything else that makes its way into the water. They are generally very aggressive and hostile in nature, even toward their own kind. Encountering a flash mermaid is very rare though, due to a low population and the fact they surface only during the night. Like most of the denizens of the depths, Flash mermaids are very proficient in Deep Magic.
Known Flash Mermaids
Crystal Mermaids
This unusual species of mermaid is mainly found in underwater caverns, though they have sometimes been spotted swimming in the Jewel river. Their name comes from the fragments of pure crystal and gems that seem to be embedded in various part of their body, both fish and human halfs. The amount of this natural decoration varies greatly from one mermaid to another. Some are almost void of it, while some are literally covered by crystal.
Crystal mermaids are mainly known and feared for their voice. It's sweet, though not entrancing like other mermaids, but they possess very powerful lungs that can blast a very high frequency sonic shock wave when they "sing".
This terrible attack can shatter glass for a mile in all directions, destroy the body of a ship, and even make your ears bleed if you are too close. Prey are usually utterly stunned and disoriented after hearing it, and the mermaid has just to stretch an arm out to pick them up. In a serious fight, the mermaid will focus her song on a single point, usually the heart or the brain of their enemy, turning their voice into a lethal and fearsome weapon.
Estuarine Mermaids
Estuarine mermaids usually prefer to stay close to the continental shelf and in warmer waters. They are often found in lagoons and in estuaries, hence their name. However, estuarine mermaids will quite happily venture miles up rivers in search of prey, and out of curiosity. They can also occasionally be found in deep water, but they usually only travel there in large numbers or in the company of a Leviathan, a mermaid variety they have a close friendship with.
Estuarine mermaids are among the smallest species of mermaids on Felarya. On average they only grow to around twenty three to thirty feet, the upper size being for a very large specimen. They are a very long-lived people and take quite some time to reach this size. Most estuarine mermaids encountered are less than twenty feet long.
They have a sleek shape, well suited to fast swimming and as such they can move extremely quickly through water. They vary in coloration from region to region but are usually blue or silver with black spots, like a spotted dolphin. When threatened, however, their colors immediately change to bright red or orange to warn potential predators of their highly toxicity. Indeed, For most creatures, eating an estuarine mermaid is fatal. Only a select few are immune to their poisonous flesh, or are simply too large to be seriously affected by the toxin.
Estuarine mermaids are great travelers and are a well known source of news for the inhabitants of the undersea realms, keeping on good terms with most intelligent races. They are fairly friendly with humans as well. Most of this is due to their great fondness of "bow-riding" in front of human ships, the faster the better! Some sailors have even managed to work with them to hunt fish and squid.
It should be mentioned that large estuarine mermaids have been known, on occasion, to eat people whole. While rare, it does happen!
Known Estuarine Mermaids
Aleski
Meiramines
Also called Meiramis mermaids, Meiramines aren't the biggest specie of mermaids. The general size of an adult varies between 20 to 50 feet in length, though larger specimens have been reported as well. Their fish half is that of a spinner dolphin, though some possess scales. Most Meiramines are rather slim; it's rare to find a bulky one.
When a Meiramine inhale water, they keep the oxygen and pump the water in a special second stomach running along their tail. They then use the water stored in their hydro-stomach to shot jets of highly pressurized water at a target. Their esophagus as well as their stomach and, to a certain extent, their mouth is very stretchy, but also very compact. This allows a Meiramine to swallow tons of water in one go. Their jet are of an extremely sharp precision and can be turned into a potent weapon, or simply to pull pranks, which is a thing Meiramines adore to do. If needed, they can fire the totality of their stored water in one, single, pressurized water bombshell. This is rather devastating, but they need to re-fill their stomach immediately afterwards if they want to fire again.
Their strong tail allows them to make acrobatics by jumping out of the water, and fast swimming. They have an excellent hearing both underwater and out of water, and their vocal chords can be used like a sonar. Meiramines are widely seen as a playful and mostly friendly specie of mermaids. They love putting on shows to humans by jumping and making acrobatics out of the water. They can be mischievous sometime, squirting their water right into people's face, while others steal their lunch. They are rather chaotic and there is no telling what other prank they will pull next, and they can be quite creative in this matter. While Meiramines are usually friendly, this doesn't mean they won't swallow a human from time to time, if they are big enough and if they are hungry, or that simply the idea pop in their mind.
Most Meiramines are found in the Topazial Sea, though some were reported as far as the Jewel river and the Chordoni beach. Most of them prefer warm, tropical water over fresh water.
- Credits goes to Wowandwas for the design and idea of River mermaids, to Jessicaelwood for the design idea of Royal mermaids, to Zoekin for the Estuarine, to omicron-xd5 for the Flash mermaid, to Sean Okotami for the Meiramis mermaids, and to MukatKiKaarn for the design and idea of Leviathans.
