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 breathe freely in or out of the water and can even move on land, albeit very clumsily. They are often extraordinarily beautiful with alluring voices. Their size varies a lot, from a few inches, to a few hundreds feet for some gigantic specimens, such as the legendary Leviathan mermaids. Felaryan mermaids are generally carefree and playfull, quite voracious as well, and the giant specimens represent one of the main dangers 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 the water. Some Felaryan mermaids also possess a very long and sticky tongue they can extend to catch 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.
When underwater, mermaids "sing" their messages in a special language whose pitches and tones aren't distorted by water, allowing communication. It sounds a bit like whale song but more modulated and of a higher pitch, although it also depends on the individual mermaid who sings it. Of course, that language doesn't work above the water. Those songs appear to be just as rich and complex as regular language, with differences in pitch, tone, tempo, structure helping to convey different, intricate meanings. This also means that mermaids possess extremely precise hearing, and are very skilled at controlling the sounds they produce. It's probably the main reason why mermaids are so famous for their beautiful singing voices; it's simply one their natural methods of communication.
Contents
Known Mermaids
Leviathan Mermaids
The legendary leviathan mermaid is very rarely seen, and some say there are no more than a dozen of them in all the seas of Felarya. As their name implies, they are absolutely gigantic ! It's difficult to get an accurate idea of their real size through all the tales that have been weaved around them, but one can assume safely that their total length easily surpasses 500 feet.
Despite their intimidating size, leviathan mermaids are some of the most potentially benevolent giant creatures in Felarya. They feed mostly on fish and very rarely on humans. Moreover, they are deeply aware of their surrounding, thanks to their keen senses, and won't sink a ship unawares. 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 for 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. They possess 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 frigid mountain streams to jungle rivers, to swampy estuaries at the mouth of a river. Their color varies greatly depending on their location.
Picture by Genzoman and used with artist's permission. For larger version visit Genzoman's gallery
Crystal Mermaids
This unusual species of mermaid is mainly found in underwater caverns, though they have sometimes been spotted swimming in the Jewel river. They are a giant species, averaging 120 feet in length. Their name comes from the fragments of pure crystal and gems that seem to be embedded in various parts of their body, both fish and human halves. 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 merely has 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.
A cute mermaid resting on a rock at sunset. Picture by wnxgreek from his Deviantart gallery
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 23 to 30 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 underseas 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
Selachis
Selachis are Half humans, half shark taurian merfolk roaming the wide seas and oceans of Felarya. They are deadly beings, voracious, and relentless. They posess very little magic to speak of, unlike other merfolks, but their excellent physical disposition largely make up for it. Selachis are strong, silent and fast. They possess a streamlined, cartiligous lower half, and two or more rows of some dangerous, sharp pointed teeth which, that allow them to take large bites out of things. Common physical traits are rough skin over their lower half and parts of their upper half; this can prove a very abrasive defense. Their senses are remarkably advanced, possessing acute senses of smell and being able to read minute changes in water pressure.
They are not a race which other merfolk speak highly of. They have, unlike most of their fishy cousins, inclinations to hunt prey of similar size to themselves. Of course, if prey is small enough, they will open their jaws wide and suck them in to swallow.
While their diet is mostly comprised of fishes,
and when in groups, larger creatures may be tackled.
In spite of their survival-geared adaptations, their 'does not play well with others' reputation tends to let them down- while other merfolk can be found in their underwater cities, their young having the protection of ichthys, selachi are most commonly driven away from such places on sight. While they lack communality with merfolk societies, they often live in family packs, teaching their young hunting strategies along with the most effective ways of survival. Selachi are an uncommonly encountered race, in part due to their on-the-move lifestyles, in which opportunities come and go, as well as other greater dangers swimming the vast seas. When they are encountered during their wandering, they are usually in highly dangerous groups.
With a fairly violent predisposition, Selachi 'law' is mostly devised as means of limiting scuffles amongst themselves- one such rule followed by many, is that a survivor of an attack by a selachi, that can procure a tooth from the attacker, may not be a target of them so long as it is in their possession. These are often left embedded in deeper bite wounds, a weapon used against them that's bested their jaws, or a vessel's hull. At times of tension, someone looking for a fight may visibly discard a tooth, which is basically asking for a fight. Selachi that ignore this law face a grisly punishment by their kind, and thus one is usually safe behind the law. Luckily, by extension, a recovered tooth can be used as a badge of sorts warding off the predator it belonged to (provided you make it visible to them before they make a big mess of things). It is worth noting that selachi can tell their own teeth from any other selachi or sea creture, provided they have taken a close look at one of their own, and get a good look at one claimed to belong to them. Making big claims about having one's tooth, and it turning out to be a fake will end up with a very ticked off selachi. Another example of selachi law is that to toughen up their young, if they claim a prey that is their own size or smaller, intervention from the others is strictly limited to dire circumstances. A common expression is "A selachi gets half their scars when they're inexperienced pups, while they get their other half telling about how they supposedly got those scars."
Shark hybrids
Meiramines
Also called Meiramis mermaids, Meiramines aren't the biggest species 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 Meiramines inhale water, they keep the oxygen and pump the water in to a special second stomach running along their tail. They then use the water stored in their hydro-stomach to shoot 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 jets are extremely accurate and can be turned into a potent weapon, or can be used to simply pull pranks, which is a thing Meiramines love to do. If needed, they can fire all 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 do acrobatics by jumping out of the water, and it also allows them to swim fast. 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 species of mermaids. They love putting on shows to humans by jumping and doing acrobatics out of the water. They can be mischievous sometimes, 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 that they won't swallow a human from time to time, if they are big enough and if they are hungry, or if the idea simply pops into 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.
Meeting between a mermaid and a diver in the seas of Felarya . Picture by Blazbaros from his Deviantart gallery
- Credits goes to Wowandwas for the design and idea of River mermaids, to Darkstorm zero, Flare and Fish for the Selachis, to Zoekin for the Estuarine, to Sean Okotami for the Meiramines, to MukatKiKaarn for the design and idea of Leviathans, and to Anime Junkie and Rcs619 for precisions on the underwater language of mermaids.
