Merfolk

Basic Information

Anatomy

Merfolk have two arms and two legs, with their fingers and toes being webbed to assist with swimming. They have fins all over their body to help them with maneuvering underwater. These fins are on their arms, hips, and sometimes on their head. They have both gills, which they can use to breath underwater, and lungs, which they can use to breath above land. The gills are located along their sides. Their skin is scaly, and darker colored on top, with a white underbelly for easier ocean stealth.

Genetics and Reproduction

Merfolk reproduce sexually, but after intercourse, the female will lay a clutch of eggs numbering anywhere from 3-10. Only fertilized eggs develop enough to get laid.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Egg: Typically takes around 5 months to hatch.
• Tadpole: Has a tail to swim around with. continually grows bigger until being around 2 feet long. Lasts around another four months.
• Child: A year after the egg is originally laid, the merfolk begins to grow limbs and fins. They keep their tail and spend much of their time learning how to swim without it. Brain is beginning to develop into something more than a baby, and they usually end up pretty smart by the end of the Child stage. It's very hard to tell male and female children apart. Lasts around 8 years.
• Adolescent: Merfolk begin to mature into adolescence around 9 years into their life. Their tail falls off, which usually marks the beginning of this stage. Their bodies begin to develop and their sexual dimorphism begins to set in fully. The process is slow. Lasts around 6 years.
• Adult: Merfolk reach full sexual maturity around 15 years, and traditionally, merfolk are culturally considered to be adults around this time. They still have a bit of mental growing to do, but their bodies are, in effect, done changing until old age begins to set in. Lasts around 60 years.
• Old Age: 75 years later, merfolk finally begin to start deteriorating. Their sight and hearing may start going, and their scaly skin begins to soften. Their fins also begin to damage much more easily, and it's common for elderly merfolk to be represented with incomplete or missing fins.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Merfolk are mainly predatory, hunting and eating fish as their main diet. They can and will, however, farm seaweed to eat in times of low fish income. It's not ideal, but it will sustain them until the fish population regrows.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Each merfolk settlement tends to be viewed as its own independent entity, with a chief elected directly by the rest of the village/town. Sometimes the chief will appoint other merfolk to be in charge of particular aspects of the community, such as leading hunts, etc.
The number of children a merfolk produces at once means that there are typically a number of "community parents" who abstain from having children of their own, and instead focus on helping to take the load off of other parents. The number of community parents varies from settlement to settlement, but they're viewed as very important pillars of the community. They're relied upon for advice and guidance by their charge, even as the children grow into adulthood. as a result, they tend to be very influential, especially when the generations they helped raise starts to take over the running of the community for themselves.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Merfolk exist almost everywhere in the world, existing in underwater cities and shoreline villages everywhere.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

Merfolk are fans of flow. The culturally ideal merfolk has long, beautiful fins that trail out behind them as they move. Merfolk clothing plays into this, often with fancy clothing having fringe or dangly bits, with some piercing their fins in order to attach long waterproof ribbons to them.
Merfolk who work wear very plain, tight fitting clothes that leave their fins free to maneuver, but it's also not unlikely that they could also have a fin piercing or two.
There's also a merfolk counterculture that tries to break down the typical merfolk convention of beauty. opting instead to keep a very natural, sleek look. No extra, only what's necessary. They tend to wear worker's clothes in all scenarios.

Gender Ideals

Male merfolk are culturally pushed towards learning a trade and working with their hands to make goods or cook, whereas female merfolk are pushed towards the life of a hunter or leader. Often it is the male merfolk pursuing beaty ideals, while females wear more practical clothes.

History

Merfolk are largely considered to be one of the oldest races in the world, second only to the Clawfane. As a result, they tend to crop up living almost everywhere, especially in coastal areas. It's theorized that merfolk originated in Atlantia and spread to the land masses of the world from there.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The merfolk have a relatively neutral opinion on surface dwellers, finding their culture odd, but fascinating. Some merfolk move to live on the surface and ingrain themselves in its culture, while others prefer to gaze from afar.
They have a positive opinion of the Sharkhaan, viewing them as great hunters from which there is much to learn. They do not trust the Clawfane , however. They're perceived as strange and secretive.

Lifespan

90 years

Average Height

5'6"

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The tint of their skin varies, but they are usually some shade of blue, with darker blues being more common. Non-blue colors exist but are rare. They have darker colors on their back and face, but their stomach tends to be a brighter color or straight out white.

Related Ethnicities

• Deepfolk