Mermaids

Overview

Mermaids are a creation of Anashta. They are intelligent, curious creatures. For the most part, they are friendly to travelers. They tend to only appear to mortals who are in danger. Passionate and intimate even with strangers, mermaids are sought after by sailors for their pleasures but are rarely found unless they want to be.

There is a vast undersea world unexplored by the races of Ilisara where mermaids and mermen live. The population skews heavily female in their kingdoms, harems, and other stray groups. Some mermaids migrate around Ilisara’s sea.

Culture

Mermaids kiss, embrace, and enjoy a closeness among strangers and friends alike that is rare on the surface world. Parties, called “revels”, are thrown frequently to celebrate anything and everything. Mermaids dance, feast, sing, and love during these revels. They are spiritual and romantic. Only in the mermaid kingdoms do mermaids have permanent homes. The nomadic ones swim around Ilisara’s seas and spend time resting and enjoying various islands and lagoons. At night, they link arms and chain together to avoid floating away in their sleep.

The mortal races have had little contact with mermaids; just enough to have legends and stories about their hospitality, revelry, and general passionate demeanor. Mermaids treat the other races with fondness but recognize them as not yet knowledgeable and mature enough to connect with beyond playful interactions.

Appearance

Mermaids in Ilisara are varied in appearance with some more monstrous than others. All mermaids have sharp teeth for tearing into and eating raw meat, which is their primary food. They have small claws, a remnant of their siren heritage, and pointed ears. Mermaids have gills on their necks that allow them to breathe underwater, but they can breathe normally through their mouth and nose above water.

Typically, merfolk who live near the ocean’s surface are the most “classical” variety of mermaid, with long scaled tails and the torsos of men and women. Their skin color is often peachy, white, or tan. Their hair is long and flowing and comes in every shade: blue, green, amber, and purple being most common. Merfolk decorate with pearls, kelp, seaweed, and glittering gemstones. Modesty is understood differently to merfolk and women do not cover their breasts with much, if anything. Body paint and inlaid scales or gems are popular.

Mermaids who live deeper within the ocean have different features. They sport more exotic tails, like shark or eel tails. Some have bioluminescent markings. Their skin tones range from pale silvery white through dark midnight blue, and every color of the sea in-between.

Deep-sea mermaids tend to have larger, more prominent gills, with webbed hands and sharper claws and teeth. Extra fins on arms, backs, and heads are commonplace. Mermaids from the deepest parts of the ocean grow larger than their surface counterparts. Some are so accustomed to the depths that they never surface, instead preferring the ocean floor and the intense pressure that their bodies have grown used to.