Mermaid

Mermaids in Adra

• Mermaids are a race of aquatic humanoids descended from certain kinds of water elementals, who in some lost age, melded with creatures, perhaps dryads, from the Feywild. Now, they have both elemental and fey heritage, though their elemental heritage seems to be the greater of the two.
• Mermaids are always female at birth, and mermaids reproduce by finding a male partner of a Kith race. Despite their unusual reproduction cycle, their children are always full-mermaids, never a half-race, though mermaids will always take on part of the appearance of their father's race. When in their aquatic form, they appear as a normal humanoid of their father's race from the waste up, though sometimes with certain aquatic features, such as in some cases webbed hands or odd patches of scales. Below their waste, while in their aquatic form, mermaids have a very long scaly tail, often 50% longer than the legs of their father's race or more, with a prominent fin on the end.
• Mermaids are in their aquatic form while in water or when their skin is wet in general (for example while in the rain), but can also enter a land form when they are completely dry, and have been continuously for 1 hour. While in their land form, they appear to be completely ordinary members of their father's race, though with a certain elf-like uncanny beauty.
• Mermaids tend to keep to their own kind - see Mermaiden Culture for more information. Mermaids (like many other folks in Adra) are not necessarily feminine presenting, and don't always identify as women themselves (with gender as a concept to the mermaids being more fluid than in most cultures). Furthermore, while their reproduction relies on land-born males, they commonly engage partially or even exclusively in relationships with other mermaids, with many mermaids never having children of their own.

Subraces of Mermaid

• Arctic Mermaid: Arctic mermaids roam the freezing waters of the Glass Sea and the Last Wall Channel. They tend to emerge to the surface only in the warmer months, seeking a depth of about 100ft below the surface during the coldest months. They tend to have paler skin with blond, white, and brown hair. Their eyes tend to blue, white, or brown, and their tales rather than being scaly are sometimes like those of seals. Arctic mermaids have more conflicts with land dwellers than others of their kin, in particular the tribes of the Noregran peoples.
• Deep Mermaid: Deep Mermaids are the strangest of their kin, and the least seen by outsiders. They live in the deepest ocean depths, in trenches and ship wrecks, and mostly around live-giving volcanic vents on the sea floor. They tend to have translucent skin and semi-translucent hair, with eyes grey or white that almost glow slightly in the dark. They will tend to have grey, white, or black scales on their tail. Unlike other mermaids, Deep Mermaids tend to have mating seasons, where once every six years, they will emerge from their deep homes and find suitable partners, only to return to the sea again.
• Reef Mermaid: Reef Mermaids are the most common kind of mermaid, living in the warm reefs throughout the Sun Soaked and Great Southern Seas, with the most concentrated population of mermaids in the world living in the Wonderous Reef, in the far south of Adra. Reef Mermaids tend to have tan to brown skin, with scales that take on bright colors, warm or cool, and usually in a fantastic pattern when catching the light. Their hair tends to be brown, black, or red, with green or blue not being unheard of either. Their eyes tend to be blue, orange, or green, with most being green.

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