Merfolk

Merfolk are a supernatural species. They are a matriarchal society and live in pods that migrate. Merfolk have webbed fingers and the webbing is soft and rubbery. Merfolk are predominately female with the shifter gene passing from mother to daughter, making their pods matriarchal and matrilineal. 
== Breeding and Family Structure ==
Merfolk live in pods: a collection of merfolk connected by blood or political alignment. Mermaids choose land shifters or humans to breed, but rarely for any length of time. Once a month they go on land in pursuit of sex. Sometimes fatherhood might be purchased, for the price of an egg case full of pearls. If the father declined, died, or disappeared, then the merman would have to make it on his own two feet.The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter One The sires, the better ones, the ones who retained any connection to the sea, they always asked. One night with a mermaid and they never forgot, they never stopped wanting her, they never let go, and they never settled for anything less. The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter One Each mermaid owes her pod two children before they're allowed any kind of freedom from that pod. There's a faction that believes it should be two female children, that boys shouldn't count. The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter Ten 
When a merman did happen, they were often gay and always sterile. The exception are the vangill, mermen who can produce spines in great times of need or stress. They are the only virile mermen and are called back to the sea to serve a minimum of three years for training. They then become studs, but there are far fewer of them than there are mermaids. 
All merfolk have the ability to use a siren song - a loud, beautiful, high-pitched sound that humans find alluring. Though, it’s painful for werewolves due to their sensitive hearing. Only merwomen have the ability to paralyze with a stare, which is something of a defense mechanism. It is where the Medusa myth came from. 
The merfolk also have a non-profit organization that does ocean reclamation and coral rescue operations, but is also front a dummy account for their pod’s day-to-day integration operations. 
== Political Structure ==
There are five leaders of merfolk society that make up the Soteria. The Soteria's primary political mandate is breeding and procreation. Each leader, a mermaid, is responsible for a region of the Earth's oceans. Their titles are: Anax, Klepsydra, Sibyl, Paralia, and Ogress. Each member of the Soteria has an assigned vangill to protect (and potentially procreate). The five vangill who protect the Soteria of the Deep are encouraged to form emotional attachments with their sacred mermaids because they need help controlling their spurs. Instinct will always play a role in spur deployment. 
In The Dratsie Dilemma, the Sibyl is the oldest of the Soteria. The mermaid filling the role of Paralia is Mey. 
The Paralia's job is to act as ambassador to the dry world above, but only when necessary and when called upon by their governing bodies to represent the ocean. Her title is Paralia of All Seas. 
The Anax has provenance over physical health and well-being of merfolk. 
The Ogress is associated with cold northern seas. 
The Navarch is the vangill in charge of training all the other vangill. 
== Important Merfolk Locations ==
The Deep is merely an idea, a designated temporary sea-zone claimed by the Soteria while they conspire and plan before they move on.The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter Two There are grand assembly halls of the True Deep made up of anemone gardens and kelp forests, they have no floors or ceilings, nothing is intentionally built or decorated. They are pretty in their bioluminescence. The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter Two
== Known Merfolk ==
* Aqua
* Cascade
* Doris
* Flotty
* Giselle
* Hali
* Lana
* Marvin
* Mey
* Morwenna
* Nix
* Onda
* Rilian
* Rus
* Sato Daiki
* Tarni
* Xanin
* Zale
== Trivia ==
*It’s only mermen that get sent to attend dry schools. Merwomen cause too many problems, especially among teenagers. 
*Fans of mermen call themselves "guppies." The Dratsie Dilemma, Chapter Five 
== Quotes ==
* "Marvin once implied that most mermen were seen as decorative accessories or pets by their pod, useful mainly as spies, sent out to infiltrate land-bound creatures." (The Enforcer Enigma, Chapter Ten)
== References ==
Category:Supernatural Types
Category:San Andreas Shifters