Mermaids

The merfolk are an aquatic race with a humanoid upper body, and the lower body of a fish. They are found in many parts of Gloria-Etalia, but are often overlooked. Some believe they were created by the mysterious god known as Quilio-Fil'zón, but other sources point to them being made by a crazed mage or a long dead god. Merfolk seem to have far more females than males, though the reason for this is unknown. As a result, merfolk are often referred to as mermaids. Merfolk live about 50 - 80 years, as with age it becomes harder for a merfolk to swim and defend themselves. Merfolk in captivity have been reported to live as long as 110 years old, but they become increasingly decrepit when they reach these years. They are usually 12 - 15 feet long, but shorter heights have been reported for River Mermaids and Rainbow Mermaids. They usually weigh from 120 - 200 lbs, with their tails being used to store fat and nutrition.

Merfolk come in several regional varieties

# **The Devout**

The Devout are said to have once been island dwelling humans who were transformed by Quilio-Fil'zón. They live in the deep oceans west of the Storm Islands, and are known to be hostile to outsiders for poorly understood religious reasons. Little is known of their appearance since they wear bulky black and white clothing.

# **Westrasi Mermaids**

Westrasi Mermaids live along the western coast of the continent and occasionally appear in the Westrasi Sea. They have pale skin, green scales, and either red, blond, brown, or black hair. Most tribes are shy and elusive, though a few have set up trading relations with coastal peoples, trading pearls and fish for tools and trinkets. Other tribes are hostile for unknown reasons. They have a rune based written language which is also used by some Storm Islanders.

# **Northedge Mermaids**

Northedge Mermaids live off the northern coast of the Northedge Region. They have white skin, grey or black hair, grey or grey-green scales. They are sometimes spotted basking on rocks on the surface on sunny days, but usually avoid surface dwellers. They sometimes rescue drowning surface dwellers or play harmless pranks on fishermen and seal hunters though. Some associate them with the troll god Skala.

# **Deep Ones**

Deep Ones are a mermaid subrace said to live deep beneath the ocean. Possessing hair, skin, and scales of varying shades of black, bioluminescent markings, and giant glowing eyes, they look little like the merfolk of other regions. Their very existence is debated by many human scholars, though a few preserved corpses are said to exist. They usually keep far beneath the surface, though they occasionally capsize small boats.

# **Rainbow Mermaids**

Rainbow Mermaids are found on the southern and eastern coasts of the continent, from the Celestial Empire to Qi-Fu. Most live in the deep sea, but a few live in coastal swamps, and even in desert oases in the Worldscar, Celestial-Tnz'qran, and Radmir (no one is sure how they got there). Their hair and scales usually match in color while their skin is either pale or a paler version of their scales. They come in almost every color imaginable, and color doesn't seem to be tied to lineage, allowing even small tribes to have dozens of colors. Rainbow Mermaids are considered the most civilized, building underwater cities, farming food, and even using a primitive form of water magic.

# **River Mermaids**

The territories of River Mermaids overlap with the territories of the Rainbow Mermaids somewhat in that they are found along the jungle coastal regions of the Central Plains and Ram's Head, though they are more numerous in these territories and can be found in rivers hundreds of kilometres from the ocean. They have pale skin, mud brown scales, brown or black hair, and are sometimes coated with slime much like an eel. Unlike other mermaid races, they are extroverted and fearless, and can often be found asking for food scraps and annoying dock workers and fishermen with banal conversation (they almost always know how to speak the local surface dweller tongue in the regions they live). They are too lazy to gather things to trade, and as a result are regarded as useless by those that "rule" over them.