Vallierian Swamp Mermaids

Examples

### Language / Calls

Spoken common language, english French Italian Spanish German Russian Greek and Swampmaidian.

### Habitat

Swamps, Rivers, Streams, bays, ponds, estuaries.

**Vallierian Swamp Mermaids** (Vallericus palustris) More commonly known as **Swampmaids**, are a species created and designed by **Frostybites16.** Swampmaids inhabit the Jonah's Mythical Ark universe.

## Appearance and Anatomy

They are amphibious humanoids with frog-like skin, external gills, long hair, webbed limbs, and a long serpent-like tail. They lack legs and their heads are relatively large compared to their bodies, and their heads being noticeably more human-like then their close cousins the swamp sirens, though there are exceptions, but usually having rounder proportions, and their teeth are sharp and conical, and many of them have tongues that are forked like those of snakes. They also have unhingeable jaws like snakes too. They have some sexual dimorphism, with females being a bit bigger and having thicker bodies, while males are a bit smaller and more slender then females. they share many similarities with lamias and nagas, as well as their close cousins the swamp sirens (Vallericus yappidae).

there is alot of variation within the species, heir skin comes within various colors and patterns, and the shape of their gills and fins vary from one individual to the next, they are usually primarily a more muted color with a splash of bright color on their fins and tails. their sclera and iris colors also vary, and they tend to have slit or oval shaped pupils more often then not, and some of them lack a defined nose. Hair color also varies, there is a lot of variation with them.

they don't really were clothes per say but some individuals may adorn themselves with certain things to make themselves look pretty, like lilypads, coontails, or reeds just to name a few, and sometimes they may let algae purposely grow on their backs and/or tails to spice up their look.

You also might see them carrying around or wearing certain tools or weapons they have made.

## Ecology

### Behavior and Intelligence

**Description:** Freshwater mermaids, also known as Swampmaids or Swampies, these ladies are exactly like their oceanic counterparts, but they don't lure in humans to kill or mate. They prefer to just relax in swamps. They live on a diet of fish, frogs, and eggs. Eggs are actually their favorite food, in fact. You'll see them sneaking into the nests of lizards or crocodilians, and then snatching them away. Swampmaids are quite strange too, and scary. They can unhinge their jaws like snakes, croak like frogs, squeeze the life outta things with their tails, crack necks easily, and puff up like pufferfish, but they only do these things when absolutely necessary. Oh, and about that "croak like frogs" detail, when they do this, they do it in a very... Peculiar way. Like frogs, they puff up lung sacs full of air, but instead of having them in their chin or cheeks, their lung sacs are located in their... Chests.

Another One of Valliera's sapient species, and one of it's humanoids. They're all about as smart as humans, and can speak the common language spoken in Valliera. they are social, usually living with friends or in family groups, They are generally peaceful and not dangerous to most other humanoids, they don't lure like sirens do, and if one ever did call you over to visit it's pool, it would most likely be more interested in company than in drowning their visitor.

All that being said, while they are usually a fairly peaceful race, they are not push-overs, and you do NOT wanna fuck with them or piss them off, unless you wanna get constricted to death, your neck snapped, get drowned, or worse. if placed in a situation where they feel they are really at a disadvantage, as a last resort the swampmaid will projectile vomit at potential predators in an attempt to use its highly acidic stomach acid as a defense mechanism, which burns straight through skin and flesh and is extremely painful.

As the name suggests, Swampmaids cant survive in the big o’l blue like their oceanic cousins. if they're totally submerged in saltwater for too long, they'll die. The longest any Swampmaid could possibly survive in saltwater on its own would be thirty seconds to a minute, Anything below that, they'll emerge with seafoam leaking from their mouth and gills. That and their skin will look like its covered in one big rash. It's like sticking a frog in acid. Though can survive in it with the right spells.

### Diet

They live mainly on a diet of fish, small vertebrates and eggs.

### Reproduction

When it's time to find a mate, the female will attract mates by puffing up her chest and let out long calls, and a male will wonder over to meet her, she will then begin flirting with him and trying to seduce him with her display and body, the two will then begin flirting with one another, and take the next few days getting to know each other and giving each other gifts and sharing food, when the time comes they will engage in various forms of foreplay, and eventually they will wrap their long tails around one another intertwining, and they will mate, usually at night. (or if they are really eager they will mate on the day of meeting)

Once she is fertilized she will lay a clutch of 116 tiny, gelatinous eggs. once she has laid her eggs, her mate, her close friends and siblings, and other family members will assist her. About a month or two later the eggs will hatch, and when they do the babies are hungry and need much love care and attention. When swampmaids are first born, they're about the size of a duckling. At five years or so, they're around the size of a human toddler. The family will help keep track of all of em and feeding them. The family will watch over them and teach them all the skills they will need to survive in this harsh world. At five or six years and they'll be able to protect and hunt for themselves, and many will go find their own streams and pools to live in, and they may visit their family occasionally. but mostly all of them will leave, some of em will stay with their families until they are adults and some might not ever leave them completely.

Crossbreeding between them and their close cousins the swamp sirens does happen*,* as swamp sirens also breed with Humans, Nagas, Lamias, Lizard Folk, Nekos, and Elves, but most folks probably wouldn't bang a Swamp Siren willingly, so the Sirens have hypnotic eyes, It only works on Lamias, Nagas, Elves, humans, and Nekos though, while Lizard Folk and Swampmaids are unaffected, However, Lizard Folk think Swamp Sirens are pretty hot. Nagas kinda like 'em too, as well as swampmaids. On the occasions when swampmaids *do* breed with swamp sirens it never results in hybrids, only pure swamp sirens because the female swamp sirens have a special reproduction system that prevents hybridization, and male sirens do not mate outside their species as it has never been documented, so "Swamp Simaids" aren't a thing

## Gallery

An Elder female Wave-Shredder, next to a human, a well as a Swampmaid and a Swamp Siren for scale