Sirens

Home Ground
 General Alignment

## Physical Characteristics

These creatures are marked by their unique appearance; though they have the lower bodies and tails of fish, their upper-halves are always distinctly those of beautiful humans - and they may either be male or female. The color of their hair, skin, and scales can vary greatly, but most tend to keep their hair in longer styles, as it is considered a mark of beauty in their culture. Not wholly aquatic, they are able to breathe both in and out of water, though particularly dry environments can pose an immediate risk to their health. When out of water they are able to assume legs for mobility, making them look almost wholly human. Almost, because the siren will invariably still have webbing between its toes, and many legends and folk-tales tell of wily sirens who were foiled by the people around them taking note of their feet. They revert to their true appearance instantly when immersed or even splashed with salt or fresh water.

## Culture

The sirens of Lionsdale are hedonistic tricksters whose cruel ways have made them reviled throughout the land. Using their abilities they lure the unwary to their doom, gleefully sinking ships and drowning the unfortunate and unsuspecting who happen to wander too close to their waters. Lovers of fine, exotic things, the sirens eagerly hoard the treasures that they pick from the wreckages of vessels and the corpses of their victims. They delight in causing mischief and mayhem, and are generally considered a pest in every corner of the continent proper. Unfortunately for the land-dwellers, they are a highly adaptable and clever race, and can be found throughout streams and rivers all over the empire in addition to the open seas. They tend to live in small, clan-like groups, though some intrepid sirens have been known to dwell in and control a domain on their own. They are matriarchal by nature, and their females take on the dominant roles in their clans. Unscrupulous and violent, they often kill water-nymphs (and other aquatic species) for territory as well as for sport. Though hunting them has waned in popularity in recent years with the enactment of new laws by the emperor, in many places one can still fetch a sizeable bounty by successfully capturing one of the creatures - either dead or alive.

## Abilities

Sirens tend to be masterful mages, specializing in spells that control the mind and warp the senses of others. Using their beautiful voices (an innate talent shared by them all) they are able to easily influence the weak-minded, as well as the unprepared. Necromancy is another speciality of theirs and they use it flagrantly, believing it an inborn gift from Ishali-á-Omi who they hold up as a goddess of the dead. These beliefs have historically put them at sometimes violent odds with their cousins, the Talep, but this is ultimately only a small reason for the animosity between the two races. Though they are rarely very physically strong, they tend to be quite fast and agile, even when moving on land.

## Weaknesses

Sirens seem to circumvent the inborn limitations of their physical mortality by way of their shrewd intellect and magical ability. It has been discovered that a bronze-crafted weapon laced with the blood of someone under the siren's song is the best tool to use against them; a single piercing of a siren's heart with such weaponry will kill it instantly.

## Other

Sirens share an especially hostile relationship with merfolk, whom they routinely feud with for territory and other resources. While the two races are in fact sexually compatible, such unions are heavily frowned upon by both species. The act and byproduct of sexual encounters is met with death.