Generations/Lore/Races/Merfolk

Merfolk

Attribute Ranges

• Body: Average to Superb (5-7)
• Mind: Pitiful to Superb (1-7)
• Spirit: Pitiful to Superb (1-7)

Abilities

• Water-breathing: Merfolk breathe water instead of air. Exposure to the air will asphyxiate a merfolk.
• Fast Swimming: Merfolk can swim about as fast as a dolphin; with a similar level of dexterity in the water.

Biology

Appearance

Merfolk are aquatic, human-descended humanoids. They are also the only legless humanoids.

• Length: Due to their tail, Merfolk are much longer than their width would imply were they built like legged humanoids. They generally range from 7' to 11' long. Particularly long merfolk can be as long as 13'. The tail comprises 2/3 of their body length. When calculating their height based on a human equivalent multiply by 1.5.
• Weight: Merfolk have about the same density as humans. It can be difficult to give them a weight due to their tail. If you derived their length by multiplying by 1.5, do the same to the equivalent weight.
• Build: Merfolk tend to be trim, and rarely have any significant body fat. They also tend to be fit to muscular.
• Bust: Mermaids tend to have conservative busts. They generally do not have breasts larger than C-cup; though the rare D-cup is not entirely unheard of.
• Penis: Mermen have large dolphin-like penises. It is retractable, flexible and prehensile usually around 10" to 14" long. Particularly large mermen can have a penis of up to 16" long.
• Skin: Merfolk have smooth, moist skin like that of a dolphin. It tends to be shades of blueish-gray.
• Hair: Merfolk have hair that is generally shades of green, blue and gray.
• Eyes: Merfolk have eyes that are usually shades of brown, hazel, gray, blue or green.
• Other details: A merfolk's tail is dolphin-like, and moves in a predominantly vertical orientation (like sea mammals) as opposed to horizontal (like fish). Despite developing from mammals and having aquatic mammal-like tails, they breathe like fish.

Genders

Merfolk can be male or female only.

Reproduction

Merfolk reproduce sexually.

• Merfolk can cross with any lesser, humanoid, or greater race, as well as with aquatic creature races and aquatic mammals.
• Merfolk reproduce like aquatic mammals, not fish.
• Merfolk that reproduce with land dwellers and aquatic mammals bear children with a combined gill-lung. They can breathe both air and water.

Age

Merfolk age like humans.

• A merfolk that is entering adolescence would be around 10-12 years old.
• Merfolk reach maturity at around 18 years old, and live about 80 years. Rare merfolk can live into the 100's.

Diet

Merfolk are omnivores.

• Merfolk predominately eat fish, other sea creatures, and sea plants.
• Merfolk can eat surface food, but do not digest it as well.

Other Considerations

• Merfolk are a relatively young race. They came about during the god war. The gods of the oceans in all the pantheons banded together to sink all of the land, drowning their enemies. When they sunk the first continent, the spirit of the sea (as worshiped by the elves and fey) embraced the drowning humans, turning them into merfolk. This is an unheard of act of will on the part of a natural spirit, as they generally don't show signs of concern over mortals. Fearing the power that the spirit of the ocean would gain, the gods gave up their plans to drown the world.

Spirituality

Worship

Merfolk worship the spirit of the sea.

Afterlife

Worshiping a spirit, there is no merfolk afterlife. Their souls return to the sea when they die just as their bodies.

• While they do not hear the call, merfolk who make the difficult journey to the Faerie are accepted.

Magic and Technology

Magic

Merfolk are able to learn magic fairly well.

• Pure merfolk have no natural magics, and must learn what they use.
• Merfolk have difficulty finding material with which to study magic, for obvious reasons.
• About 5% of the merfolk population have traces of other races in their bloodlines enough to become sorcerers.

Technology

Without fire, merfolk technology is rather limited. They are basically stuck in the stone age of technology.

• Merfolk often trade with air-breathers for more technologically sophisticated goods.
• Merfolk favor trading for elven goods over those of other races.
• Merfolk do not buy steel items, or any other corrosion-prone material.

Culture

Merfolk are an aquatic race of human-descended humanoids.

Taboos

Merfolk have a similar worldview as the elves; mainly from their worship of a nature spirit.

• Merfolk have no nudity taboo, and wear clothing exceedingly rarely.
• Merfolk also have no issues with homosexuality, incest, bestiality, or underage sex. They are very much a free love society.

Residence

Merfolk do not technically need homes. They do craft coral residences and forts for protection and nostalgia.

• Merfolk homes are growing beings, constantly being added to and expanded.
• Merfolk use other materials as a superstructure on which the coral grow, usually salvage from sunken ships.