#race building

[newtsinboots]

Moth pal! From a race of moth folks! I guess!

[theseaofrainbowclouds]

Looking at the standard fantasy races be like: Look at these classic examples of racial and cultural diversity in this setting. We have...

-White people -Beautiful, Pointy-Eared White People -Mixed Race Pointy-Eared White People -Short, Bearded White People -Miniature White People -Other Miniature White People -Large, Brutish Non-White People

[worldsofkerchin]

How the Yakentshy Were Meant to Be

The Yakentshy were designed to be the dominant race of Minro, and it has remained that way for the most part.

This is how the race was currently made to exist, although they fell short.

Humanoid

Grows a natural armor

Naturally has a high amount of muscle tissue

Reproduces by Mitosis, and quickly

Eats mass amounts of food

Live for several centuries

Large eyes with excellent night-vision

Light fuzz all over body

Colored on a grey scale, can possess slight tints of other colors like brown, green, and blue.

Forms deep bonds, both negative and positive.

Grow between 6-8 feet tall

[ophi-rps]

Kel'turak

The capital city for the Anansi. It's a massive underground city with tunnels linking to just about everywhere in Tirael. The buildings and small caverns built into massive pillars with bridges connecting them. Below is a market and  homes, at the top of the cavern in the very center is where the royal family resides.

[ophi-rps]

Anansi

The Anansi are a race of multi-armed, and multi-eyed humanoids They're bi-pedal, but will use their arms to climb walls and ceilings to get place to place in short distances. Their elbows and calves have long barbs growing from the back of them to help grip whatever surface they may be climbing. The sharp, boney barbs are also useful for combat, who wants a jagged object going into their face? Males have been known to grow around seven feet, while females have been known to grow about six feet.     Their skin tones vary from light grayish blues, to dark blue purples (there have been  green Anansi). The common hair colour for Anansi is a shade of purple, or white. There are very few Anansi that have black hair, it's considered a gift from the Divine to be born with black hair.     Anansi have two sets of  eyes that can be found in any colour. Humans had said that the upper pair of eyes could see the death of whoever they looked at. However this is untrue, the eyes are only used to see in the dark. After being forced to live for thousands of years underground and in massive caverns the Anansi have grown sensitive to the sunlight and rarely leave their subterranean villages. Until recently very few have ever traveled to the surface, to explore, or seek fortunes unknown.    The fangs that the Anansi have growing from their faces are used for primarily defense and can inject poison into whatever they pierce. The fangs can retract back into their head while they sleep (or mate). The fangs may grow in different shapes, and sizes and the shape can be manipulated as they grow. These fangs also fall out every few months in order for new ones to grow in.     There is a special breed of Anansi that are raised and trained to be protectors of the Royal family, and guards for main cities. These Anansi are called Brutes and are incredibly large.  From the moment they're born they're fed special foods that are made to enhance height, muscle mass, and leg strength. The largest brute recorded broke eleven feet tall. There are no female brutes, the female structure isn't built to support so much weight.

[arcanerealm]

Merfolk Culture

Ethnicities:native geographic range-provisioning-agriculture-livestock-game-other notes

Brackish  -Brakish merfolk tend to be insular and distrustful of strangers, but individuals, especially adventuring Merfolk, break the mold and can be quite garrulous. Often they are more open to beings that live within their regions like Lamia who are similar in appearance and culture. Brakish merfolk are more likely to venture on land and even have alternate land based settlements near bodies of water. Adolescent merfolk often have a vacation season at the same time as adolescent and emerging adult jungle and island humans, resulting in mutual party going, dancing, and temporary romances and sexual experiences. 

ranges: swamps, marshes, mangroves, lagoons, large lakes, large rivers

Provisioning: foraging, horticulture/aquaculture (shifting cultivation)

Agriculture:sea grass, duckweed, cattails, wild rice, watercress, waterpepper, waterspinach, wasabi, water chestnut/caltrop, taro, lotus, bulrush, bamboo, cord grass, shrub fruit and nuts 

Aquaculture:carp, smallmouth bass, cod, salmon, duck, crayfish, goose, river mussels, turtles

Game:large dragonflies, large mosquitos and larve, largemouth bass, catfish, bullhead, crapple, bluegill, black buffalo, warmouth, paddlefish, rainbow trout, fathead minnow, heron, flamingo, river otter, beaver, crawfish, small alligators 

Common features:

amphibious skin resembles coloring of following fish: goldfish, koicarp, guppy, catfish, molly, rainbowfish, tigerfish, angelfish, discus

darker shades of hair

fined tail changes to legs slightly faster

Marine- Marine merfolk generally shelter themselves in hidden communities, fiercely protecting the territory they hold from outsiders. Merfolk historically have been distrusting of surface races, and went to great lengths to conceal their presence from those that live primarily on land. This has changed since the United Sentient Species attempts to foster unity between races by funding for large underwater cities filled with buildings, connected by networks of reinforced glass tunnels, bathysphere transport systems, and submerged railways. As a result, most smaller merfolk settlements remain unknown to those on the surface, and encounters between marine merfolk and surface dwellers are uncommon, outside of urban areas.

ranges: coral reefs, kelp forests, tropical seagrass beds, half-submerged caves, cliff-walled caves, mangroves, oceanic islands

Provisioning: foraging, fisheries, seabed and tidepool gardens, coral gardens

Agriculture:giant kelp, green algae, sea grasses, beach grasses, drift fruit and seeds

Aquaculture:sponges, parrot fish, tuna, striped bass, crabs, shrimp, clams, oysters, scallops, barnacles, soft corals, lobsters, krill, sea cucumbers

Game: forage fish- anchovies, reef squid, menhaden, sardines, herring, pullock, tilupia large pelagic- billfish, bonito, mackerel, salmon, small sharks, large squid, octopus, sea urchins birds-gulls, auks, gannets, pelicans mammals-sea otter, ringed seal, Caspian seal

Common features:

amphibious skin resembles coloring of following fish: clown-fish, butterfly-fish, cardinal-fish, damsel fish, parrot-fish, dragnets, file-fish, rabbit-fish, gobies, hawk-fish, yellow tangs, trigger-fish, blue wrasse, rainbow wrasse, lionfish

lighter shades of hair

ears are more likely to be finned

legs change into finned tails slightly faster

Architecture

Merfolk structures often incorporate unique materials and features which results in distinct a architectural style. Wooden materials are uncommon due to the effect of woodworms. Instead, Merfolk make use of a variety of durable marine building materials:

Kelp - Many merfolk buildings are made by weaving living kelp into a hollow ball that floats in the water while anchored to ocean floor. There can be several rooms arrayed in a daisy chain, one above the other, all constructed from only a few plants.

sea grass

Coral

Stone

hydraulic cement - hydraulic cement is a building material in use since ancient times and is known for its ability to harden underwater. hydralic cement is combined with sand or other materials to create concrete cructures, or is used in mortar to bind stone and brick buildings.

Giant bones - The bones of giantsea creatures such as whales and sea serpents are large and strong enough to be excellent building materials

giant shells

wood - freshwater merfolk can use wood to build their structures, because woodworms do not live in freshwater.

Spirituality Many merfolk followed dieties that had dominon of the seas and tides. After the collapse of divine pantheons, groups transferred faith to nature itself or the idea of an living force in magical energies or "wild magic". As an extension of this idea, certain animals were sacred and culturally treated with respect no matter ones belief or lack thereof. Frogs and newts are this for the brackish, and dolphins and whales for the marine community. Most of their folk-stories are framed around marine animals. Various animals are viewed in different ways. Octopi are considered clever tricksters; Sharks are powerful hunters to be admired from a safe distance; Dolphins are playful, yet capricious and unreliable; Whales are dignified and very, very loud. Stories usually focus on the interactions of various animals, or how-this-came-to-be type stories. Why The Whale Sings, and such.

Gender/Family Mermaids far outnumber mermen. As such, in merfolk culture, mermaids typically hunt. They also, by virtue of vastly overpopulating their male counterparts, tend to rule merfolk society. Mermen, by contrast, tend to be "soldiers" to their "queens".

While promiscuous outside of their race and, in fact, known for their loose sexual attitudes, merfolk nevertheless often choose to mate for life with each other.

When couples marry, the man leaves his mother’s family and goes to live with the woman in her family. Married men often have two names, their own and their wife’s, while women only ever have one. The duties of a husband are to be a partner and aid to his wife, including doing all the physical work that needs doing in the family group and also helping to raise their children.

Education(Traditional) As a merfolk ages, they are given a sort of tutelage. This tutelage consists of all the necessary skills to live in the harsh aquatic environment. They learn to hunt, communicate in their language and a set of other useful skills for survival. A merfolk is officially adult once she/he copulates. This may sound strange to other cultures, but the merfolk see it as a sign that the now adult merfolk is responsible enough to conceive children of her own.

As spellcasters, they tend to be quite good in specific areas. Their mystical relationship with water makes it easier for them to use poison and ice magic, which use water occasionally as a material component. The legendary water adapation magic of the Merfolk's ancestors was lost in ancient times, but that affinity remains as the merpeople's now natural process. The instability of their own morphogenic matrix has made them very accomplished transmuters, but most other magi make take some time. 

Dress/Modesty Merfolk weave a crude kind of fabric from seaweed drying along the shoreline, called seaweed cloth, that is used for garments, rope, and even baskets. Shells or pieces of coral with small holes in them form necklaces the merpeople may wear around their necks and sometimes loop along their tails.More advanced societies use byssus cloth which can be sold for high prices at markets for its rarity in other cultures and unique blends.  Merfolk of both major cultures are very liberal in their views on appropriate clothing, with nudity being a non-issue expect maybe in front of other races. 

Leisure Merfolk prefer to spend most of their time swimming, hunting, eating, preening, mating, and playing with whales,frogs, etc.  The natural bounty of the aquatic life allows Merfolk to lead relatively labor free lives with plenty of free time for a passionate love of arts, athletics, magic, business, and leisure. Many devote their extra hours to all manner of professions simply for the enjoyment of them or to compete for prestige.

Government The upper class, at least, is organised into houses or family groups, each lead by a Matriarch. The queen is chosen from women of a suitable age from one of the ‘royal houses’. Regardless of the wealth or status of each family group, the women are the ones that make the decisions.

The female ruler can even keep several male consorts, it doesn't matter because only her female children will inherit the throne, though male kids may be granted small lordships or minor offices to make them useful to the crown.

The Marine merfolk countries are an oligarchy is a coalition of queens who are from the same family instead of a single queen. Therefore, if one queen produces only sons, the loss of her lineage and office could be offset by another queen producing multiple daughters who all become queens instead of just the eldest.

Science and Technology

Weaponry Many weapons suffer reduced effectiveness under water due to hydrodynamic drag. Merfolk therefore use weapons that are specially designed to eliminate drag and increase ergonomics for submerged use. Some weapons are unchanged but the techniques for their use underwater is radically different.

Mermen commonly employ tridents and javelins as weapons, although spears, daggers and underwater crossbows are also common.

The Merfolk have developed their martial arts strongly on thrusting and grappling, since those are the most efficient ways to fight underwater. They therefore prefer polearms and short swords above all other weapons, though they have also been trained to use longer swords quite well.

Armor and Shields

There are several considerations to make when using armor underwater, drag and buoyancy. Merfolk armors are usually form fitting and flexible. Medium and heavy armors usually use some form of buoyant material for padding such as kelp pods or cork. Shields are designed to have as little drag as possible when moving them laterally and also have small buoys distributed to the inner surface. Tower shields are extremely rare in the underwater world because they are simply too unwieldy and the reduced danger from ranged weapons. They have been reduced to specialty applications.

sharkskin

Paddedchain shirt

breastplate

chainhalberk

platemail

Energy A majority of marine countries energy comes from geothermal energy from deep sea vents. As more cities rise, the use of mana engines and fuel cells that rely on oceanic environmental essence has been increasing as well as hydrogen fuel cells for domestic technologies.

Brackish merfolk societies mainly rely on firewood and vegetable oils and grasses for domestic power. Larger brackish run civilizations are switching to supplement with offshore wind turbines and hydroelectric plants.

Medical Treatment Herbal and medicinal baths made up the majority of treatments. After the Medical Revolution, liquid and pill form medication became prelevent, along with injections that remained effective even underwater.

Communications Below the water they communicate in a series of whistles, fluting sounds, sub- and super-sonic pulses which humans cannot hear. It is thought that whales, dolphins, and other large fish may also hear and comprehend this language.

Manufacturing Merfolk tools are made from bone, discarded land glass, or the sharp teeth of sharks, but lacks most metals. These tools are often bound at one end with eel skin. 

Other materials include

Bronze - a poor quality but inexpensive metal that resists corrosion

Stellite - a common type of metal that resists corrosion and is similar in strength to steel

Byssus/Sea Silk-strong fibers from mullosks that are immune to water degradation and can be woven into fabrics to make clothing, rope, nets, and other tools.

Inventions

Sunscreen (derived from mushroom coral)

Coral bone replacement surgery

Oil rigs

Plumbing

Vacuum suction

Sonar

underwater Greenhouses

Plastic production

Water strider

Com watches

Byssus

stellite

hydraulic cementt

[arcanerealm]

Arcane Realm: Merfolk Biology

Appearance From the waist up, a merfolk's body resembles that of a human; members of others races sometimes experience feelings of desire due to the attractiveness of a merfolk's upper body. A merfolk's lower body, however, is comprised of a tail and fins similar to that of a giant fish or cetacean. Although from a glance their aquatic skin may look like fish scales, the texture is smooth as hairless skin. By the time they are adolescents, they are able to transform completely into a terrestial humanoid form with legs to move on land. Distinctive features in both forms include portions of skin on their shoulders, arms, lower back, and lower limbs (legs or tail) resemble that of local fish species. Like humans, the other parts of their skin has various shades and short, fine, light-colored, and barely noticeable vellus hair covering. They also have fins on their arms, and the ends of their tails in the water, webbed fingers, and webbed toes on land.

Lifespan and Growth A newborn merperson is born with exposed gills on the side of their abdomens and a lateral line system on their backs. During infancy, the gills become internalized and covered with skin. Their lateral line system becomes redundant and will be reabsorbed as lungs develop during childhood. By adolescence, hormonal changes during puberty produce the hormones that allow for the transformation of their finned tails into legs on land and vice-versa. 

Physiological Traits

Amphibious skin- portions of skin on their shoulders, arms, lower back, and lower limbs (legs or tail) resemble the look and color of local fish species. Despite the scaly look, the texture is smooth as hairless skin and is similar to amphibians in that Merfolk can breathe through it when moist. It is also what merfolk to breathe underwater in place of their lungs. The skin is also shed periodically more or less in one piece throughout their lives for new healthy skin underneath.

Slime Coat- a thin coating of slippery slime to help their skin stay moist in order to breathe through their skin underwater and on land.

Amphibious Adaptation- From adolescence, their tails can quickly metamorphize into legs with webbed feet, able to walk when most of their bodies are exposed to air. When their legs are submerged in water, they metamorphize into a finned tail. This process however is not instant, the transformation from one form to another usually takes a few minutes for their bodies to adjust. Apparently, it involves a magical (arcane mana charged) hormone similar in structure to thyroxine for land and is counteracted by a hormone similar to prolactin for the aquatic change.

Watery Hair- Once their hair grows to certain length, the rest becomes water imating the hair's length. The cutoff length is shorter for males than females.

Fins-They possess frills on their forearms, and some have finned ears  

Innate Abilities

Expert swimmer- Because of their fish tail and webbed hands(and webbed feet on land and shallow waters), merfolk are naturally an adept swimmers. Their tail is strong enough that it can propel one several meters out of the water for high leaps.

Echolocation-can use low or high pitched echoes to locate things far off in the water.

General Diet Typical diets are composed of native fish and aquatic plants. They will also partake of other aquatic animals such as mollusks, shellfish, and water fowl. Brakish merfolk also partake of a few insects, reptiles, and are more likely to eat foods closer to land. Marine merfolk have the advantage of hunting large mammals on occasion. Fruit and nuts that drift in the waters to propagate are a delicacy and are often grown by experienced farmers.

Reproduction Copulation is internal sexual fertilization and can occur on land or underwater. Whether the transformation has them in their Sea forms or Land forms, the Merfolk retain their humanoid sexual organs. The males often have a sheath that remains hidden for a great part, only coming into view when sexually aroused, and the females is nigh invisible till they're aroused, then the area around the females vagina change hue, signaling their ready for sexual relations. A mermaid will gestate her baby for five months and return to the water to give live birth.

[arcanerealm]

Arcane Realm: Merfolk Overview

This is the first in post about my take on Merpeople for the Arcane realm.

Aesthetically they resemble mermaids of folklore like

but a few personal twists as follows

In the water they have the classic human top, fish tail but it changes into legs on land. Note that their legs keep the same color and design as their tail, as well as having webbed toes.

Inspired by another amphibious being, frogs, I felt that they should have lungs but also breathe through their skin. Of course this means they would have a thin layer of slippery slime on them to stay moist.

Going with the amphibian theme, I felt their babies should be born with gills but they become lungs during childhood and then the leg change by adolescence.

And to solve the mermaid problem, yes they have mammalian gentialia

Also I wanted the ends of their hair to be rushing water. For those with blue hair, their heads could look like fountains from a distance. Kinda like this.

So here is my overview for the race so far...

Merfolk (faerie sirena) are a sapient species of Faerie and one of the remaining four that survived the last Ghul War into the modern age. Merfolk have the upper torsos of well-built and attractive humans and lower halves consisting of the tail and fins of a great fish or whale. Their hair and skin span a wide range of hues, with Merpeople in a given region closely resembling the native fish. Merfolk aren't as limited on land as some myths suggest; their tails will quickly reform into legs once they leave the water (and, likewise, their legs will quickly reform into a tail should they ever enter water). Communities exist in mountain lakes, coral reefs and islands, kelp forests, rivers, swampy bogs, shoreline coves and even inside polar ice shelves.

P.S. So if any body wants to questions about my mermaids and merman, I'll answer them if you want.