Check And Mate Felarya
Lillia Iniguez
Mermaids, also known as Merfolk, are half fish humanoids found in rivers, lakes and seas all across Felarya. From the waist up, they possess the torsos of a human with fin-shaped ears and sometimes webbed hands, while their lower bodies consist of the fins and tail of a great fish. Depending on the region, the scales and complexion of merfolk vary in hue, from pale green, to blue, to yellow mixed with stripes of crimson, to gleaming silver. Their size varies a lot as well; the average merfolk typically measures between 6 and 8 feet in length, with females being slightly smaller than males, but gigantic specimens measuring over 200 feet in length are not at all uncommon, with the legendary Leviathan Mermaid surpassing them all...
In Felarya, mermaids can be generally classified into two broad categories based on whether they have adapted to life in fresh or salt water, with both species possessing a number of physiological traits that allow them to better survive in their respective environments.
If there is one word that can aptly sum up Felaryan mermaids, it would be "extroverted". They enjoy company of any kind and are friendly toward other races like chlaenas. It is very rare to find a mermaid who is reserved and prefers to keep to herself. Because they are such a gregarious species, merfolk tend to form schools of friends, with some numbering in the hundreds of individuals. Although they enjoy their own privacy from time to time, mermaids typically dislike long bouts of solitude, and often get depressed if they see no interaction with another person for lengthy periods.
In a similar vein to fairies, they wear their emotions on both of their sleeves and rarely keep their feelings bottled up for long. They believe that it is unhealthy to keep secrets, and that the key to living a happy, fulfilling life is to speak whatever is weighing on their chest. They will often go out of their way to cheer a friend whenever he or she is sad or lend someone a helping hand. Because they are so honest, many joke that merfolk are the last people you should ever confide in, as they will invariably blurt out whatever important or embarrassing secret they were supposed to keep under wraps.
Mermaids are generally peaceful and prefer to avoid conflict and violence if at all possible. When accosted by a predator, they usually try to flee than to engage in battle. Should the need to fight arise, however, they primarily make use of their powerful tails to drive off their assailants. Smaller mermaids predominantly wield spears and other long piercing polearms in battle, as slashing and blunt weapons are too cumbersome to use effectively underwater.
While mermaids speak like any normal person above the water, underwater is a different story. When underwater, mermaids "sing" their messages in a special language whose pitches and tones aren't distorted by water, allowing communication. It sounds a bit like whale song, but more modulated and of a higher pitch, although it also depends on the individual mermaid who sings it. Those songs appear to be just as rich and complex as regular language, with differences in pitch, tone, tempo, and structure helping to convey different, intricate meanings. This also means that mermaids possess extremely precise hearing, and are very skilled at controlling the sounds they produce. It's likely the main reason why mermaids are so famous for their beautiful singing voices; it's simply one of their natural methods of communication.
Merfolk are among the few giant sapient races to have no aversion toward eating their smaller kin. For them, they are just another seafood, and when given the choice between eating a fish and a small mermaid, giant merfolk will almost always choose the small mermaid, as they generally have a richer, more pronounced flavor. Besides giant mermaids, giant chlaenas and sea krait nagas pose an enormous danger for small and juvenile merfolk. Harpies and river nagas are the top predators of freshwater mermaids, as both species adore fish for their taste, and their somewhat long bodies make them a prime choice for a filling and satisfying meal.
When it is time to mate, sea mermaids often return to the underwater city where they were born, while river mermaids typically head upstream in search of a partner. Courtship usually involves mermen singing a ballad to their prospective bachelorette to try and win her heart. If he is successful, she will reciprocate with a song of her own. The two then engage in a romantic underwater dance as the couple sings a mesmerizing duet. If he does not manage to impress her, she will coldly turn around and swim away, leaving the would-be solicitor embarrassed and possibly heartbroken.
After a few months of pregnancy, the mermaid will lay a clutch of eggs. In underwater cities, the eggs are safeguarded inside of large clam shells where they face little risk of predation. River mermaids, on the other hand, have to be more creative. Typically, they build a nest among plants at the bottom of a river or lake and hide their eggs inside. Though they do not actively guard their eggs, they rarely stray far from their nests and regularly check up on them. As with nagas, giant mermaids typically lay only a few eggs, while smaller mermaids can lay as many as a half-dozen.
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