In the six seas of the Sacred Earth, variants of merfolks/mermaids existed. Most mermaids existed as the ocean god's underlings.
To non-mermaid mortals, they can be considered to be an angel (for serving under a god and receiving "blessings" from them) or a demon (if you consider their existence to be a curse by the gods).
The Abyssal Mermaids
The mermaids of the Abyssal Seas. They are considered to be the Ocean Goddess' children. (Though, since the Abyssal mermaids often identify as a woman with exceptions being the minority, the mermaids are also often known as "Ocean Goddess' daughters".) Even if they tend to wander around the seas, they share a single home they return to—the infamous abyss of the Abyssal Seas themself. They also get to be in contact with the Ocean Goddess too.
If a mortal is killed by a mermaid (or vice versa), the mortal will eventually merge with the mermaid in one way or another and be reborn again as a mermaid who serves under the Ocean Goddess, continuing the cycle of Abyssal Mermaids with a renewed consciousness.
The Abyssal Mermaid's meat are often treated as a rare delicacy by non-mermaids who consume fish. They're also believed to be able to treat curses or illnesses (with "treating curses" being somewhat more accurate belief, since mermaids have the ocean goddess' magic in their souls).
The mermaids generally eat things they could find in the oceans—fishes and alike. Their palate may be affected by what they were before becoming a mermaid and their personal tastes.
Appearance
The mermaids here are physical manifestations of aspects of the oceans, such as the wind, the waves, the tides, and so on. The possible forms they can take on are:
- The ocean. They can literally turn into the waves and sink ships if they feel like it.
- A fish. The kind of fish they'll become will depend on the mermaid's self.
- A mortal who looks identical to the species they were. For example, if a human became a mermaid, they can transform into a human once again.
- If a mermaid is killed by a fish, they can only take form as a fish (identical to the species that killed them) and the ocean.
- A hybrid of their fish form and their original species. Such as half-man and half-fish, half-man and half-bird, and so on. Most of the time, if they want to retain their separation from non-mermaid mortals and want to communicate with mortals of the same species, they'll use this form.
Leave the mermaids outside of the ocean too long, and they may forget about their existence as a mermaid until they return there again.
Abyssal Mermaids List
Misc.
- yeah you can refer to them as merfolks/mermaids. i use those two words interchangably (i personally don't vibe with the term merman, so that's why you guys never see me using it to refer to them lol)