Post by Lyta on May 22, 2011 1:16:33 GMT 8
There are many races and types and species of mer; children, cubs, pups and kittens all hear tales of mermaids, of merfolk; strange half-fish half-humanoid creatures with hauntingly beautiful singing voices. Lesser known are the merwolves and merlions and mercats and suchlike, creatures able to morph from their land shape to a fully fish shape and even to part-morph, turn only part of them to fish and the other part to land shape. Incredibly rare, but heard oft in legend and song, are the merhorses, the White Horses that ride the waves for a brief, beautiful second of life before dashing themselves against the cliff- or their enemies.
Very few know of the Tiaquia Aulia, the Elder Mer. This could of course be because they are not the kind of gentle, beautiful singers that you would like to tell your children a bedtime story about. They are as ancient as the ocean, as bottomless and deep and dark- and as powerful and utterly ruthless. In fact, very few like to speak of them at all. But they exist, in their secret places and their deep, deep ocean crevices. And now, for the first time in almost a millennia, they have been seen to venture out once more.
Each has five forms, defined by a law older than time itself; the sea. They can switch between these forms fully, taking on entirely the shape of a fish, or orca, or shark. If they wish, they can also alter any body part to any species; they can have the body of a shark but the tail of a fish, or they can add a stingray tail and hammerhead-shark head to the body of a dolphin. So long as the parts they are switching belong to one of these five forms.
Two forms will be inherited from the mother, two from the father, and one will normally be unique- though occasionally, by coincidence, a unique form can match a relative's. It can inherit any of its parents five forms, but it is most likely to inherit the one they share- parents must share at least one form in order to mate.
Generally, an Elder Mer will have the following forms:
None of their forms can be shapeshifters in their own right. They can switch between these forms relatively swiftly; they take a minute to charge themselves, during which they will begin to glow brighter and brighter until there is a flash and they appear in their new form. They can only switch once an hour.
However, they can also modify the forms by taking parts from different forms and 'mixing' the forms. The most traditional shape is to use a land front half and a sea back half, but any part of any form can be added on to or switched with the original part of any other form. So you can have, if your land form prey is a goat and your sea form prey is a minnow, a minnow with goat horns.
If the forms are different sizes, the smaller part will grow to match the larger.
The Tiaquia Aulia are an arrogant species.
Very few know of the Tiaquia Aulia, the Elder Mer. This could of course be because they are not the kind of gentle, beautiful singers that you would like to tell your children a bedtime story about. They are as ancient as the ocean, as bottomless and deep and dark- and as powerful and utterly ruthless. In fact, very few like to speak of them at all. But they exist, in their secret places and their deep, deep ocean crevices. And now, for the first time in almost a millennia, they have been seen to venture out once more.
Each has five forms, defined by a law older than time itself; the sea. They can switch between these forms fully, taking on entirely the shape of a fish, or orca, or shark. If they wish, they can also alter any body part to any species; they can have the body of a shark but the tail of a fish, or they can add a stingray tail and hammerhead-shark head to the body of a dolphin. So long as the parts they are switching belong to one of these five forms.
Two forms will be inherited from the mother, two from the father, and one will normally be unique- though occasionally, by coincidence, a unique form can match a relative's. It can inherit any of its parents five forms, but it is most likely to inherit the one they share- parents must share at least one form in order to mate.
Generally, an Elder Mer will have the following forms:
- One sea-dwelling predator creature or large creature eg. shark, orca, whale
- One sea-dwelling prey creature eg. salmon, trout, goldfish
- One land-dwelling predator creature eg. wolf, cat, lion
- One land-dwelling prey creature eg. mouse, rabbit, deer
- One mythical creature eg. dragon, Luxya, hellhound, phoenix
None of their forms can be shapeshifters in their own right. They can switch between these forms relatively swiftly; they take a minute to charge themselves, during which they will begin to glow brighter and brighter until there is a flash and they appear in their new form. They can only switch once an hour.
However, they can also modify the forms by taking parts from different forms and 'mixing' the forms. The most traditional shape is to use a land front half and a sea back half, but any part of any form can be added on to or switched with the original part of any other form. So you can have, if your land form prey is a goat and your sea form prey is a minnow, a minnow with goat horns.
If the forms are different sizes, the smaller part will grow to match the larger.
Personality and Lore
The Tiaquia Aulia are an arrogant species.