>[!infobox|creature wide] Medium Humanoid >>[!fig|plate] 09/02/4361 >>![[img, merfolk.webp]] >>Miniature illustration of a siren enticing sailors who try to resist her, from an Fortumian Bestiary, c. 2235 > >#### Details >||| >|-:|:-| >|Location|[[Mermaid Grove]]| >|Resistances & Immunities|?| >|Senses|?| >|Languages|Common| # Merfolk >[!quote|gloss] > Aquatic humanoids with the lower body of a fish. They live in small tribes beneath the waves. >[!card] Description >Merfolk *(sing & pl; masc pl: **mermen**; fem pl: **mermaids**)* are aquatic humanoids with upper body, arm and head of a human and legs resembling the tail of a fish. > >A merfolk person had the upper body, arms, and head of a fair-featured human from the waist up and instead of legs they had a fish-like tail from the hips down. Also distinguishing them from humans were the gills slits along their necks, the slight webbing between their fingers, and their pupils exhibiting an ice blue or pale silver tone. > >Known to be playful creatures, merfolk would often prank adventurers they came across. Their levels of mischief could come across as cruel, but not overly malicious. > [!card] History > Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. > > The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and reported sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are in folklore generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople. > > The Eastern concept of mermaids as beautiful, seductive singers may have been influenced by the sirens of Pherisian mythology, which were originally half-birdlike, but came to be pictured as half-fishlike in the _Lumière d'Étoile_ era. Historical accounts of mermaids, such as those reported by Antione Louis during his exploration of Breubia, may have been sightings of manatees or similar aquatic mammals. > > Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries, such as in Hans Christian Andersen's literary fairy tale _"The Little Mermaid"_ (2837).