Soul Merger

Monsterpedia

Mermaid

Monster Level - II

Soul Type - Composite

Intelligence - Humanoid

Strength - Strong

Magic - Weak

Rarity - Common

Mermaids are humanoid monsters that have an upper body similar to a human woman and the lower body of a fish. We use the term similar because there's a lot of secondary elements, even when they're actively pretending to be humanish. Most obvious are the fins on the lower arms and ears and slightly odd skin sheen caused by the creature's oil. Less obvious are the lack of nipples, and bellybutton. Also when we say fish we mean fish. The tail is vertical and moves side to side.

The creatures use flirting and quick movements to try to move very close to humans. At which point they attack violently. This is when the other differences appear. Their fins can jut out long sharp spikes, while their mouth opens much wider than a human's and has nasty sharklike teeth. As a bonus their fin spikes have a poison, though unless someone has an allergy its mostly just very painful.

Mermaids primary advantage is their underwater maneuverability, which they use to great effect. While they don't appear to have gills, they can breathe underwater indefinitely. The seductive tricks don't work after years of people dealing with mermaids and realizing they are not fey and thus always want to kill humans. However the monsters seem to stick to the plan anyway. Maybe it's inborn, or maybe it does cause slight hesitations. Either way they're generally considered fodder and killed quickly. Still on their home turf they are as dangerous as a human and deserve basic respect.

Mermaid tail is considered a delicacy in some cultures, especially in the east where it supposedly promotes longevity. Meanwhile in the west it's considered very strange. Having tried it, I can say it's fairly good fish, but tuna is still better.

Merge

Common Name : Finfolk

Benefits : Swimming speed, water breathing, tooth replacement

Weaknesses : Slippery hands, tooth replacement

Finfolk are another common merge for seafarers or people who work in water a lot. There's a lot of similarities to gillfolk and frequent arguments over which is the better merge. Finfolk do not get the sleeker bodies, instead tending to get more defined muscles and larger chests. However they do get the arm fins as well as hand and feet webbing that improve their swimming capabilities. They also get the ability to breathe water without gill slits. This means they don't suffer the water requirements gilfolk do.

They do tend to get more oily skin, especially around the fins and webbing. This includes the hands so most finfolk use sharkskin gloves or other gear to help hold things securely. Slipping on smooth surfaces when barefoot is also an issue, so good shoes or sandals are a must.

Finally finfolk replace their teeth. However unlike gillfolk this happens once every three years, and is much like when baby teeth are lost. With all the annoyance that comes along with it.

The teeth replacement does include wisdom teeth so if going for this merge, make sure to study how to eliminate wisdom teeth during merge alterations! Otherwise you're in for a lot of pain.