Welcome to Pacifica!: Merfolk Biology and Society in the "Nerissa Sanderson" FP Serie
I think world-building is my strongest suit as a writer. I don't think I'm great at plotting, but I'm extremely detail-oriented, so I tend to think about every last detail about how a fictional society functions. This note is a compilation of pseudo-"facts" about how I imagine my merfolk world to work, but I tried to stick to general "factoids" that could work as head canons for mermaid mythos in general as opposed to stuff specifically about the characters and back stories in "Nerissa Sanderson", my FictionPress mermaid series. I hope mermaid fans enjoy this, and some of this could help you answer some of the questions curious children ask you when mermaiding(see another thread...)
Magi-Biology And Anatomy of Merfolk:
Humans tend to describe merfolk as being literally half-human, half-fish, but a mertail is more elegant than any fish’s fins. It begins right below their belly buttons, and is blanketed in delicate, colorful scales that shimmer in light. Instead of a single, broad tailfin like so many aquatic animals possessed, their appendage ends in a pair of semi-translucent flukes which seem almost too silky and billowing to be adequately hydrodynamic. Their vaguely ribbed texture suggests there is some kind of bone or vein inside.
They are capable of swimming up to eighty miles per hour, holding their arms primarily to their sides and letting their flukes propel them forward in feathery, dolphin-like movements.
They are able to breathe underwater through tiny gill slits on the back of their neck, which is usually covered by their luxurious hair. If they are out of water for a number of hours, they can die from dehydration, and some mers have a higher tolerance to dryness than others. Chlorinated water is very difficult for them to breathe.
Merfolk come in various shapes and sizes, with every eye, skin, and tail color imaginable, and can live for as long as a thousand years and generally stop physically aging in their mid-thirties. When a mermaid or merman dies, their bodies turn to sea foam.
They can speak underwater and can speak to their all of their animal neighbors who live within the boundaries of their kingdoms. Every mermaid has three special animal friends, a fish, a seahorse, and a dolphin, called Sea Familiars. The relationship between a mermaid and her Sea Familiars are so tight that if one of them dies before its time(meaning by unnatural causes such as fishing), or as they say “foams”, the mermaid foams too because her heart is broken without it.
They can subsist on a vegetarian diet composed entirely of seaweed and other sea vegetables prepared in many different ways often resembling human dishes, including leafy seaweed pasta, seaweed pancakes, sea-berry pie, and more.
As purely magical creatures, merfolk do not eliminate metabolic waste from their bodies like humans and most other natural creatures do. Instead, they odorlessly secrete excess nutrients through their scales, almost like sweating, which is also somewhat similar to how some reptiles function. This is pretty much invisible to the naked eye, but if one could put the water around a mermaid in a microscope, they might see bacteria and such.
When a mermaid or merman cries, their tears fall to the sandy bottom of the ocean floor, where some eventually turn into colored pearls. Pink pearls are tears of joy, yellow pearls are tears of sorrow, and blue pearls are tears of fear.
Some mermaids can defend themselves by projecting Bubble-Fields, inpenetrable force-fields shaped like bubbles, which offers them protection against physical hazards.
Society of Merfolk:
Most merfolk kingdoms are approximately the size of a small to medium-sized town on land, composed of fancy architecture of rocks, shells, pearls, and corals. In the undersea of Pacifica, the Royal Palace is unquestionably the grandest structure in the kingdom, the gleaming sea-gold and ivory pearl walls and spires of the castle is visible from every inch of downtown Pacifica, as if the estate itself was benevolently keeping watch over its subjects. For obvious reasons, there are no staircases anywhere in merfolk kingdoms.
For transportation, merfolk ride on giant seahorses and in carriages and caravans pulled by seahorses.
Splendid royal balls are often held in the Pacifican palace’s grand ballroom, the highest room in the castle, with a sandy, patterned dance floor and an awe-inspiring bubble chandelier, which is poised in the center of a high cathedral ceiling. On either side of the chandelier, there were two medium-sized holes in the roof, known as “sea-lights”, so the party-goes can get an eyeful of the ocean above them while dancing and mingling.
Merfolk love music, but their taste tends to swing toward classical and slow jazz as opposed to upbeat dance music. A mermaid’s vocal talents are capable of much more than just entertaining others. The singing of a mermaid can heal, but channeling her musical healing power can be very draining, especially for a young inexperienced mermaid.
Another tradition for mermaids is a surface party, an event when a group of mermaids gather above the surface and comb their hair, sing songs, and just chat. Back in the Middle Ages, it wasn’t at all uncommon for them to have surface parties in broad daylight, which gave some humans the wrong idea that all they ever do is sing and mess with their hair. Gossip Songs is an activity that mermaids have been observing at their surface parties since time immemorial, when mermaids take turns singing songs that they make up on the spot about what’s on their minds and in their hearts. Because merfolk society is generally matriarchal, mermen are not often invited to attend surface parties, but that doesn’t stop them from spying on the mermaids and playing little pranks to disrupt their peaceful get-togethers. Eavesdropping on Gossip Songs is especially attractive to naughty young mermen.
Merfolk generally wear much less clothing than humans, with mermaids’ wardrobe consisting of shell bras, halter tops, sea-silk overskirts, tail-sashes, and opulent pearl and sea-flower hair accessories. Mermen are perpetually shirtless, but occasionally accessorize with shiny golden or silver bracelets and chains.
If a mermaid or merman wishes to assume human form, first they must visit the Department of Transformation for a brief course that gives an overview in human cultural customs and bodily functions, as well as the Vault of Human Clothing, an amazing place where merfolk choosing to pose as landlubbers can rent the proper attire, which is preserved and kept dry by magic, so they won’t end up buck naked or bottomless on the beach like some of their unfortunate ancestors did. Much of the clothing in there is really outdated though, so it has in time practically become a museum on the history of human fashion.
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