FASERIP

MERPEOPLE water-breathing people

Merpeople are humanoids who breathe water. They have gills in most cases but in all cases they breathe water like a fish and, unless they are amphibious, they asphyxiate in air on land. Amphibious merpeople have a *Star next to their name in their description.

Merpeople were once reasonably common. Most of them diverged from the rest of the human subspecies in Prehistoric times. When the ancestral apemen went back on land, the Merpeople's ancestral form remained in the sea and have evolved there ever since.

All Merpeople have Power: Super-Swimming, the ability to move underwater with super effiency at a Speed of World Class; Power: Water Breathing - the character breathes water as if it were air - Limitation - cannot breathe air (unless they are noted as amphibious in which case this Power does not have a Limitation. Many Merpeople races have superheroes and supervillains in their populations with extra powers.

Merpeople use Merhippuses as Steeds and to tow chariots. They also domesticate sea creatures especially Killer Whales, Sharks, Whales, Octopuses and even Kaiju.

Merpeople is used as the general term for the most well known aquatic humanoids, the Mermaids, but it is applicable to all the undersea humanoid races as well. Mermaids and Mermen outnumber all other species of underwater humanoids by 10 to 1.

*Fishmen
Fishmen stand 9 to 10 feet tall and have scaled skin that provides Great armor.

Fishmen are aggressive piratical creatures that plague oceanic heroes. They are also quite frequently used as henchmen by supervillains.

Fishmen live in grottoes, sea caves, shipwrecks, sunken submarines and in the ruins of sunken civilizations or the abandoned cities of other Merpeople.

Fishmen lay eggs that are scattered to the currents with no attempt whatsoever to protect them.

___FIGHTING___	___AGILITY___	___STRENGTH___	___ENDURANCE___	___REASON___	___INTUITION___	___PSYCHE___	___HEALTH___	___KARMA___
Decent	Average	World Class	Fantastic	Terrible	Average	Terrible	86	10

Notes:

• Occasionally a half-breed or mutant Fishman will be born with Average Ranks in Reason, Intuition and Psyche. They quickly rise to be leaders of their species.

Merpeople
Merpeople are Mermaids and Mermen, human-like creatures with the lower bodies of large fish.

Merpeople travel in Pods or Tribes, similar to Killer Whales. Merpeople are omnivores like humans but for obvious reasons they eat a lot of shellfish, seaweed and fish.

Merpeople have long lives, living to be 250 years old. Merpeople lay eggs, usually a clutch of 1 to 3 every three years. The mortality rate for Merchildren is high due mainly to predation.

Merpeople in general don't have fixed settlements although they visit the same places seasonally.

Merpeople are sexually dimorphic. Mermaids, the females, remain in their standard appearance throughout their lives. However Mermen, the males, if they live to be 260 or older, change form over several months. They lose their tail and develop into creatures resembling Tritons. They also become highly aggressive. These Ancient Mermen guard the breeding grounds where Mermaids lay their fertilized eggs. The Ancient Mermen guard Mermaid eggs until the young hatch. At that point the Ancient Mermen swim off until the next eggs are laid.

___FIGHTING___	___AGILITY___	___STRENGTH___	___ENDURANCE___	___REASON___	___INTUITION___	___PSYCHE___	___HEALTH___	___KARMA___
Decent	Average	Great	World Class	Average	Average	Fantastic	66	42

Notes:

• Nereids are Ancient Mermaids who live past the age of 260. This rarely happens. When it does happen, the Mermaid loses her tail and changes form over the course of a year into a 6 foot tall physically perfect beautiful woman with black, blonde, red or pink hair. She can still breathe water perfectly.

*Sea People
Sea People are blue skinned humans who can breathe both water and air. Most of them are live bearing like humans but a few isolated communities are egglayers. Sea People communities also include members of their race who are "throwbacks" - they have the statistics and shape of Mermaids or Mermen. Sea People live in Refuges, usually ancient ruins or domed cities, on the bottom of the sea.

All Sea People communities are a mix of Magic and high technology. The high technology is usually the equivalent of a Power of some kind but one that is a labor saving device or powerful defensive weapon.

___FIGHTING___	___AGILITY___	___STRENGTH___	___ENDURANCE___	___REASON___	___INTUITION___	___PSYCHE___	___HEALTH___	___KARMA___
Average	Great	Decent	World Class	Average	Average	Average	66	18

Notes:

• As amphibious creatures, Sea People despite their blue skin which can be disguised infiltrate the surface world frequently to obtain supplies or keep an eye on local human communities.

Tritons
Tritons are scaly and quite inhuman looking humanoids. They live in the mid-depths of the ocean, usually off a continental shelf but on the "cliffs" or "mounts" leading down into deeper water. Tritons have never developed high technology and still live in a tribal society led by Tritones. Tritones are 30 foot tall (or long) Tritons whose lower limbs resembling contricting snakes with webbed fins instead of the usual webbed clawed feet of a normal Triton. Tritones have Astounding Strength and Endurance and can attack with their legs to Wrestle, produce a Wondrous Rank Binding Power effect or for Blunt Melee. Tritons interbred with Water Elementals and sea monsters to produce Sea Centaurs, creatures with the upper body of a Triton and the lower body of a Merhippus.

Tritons are livebearers, giving birth to live young underwater.

Tritons are poor swimmers and although for short sprints they can travel at World Class typically they move at Average Speed. For this reason Tritons commonly used Merhippus or Shark drawn chariots for longer distance or quicker travel.

As direct descendants of the Olympian Gods and powerful Water Elementals, Tritons frequently use paranormal or supernatural Powers commonly considered Magic.

___FIGHTING___	___AGILITY___	___STRENGTH___	___ENDURANCE___	___REASON___	___INTUITION___	___PSYCHE___	___HEALTH___	___KARMA___
Average	Decent	Great	Great	Average	Wondrous	Terrible	56	83

Notes:

• Tanagran Tritons are a subspecies of Triton with Ape-like upper bodies with green fur and the lower bodies of Sharks.