Merpeople
Merpeople in Nara are immortal beings with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear mainly in oceans around the world and there are also several species. Merpeople are associated in some cultures with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings. In other cultures (or sometimes within the same line), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.
In Nara, the population is of around 500 million, meranimals not included. If they were included, the population would be of an estimated 550 to 600 million, all worldwide. The largest race of merpeople by population is the Ashtalaic race with about 100 million merpeople, about a tenth of them live on land. This is followed by Hakkis, prevalent along the coasts of Hopeland. Currently a fifth of the international merpeople population lives on land.
The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry.
Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries, such as in Hans Christian Andersen's well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" (1836), considered by the merpeople community as being "a tale with an inaccurate depiction of merfolk life". They have subsequently created their own cultural world in recent years, a notable example being the Flarlandian and Hopelandian television and animation industries, where merpeople star or make their TV series, sometimes both.
Culture and languages[edit | edit source]
The Ashtalaic race of merpeople is notable for avoiding certain beverages and for being extremely irreligious. This is fueled by the fact that the highest figure of the merfolk race, King Triton, forbids these "abominations".
Linguistically, most of these speak languages of the Ashtalaic branch, with many people speaking Old Ashtalaic languages. Merpeople born well into the 19th century were born with knowledge of at least one "modern" language (i.e. modern Ashtalaian or English).
The second margest race of merpeople is the Hakki race. It is widely believed that merpeople coming from Atlantis got their DNAs mixed with native Hakkis in modern-day Hopeland. These predate the Eurectipherian settlers by a few centuries. There are around 100 million Hakki mermen worldwide, reports vary.
Chakan merpeople live around Aoshi and Rangwon. Most merpeople speak Aoshian as their first language.
Hakki merpeople have consumed beverages similar to sodas, this justifies the success of root beer in Hopeland
Population[edit | edit source]
The exact population of merpeople is not accurate by many sources, though there are speculations that the number might be around 500 to 600 million. Two thirds are known to live underwater. These estimates are hard to calculate due to lack of decent underwater technology.
Reproduction[edit | edit source]
The topic of mermaid reproduction is complicated.
Powers[edit | edit source]
Some merpeople have apparent superhuman strength. These powers include speed swimming and underwater vision. Fictional works depict merpeople as having control of the waters or able of generating their own power, something deemed scientifically inaccurate. It is believed that only a fraction of merpeople have these powers, and this is noted more among older merpeople.
