Sea Folk

Sea Folk are a race of humanoid creatures that live underwater. The term sea folk is popular, though they have also been named merfolk, water people, or aqueans. There are two distinct morphology of sea folk, the Tayjiyan-Quar and the Terjiyan-Quar.

Origins
Sea Folk have origins in the sea, with countless stories throughout the ages of interactions between the races of land and sea. While Sea Folk is a generic term relating to both the Tayjiyan-Quar and Terjiyan-Quar, the Tayjian-Quar are thought to be the original, more primal side of the Terjiyan-Quar. It is said that the Terjiyan-Quar grew their more mammalian like legs in order to learn and interact with the creatures of land after seeing the better lives they lived versus the primitive and limited lives the Tayjiyan-Quar.

For Sea Folk, this holds a sliver of truth. The Tayjian-Quar have inaccurate origins, mostly shrouded by myth. However, all signs point to the Terjiyan-Quar and Tayjian-Quar becoming distinctly different at some point in time long ago somewhere near Westaranis.

Characteristics
Both the Tayjiyan-Quar and the Terjiyan-Quar have similar characteristics when looking at the fundamentals, though the Terjiyan-Quar are clearly more adept at amphibious life, even able to breed and die without ever setting foot in the sea.

Height and Weight
Sea Folk are typically between 5'7" and 6'4" tall as adults, with little to no variation among the males and females. Males are on average 60-80 pounds heavier, with adults weighing between 130 and 300 pounds. Tayjiyan-Quar tend towards the heavier side, while Terjiyan-Quar tend towards the lighter side.

Tayjiyan-Quar
The Tayjiyan-Quar are far more fish-like in their appearance. The term merfolk often applies to the Tayjiyan-Quar. Their most distinct feature is their tails, which are similar to that of a dolphin's. The upper half of their bodies are humanoid, with webbed hands and finned arms for easier maneuverability in the water.

Their heads are vaguely human-like in appearance, but are largely smooth and scaled, with eyes like a fish, smooth snouts, and catfish-like mouths and two "whiskers" that some say look like a long, thin mustache. Some have thin, spiny fins on their heads which seem to be purely aesthetic.

Tayjiyan-Quar have scaled skin, though it is much more akin to snake skin in strength than dracarian scales. They have a range of colors, often monochromatic or featuring a gradient of one dominant color on their backs becoming more pale as it moves to their bellies.

Tayjiyan-Quar have subtle gills below their jaw on the side of their necks to breathe indefinitely under water. While they do have some ability to breathe on land, there has been no record of a Tayjiyan-Quar living longer than a few hours above the water.

Terjiyan-Quar
Terjiyan-Quar are amphibious, bipedal and more humanoid in form. Instead of a tail, they have two legs with human-like webbed feet. Their arms have less pronounced fins, and their hands are no longer webbed. This has made them slower in the water, though they are still considered the fastest humanoid when it comes to swimming.

Their heads are far more human in appearance, with small yet noticeable noses, a small yet noticeable outer ear, and more human-like mouths. The "catfish" resemblance is missing, and their eyes are forward facing and mammalian. Some that have had mixed genetics (primarily human) have been known to feature hair, typically albino or very light colored naturally.

Their skin is similar to the Tayjiyan-Quar, though their colors are more muted. Some describe them as "sunbleached".

They lack gills, but are able to breathe on both land and sea for long periods of time. When first adapting to land or sea, a Terjiyan-Quar will find life difficult as the body goes through an adjustment phase to better process the air or water, and deal with the change in gravity. This process can take a week, in which the individual is lethargic and can even be at risk of overexertion and death if pushed too hard physically. Once the individual is acclimated to land or sea, they face little to no known side effects. Terjiyan-Quar living on land for extended periods of time do require fresh or salt water to soak or drink in large quantities each day, double or triple that of most land creatures. If a Terjiyan-Quar cannot drink or soak in water to hydrate themselves, death can come within 28 hours. No Terjiyan-Quar has been found to live longer than 32 hours when deprived of water.

Lifespan
Sea Folk have similar life spans to humans and other medium or large sized mammals. They reach adulthood by the age of 14, and can live up to 75 years on average. The oldest recorded Sea Folk have lived longer than 100 years, but not by much. Interestingly, females do not live as long as males, as records indicate more males reach 70-80 years of age whereas there are significantly less females that are observed to reach 70-80 years of age. One theory is that after a female's reproductive use has ended, they are able to take advantage of their ability to switch genders. This is a rare occurrence however, and takes on average 20 years to complete. Though it could explain the dramatic drop in female population past the age of 35 in Sea Folk tribes. This gender switch is still considered rare, and has only been observed in Tayjiyan-Quar populations.

Diet
Sea Folk are largely omnivorous, eating what they can to survive. Many are able to survive on simply kelp and algae for long periods of time, and have a difficult time processing land-based meats and some fruits and vegetables. An extreme case shows that Tayjiyan-Quar are able to filter feed when in a life threatening situation due to their superior biology underwater. The Tarjiyan-Quar in question remained motionless to conserve enough energy during the process. Once a fish swam close enough, the Tarjiyan-Quar struck and quickly devoured the meal, swimming away shortly after.