Selachis
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Selachis are half human, half shark merfolk roaming the wide seas and oceans of Felarya. They are deadly beings, voracious, and relentless. They usually posses very little magic to speak of, unlike other merfolk, but their excellent physical disposition largely makes up for it. Unlike mermaids, they do not have a swim-bladder and must continually swim to keep themselves afloat in the water. Selachis are strong, silent and fast. Their senses are remarkably advanced; they possess an acute sense of smell and are able to read minute changes in water pressure. They possess a streamlined, cartilaginous lower half, covered by a rough and abrasive skin, and sometimes sport long fin blades on their forearms. Their most remarkable trait however, is the two or more rows of dangerous, sharp serrated teeth in their mouth, that allow them to take large bites out of things. They have, unlike most of their fishy cousins, inclinations to hunt prey of similar size to themselves. Though, if prey is small enough, they will simply open their jaws wide and suck it in to swallow it whole.
They are not a race which other merfolk speak highly of. While their diet is mostly comprised of fish, Selachis sometimes hunt and devour other mefolks as well, and plenty of gruesome tales circulate about them. In spite of their survival-geared adaptations, their 'does not play well with others' reputation tends to let them down- while other merfolk can be found in their underwater cities, their young having the protection of ichthys, selachis are most commonly driven away from such places on sight. While they lack communality with merfolk societies, they often live in family packs, teaching their young hunting strategies along with the most effective ways of survival. Selachi are an uncommonly encountered race, in part due to their on-the-move lifestyles, in which opportunities come and go, as well as other greater dangers swimming the vast seas. When they are encountered during their wandering, they are usually in highly dangerous groups.
With a fairly violent predisposition, Selachi 'law' is mostly devised as means of limiting scuffles amongst themselves- one such rule followed by many, is that a survivor of an attack by a selachi, that can procure a tooth from the attacker, may not be a target of them so long as it is in their possession. These are often left embedded in deeper bite wounds, a weapon used against them that's bested their jaws, or a vessel's hull. At times of tension, someone looking for a fight may visibly discard a tooth, which is basically asking for a fight. Selachis that ignore this law face a grisly punishment by their kind, and thus one is usually safe behind the law. Luckily, by extension, a recovered tooth can be used as a badge of sorts warding off the predator it belonged to (provided you make it visible to them before they attack). It is worth noting that selachis can tell their own teeth from any other selachi or sea creatures, provided they have taken a close look at one of their own, and get a good look at one claimed to belong to them. Making big claims about having one's tooth, and it turning out to be a fake will end up with a very ticked off selachi. Another example of selachi law is that to toughen up their young, if they claim a prey that is their own size or smaller, intervention from the others is strictly limited to dire circumstances. A common expression is "A selachi gets half their scars when they're inexperienced pups, while they get their other half telling about how they supposedly got those scars."
- Credits goes to Darkstorm zero, Flare and Fish for the Selachis.
