Nereids are a humanoid, water – dwelling race found in all oceans on earth, along with a few large lakes. There are two Main varieties of Nereid; The saltwater Nereid, which are the Nereids in a traditional sense, while Naiads are their freshwater counterparts. In this article, the term “Nereid” usually applies to both kinds. (See picture at right, click for full size.)

Appearance: All Nereids and Naiads look vaguely human from the waist up, having a body similarly to a female human. From the waist down, however, instead of legs, they have a varying amount tentacles, ranging from two to ten. The color of their skin also varies from species to species, the most notable being the deep sea Nereid, which has a blue, transparent film covering their internal organs. Their eye color includes the same colors as humans, (with the addition of pink) ,except the whites of their eyes are the colored parts – their irises are grey. Their possible hair colors are also the same as humans, with the addition of blue and white. Their eyes are shaped like upside down teardrops, and their shoulders are spiked, and can be fairly sharp, due to their knife – like shoulderblades. Certian Nereids and Naiads can live on land, as long as their lungs stay fairly moist. All Nereid faces many microscopic slits in them, acting as gills. Some, however, have three gill slits, much like a fish. These Nereids are seen as the most beautiful of their kind (to them), and are the most likely to become queen. (See below.) Nereids also possess a form of limited shapeshifting, not seen in any other race. Seemingly at will, a nereid can appear human, or look like their squidlike true form. It is unknown if this is due to simple mind control by the nereid, or that they physically do shift appearances.

Naiad Society:

Naiadae have a hierarchical society, consisting of a single ruler, or “queen”, and a few “nobles”, and the rest of the Nereids act as servants for the higher-ups. (See picture of a warm – saltwater Nereid queen below.) Since nereids can live for thousands of years, their system is not ranked on birth or age, but on beauty. The best looking, (by their standards, not ours) ,are the most powerful, and the less attractive are the lower classes. They live in groups ranging from two to fifty, but the shallow saltwater variety of Naiad to near – extinction, with only around 200 still alive. This is not helped by the fact that they are prone to infighting, because if a servant wants to become a noble, or a noble wants to become queen, they must either wait until they are next in line, or they can challenge the other Naiad for their position. This challenge is, in common terms, a fight to the death. However, most Naiad are either satisfied with their position, or are afraid of the chance of death in a challenge, that they do not attempt it. This fear is heightened that most queens have survived multiple challenges, and are therefore seasoned fighters, and that the queens can have the lower ranks (including the nobles) do whatever they want, due to the class system in Nereid society. Usually Naiadae are amicable to humans unless provoked, but, sadly, shallow saltwater Naiadae are extremely hostile to humans, and most will kill or kidnap any human they see on sight, no matter what the human’s age or gender. What is done with these humans is unknown, but human bones have been found in possession of Nereids. However, most Nereids are quite caring to one another, and are considered polyamorous, having relationships with more than one member of the tribe at once. Due to this, some have theorized that some humans may have been captured due to the Nereid being attracted to them, much like the Nereids of classic myth.

Naiad Biology:

Naiadae are not completely understood, as most are either reclusive and hard to find, or openly hostile towards humans. They possess a body temperature higher than humans (110 F/ 43 C), allowing them to inhabit colder waters that would give a human hypothermia. They have no known means of reproduction, and due to their reclusive / hostile nature finding out more would be difficult. This leaves the question of their origins and how they sustain their species open to guesswork. Some theorize that they themselves are immortal, living for thousands of years, peacefully undisturbed, while others guess that they have an ability to reproduce amongst themselves. As of now, nobody knows.