Nereids

Nereids (NEE-ree-ids) are the most populous and common High Race on Deinne. Similar what you and I would consider to be merpeople, nereids are warm-blooded fish people who possess many of the outward features of the Dryfolk from the waist up, but without the mutations. From the waist down, they are closer to fish, or perhaps more accurately, dolphins. They are frequently considered conceited or snobby, as their culture teaches them that they are the perfect creations of their goddess, where others lack such blessings.

Physiology
Graceful and usually quite beautiful by our standards, nereids have typically slender and fit bodies (though there are exceptions). They are excellent swimmers, thanks to their muscular tails. Otherwise, they are often actually physically weaker than the other High Races, including the Dryfolk.

They are exclusively carnivorous, and possess a mouth full of sharp teeth made for tearing chunks of meat away from a body. They are self-conscious about the appearance of their teeth, and do not present full smiles or bare their teeth in anger unless their emotions are running exceptionally high.

Their arms have long fingers, which end in small, sharp claws that are naturally tipped with a mild neurotoxin that can cause localized pain, muscle paralysis and numbness. While they are not fully immune to this substance, it normally only elicits pain to them; thus, they do not hesitate to use their claws on one another in a scrap. Most nereids can only carry a few dozen pounds with their arms, and instead prefer to use yokes, belly packs, and harnesses to pull heavier things through the water.

Their fingers and armpits are webbed. They have a long dorsal fin which connects to plumage-like fins around their head, and like hair on Dryfolk, it tends to be longer on women than men. The head-plumage flares outward when a nereid is excited, or wishes to appear threatening or bigger than they really are. Conversely, it is slicked back along their bodies when they are swimming, or when they are in a gentle or intimate mood. Men and women alike often have their plumage pierced and wear jewelry in it.

Though they are warm-blooded and mate as aquatic mammals are wont to, nereids lay their fertilized eggs afterward, rather than carrying their offspring to term in the womb. A typical clutch is between two and four eggs.