Erinbour: Sirens
Written by Chris Perrin this is planned as a Playable Race in Erinbour
The Sirens of Erinbour
One of the things we wanted to do with Erinbour was step outside the established fantasy races. Sure, we wanted to include humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and so on, but we also wanted a new playable race for our game. So, while I was standing in a mall in Omaha, Nebraska, we came up with the idea for sirens.
(Of course, why the mall is important or what got the idea rolling is a secret that I probably won’t be sharing anytime soon…)
What is a siren?
Sirens are a water-loving race that primarily reside along the southeastern coast of Erinbour. Though the sirens of (Earth) myth are often given fish tales (or made merfolk outright), the sirens of Erinbour mostly arose from their oceanic origins around the time of the otherkin invasion and quickly gained sentience, language, and culture. They were largely neutral at first, though many were quick to fight for Mai.
What does a siren look like?
For the most part, sirens stand anywhere from about four-and-a-half feet to a little over five feet tall. Their skin has, for the most part, lost the scales it shared with their watery ancestors. However, they have not lost the bright colors of blue, gold, and red for which many water creatures are known.
Hair, on the other hand, is pretty rare amongst the sirens who have only had the ability to grow it since the curse. For the most part, many sirens continue to be bald while a few now have full heads of luxuriant hair, normally colored red, blue, or dark brown.
What can a siren do?
Physically, sirens tend to be strong and have an innate sense of magic. This magic manifests itself in the fabled siren’s song which is normally used for calming siren youngers and for retelling siren history. However, the siren’s song can also have more nefarious purposes and has been known to enrapture weaker willed humans, dwarves, etc. Also, if sirens are angry, they can send out a sonic blast capable of breaking glass, ear drums, and occasionally, bones. In other words, it’s not good to get too close to a siren, nor is it a good idea to make them angry.
Types of sirens
There are several groups of sirens, all of which share a common genetic lineage. The most common sirens are those seen walking the lands of Erinbour. They tend to need to drink higher amounts of water than a human or dwarf, but other than that, they could pass as brightly painted young humans.
There is also a group of sirens that have not grown hair, nor have the shed their scales. These humans are still bipedal and capable of traveling the whole of Erinbour, however, they must immerse themselves in water at least once a day to prevent their scales from drying and eventually flaking away.
Lastly, a few sirens never managed to develop legs. These sirens are almost indistinguishable from merfolk except that they are completely covered with scales and must stay in water to breath. These type of sirens are much less common today than during the time of the otherkin’s arrival and given their low birthrates, may disappear from the lands of Erinbour forever.