Species: Siren
Status: Reclusive but not uncommon, numbers are stable
Age Rate: 1/100th the rate of a human after maturity (approx 18 yrs), adolesence growth rate is slightly faster than that of a human but otherwise non-ditinguishable. live to about, but not above 10,000 years
Habitat: Ocean waters, known to populate the Medditeranian Sea extensively, particularily greek shores
Mating Habits: One mate for life, sexual relations prior to the discovery of mate are discouraged, but not forbidden, if one partner is left living, they are reverted to their pre-mated status, though there will never be a permanent replacement. Mate can be of any age, species, location or gender.
State of Offspring: eggs; primarily gelitin
General Overview:
Siren Society is highly physical-based. Leader-ship is a state of dominance, and is taken (and maintained) via dualistic methods. The losers are often killed, however recently attempts have been made to limit the wounds to maiming rather than killing. these attempts are reported to be disregarded among the masses. Law-keeping is limited, down to three basic rules; Law of tooth and claw, the strongest survive; Humans are not to know Siren (or any mythical creature) exist; and no siren under 100 may hunt Human without supervision of an elder.
Knowledge transfer is limited to what is instinctively known and what the parent/pod leader orally departs to the young, however 80% (conservitively) is taught via 'the hard way'. reading, writing and advanced mathimatics are little seen amoung Siren, likely due to the fact that the mass majority of the population remains submerged in the ocean for the majority of their lives.
Young are hatched under the care of one or more parental figures and siblings. Dominance is the first lesson learned. Clutches range from 20 to 80 eggs (to mother figures that age from 100 to 9000), however within the first hours of hatching the clutch may drop in size by almost half. This high morality rate is the likely cause of the large clutch size. survivors form into pods that range from 5 to 50. the Pod Leader will act as parent to their siblings, though said leader is rarely older than their followers, just the stongest. Leadership is constantly changing in the first 100 years, as the siblings reach frst physical maturity (18) then Siren maturirty (traditionally 100). after the pod reaches 18yrs, they may begin to break apart, at 100 the sirens are fully allowed to swim solo and to hunt human-kind. the numbers within the pods are known to flux, usually in the first year or so as larger predetors pick off the slowest and weakest.
a grown siren is concidered one of the strongest and deadlyist native creatures of the ocean, notwithstanding varying types of were-creatures or deamon. Their claws (or talons, depending on the particular siren's preference) are amazingly sharp, and strong enough to gouge bone easily. The teeth (and jaws) are equally powerful, able to snap bone. there has been evidence that there are cases were a siren has left noticable marks upon the steele used on floatation devices in the cases where prey has escaped. Depending upon the siren, the tail is also a danger factor, oft being powerful enough to break bone, or dextorous enough to supplement as a third hand. However, the one natural weapon every siren holds is likely the most famous. the vocal chords are extremely powerful, using a combination of wind and water magics to, effectively, do anything the siren wishes. commonly used to seduce or entrance prey into falling into their grasp, siren song can also be used to cause vibrations strong enough to liquify unsuspecting victim's greymatter (this is dangerous however, and cannot be aimed at a particular person, leaving all beings not having a sheild up to the Siren's mercy), shatter glass, or, with higher magical reenforcement, lull a target into varying states of sleep, and cast illustions about the siren (illusions are highly complicated, and cost alot of magic if there is nothing to work on. this is easier if the siren is already wearing some form of material that contains easily shaped fibres. some siren wear strips of cloth, or seaweed for this purpose.)
Mating is a complicated affair for siren. they may have one mate, and the death of that mate (preemtive, natural deaths are excempt)will leave the survivor with a dark coloration and seperation from any rationalle beyond that of necessity. however, prior to finding their mate, whom may be of any gender, age, species, or location, a siren may partake in sexual relationships with others. discovery of their permanent mate is marked by both a scent that enthralls one, and the ability to connect lips in a kiss. it is unknown why a siren cannot bring themselves to kiss anyone but their mate. once a siren has a mate, they will be unerringly loyal, except in the event when said mate is, usually personality wise, unsuitable for relationships. a siren whom is 100% incompatable with their mate will often kill the other and face insanity rather than be tied down to a being that they truely detest. once their mate has passed, they will no longer be bindable to a secondary mate, however, can continue as they had previous to the mating, with multiple sexual partners.
Reasoning:
I chose Siren for Hakuba on a whim. However, i find that it fits him.
he chases after the KID because the need to hunt and to prove himself dominant still ring true, dispite upbringing in a human society. the same upbringing works towards the love of reading and law, organization that does not exist in Siren society, voids that would have been filled with sibling rivalry and the constant need to simply /live/. his clothing, especally the inverness coat that he wears, are a solid supply of material that can be used to hide his siren nature, as well as hide several scars on his person that are tribute to a birth in siren society, which might raise questions otherwise. while it is said that his eyes are blue or copper, i stick to 'honey gold', a color that can be feral as well as domesticated. his living in england leaves as much room as i want for questionable backstory.
the lack of murders that he gets involved with are tied into the 'survival of the fittest', a rule that would not die easily, no matter how long a person was engulfed in human society. the cool attitude he displays towards the ones that he does encounter are tribute to the fact that he, deep deep down, thinks that the person whom died was a weaker creature, and had to make way for stronger ones to survive.
the struggle to assilulate into the democratic/financial society of humans would be tough. hence the reason he disproves of Hattori's brash nature. it too closely resembles the one Hakuba was born in, a nature that he needs to keep a constant upcheack on his behavior and attitude to keep out of his poise, resulting in his rather 'stick-in-the-uncomfortable-place' attitude towards most things in general.