The Selkie
Physicality
AppearanceSelkies are a race you can pick easily out of a crowd; they are a tall people, generally ranging from 5'10"-6'7", though some may be a little taller or shorter than this, and are not often skinny—given their marine habitat, a skinny selkie is a dead selkie. Their skin is mottled with grey patches in the same patterning as their seal form's fur, generally transitioning to solid grey on the head, hands and feet. Their hair is also a mid- to dark-grey colour. Selkies almost always have deep brown eyes, as seals do.
BiologyAverage lifespan: 80-100 years, like humans.
Diet: mostly fish and shellfish, however they can eat seaweeds, as well as other meat and plants. Raw fish is safe for them to eat.
Abilities: selkies possess the ability to don their seal pelts and transform into a seal, as well as a natural affinity for the cold.
Culture
Social structureSelkie groups are known as "cleins" (clines), and are of a tribal nature. Men and women are valued equally as both are formidable, other genders are accepted as they believe the sea is ever-changing, and their souls are tied to the sea. Any non-heterosexual selkies are also valued as they often provide communal childcare for pups, and good couples fight well, no matter their genders. Social hierarchy is less important than it is to most humans, however they do have a system in place:
The best warriors, knowledge keepers and healers form a council in most cleins, the clein's best interests at their heart. They also have a system of denoting their roles, where warriors wear choker/collar-like bits of fishing net, healers wear beaded necklaces, and knowledge keepers wear patterned, woven bands on their upper arm made from seaweed or sometimes fabric, all of which can be embellished for any notable feats accomplished. Selkies raise their young communally.
Religion, Myths & LegendsSelkies believe in a goddess named Creena, a goddess of the moon and the sea, amongst other things such as wisdom. They believe she wilded the oceans when they went neglected by other gods who made plantlife and animals for the land, and that she created selkies as wardens of the ocean, able to traverse the waters and the land, and bridge the gap between the two. They also believe in figures such as Calybride, a once-follower of Creena who grew jealous. Calybride's story is used to scare young pups from heading out into the sea on their own, or when it is dangerous. When they die, they believe selkie souls drift the ocean, becoming spirits, and being reincarnated into pups that are born in the light of the moon. Their worship of their figures is often druidic and tribalistic.
Some cleins have their own legendary figures, such as Clein Ysbal, named for a member of their tribe who had her pelt stolen from her by a fisherman, thus taken for wife by him as he kept her from the sea, and Tehi Tegi, the selkie sorceress who sought revenge on land-dwellers for their theft of pelts. Land-dwellers say she was a witch riding a white horse, so beautiful she led all the men to drown in the sea. The selkies know her to be one of them, who rode on the white waves.
PracticesSelkies love stories and music. They often tell their myths, passing them down to the pups, around hearty food or even a fire, and a selkie celebration is not right without some lively jigs. Some of their rituals can be disturbing to others, like smothering themselves in fish blood and burning dried seaweeds during blood moons to represent the bloody battle Creena had with Calybride, and cleansing themselves of Calybride's influence with the seaweed smoke.
They also celebrate the changing of seasons and such, as they are hunter-gatherers, generally with feasts. Births are often celebrated with similar feasts, however the mother is encouraged to retire to a private hut at any point she needs to, with or without her baby. The baby is usually held under the light of the first moon since its birth to allow Creena to bless the child, whilst the clein sing for it. Dead selkies are usually placed reverently in the sea, where they will turn to seafoam, and seaweed is burned while the whole clein sings a song of mourning.
NamesSelkie names are often Irish, Scottish, or Manx-sounding. Feel free to make your own along those lines, or find a list of those names and pick one you like.
ClothingSelkies are, to put it simply, nudists. Seals don't wear clothes, and they don't feel the cold, so why would they bother? The most you will see a selkie within a clein wearing is along the lines of a loincloth or similar. Clothing and embellishments are more seen as decoration, like their beaded necklaces and armbands for different societal roles. Selkies who come into land-dweller society will have to wear clothing to fit in, but will often still not quite look the part especially in colder climates, as they will not bundle up as much as everyone else needs to. Their jewellery is often made from wooden beads painted or dyed in blues, greens or browns, mother of pearl and shells, or woven seaweed. Embellishments to status-wear includes little mother of pearl coins, single beads threaded on, or different colours of seaweed worked in.
MagicMagic is not hugely common in selkies, however it is not unheard of either. Most of the time, they are healers, or those with elemental or druidic power borne through their connection to the sea and nature. Because of this, magic (or nature/life-based magic at least) is highly valued in selkie culture, especially as they see it as either a gift from the goddess Creena, or a pure form of their stewardship of the coast, showing the mage in question is truly what selkies were created to be.
