Triton

Triton are overall humanoid in their anatomy, although they also possess large, round eyes, pointed ears that can move independently. The neck is long and body slender, with a narrow, elongated waist and wide shoulders that create a V-shaped upper back. Despite their thin proportions, their musculature is sharply defined and they have roughly four times the strength of even the strongest human.   Triton men typically cut their hair around five inches past their shoulders, braiding it to keep it out of their eyes. While triton women occasionally followed this rule, they had also been known to let it flow free and as long as 4 feet. Triton hair does not grow within two inches of the base of their ears, giving the appearance that it had been shaved there. When heading into combat, they often tie their hair into styles such as tight ponytails or braids, so as to maintain visibility. They are also known to weave pieces of coral or metal into their hair for emergency use as bludgeons or even throwing weapons for above sea.

Triton are isolationist by both their nature and the physical location of the ocean seat temple where they live. Their trust does not extend far beyond their clan and their communities are very tightly-knit. However younger tritons are extremely curious by nature and will often be caught attempting to go further afield to see other creatures.   Tritons were a very proud people, with many biases and preconceptions as a result of their way of life. Having spent centuries protecting the water element gate, they believed they were entitled to a certain amount of fealty and respect from other races, something that is rarely acknowledged due to the lack of awareness many people held for the triton. Their isolation from the rest of the world also left them ignorant of the grand achievements of other civilizations or struggles the rest of the world have dealt with. When they are made aware of such things, they consider them minor compared to the tritons' attempts to protect the world.   Despite this, the triton are a noble and kind-hearted people who value the world and other races. Their arrogance aside, they readily sacrifice themselves to protect others, willing to fight and die for the other races of the world.

Triton look very similar to Elves facially but with shorter but still pointed ears. Triton can have eye colours including turquoise, white, black, blue, green, and rarely silver. Triton hair tends to be dark blue, black or dark green but sometimes bright red.

Their thick skin gives them protection from the cold of deep water, keeping them comfortable at just above freezing temperatures. Their fingers and toes are generally about twice as long as any Elf and have thick webbing between them. Their most distinctive feature is the gills visible in their necks and over their ribs. They also have minor dorsal fins that ran from their mid-calf and ended at their ankles. All in aid of making them faster in the water and able to breathe under the water longer than other humanoids.

Triton are either lightly clad or wear no clothes at all. Their clothes are formed from underwater plants and made with intricate designs in shades of black, brown, and green.

Triton generally spend around 75% of their time within shallow waters that are less than 150 feet from the surface, although they can safely descend to around 600 feet. Therefore their domiciles tend to be built under the water with only small gathering places and food prep and storage spaces being on the land along with the temple being above the water.   Noble families and monarchs rule, but in a benign and loose fashion rather than with an iron fist. While women can and do have positions of power, triton society is largely patriarchal and inheritance ran first through the eldest son.   Triton hold promises sacred and would rather die than fail to complete something they have sworn to do. If they died in the process, their kin would take over the responsibility to complete it. The slightest implication that a Triton wouldn't keep his word was deeply offensive.

Tritons have good relations with giant sea horses, hippocampi and sea lions, such that these creatures would hark to a summons by the sounding of a conch shell horn. Triton also domesticated twilight turtles, a species of black-and-purple aquatic turtles which glow with bioluminescence, while also acting as a pack animal.   Despite their xenophobic attitude, Triton rarely killed outsiders without reason. Instead, their preferred method of dealing with intruders depended on the quality of the individual, which was tested in a triton court. Those deemed innocent awakened the next day on a nearby shore, while the guilty were stripped of their belongings and set adrift ten miles from the nearest shore. This practice was called leaving them "to the fate of the seas".   Triton are incredibly wary of human fisherman since those who are caught in their nets are often mistaken for sirens and killed.   Half-Triton are very rare since triton do not leave the water often and had little interest in interacting with humans but are more likely to mate with an elf which makes something closer to the original sea elves who can manage longer out of the sea and don’t have fins or neck gills so can fit in with other elves more easily.