Atlantean

Deep Ocean.

Atlantis, Atlantic Ocean.

Origins

The "Homo mermani" are in fact native to the planet Vodan; however, the history of their immigration to Earth, and other related origins, were lost, and unknown even to the likes of the Logomancer, though a few theories (some possibly cumulative) exist:

• Genetic manipulation: As the underwater breathing ability was found in both Inhumans and Deviants, it is speculated that it was scientifically bestowed upon humans by Inhuman or Deviant geneticists.
• Natural evolution/adaptation: It is stated that 10,000 years ago, a genetic offshoot of man, Homo mermanus, evolved the ability to live underwater. The Atlanteans reject violently the theory of natural evolution of their species. A mere fraction of its inhabitants survived after adapting their bodies to live under the sea as water breathers.
• Magical manipulation: According to Neptune himself, the few surviving Atlantean sorcerers used their powers to transform the Atlanteans into a water-breathing race.
• Instantaneous Adaptation: Another account stated a mere fraction of Atlantis' inhabitants survived after adapting their bodies to life in water, which they came to be able to breathe in the direct aftermaths of Atlantis' destruction.
• Divine intervention: The Atlanteans credit Neptune who would have transformed them from air- to water-breathers. This origin story was taught in schools, with the Atlanteans gaining gills proving they were Neptune's chosen people.

The First Atlantis

Atlantis itself had been a small above ground continent with many human settlements, when an event tens of thousands of years ago called the "Great Cataclysm" caused it to be submerged into the sea. A group of Homo mermani made the ruins of the human settlements in Atlantis their home and went on to develop a society there using as much of the material as they could scavenge from the wreckage.

War with the Great Old Ones

When the humans returned into the oceans as Homo mermanus, they woke up the ancient evil that dwelt there, the first rulers of Earth, hideous things that had built huge cities, worked uncanny magic, enslaved servants that lived and died in their dark glory. This evil had gone for a time when the stars had turned round in the sky.

Using Sh'g'th tissue, a formless substance used to create unholy life, and created the first Aqueos, who went to live in R'llyeh.

The Great Old Ones, and their spawn, the Aqueos, lived (among other cities) in R'llyeh, also known as "the First Atlantis".

Lemuria

500 years after the settlement of Atlantis, another group of Homo mermani left Atlantis to found their own city - this time in a part of the ruins of another continent submerged during the Great Cataclysm - Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean.

These "Lemurians" would discover the Serpent Crown in the ruins of their city, and through their leader Naga's exposure and extensive use of the ancient mystical device, they would become more serpent-like in appearance than their Atlantean cousins.

Modern Age

During the 20th century, the Atlantean race began to come into sustained contact with their human "cousins". These contacts have often been hostile, and have included many aborted invasions and even separate occasions when large numbers of Homo mermani were rendered comatose or sterilized for periods. During the Second World War the kingdom of Atlantis also fought against the Axis Powers in alliance with the Allied Powers.

However, not all interactions between Homo sapiens and Homo mermanus have been hostile: During the 1920s a Homo mermani female, Princess Elani of Atlantis mated with the human sea captain Forest Kennedy, a union which produced the first human/Atlantean hybrid: Aquar, the Sub-Mariner.