--Ondine

[Syndrome]

``ondine
_{live in the Nightmare.}

General Info

• a species of water mammals, they cannot live without access to some kind of natural water; whether that be an ocean, river, lake, or even a small stream. Because they usually live in the water itself, the Ondine can hold their breath for a maximum of fifteen minutes.

• as long as an Ondine is touching the water, they keep their true forms and scaly appendages. However, their tail fins have to have constant contact with the water to not dry out. When the Ondine are out of water for longer than they should be, they involuntarily change and take on a human appearance, trading their fishy tails for legs.

• the Ondine have extremely slow metabolism, thus they are effectively immortal, and cannot die from old age. This also means that they can live healthy lives on a very small amount of food. This way, they can survive serious food shortages without suffering like others may.

• they are able to live out of the water, but as previously stated, cannot live without some sort of natural water source around. An Ondine living out of water, however, was probably forced to do so by some force greater than it, because they do not prefer to do so.

Distinguishing Physical Features

• the Ondine are half humanoid and half fish, making them appear crudely as such. Their upper bodies are that of a human, while their lower bodies are that of a fish. Scales sometimes grow up on the human part of their bodies, and most of them have gills on the sides of their neck, just under their jawlines.

• an Ondine's scales can be any color, from bright, sunburst red to cool, peaceful white. They are shaped like a typical fish's scales, being layered over one another and fanning out the same way as well. The scales that grow up on their upper bodies seem to be smaller, and sometimes serve as an armor to the soft, vulnerable flesh of their upper half.

• this species can be male or female, but regardless of their gender, they are all dangerously beautiful in their appearance. Whether they have sharp features or soft, whether they have grey eyes or stunningly blue ones, an Ondine out of water will always catch your attention and always turn heads. They are so beautiful, in fact, that they can draw in a tired or weak-of-will person to the water to drown.

• despite their nice appearance, they are Nightmare borne, and have a different side to them. When they get rid of their glamourous second appearance and show their true looks, they look much different. Long, thorn-like fangs, much like a Revenant's, replace their canine teeth. When they get angry or scared, they have a tendency to hiss. Their nales grow into short but sharp claws, and they are very fast and strong.

• Out of water, an Ondine looks quite the same as their true form: beautiful and dainty. Most creatures can tell between an Ondine out of water and any other species. However, their legs are usually not very muscular from lack of use, and they would be very clumsy in their human form. Ondine that have lived in the water all their lives wouldn't be able to walk their first time out of the water.

Behavioral Attributes

• the Ondine are sneaky little creatures, and are willing to lie and cheat their way into or out of anything most of the time. They will impersonate, say they're someone made up, lie, make up situations. If you're in a business deal with an Ondine, be careful and keep a close eye on them.

• the Ondine eat almost anything that comes to them. They are carnivores, so anything that moves, they'll attack. They eat things in the water such as fish and water mammals, but they also have a habit of drawing in tired and willing creatures from the shore or a boat. Their beauty makes it easy to decieve a tired sailor ready to go home. They will drown and eat the creatures that they catch.