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Life Span: 75-90 years.

Description: The Aniketos are an aquatic race of humanoids with some fish-like features. Their flesh is like that of a Human, but usually fairer and unblemished. Their hair is usually very long, and can come in many varied colours unseen among Humans, such as blue, purple, and green. They have angular, almost elf-like facial features, with wide eyes and long eyelashes. They have powerful arms and shoulders from their constant swimming and underwater activity, and their skin is usually either very tan from time spent in tropical areas or very pale from time spent in the depths of the sea. From the waist down, they have a fish-like tail with fins whilst underwater. However, Merpeople are capable of slowly turning this tail into a pair of long, elegant human legs, thus allowing them to walk on land and appear as strange, radiantly beautiful Humans. However, this makes most Aniketos uncomfortable, and they must bathe often to keep their skin healthy. At any time they wish, they can turn their legs back into an aquatic tail. These transformations are only contorable by will after the approximate age of 21. Aniketos breathe underwater using gills on their necks, but also possess the means to breathe above water. The gills fade away along with the tail when they morph to walk on land. Like Humans, Aniketos are omnivorous and mostly eat seafood and various aquatic plants. Aniketos, and all Aquatili, are the people of Naladius, Goddess of Water. Aniketos have the ability to mate both among themselves and with humans, but the chance of fertility is much lower when mating with humans. 60% of inner-species mating is profitable, when only 30% of human mating is successful. No matter if the offspring is purebred or not, all children live their lives as humans until the approximate age of 13, whereas the ocean in their blood begins to override the land-bound DNA. If an Aniketos, after the age of 21, favors the sea or land to the other, they risk losing the ability to change between the two. Newborn Aniketosi are very sensitive to air within the first 6 hours of life and must be handled with care. The children are born underwater themselves with their tails, owning up to their heratige of once being fully water-based, before the touch of air makes the inner ocean tides receed. Once a child's lungs are ready for air, there is a span of 3 hours where they must be kept at 85 degrees F as their bodies adapt from the cold of the ocean waves. Even 2 degrees too warm or cold and defects can form. If the child/children are brought to the surface too soon, leg birth defects or lung problems will appear. This can also happen to Aniketosi who are born out of water if they touch the air even for a moment but still manage to survive.

Mentality: Aniketos are a very deep-feeling and poetic people. Often, their emotions control them rather then the opposite. They are artistic and peace-loving by nature, and love to simply enjoy themselves and live joyfully. They consider the many hardships and difficulties on land to be little of their concern, and thus can often seem uncaring and ignorant. There are problems they must face under the sea, of course, but the oceans are so vast that the Aniketos live with almost no threats whatsoever to their people as a whole. Their greatest concerns are issues of pollution, aggressiveness from the sea creatures or their cousins, the Squibians, and the preservation of the beauty and life on the ocean floor. Aniketosi are kind, but often pay so little attention to the affairs of surface-dwellers that this kindness is only rarely shown.

Society: Aniketos are almost all loyal followers of their king, who rules over their underwater empire. They are self-sufficient, hunting aquatic beasts or gathering plant life for food. Their nation is very vast, and they consider almost all of the ocean floor to be their territory, save for the areas designated as Squibian waters. However, they allow all ships to pass over their lands, and often try to keep them from being shipwrecked (if the vessel is noticed at all). Giving warnings of sea monsters, storms, rocks, icebergs, or other hazards has become an enjoyable habit of many Aniketos. The transfer of their offspring to the land is a delicate process, and the majority of the young Anikenosi end up in towns by bodies of water filled with adults who have taken on the responsibility to educate the next generation in secret. Aniketosi are known to meddle in the affairs of humans, and have endangered revealing themselves because of that many times. They have minimal communication with Squibians, but consider their cousins far too barbaric to be true allies or friends, and have even warred with them in the past. Their cities are usually of stone, and are built entirely submerged in water. The more unique and elaborate cities are built under islands, with direct access to land above. One popular spot is Honolulu, Hawaii, where love is known to blossom, and with ties directly to the Aniketosi.
The king of the Aniketosi is called the Thane, more for the flow of the word than the meaning it holds. To become the Thane of the Aniketosi, a male must first swoon a female by acts of bravery as well as acts of caring and sympathy, but their are other methods of obtaining the throne. Once an Aniketosi has become of age, no matter the gender, they are considered the heirs to the throne, though males are preferred over females. Traditionally, Aniketos of the royal family bloodline are those who have the chance at becoming Thane, but if a previous Thane has no offspring, let alone children who have come of age, then his bretheren may proceed to take the throne. A second way to take the throne is if it is a clan against clan dispute. The aspiring Thane-to-be will challenge the current Thane to a duel to the death, whereas the winner takes the throne. There are several different houses of the royal family - Yukimura, ---, ---, and the most powerful of them all, Demetriou.
In the past the Yukimura clan had been known the most for being land-based, and thus their numbers of actual Aniketosi has dwindled as the genes have faded among the land-locked part of their group. Many of the most recent Yukimura decendents have never, nor will they ever, have a fish tail. This clan holds the majority of the Northern Pacific Ocean.
The --- clan is known for their warriors, fierce and strong. In the cities where their influence is the strongest, they hold annually battles of wit and strength. They hold the Southern Atlantic Ocean as well as the Indian Ocean, and are the largest in number.
The ----- clan is known for their scholars and writers. They are the creators of voodoo and other forms of magic, and hold the Southern Pacific Ocean.
The Demetriou clan is the most powerful and fair clan of them all, having held the title of Thane for over three hundred years. Their territory is the Northern Atlantic Ocean. They have both fierce fighters and well-educated scholars.

Territory: The Aniketos consider enormous amounts of the oceans to be their own property, claiming possession of vast areas of water. However, these waters are not defended in any way whatsoever, save for patrols that watch for aggressive sea monsters, Squibians, etc. This has caused many people to be ignorant of their “ocean-wide kingdom”, and thus the waters near major cities or countries are usually considered the property of the surface-dwellers living there. Aniketos pass through these gray-area waters to deliver their children.

Religion: All Aniketosi worship Naladius, Goddess of Water. A cult called the Sea-Witches leads this faith.

Combat Specialties: Aniketos fight best underwater, obviously. They prefer to use spears or tridents to hold opponents off, and usually employ surround-and-circle tactics when they enter combat. Battalions of Aniketos swim circles around larger opponents and stab at them repeatedly. When facing smaller enemies, such as Squibians, the Aniketos resort to a more direct approach.