#amphoreus

Phainon currently lives in the underwater city of Okhema, but wasn't born in the ocean. Instead, he was part of a fresh water pod (I like to think Mermaids aren't limited to fresh or salt water) that got killed by a very aggressive invasive especies when be was a kid.

He was the sole survivor of the attack, as he hid himself in a small cave and from it went into an underwater system of tunnels. Eventually he swam into open ocean, being alone for many weeks before a nomad pod found him and took him to Okhema, where after a while his talents brought him before the leader of the city, Aglaea.

Phainon holds deep hatred for this particular invading especies for what it did to him—not to mention it has been taking over more and more territories, and has killed many sea folk. They call it the Black Tide. Now, as an adult, he participates in many expeditions to hunt them down and kill them, so they cannot hurt other people.

As for his looks, I think his tail is long and white. Almost transparent. It reflects light a lot, which makes him very visible in the water, but he over compensates through sheer strength or camouflage. His skin is peppered with subtle golden scales, and he loves taking good care of them or wearing accessories that Aglaea has given him.

When he's over excited—aka very angry—or territorial, the nails on his fingers grow into short claws (this can be done voluntarily too), the scales on his tail slowly turn fully golden, and his usually flowy back fin goes stiff like a long spike. If the situation goes on for long enough, even his hair turns a yellowish shade. It makes him brighter, but also makes him look bigger and more intimidating to potential threats.

A big hobby of his is sunbathing on rocks and priming as he stares at his own reflection.

Another fact is that he loves going to a particular beach, where a river dies into the sea. That is because he says the water reminds him of the one of his homeland. Unfortunately, it's also a place where many careless humans leave webs and things that can trap animals, so everytime he goes there he makes a point to check around and free any animals he sees. It brings him a lot of joy to keep those little guys safe.

Other characters in the AU are:

Aglaea, the leader of the underwater city of Okhema. She's an elegant, golden mermaid who rarely leaves the city. She can extend thread-like tendrils into rocks that allow her to know what is going on through vibrations. Her type of mermaid is blind but uses echolocation.

Castorice is a deep water siren. Her tail glows underwater, and her scales are poisonous. She was kidnapped by another siren pod for many years, who used her unique talents to hunt down humans. Nowadays she's living in Okhema but trying to find her original pod.

Cipher is still a cat hybrid, but she's got a deal going on with Okhema for mutual benefit. They help her get fishes and in exchange she brings them useful things from the surface. She makes a lot of jokes about eating the sea folk, but everyone knows if she ever fought inside the water it'd be game over for her.

Hyacine is a small mermaid meant to camouflage within colorful algae, but similar to Phainon her species was pushed away by the Black Tide. Her colours are light pink and blue, with some ribbonesque fins. She spends a lot of time in the surface with Anaxa. They do research together, but at the cost that she has to spend most of her time in a a hamster ball style sphere.

Anaxa is a human researcher, he's trying to figure out the evolution of humans and sea folk, since he has the theory that they have a common ancestor. It's not been proven yet, but he's so sure he will find the evidence eventually. The current running theory is witchcraft, which he disagrees with.

Mydei is a human who is utterly terrified of water after an accident when he was a kid where he almost drowned. Despite that, he's been spending a lot of time near it lately, as he's been trying to find his late mother's ring, which got lost in the day of the accident. He might find the help he needs soon, when he finds a certain mermaid trapped in a web.

-pink fox

I might? I've not had the creative spur in a while or the mental time, but if people want me to I can definitely post something soon. Maybe, while I'm at it, I'll stop bugging a friend of mine with a mermaid AU I've been thinking about- 🤣🤣🤣

♡ phainon (honkai: star rail) graphic

i made this for a practice fluffle but i really like how it looks, so you guys get to have it too! psd by me (private) taglist!: @castodust @rinabub @vampireaxel