#though that art...

General: “Selkies are seal-like beings that have the ability to change into human form for a few days at a time.” ...A few days? That’s it? What for? In most selkie stories I’ve ever heard about, yes, the selkie does eventually return to her seal form, but it’s more just that she has this innate desire to be free and in the sea, whereas this seems to imply some kind of like...physical limitation? Is this an Animorphs situation? Will the selkie become human permanently if they’re in human form for more than a week? “When in their true, seal-like forms, they are nearly indistinguishable from normal seals. Close inspection of their arms, however, will reveal the presence of slightly webbed hands instead of fore flippers and legs instead of a tapering body and rear flippers.” Yeah, “Close inspection”, my ass. The structure of those grody hands are pretty markedly and immediately distinguished from a regular seal flipper. The only time this guy wouldn’t get weird looks was if the water was murky. And even then, most people who got a good look would be all, “poor dear, it’s got malformed flippers”. And the legs, just... no, that’s pretty much entirely different from a seal’s legs. It gives the body an entirely different profile. The selkies will look like potbellied swimmers in wetsuits from a distance, only for people to think they’re just really misshapen seals for whom every waking moment of life is agony with their accursed limb deformities. And then someone will probably be like, “Oh wait, they’re probably just selkies.” Like I really don’t think this was the best way to go for this creature, guys. You should have given them a regular seal form, and a regular human form; this half-and-half thing they got going on is nothing short of disturbing. And like, there can still be telltale signs in either form that this is no ordinary human/seal, like maybe some kind of special birthmark, or maybe selkies in human form are notably hefty, because the seal blubber doesn’t just disappear when the sealskin comes off, but this ain’t the way I’d go, with the limbs, and...yeesh. “Once a month, each selkie is able to assume human form for about a week. Usually selkies prefer to briefly visit the realm of men (which they call the ‘overworld’) out of curiosity, but sometimes they are ordered to go forth and purchase desperately needed supplies or information.” I’m still weirded out by the timescale provided, here. That doesn’t seem long enough. A week per month? But at least the reasons given for why they go to the surface are certainly reasonable. For fun, when it isn’t for food or information. Simple but not stupid. “When in human form, selkies are very attractive indeed and their fine looks have broken more than a few overworlders’ hearts. Their eyes are particularly noticeable as they are always either a bright emerald green or startling light blue. Since the selkie transformation is not a spell or magical effect, only spells like true seeing will reveal a selkie’s true nature, although their peculiar mannerisms and predilection for seafood also might.” I like this, honestly. Unless you know to look for the eyes, or if they’re really, really not good at blending in with the surface-dwellers, selkies are hard to suss out. Adds an air of mystery when the party’s benefactor only shows up a week every month and insists on holding meetings at the local crab shack. And then someone makes the connection and all the eccentricities click. 

Combat: “Since selkies are unable to swim quickly while carrying weapons, 90% of selkies encountered underwater will be unarmed. They use their sharp teeth whenever they are cornered but prefer to use their impressive speed underwater to escape superior odds. If encountered on land, selkies are wise enough to bear human weapons, most likely swords scavenged from the wrecks of ships.” ...Nothing much to add, really. It’s all fairly sensible. Seriously, selkies are hard to make unlikable, to me.

Habitat/Society: “Selkie communities are divided between male and female, with females usually outnumbering males, as male selkies are he hunter/gatherers throughout the often dangerous waters nearby.” Ugh, I say that and they immediately fall into the same bizarre job dichotomy the centaurs did... “However, both aspects of selkie “community” (domestic and provider) are equally respected within the lair, and no sex is accorded undue privileges.” Oh! Well, that’s good at least. You immediately caught yourselves, selkies. Don’t disappoint me, now. “Selkies inhabit only colder waters and there are both saltwater and freshwater varieties. Selkies almost always build their lairs in water-filled regions--selkie young must be raised in an air-filled environment for about their first year.” Huh! Well that’s...interesting, I suppose? “As mentioned earlier, selkies often find and explore wrecks of sunken treasure. Most selkie communities have hoarded at least some booty (especially pearls), keeping those otherwise useless trinkets only for purposes of trade with the overworld.” This is one of those times where again I’m like “then what the fuck else do they have for currency, unless they have some sort of barter system or communistic command economy type thing going on?” I mean, okay, yeah, a lot of times in an emergency situation when it comes right down to it, money doesn’t *do* anything...but in day-to-day situations, you exchange it for goods and services! How ‘bout that shit! You use it for trade, but it’s otherwise useless? ...Well yeah, guys, it’s money, that is its use. Like, duh. I know you’re trying to make a little bit of a hippy-dippy “they’re like, beyond money, maaaan!” sort of statement, but it comes off to me like you’ve just said “they use money” in the most roundabout way possible. Granted, they only use money with surface-worlders, and that does leave gaping holes in how their society works, but whatever. “Only selkies who have visited the overworld many times have ever acquired a taste for ornamenting themselves like overworlders, and can be distinguished from more traditional selkies immediately. For obvious reasons, these more experienced selkies are often the best representatives to deal with if one is an overworlder. Selkies can be hired and have a limited knowledge of overworlder culture.” Of course, the whole fact that there are more surface-experienced selkies out there, kind of raises the question as to what one of these selkies would do in the fairly-typical-in-the-old-tales scenario where their sealskin was stolen. ...Though, that said, hold on: where are their transformative sealskins? I don’t think I’ve seen anything in this passage that more than vaguely hints in the direction of their traditional, mythological means of going from one form to another. Which is frankly bizarre. Why even have selkies if you’re not going to include the sealskins...? “All magical treasure recovered by selkies is immediately commandeered for the good of the community and the lair’s defense.” Ah, so they at least have some sort of community militia, outfitted with the best salvaged magical loot. Good! This is a good thing. I like it.

Ecology: “Selkies are omnivorous, preferring to eat fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and various forms of seaweed. Those that have visited the surface are often partial to human fare as well. Selkies are particularly suceptible to fine wine, which is to be expected since these intoxicants are unknown below the seas.” I mean I guess that makes sense? I just fear that too much wine will like, get some landlubbers who’ve caught onto the whole selkie society to start economically exploiting the selkies by selling them wine, and... Eh, you see where I’m going. But like I said, it makes sense, to me. “Selkies are sensitive about their environment and harvest only what they need to survive. It is worth noting that selkie representatives lobby heavily whenever local overworlder environmental issues threaten selkie existence. Most selkie communities have learned the value of dropping a few pearls here and there in order to get what they want from men.” Well, they’re a cut above the centaurs by actually trying to actively influence human environmental policy through financial incentives. Being the change they want to see in the world, and all that. “While selkies in human form are quite beautiful, they are fortunate indeed that their pelts have little value in overworlder markets. They are, therefore, without any special enemies besides those common to seals and all ocean-dwelling beings.” ...Huh. You know, it’s weird, but I think that is the first, last, and only mention of the whole selkie pelt thing, and even then the fact that its tied to their transformation is only implied. So if you had no idea what a selkie was coming into this, I guess you’re going to be a tad confused where this note about the pelt is even coming from.  Also is this meant to be a subversion of the common selkie narrative of “selkie in human form gets stuck that way when some prick takes her pelt and forces her to marry him” thing? Like “Oh, uh, seal pelts aren’t worth much, so, uh, you don’t gotta worry, or nothing.” It’s weird.

Selkie, Leader: “Each venerable leader of a selkie community can cast the following spells once per day, one spell per round: augury, cure light wounds, and cure disease. Leaders can also cast weather summoning and control weather once per week. Selkies fear the wrath of the sea should they ever use their powers for ill.” ...Wait, all selkies need to do to get these spells is to...get old? Or do they need to both be old and be generally accepted as a leader of their community? I do like the sort of ominous warning at the end there. It almost implies like, a wrathful sea god, or something, who will totally Odyssey you for a decade if you screw with him.