Mira

The Mira are one of the Eight races, created by Water.

Mira are typically peaceful and graceful, tending towards being healers over warriors. Many races envy their natural beauty. They are an amphibious race.

Biology
The average Mira stands around 6' tall and weighs ~90lb. The typical Mira will die at an age of around 150 from relatively simple wounds. However, it is not unknown for a Mira to live up to 500 years, as they seem highly resistant to death from old age whilst still vunerable to it's effects. They are very thinly built and possess a very similar body structure to the elves. Their skin is usually pale, but can take almost any shade, from greens to reds. Each individual has a unique pattern of fish scale like patches on their bodies, which are a far more vibrant shade than their skin, and usually the same colour - though not always. Their 'hair' is long and to a degree prehensile - whilst it resembles human hair it is biologically more like very fine tentacles. It can take any colour also, and is quite often a different colour to the skin. They possess pointed ears from the tip of which hangs a small tuft of their 'hair' which is particularly sensitive to touch and allows them to easily sense currents when underwater. Their eyes are large, to cope with the lower light levels in the deeps. Along the sides of their necks there is a pair of gills, each with three flaps, in addition to the usual lungs. Their hands and feet are webbed, completely for the feet but only up to the first joint on their hands.

Mira are naturally graceful creatures, moving with fluid ease both above and below the water. They have a higher base level of beauty as percieved by the other races than those others, but often disregard such factors when choosing partners. Their bodies however are suprisingly fragile for creatures that can withstand the pressures of the ocean depths, as a large amount of their tissue is actually saturated with water, which lets them remain neutrally bouyant as well as reducing the compressibility of their tissues.

Culture
Mira are a peaceful race almost unanimously, and as such have no need of a governing body. They naturally gather in aquatic villages of anywhere between 20 to 2000 individuals, where population tends to peak at a depth of around 75m.

Mira are very trusting of others, although encounters with other races have tainted this somewhat. they are almost completely pacifist, and prefer to retreat back beneath the waves rather than face conflict. However, some Mira are less inclined to do so, and occupy the roles healers, whilst some few become warriors. these few are charged with defending their villages from attacks by those few threats that can follow them between the land and the sea. Those that tire of this lifestyle often become adventurers, as the Mira lifestyle offers little in the way of bloodshed.