You'd think that Sirens are pretty things that sit on rocks and sing with the mouths of beautiful women but you'd be so very wrong. They're nothing human in them whatsoever, unless you count their last meal in which case there's plenty human in them and they're always eager for more.
They're closer related to eels and sea serpents than anything humanoid and it shows in their mile long tails, the thick ridges along their spines and the glass-like rows of teeth they hide behind thick, fleshy lips. They are perfectly evolved to mimic human speech, preferring the soothing repetition of sea shanties to actual conversations.
That's how you catch them out, should you hear a gentle voice singing to you from somewhere out in the sea fog, ask them a question - anything at all. Now a person would stop singing to answer but a Siren starts moving in closer, honing into your location and settling just beneath your vessel, all coiled up and ready to strike.
Nothing quite prepares you for the end of their song, when that final haunting note fades and you peer over the edge of your ship to see them unhinging their jaw. Their head alone is thrice the size of a man's torso and mottled dark like the depths of the sea herself with eyes that look all to human and inhuman all at once.
If there's an intelligence behind those eyes, I've yet to hear of it.
If there's a heart behind those beautiful songs, I've yet to see it.
They're closer related to eels and sea serpents than anything humanoid and it shows in their mile long tails, the thick ridges along their spines and the glass-like rows of teeth they hide behind thick, fleshy lips. They are perfectly evolved to mimic human speech, preferring the soothing repetition of sea shanties to actual conversations.
That's how you catch them out, should you hear a gentle voice singing to you from somewhere out in the sea fog, ask them a question - anything at all. Now a person would stop singing to answer but a Siren starts moving in closer, honing into your location and settling just beneath your vessel, all coiled up and ready to strike.
Nothing quite prepares you for the end of their song, when that final haunting note fades and you peer over the edge of your ship to see them unhinging their jaw. Their head alone is thrice the size of a man's torso and mottled dark like the depths of the sea herself with eyes that look all to human and inhuman all at once.
If there's an intelligence behind those eyes, I've yet to hear of it.
If there's a heart behind those beautiful songs, I've yet to see it.
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