To landlocked mortals the merfolk are mysterious and strange at best and nothing more than fanciful legends those far from the coasts. Living in vast cities deep down in the ocean where light doesn't reach, most merfolk have never visited the coasts, much less walked on dry land. Their primary interactions with other cultures is trading with the selkie and any merchant ships that pass through their waters. The few mortals that have managed to visit their cities have all remarked on how stunning they were in the grandeur and beauty, composed of colorful corals, shining stonework, and mother-of-pearl. Every passageway is filled with song, and everywhere you would look finely crafted sculptures and artwork adorned every wall, nook, and pedastal.

Merfolk value art and song above all things, with every citizen dedicating a portion of each day to pursue their favorite creative passions. On holy days, the entire populace of a city will stop whatever they are doing and come together in song at specified times, though how they are able to track time without the sun is unknown to other mortal kin. As a whole they are vegetarians, feasting on the wide varieties of kelp, sea grasses, and algae. Although they are known to supplement their diet with small crustaceans and sea sponges.