Fauna, Companions & Familiars

The ocean of Nereidum teems with life that the Nereids regard as kin, neighbors, and partners rather than as resources to be harvested. This philosophical stance has practical consequences: Nereid ecological law prohibits the hunting or trapping of any species without Ministry of Undersea Resources authorization, and certain species enjoy absolute protection under Pearl Court decree.

Tidal Dolphins are the most culturally significant animal companions in Nereid civilization. These highly intelligent cetaceans have coexisted with Nereids for as long as any song-cycle records, and a subset of them, the Trained Tide-Mounts, have been raised in partnership with Coral Guard riders for generations. The Current Riders of the Coral Guard, mounted on Trained Tide-Mounts, are celebrated figures in popular culture — swift, daring, and embodying the Nereid ideal of moving with the ocean rather than against it. Tidal Dolphins are never owned; they choose their partnerships and may dissolve them at will.

Deep-Sea Cephalopods of several species are maintained in dedicated reef enclosures near Coral Guard facilities. These creatures produce the ink-cloud grenades used in Coral Guard defensive tactics — a non-lethal disorientation weapon derived from natural cephalopod defense mechanisms. The Nereids consider the use of these creatures' natural products a form of partnership, compensating them with enriched feeding environments and protection from deep predators.

Bioluminescent Coral Guardians are not animals in the conventional sense but vast colonial organisms — living coral formations of extraordinary size that the Nereids have over centuries encouraged to grow into forms that serve simultaneously as architecture, ecological habitat, and passive defense systems. Their patterns of light serve as early warning systems for environmental and magical disturbances.

Abyssal Serpents inhabit the deepest trenches and are regarded with religious reverence as manifestations of the ocean's ancient primal force. They are never hunted or interfered with; encounters with them are treated as omens requiring interpretation by senior Tide-Readers.