Tritonids are a sapient race in the Big Blue. Native to Cerulea, Tritonids are an amphibious species. Able to breathe underwater through their skin, and swim quickly due to their tails and webbed appendages, they are naturally gifted hunter-gatherers when under the sea. On land, they are prone to drying out in the sun, so they stick to the shade during the day, and come out in the evenings and at night. Tritonids have pointed teeth, fleshy 'hair' and very slightly translucent flesh
Compared to humans, Tritonids are on average a little shorter, and are not quite as physically strong. However, they are of course much better swimmers. The Tritonid lifespan is a little faster than humans, too.
Tritonid biology is incredibly adaptable, which can be seen in their skin, which is different depending on the environment they live in: Odirian Tritonids have cerulean blue skin due to their open-ocean surroundings, whilst Mawrhasian Tritonids have a yellow-tinged green that reflects the mangrove forest of their home, Mawrhas. Maxehiq Tritonids have obsidian grey and notes of red in their skin due to the volcanic islands nearby, and are notably more heat resistant.
Furthermore, Tritonids have no fixed biological sex, and are able to morph their physiological sex characteristics over time to fit their personal expression of gender; Tritonid children lack any dimorphic features when they hatch, and many go onto prefer androgyny or a non-binary existence rather than committing (or limiting themselves) to being male or female.
Traditionally, Tritonids lived in nomadic tribes that travelled the Blue, with their territories making up the Tritonid Dominion. However, in more recent times, Tritonids have begun to settle down on Statue Islands, as these monoliths transformed into hubs of trade, such as Odir and Maxehiq. Tritonids speak Tritonid and usually Common.
Tritonids are the cousins of the Reef Devils; the ancestors of the Reef Devils were Tritonids exposed to Change for a prolonged period of time, thus mutating to develop fish- and shark-like features. The flexibility of Tritonid biology means that, unlike in other cases where change-burns are severe and mutations unwieldy -- but not passed down between generations -- the Reef Devils were able to evolve into a separate species with tamer and more mundane features that became part of their race's physiology.