Vatea

The Fish Bearer: The mer know this ancestral figure as the male “Fish Father,” Vatea. The [Rokea] call the Incarna the female [Kun], the “Mother of Fishes.” These are only two of the entity’s faces; this legendary figure is allegedly capable of quickly changing its mind, its shape, its gender and its location. The Fish Bearer is, as tales have it, constantly attended by a haze of millions of its children. It is commonly depicted as a huge fish which combines aspects of many of its children (pufferfish scales, lionfish fins, eel tail, shark teeth, etc.). Some mer claim that Vatea has human legs; this is an idea that bothers all of the mer — such a thing would imply a certain alienation between themselves and their spiritual father. The Rokea affirm no such thing; Kun is simply the incarnation and mother of all bony fishes, and has nothing to do with the creatures of Unsea.