Axolotian

The axolotian is a species with a humanoid body, whilst having defining features of an axolotl. They can be seen with gills on the sides of their heads, small facial features, and varying skin colours, ranging from vibrant colours such as purple, blue and yellow to moody and dirty colours like and brown. There are currently two known kinds of axolotians, Neo-Axolotians (descended from Proto-Axolotians) and Modern-Axolotians. While Neo-Axolotians are able to reproduce, there hasn't been any discovery of young Modern-Axolotians as the creation process of Modern-Axolotians always produces mature axolotians.

Axolotians are seldom seen anywhere. Neo-Axolotians live in groups deep in the ocean, being isolated from any other civilizations, while Modern-Axolotians are sometimes spotted wandering in the wild, adapting to solitary and nomadic lifestyles. Tents left by Modern-Axolotians are commonly found in forests. Although quite rare, there have been verified cases of Modern-Axolotians joining and assimilating into Rathnir and Eldham societies.

Although sharing numerous similarities to the Merfolk species, Axolotians are regarded as a different species from Merfolks, due to their vastly different origins.

Origin
The origins of the Axolotians race are known and verified to be artificial. According to Ripley, the most famous Axolotian in Rathnir, he was created by a human who he simply refers to as "The Professor", though he did not provide any physical descriptions of the mysterious entity. This claim is further supported by travellers discovering scientific papers and instruments in a huge lush cave, with aquifers populated by axolotls.

Discovery
The Professor was obsessed with life, and the secrets to it. This obsession sent him on a quest, seeking immortality. On his adventures, he was led to a far off land, with giant caves, and large mountains. Whilst exploring this strange land, he came across a giant cave system, with moss, and other intriguing plant life inside of it. Residing in the aquifers of the cave system, were peculiar amphibians called axolotls.

Experimenting
Intrigued by these odd animals, he set up a temporary research bench in the cave to research the animal's traits. After discovering that axolotls had incredible regenerative abilities, The Professor hypothesised that he could use the axolotl cells for technical immortality. He extracted the regenerative cells of the axolotls and injected it into his body. However, after some painful experimentations, The Professor found out that he was incompatible with the axolotl cells. He came up with an idea; If they aren't compatible with humans, what if he made them humans? The thought behind the reasoning is that, while two completely different species might be incompatible with each other, making a species that share similar properties can bridge this gap in compatability.

With this theory, he gathered a handful of the axolotls and journeyed all the way back to his lab. He bred the axolotls as not to run out of subjects. Armed with extensive knowledge on biology and magic, alongside the newly gleaned information from research the on axolotls, he induced metamorphosis in them, creating his first iteration of humanoid axolotls, called Proto Axolotians.

Proto-Axolotians
The first batch of Axolotians, named the Proto-Axolotians, had several complications making them unfit for the professor's needs. The most notable issue was that the regeneration of the Proto-Axolotians took four times as long to fully complete compared to the normal axolotls. Although this was not considered an issue at first, The Professor soon realised that the Proto-Axolotians' nerve endings would regenerate first, causing them great agony. Another major issue was the feet of the Proto-Axolotians produced a strange, slimey substance that reduced their mobility on land. The Proto-Axolotians also had troubles adapting to bipedal movement. Despite having relatively longer limbs compared to axolotls, Proto-Axolotians were only triple the size of normal adult axolotls (3 feet/90 cm). Finally their diet was not versatile enough. Something must have gone wrong in the metamorphosis causing them to be uncapable of absorbing nutrients from meat. This forced them to adapt to herbivorous diets. Fortunately, the Proto-Axolotians yielded substantial results in dexterity, intelligence and stamina experiments, making them a vital stepping stone in The Professor's success with the Modern Axolotians.

Seeing as his first metamorphosis experiment wasn't successful, The Professor released these Proto-Axolotians to the wild. Most of the Proto-Axolotians were unfortunately unable to survive, but the handful that showed more resilience moved to the oceans for a better chance at life.

Modern-Axolotians
Although the first batch of metamorphosised axolotls did not produce satisfying results, The Professor did not give up and was determined to fix the issues. After a close analysis of his mistakes and much more research on axolotls, The Professor had found the perfect way to produce a near-perfect axolotl-humanoid creature. Many sleep deprived days later, The Professor finally created his second iteration of Axolotians, which he regarded as perfect. Having a pair of lungs, 3 pair of gills, extended limbs, making them lanky in appearence, yet capable of graceful quadrapedal and bipedal movement, human-like intelligence, incredible dexterity,long lasting stamina, and topped off with phenominally rapid regeneration. The Professor had succesfully bioengineered an effective axolotl-humanoid species. However, this experimentation had one fatal flaw; despite the axolotians having distinct genders/sexes, the Axolotians could not reproduce. The Professor, worrying about the potential harm these comeplete axolotians could cause to the environment if gone unchecked, made them unable to reproduce, in order to control their population. From the second batch onwards, the complete axolotians would be called Modern-Axolotians.

The Professor had one last goal; extract the regeneration cells and inject it. And that he did, successfully. Although it didn't give him immortality, it gave him insane regenaration that could heal any wounds, including damaged organs and all kinds of tissue, astonishingly quickly. This made him practically impossible to die from old age. However, he noted that the effect wouldn't last forever. He noticed this when a few thousand years after his first injection, he got a papercut which did not heal at the swift rate he had grown used to. Therefore, every few thousand years, he would take another handful of axolotls, and metamorphosize them into axolotians, gathering their regenerative cells to keep himself alive and continue his experiments and research.

In his most recent batch of axolotians, there was a pink one. Not unusual by itself, since pink is the most common color of Axolotian, but this one appeared to mentally develop faster than the others. As this handful of young axolotians set out to live their lives, The Professor noticed how after the exceptional pink one left, his brown hat was gone... Who knows what has become of him...

Proto-Axolotians
The Professor's first attempt at creating a humanoid axolotl creature. A project that did not produce the optimal results. Being left to fend for themselves, they were in danger of dying out, since they were not adapting to the outside world. The surviving Protos traveled to the ocean, being phased out as they evolved into Neo-Axolotians.

Neo-Axolotians
Not much is known about Neo-Axolotians, as information regarding the species is scarce. The only known credible sources are from Berry, one of Epi's personalities, and recovered records from the ruins of Axolopolis. Although Axolopolis records has suggested the existence of other Neo-Axolotians civilizations, no other settlements, save for Axolopolis, have been found. The following paragraphs are a mixture of Berry's statements and foundings from the ruins of Axolopolis.

Evolving from Proto-Axolotians that adapted to survival, Neo-Axolotians are axolotians that adapted to underwater conditions and developed their own advanced civilaztion, isolated from any other species. Measuring around 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall when fully matured, Neos are much smaller compared to their Modern counterpart, but are naturally stronger. This is due to the underwater pressure exerted on their bodies, which newer generations of Neos naturally adapt to. Their bodies are also leaner compared to Modern-Axolotians, due to their herbivorous diets preventing any additional protein entering the body. Despite their ancestors having difficulty to traverse on 2 legs, Neo-Axolotians are fully capable of both bipedal and quadrepedal movement, though they require special footwear to prevent their feet from producing any slimey substances. Their regenarative abilities have also improved compared to their ancestors, however it is only on par with normal axolotls.

Neo-Axolotians settlements are believed to only be found between the depths of 50 meters to 180 meters underwater, with Axolopolis found near 140 meters underwater. This is due to sunlight rarely reaching 200 meters underwater. Sunlight is an important factor in Neo-Axolotians civilizations, as it allows for a sustainable food source through farming. Living in groups, the number of inhabitants in a settlement averages to around 60 axolotian per settlement, with Axolopolis having 200 citizens in the past. Evidence of this claim can be found in an Axolopolis record, detailing about cities and their population.

Modern-Axolotians
Known as the perfect axolotians, since they are the most advanced. they are usually slightly taller and leaner than an average human, usually being over 6' tall Modern-Axolotians can be found wandering around the wild, most of the time by themselves, with rare occasions of them integrating into society in Rathnir and Eldham.

Abilites
The most basic of their strengths is their enhanced physical aptitude. They are faster, tougher, and stronger than humans. They also have a fine sense of smell, with that sense being the primary one used in hunting. The predatory instincts of the axolotl have translated into the axolotians as well. This instinct makes axolotians competent fighters even without training, though it can make them more violent. The Axolotians can also breath underwater, due to them being derived from an aquatic animal. Their final and greatest ability, as mentioned before, is their incredible regenerative capabilites, that can extend their lives indefinitely. Their regeneration is much more powerful than a normal axolotl. When it would take weeks for an axolotl to regenerate a limb such as a leg, simply takes an axolotian a matter of hours to days.

Weaknesses
The Modern-Axolotians cannot reproduce. The only way that their population increases is every few thousand years, when more axolotls metamorphosize into axolotians, which can be a liability to the survival of the species, if the way they are produced is ever threatened in any way. Another weakness is that although the axolotian has a healing factor that makes it practically immortal, there are ways to kill them. The only known two are if they ingest alcohol, which is known to counteract their regenerative properties, and why Ripley does not drink despite owning a bar. The second known method to severely injure or kill them is to use fire, which the Axolotian appears to be more susceptable to than most beings.