To put it simply, Orcans are killer whale mermaids.

Like dolphins they are mammals and must breath air, but they can hold their breath for 30 minutes up to an hour (depending on the individual). They don't have blowholes but they can close up their nose! Since they do breath air and not water, their kingdom is designed to make sure they never drown. (Read how here!)

Since they can't breath water, they can't speak english in water either, so when submerged they use Whalespeak. This special language sounds like the clicks and whistles a dolphin makes, in fact they can even talk to dolphins! They say talking to dolphins is like talking to young children who don't have a big vocabulary yet, and all the dolphins want to do is play and tell jokes.

THE BREATH BLAST

Orcans are feared and respected because of an innate ability they have, the Breath Blast attack. Also called "singing," this is a highly concentrated hypersonic pulse they produce from specially adapted vocal chords, directed through a "lense" in their big round noses. A Breath Blast at point blank range can vibrate the molecules of an object so much that it explodes. (Basically it's a really loud noise that blows stuff up.)

Hard objects like wood, metal, rock, or shell, can easily be reduced to pieces. Softer materials absorb the impact easier, and if it's squishy enough (like a jellyfish) it won't really be affected. Breath Blast attacks are more effective in water, in air they lose range quickly. They are lethal if used at full force directly at someone, but nobody ever likes to do that.

All dolphin species of mermaids can do a version of the Breath Blast, but since other dolphin mermaids have much smaller noses than Orcans do, their attacks aren't nearly as powerful. A Breath Blast attack uses up most of an Orcan's air, so they must surface immediately afterward.

This is why the Orcan Army carries bubblecloths built in to their uniforms.



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