Almost all mermen breathe only air. Why?

[davecake]

On a different tangent:

This article http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/humpback-whales-around-globe-are-mysteriously-rescuing-animals-orcas

makes me want to include something similar in Glorantha, and extend it to enmity between the (human serving, and dragon related) Cult of the Orca, and other cetaceans with their deep connections to the sea gods. 

(FWIW, I have no issue at all with the Orca cult being Tholaina related tradition, shamanic or otherwise, and/or having a hsunchen connection - but they've never seemed strongly connected to the core sea pantheon to me). 

[Sir_Godspeed]

This is a pretty old thread, so forgive me for threadomancy, but I was wondering regarding the accumulation of air under the seas: is there any noted interaction between Triolini and Blue Elves? The Aldryami pantheon and mythology we see is heavily land-biased, but presumably water-based plants have been around for nearly as long. Would it be possible for them to be "oxygen traders" for underwater settlements?

[Akhôrahil]

On 4/27/2016 at 11:27 AM, soltakss said:

I thought the Piscoi breathe water and the Cetoi breathe air.

 

Yeah, this is what one would naturally think, I believe. I've always felt it weird that this is not how it works, and that fish-mermen breathe air.

[Joerg]

3 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

This is a pretty old thread, so forgive me for threadomancy, but I was wondering regarding the accumulation of air under the seas: is there any noted interaction between Triolini and Blue Elves? The Aldryami pantheon and mythology we see is heavily land-biased, but presumably water-based plants have been around for nearly as long. Would it be possible for them to be "oxygen traders" for underwater settlements?

Just like I think that pure elemental water would be isotonic (i.e. drinkable but fairly salty), pure elemental air is breathable. Both are in motion.

Respiration takes some of the motion out of the air. So does fire, or tapping.

It might be argued that plants take fire and reanimate stale air in the process. In that case, algae might be able to animate air.

Water-breathers would take motion out of the water.

There might be some way to transfer motion from the sea to the air bubbles, too (simulating the exchange of dissolved gases).