The raela are friendly creatures by nature, but will poison on the command of a friend, usually a mer. They were created by one of the four legendary Creator mages of ancient times. Raela have the intelligence of a telepathic pet, though no way to communicate. Not wanting to tamper too much with the original creature and create something like the sijaer again, the Creator mage increased a ray's intelligence and gave it a poison-barbed tail -- paralyzing or deadly by the ray's choice.