An embattled merchant ship

Gliding down the coast, you catch sight of a large ship a fair distance off the coast. Typically it wouldn't be anything interesting. The cliffs give way to smooth coastline a day's flight to the north and a large port city lies in that direction. Often the ships sail close enough to the shore to be spotted. Especially with your vantage point of a few hundred meters in the air. This ship however, was stationary.

It's very likely that it is under attack by something. It's difficult to tell from this distance exactly what is going on. The sea lane is a popular destination for pirates and brigands. It may even be something non-human. It could be another dragon sniffing out the wealth on board, or a group of merfolk. The Water People do not get along well with their land-based cousins.

You turn and begin your trek towards the ship. It may not be a big thing to save the ship and the occupants may not even be grateful, but you have to start somewhere. Flapping your wings, the distance closes between you and the ship. Now it's easy to tell that they are definitely under attack from below. The small silhouettes of figures jumping out of the water and falling into it. It's definitely a merfolk attack.

Merfolk are sea-dwelling humanoid creatures that have the upper body of a human and an aquatic lower body. One might say that they have the lower body of a fish, but that isn't entirely true. Their lower bodies do have a tail fin that allows them to be more agile through the water, but the rest of their tail is more akin to a snake than a fish. This allows them to spend periods of time on land for things such as this.

You take a look at the scene by flying straight over it. There appears to be maybe a dozen humans fighting just as many merfolk on the deck. On top of that, you can guess that there is probably more merfolk under the ship trying to sink it. Since they have gills, it doesn't matter whether the ship stays afloat or not. So probably twelve remaining humans against twenty merfolk.

It would appear that the attackers have the advantage, but the fatal flaw of their kind is apparent as you observe one of them get cut down by a female knight in heavy armor. Her blade cutting right through the coral and shell mesh that they use for armor. Anything heavier would hinder movement in the water, but the light weight of their armor means that they would be hard pressed to pose a legitimate threat to a heavily armored person. Most of the human sailors on the ship are not armored though. With that in mind, you would give either side an even shot.