Aquatic Compendium

[Creete]

Aquatic Compendium



The Hospitable

• Outside background flavor, these creatures can only be used in player events with OOC consent or by ET.
  
• Things made from them can be at best of the quality of basic mundane materials like wool, bone, leather, wood, cloth, and so on. Harvested poisons will degrade to giving nausea for 2 emotes when ingested or exposed to blood.
  
• These creatures cannot be tamed or domesticated by players unless otherwise stated.
  

Ruby Salmon



Ruby salmon are a prized if relatively common fish which dominates most rivers and lakes in the world, known for their large boney heads which they use to ram into rivals and predators alike. This species of salmon bears a lustrous ruby color, its alchemically significant fins glittering like gems when exposed to the light. Its bones are dense and useful for tools while its meat bears a fruit-like sweetness.


These fish migrate constantly between salty and fresh waters to reproduce, sometimes rare and other times forming waves of dangerous red bodies through congested waterways. 



Rune-Eye Whale



Relatively small whales, the humble Rune-Eyes are among the most intelligent of their kin. They possess glowing eyes which encrust their rocky black and white scales, lit by the glowing blood which flows behind them. Rune-Eye’s are capable of communicating with other intelligent water life through telepathy, and have been known to assist such beings in times of need.


Growing between fifteen to thirty feet long, these whales persist entirely off driftwood and kelp which they find in their homes between the coast and the open ocean. While generally peaceful, they possess highly explosive oils (unharvestable by contemporary methods) which lets them produce detonation wails that can disable or kill those unfortunate to target them.



Plish



Plish are peaceful and friendly amphibians with a suspiciously goat-like appearance. These dog sized creatures have large horns which ward off predators as they use long tongues to dig grass and kelp from sand in their beach or shallow homes. Plish are capable of breathing on land and underwater, though some frigid variants have lost the ability to breath in the water.


These amphibians are covered in a thick coat of hydrophobic wool which lets them regulate their body temperature, though it possesses the unfortunate property of causing them to adhere together while in the water. They must return to land to free themselves, usually taking some time.


Plish can be domesticated.



Opal Horse



Opal Horses are common in places with clear and calm weather, being horse-sized fish similar to sea-horses. They are normally much more swift compared to their cousins as they can cut through water with impressive speed that makes them prized as mounts.


Their scales bear an opalescent shine, which let show off as they dance under the light of the full moon. From their head emerges a single horn which can be powdered into a minor antitoxin, though it is primarily used to ward off predators. These are proud creatures, but generally peaceful unless they are disrespected or provoked.


Opal horses can be domesticated.



Giant Anemone

Used as housing by the Sea Blessed of the past, giant anemone are massive house sized creatures which burrow most of their body deep in the ocean floor. They bear the same remarkable regeneration of their smaller kin, able to regenerate from small scraps of flesh. They similarly bear a potent neurotoxin to their tendrils which paralyzes things unfortunate enough to make contact with them. They come in an innumerable degree of shapes and colors.


While dangerous, intelligent aquatic life can pacify certain varieties of them for use as shelter, the tendrils not stinging them and the crops remaining solid enough to live within so long as the creature is fed. Though they are unable to be uprooted, sea elves have been known to remove sections from the creature to regrow them in new locations.



Astral Jelly

Common and peaceful, astral jellys can be seen floating in and out of the water in nearly every part of the world. They are non-toxic unlike most of their relatives, using their tendrils to snare small crustaceans or kelp from the water. They produce a glowing slime with pinpricks of brighter light, not unlike the night sky.


These creatures always move in groups if they can, anywhere from three to fifty, and range from the size of a dog to a small bear. While not suitable for consumption, their slime can be repurposed as paint or a water-resistant adhesive.



Krabb

The Krabb is a small species of crab with fuzzy underbellies and bright chitin that comes in every hue. Not particularly monstrous or violent, these creatures persist in shallow sandy waters by digging clams and snails out of the sediment.


When these active crabs are pent up with energy or threatened, they will produce colorful or iridescent bubbles from their mandible-less maws made of a surprisingly durable slimy membrane. While useful as balls wholesale, they can be cut apart and stitched together into a translucent sort of fabric.


Krabb can be domesticated.



Lake Beast



A deadly creature of fresh waters, the lake beast can be found most often in the still waters of large lakes, but can also be found in rivers, marshes, or bays where the water is fresh or brackish. These are closely related to snakes, save for bearing far more fangs and two sets of long scaled flippers. Their scales are smooth and slim, making their hide appear whale-like. They are capable of holding their breath for three to five hours depending on their age.


Lake beasts possess glands at the base of their neck which produces a potent burning venom to wound prey connected to each of their many fangs. While they have a stronger bite force than most snakes, they are less effective against dense armors. Should they be faced with something they cannot bite through, they are known to use their paddles to generate currents that can topple vessels or suck the unfortunate beneath the surface. These creatures are generally solitary, though occasionally hunt in pods of two or three.



Shale Grouper



Shale groupers are impressively large fish that are considered by many to be the tigers of the open sea. Ranging from the size of a person to that of an elephant, they have massive jaws lined in obsidian shards that can chop through metal armor with consistent use, let alone exposed flesh.


Their scales are similarly made of a rocky material which shrugs off most attacks, making attempts to hunt them without specialized tools a fool's errand. These creatures generally move in groups of two or three, though will split off to hunt on their own.



Tide Drake

Tide drakes dominate areas with high tidal activity, soaring across wide stretches of coast as they scavenge for prey beached by the tides. Ranging from the size of a horse to that of an elephant, these beasts are surprisingly silent fliers for their size due to the soft membranes of their wings. Like all drakes, the tide drake has a draconic appearance, but is not a true dragon.


Should they engage in conflict, they are capable of spitting bolts or sprays of venom which cause extreme fever, desiccation, and blindness should they make contact with the skin of an individual. Tide drakes are solitary, engaging in fierce territorial battles should they ever cross paths with one of their kin. Only at the meeting of two equally matched drakes will they mate.



Visch

Not related to kobolds of the seas, the primitive humanoid fish known as Visch range anywhere from two to eight feet tall, resembling deep-sea fish most closely. They are even less suited to life on land than most sea kobolds, only able to walk upon land for an hour at a time and unable to speak through anything but with other aquatic life through oceanic telepathy.


Visch are capable of using and creating simple tools and weapons should their boney teeth and claws be insufficient. In greater numbers they are also capable of exerting a limited degree of control over less intelligent aquatic life, bending them to the will of the swarm. While visually imposing, each group is different. Some are relatively peaceful and artistic, while others can be extremely brutal.



Brook Ambusher

The dreaded brook ambusher is a species of giant worm known to reach lengths of ten to thirty feet long, its maw filled with a complex system of jaws and fangs which it uses to capture land-born prey.


The creature prefers solitary ambush tactics, using its ability to transform into a current of murky water to hide in muddy soil or shallow brooks or rivers. It remains until an unsuspecting traveler makes their way close, after which it lunges out to snatch them with lighting speed. Each of their many fangs possesses channels to draw blood from those caught within, quickly draining their vitality should they not be saved.



Mud Shrimp

A species of relatively rare aquatic insect, the mud “shrimp” can often be found burrowed in the murky floors of rivers, swamps, and lakes. The creature bears a shiny, copper like chitin which shrouds its wolf to bear sized frame, and a pair of long jaws which let it snap at enemies from a few meters away. It looks remarkably like a brine shrimp, despite not being closely related.


When further threatened, the creature can suck in water to heat within specialized organs within its abdomens, which it soon releases from its maw in a long spray of boiling water. The creature itself is also notably impervious to burns, though this property is lost soon after its death.

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Large Creatures

• Usable only by ET.
  
• The quality of materials repurposed from these creatures is up to their discretion, but it should not supersede what is otherwise possible for them to obtain.
  
• These creatures cannot be tamed or domesticated by players.
  

Tempest Serpent



Among the rarer of sea serpents, the tempest serpent gets its name through its ability to cause localized storms around them. These impressive beasts can reach sizes of thirty to two hundred feet long. They are cruel and solitary, producing an egg on their own once every hundred years which they promptly abandon. They are rather intelligent, and possess the same oceanic telepathy of most aware sea life.


In conflict, they can exhale a continuous stream of electricity which burns and ignites things struck. Their glowing blood is conductive, causing those doused in it to experience increased severity from its electrical attacks. Scholars of the waves suspect the serpents developed these powers to shoot down flying creatures, but in recent times it is far more likely to use them on wayward boats.



Sefisch





Selfisch are the matrons of the Visch, appearing as vaguely humanoid jellyfish of ten to fifteen feet in length. These beings are mysterious, known to manipulate their visch kin to their own ends with their immensely superior telepathy and intelligence. They can even speak to land-born life with this telepathy, though such will quickly induce painful migraine in the target.


These beings can create and manipulate currents of toxic water from their body, causing burns to the skin while also mimicking the poisons of some aquatic lifeform the Selfisch has awareness of. They can similarly possess potency in arcane, elemental, or dark magics, making them unpredictable foes.



Brine Kraken

Feared yet often unseen, the brine kraken is an intelligent aquatic lifeform which comes in numerous forms. Though never smaller than a whale, they appear as random amalgamations of cephalopod and crustacean characteristics. One brine kraken might appear like a giant hideous squid while another might seem like a chitinous worm with countless tentacles sprouting from its maw. They are capable of oceanic telepathy.


The body of the kraken is covered in a thick glowing mucus which seeps into the surrounding water, causing temporary warping of flesh into hampouring aquatic forms, such as limbs getting locked up by chitinous plates, when touching said skin. Outside its immense strength it can form whirlpools through the winding of its body and master arcane, elemental, and dark magics.


Sky Thresher

Debatably not an aquatic organism, the great rays known as Sky Threshers rarely return to the waves after they are born. These roc-like manta rays reach the size of moderate whales, possessing lengths and widths upwards of forty feet in length at adulthood. They come in a wide variety of cool or rocky colors. They prefer to hunt by flying just above the water, scooping up schools of small fish which wander to the surface.


While distant, should they be brought into a fight one would find their tails and wings covered in razor sharp scales which it can whip around with wild abandon. They are also capable of producing a powerful suction from their maw, to the point they can make an area temporarily unsuitable for breath. It uses this breath primarily to suffocate fish it catches, though it is also useful as a means of self-defense. At the end of their tail is a thin spin which, when stuck into flesh, causes fast-acting necrosis in the afflicted area.



Spined Serpent

One of the most common varieties of sea serpent, the spined serpent can reach a respectable thirty to eighty feet long in their homes in the open ocean. Despite not being the largest creature in their home, the serpent is mostly left alone due to the rocky spine which cuts at creatures which try to grapple it.


The serpents have specialized long teeth designed to trap fish from their schools as they dart speedily into them. While the beast has glassy, sightless eyes, it is still capable of sensing light, sound, and blood with surprising sensitivity. Their spines make them particularly dangerous to naval vessels, but their lack of interest in animals outside the water spares most sailors.


Dread Hwael

The Dread hwael is among the most feared creatures by the peoples of the waves due to its uncanny ability to sense mental activity, the eyeless monstrosity primarily feeds on intelligent life like Rune-Eyes. The whale can range from thirty to eighty feet long, bearing crystalline teeth designed to ensnare smaller creatures in their jaws or puncture through the often dense hides of larger ones. Hwael have a disgusting translucent skin which shows much of their organs in their underbelly.


While eyeless, the whale possesses a magically born ability to sense mental activity in organisms, with more intelligent creatures appearing more obvious to the creature. In conflict, they can further utilize this to produce a psionic shriek that induces painful migraine in nearby intelligent life. Additionally their stomach acid bears toxic properties which they can weaponize by releasing it in horrid mist from their maw, causing first degree burns and progressive muscle atrophy in contact.



Grandshell

Distantly related to the tiny krabb, a grandshell is an imposing species of crustacean which reaches sizes between that of a bear to a small whale. These immense creatures lay in wait within loose sediments, disguising themselves with an impressive ability to transmute their shell until a suitable target passes by.


Outside their pointed legs and massive crushing claws, the grandshell has some elemental connection They can manipulate sediments around them to a minor degree, such as turning sand to quicksand, gravel to tar, or dirt to mud. These let it trap creatures which wander too close, or slow them enough for their massive but slow claws.  They are vulnerable to electrical burns, which cause muscles to rupture when damaged.