Semitropical Ocean

Simple aquatic creatures shunned by landwalkers and undersea folk alike, locathahs live in tight-knit communities scattered throughout the world’s seas, lakes. and waterways. Locathahs possess scaly ochre skin tinged with green and yellow. Ridged, rust-colored skin covers their chests and stomachs, and a mottled wash of green, brown, and orange colors their fins like aging kelp. Locathahs exude a strong fishy odor when above water that, in addition to their already unnerving appearance, repulses most land-dwellers. Despite this animosity, locathahs go to great lengths to befriend surface folk, offering safe passage through the waters, pointing out dangerous reefs, and hinting at sunken treasures in return for durable ceramics and metal tools and weapons, as well as tubers, which they view as a delicacy. These creatures dislike combat and flee when disarmed or outnumbered. Locathahs hold community in the highest regard, never leaving a friend behind and often going to great lengths to retrieve a fallen companion. Among their own kind and races friendly toward them, locathahs are social creatures who live a very human-like, albeit simple, lifestyle. Locathahs work in stone, coral, and bone to produce the crude implements they use. Some take coral work to obsessive levels, with certain clans taking generations to grow their preferred medium in its desired form before carving it. They feed on crustaceans, undersea plants, and shellfish, and rarely on large fish that are caught during ritualized hunts. Locathah matriarchs serve their undersea tribes not only as chieftains, but also as the primary egg layers of the community. Each adult member of the tribe is responsible for raising a single young locathah as his or her own. Locathahs tame moray eels, keeping them near their lairs as humans keep dogs. Some locathah soldiers and hunting groups use giant moray eels as mounts, chasing down their quarry and attacking with narrow-tipped spears. More powerful aquatic races use locathahs as slaves, abducting breeding matriarchs to produce a constant wave of new workers. Locathahs stand roughly as tall as humans, yet their fins jut out, giving them an imposing stature. Lean and strong, locathahs weigh roughly 160 pounds.

Known as sea scorpions, eurypterids lash out at anything that might be food and are single-minded in their pursuit once they’ve tasted prey. Most eurypterids are capable of scuttling around on land and can exist out of water indefinitely. Unlike rats, eurypterids don’t spread disease or cause much damage to most cargo, traits that have led some captains to experiment with putting eurypterids in their holds to keep rodent populations under control. Alas, one can often tell the ships that employ this tactic by the unusually high number of crew members with missing fingers.

The echeneis is a magical fish known to sailors in many parts of the world as a major pest due to its theft of speed from boats and large, swimming creatures alike. It ranges across large stretches of water, stopping every few hours to feed and sap velocity from large boats, sharks, whales, and other hosts that might overlook it. Although native to warm waters, echeneises sometimes follow trade vessels elsewhere. Because echeneises prefer murky shallows, sailors rarely notice one before it begins to slow a vessel. The sharp and sturdy spines atop the creatures’ backs scrape the hulls of ships to which they are attached, so sailors lament both the short-term inconvenience and the long-term damage caused by these pests. Old boats with hundreds of scrape marks on their bottoms garner reputations as cursed, and their captains face a serious stigma when trying to recruit crews. It is true that some ships draw echeneises more than others, but apart from the ship’s size there is no indication as to what else might attract the creatures.  Like the remoras they resemble, echeneises are scavengers. However, they are aggressive and often retaliate when knocked off of creatures or vessels. In combat, echeneises attach themselves to enemies to slow them down while flailing with their tails against anyone attempting to remove them. If badly injured while attached, an echeneis releases its victim and uses the speed it has stolen to quickly escape.  An echeneis averages over 3 feet in length and weighs at least 12 pounds.

Giant sea urchins are predators of opportunity that wait for the tide to carry prey within reach of their attacks.  

Ravenous and cruel, the sahuagin are, unfortunately, among the most prosperous oceanic races. Great cities raised by these creatures darken the deep ocean trenches, and many are the near-coastal fortresses where they launch endless raids against their air-breathing enemies who dwell in close proximity to the shore. Warlike and proud, the sahuagin rarely ally with others, and view most other aquatic races such as the aboleths, the merfolk, and their ilk as competitors. The only creatures they seem to respect and adore apart from their own kind are sharks, for in these relentless predators the sahuagin see much of themselves. A sahuagin stands 7 feet tall and weighs about 250 pounds. Sahuagin are prone to beneficial mutations, and when a mutant is born it almost always rises to the society’s nobility or rulership. The most common sahuagin mutation is an extra pair of arms (granting two additional claw attacks or the opportunity to wield more weapons). Rumors speak of the rare malenti—sahuagin who look not like sharkmen but aquatic elves, yet who share their kin’s bloodlusts and cruel natures. Malenti often serve as spies and assassins for sahuagin rulers, but rumors of allmalenti tribes in isolated reaches of the sea persist.

The bunyip is a fierce and avid hunter, possessing a primal ruthlessness that seems almost evil in its rapacity. A bunyip typically inhabits large freshwater inlets or sheltered coastal sea caves where food is plentiful—the bunyip is equally at home in fresh or salt water. It prefers feeding on animals of Small size or larger, though it isn’t averse to eating humanoids when presented the opportunity. Bunyips are quite territorial, and readily attack when intruders threaten their hunting grounds. Bunyips mate annually, during the late spring. During this period, bunyips become even more aggressive. After mating, couples split, with the female wandering off to find a place to birth a small litter of four to six pups. Females watch their pups for a few days, until they become independent enough for the mothers to move on. Reports of bunyip sightings come from every end of the map. Though the accuracy of all such reports remains doubtful, enough reliable accounts exist to confirm their widespread adaptability. The species thrives in numerous ecological climes, from frigid polar fjords to idyllic tropical lagoons. The bunyip is not a deep-sea creature, and even avoids larger freshwater lakes, as it prefers to lurk near shorelines where its favorite food is more common. While bunyips vary in appearance, all possess similar basic physical structures. The bunyip's head exhibits strong seal-like features, save for its shark-like jaws. Its upper torso is thick and muscular, with long, fin-like limbs. Some species even have a single, shark-like dorsal fin. The remaining portion of the body extends into a long tail. Those with fur usually only grow a short coat on the upper body in shades of pale gray, brown, or black.

An ancient relative of the smaller leatherback sea turtle, the archelon can grow up to 13 feet long and 16 feet from flipper to flipper. Weighing as much as 5,000 pounds, the archelon has an exceedingly powerful bite, and doesn’t hesitate to use it to deter aquatic nuisances. Like other sea turtles, female archelons come ashore to lay and bury their eggs in sandy beaches, preferably facing deep water and without coral reefs. Once done, they return to the sea, leaving their eggs defenseless. These creatures are often used by coastal tribes as guardians and escorts from island to island. Aquatic creatures, particularly locathah, often use them as beasts of burden, but their relatively slow swim speed makes them poor mounts.

Jellyfish often cluster together during springtime or when environmental conditions such as an increase in ocean temperature favor it. When conditions are right, jellyfish shift from being a nuisance to being a menace, if accidentally so, for a jellyfish swarm, unlike more aggressive monstrous kin like the giant jellyfish, comprises not aggressive hunters but rather opportunistic strikers. They do not generally move to attack nearby prey, but their nearly translucent coloration makes it horrifically easy for a creature to swim into a swarm unawares. Once a jellyfish swarm deals damage to a creature, the swarm pursues it for several rounds before giving up the chase. Many aquatic races use jellyfish swarms as defensive guardians, trusting a swarm’s lack of interest in moving to keep it stationary for long periods of time.

Like other giant jellyfish, a sapphire jellyfish is an active hunter. It stores powerful electrical charges in its domelike bell, which is 16 feet in diameter. Its sensory tentacles can trail for twice that length, but the dangerous toxic tentacles are positioned within about 20 feet of the creature’s bell.