Post by The Forsaken Subtle Sin Saint on May 6, 2014 23:09:50 GMT -8
The predators of the world's oceans tend to stay near the southern poles, where food is surprisingly plentiful, and they are less likely to be hunted into extinction by Dragons in the north. After the war, so many bodies came from the north that the predators chose to reclaim the waters of the world, spreading out to northern climes, risking being hunted by more than the Penguin clutch in the pursuit of more food. Some predators even prey upon other predators (Squellies being the oceanic equivalent of Raiders, and are a Mangler's favorite snack.)
Squellies
Squellies are the equivalent of Raiders, only they are the souls of Penguins, rather than all kinds of Avians. They're the only ocean predators that are actually preyed upon by all other predators, so the numbers are kept relatively manageable (about the same as Raiders, really.) They look something like earth jellyfish, only they don't have stingers. They're preternaturally fast, and take their victims by swarming around them and entering every orifice they can, eating them from the inside out.
Manglers and Oshca hunt them, so they keep to the depths unless they sense food. Manglers just thrash through swarms, ripping and tearing through them, while Oshca hunt them in cooperative pods, rounding them up in tighter and tighter swarms, like bait balls, and simply eat them all between them.
Manglers
Manglers are shark mers. Human half on top, shark on bottom, they have rows of sharp teeth, short hair and varying shades of skin. They make crude but vicious sharp weapons from the bones of Oshca they hunt and kill. They avoid pods of Oshca, but will pick off strays. Basically, Manglers hunt anything that dares share water with them, even each other. There's no organization of them, they're solitary predators. Mating almost happens by accident. Unlike their earthly brethren, they give live birth, and the infants shoot off like bats out of hell, rather than stick around to be eaten.
Oshca
Oshca are orca mers. Human half on top, orca on bottom. They are skilled hunters, but like their Earthen counterparts, they are family oriented, and travel and hunt in pods. They use no weapons, and are not mindless killers like the Manglers and Squellies. They do hunt Penguins, but only if they're in the water; the other predators will try to capsize boats. They're more intelligent than Manglers and Squellies, and when the war came about, they hid, instead of gorging on the dead. They don't speak anything but Oshcan, so they can't really be reasoned with, but they won't attack anything that appears to be a greater threat. They do NOT get along with Octopods.
Octopods
Octopods are octopus mers. They are human on top, but have any number of legs or tentacles, as long as they add up to 8. This should mean that they can walk on land, but of course, they wouldn't last long far from the sea. In recent years, they have been hatched with less legs, more tentacles, some strictly tentacles, probably as an evolution for survival. Their biggest enemies are Oshca, and epic battles can occur between pods and a tangle (collective noun that sounds cool but isn't really what you call a group of octopus) of Octopods. They happen to be delicious to Oshca, but more than that, they are thieves of the young. If a mother and calf travel away from the pod, you can bet a group of Ocopods will hunt the calf. No one knows what they do with them, they don't eat them in view of the mother, just whisk it away.
It is not known if any of these creatures possess magic, with the exception of Squellies, which certainly do not. If they do have magic, it is probably only used out of sight of any other creature, or it would have been discovered by now. Perhaps there is more information in the Ancient Lore handed down by the Penguin Lawgivers...
Squellies
Squellies are the equivalent of Raiders, only they are the souls of Penguins, rather than all kinds of Avians. They're the only ocean predators that are actually preyed upon by all other predators, so the numbers are kept relatively manageable (about the same as Raiders, really.) They look something like earth jellyfish, only they don't have stingers. They're preternaturally fast, and take their victims by swarming around them and entering every orifice they can, eating them from the inside out.
Manglers and Oshca hunt them, so they keep to the depths unless they sense food. Manglers just thrash through swarms, ripping and tearing through them, while Oshca hunt them in cooperative pods, rounding them up in tighter and tighter swarms, like bait balls, and simply eat them all between them.
Manglers
Manglers are shark mers. Human half on top, shark on bottom, they have rows of sharp teeth, short hair and varying shades of skin. They make crude but vicious sharp weapons from the bones of Oshca they hunt and kill. They avoid pods of Oshca, but will pick off strays. Basically, Manglers hunt anything that dares share water with them, even each other. There's no organization of them, they're solitary predators. Mating almost happens by accident. Unlike their earthly brethren, they give live birth, and the infants shoot off like bats out of hell, rather than stick around to be eaten.
Oshca
Oshca are orca mers. Human half on top, orca on bottom. They are skilled hunters, but like their Earthen counterparts, they are family oriented, and travel and hunt in pods. They use no weapons, and are not mindless killers like the Manglers and Squellies. They do hunt Penguins, but only if they're in the water; the other predators will try to capsize boats. They're more intelligent than Manglers and Squellies, and when the war came about, they hid, instead of gorging on the dead. They don't speak anything but Oshcan, so they can't really be reasoned with, but they won't attack anything that appears to be a greater threat. They do NOT get along with Octopods.
Octopods
Octopods are octopus mers. They are human on top, but have any number of legs or tentacles, as long as they add up to 8. This should mean that they can walk on land, but of course, they wouldn't last long far from the sea. In recent years, they have been hatched with less legs, more tentacles, some strictly tentacles, probably as an evolution for survival. Their biggest enemies are Oshca, and epic battles can occur between pods and a tangle (collective noun that sounds cool but isn't really what you call a group of octopus) of Octopods. They happen to be delicious to Oshca, but more than that, they are thieves of the young. If a mother and calf travel away from the pod, you can bet a group of Ocopods will hunt the calf. No one knows what they do with them, they don't eat them in view of the mother, just whisk it away.
It is not known if any of these creatures possess magic, with the exception of Squellies, which certainly do not. If they do have magic, it is probably only used out of sight of any other creature, or it would have been discovered by now. Perhaps there is more information in the Ancient Lore handed down by the Penguin Lawgivers...