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Sahuagin (pronounced sah-HWAH-gin[1]) were a fish-like monstrous humanoid species that lived in oceans, seas, underground lakes, and underwater caves. Sahuagin spoke the Sahuagin language, though some were known to also speak Common and Aquan.[citation needed]
Physical description
Sahuagin were usually green skinned; darker on the back and lighter on the belly. Many had dark stripes, bands, or spots, but these tended to fade with age. An adult male sahuagin stood roughly 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and weighed about 200 pounds (91 kilograms). Sahuagin were highly fish-like, with webbed feet and hands, gills, and a finned tail. There was additional webbing down the back, at the elbows and, notably, also where human ears would be.[citation needed]
About one in every 216 hatchlings possessed four functional arms. These four-armed mutations were usually black, fading to gray in color. While sahuagin usually killed off defective hatchlings, they allow these to live.[citation needed]
Combat
Savage fighters, sahuagin asked for and gave no quarter. When swimming, a sahuagin teared with its feet, striking with its talons or a weapon. Spears and tridents tended to be their favored weapons. About half of any group of sahuagin were also armed with nets.[citation needed]
Society
Sahuagin were the natural enemies of aquatic elves and lizardfolk. Elves and sahuagin could not co-exist peacefully, and wars between them were often prolonged, bloody affairs that occasionally even interfered with shipping and maritime trade. Sahuagin tolerated the lizardfolk much more than they did the elves. Sahuagin had an only slightly less vehement hatred for tritons. Exactly why the two races hated each other so much was unknown, but what is known is that the presence of an aquatic elf community within several miles of a sahuagin community occasionally caused some sahuagin to be born as malenti; mutants who resemble aquatic elves.[2]
They also hated the kuo-toa and the morkoth, though it was not unheard of for these races to ally.[citation needed]
Multiple births were frequent among sahuagin, and they dealt very harshly with offspring who were not robust or aggressive enough, eliminating them through compulsory fighting to the death between young sahuagin. Sahuagin seemed fixated on all aspects of consumption, and were eager to weed out anything they saw as weak or unworthy to compete for resources.[citation needed]
Religion
Sahuagin worshiped Sekolah, god of sharks, as their patron deity and the father of their race. They also perceived him as the ultimate adjudicator and incarnation of punishment, officiating over an endless struggle between mythic figures. These figures were the hunter: "He Who Eats", and the hated: "It That Is Eaten", with the struggle between them reflected in every aspect of life. Because of this, sharks were seen as holy creatures to them, and dolphins were hated for their friendship with aquatic elves. The sahuagin made regular, living sacrifices to Sekolah by feeding the sacrificed being to the sharks that followed every sahuagin priest.[citation needed]
Appendix
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References
- ↑ Dungeons & Dragons FAQ. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved on June 5, 2014.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (May 1998). Tangled Webs. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 228. ISBN 0-7869-0698-7.
Sources
- Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
- Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- Various (December 1997). Realms of the Arcane. (TSR). ISBN 0-7869-0647-2.