Hiraeth Creature #1170 - Serosil“Thriving in flooded forests, grand rivers, and expansive estu

Hiraeth Creature #1170 - Serosil“Thriving in flooded forests, grand rivers, and expansive estuaries, Serosils have mastered Hiraeth’s fresh water domains for generations, living nearly unchanged since life first sprouted. They graze calmly on water flora and algae during daylight hours. At night, they bundle up, their rigid scales forming a barbed shield against predators sneaking up on them in the gloom. These clumped-up groups are often mistaken for larger creatures, giving night fishers and boaters a flash of panic. Female Serosils are often the ones who make up these tightly-knit schools, while males will usually live solitary or in small groups made up of brothers from the same clutch. Though they are herbivores, Serosils can be far from gentle when faced with danger, their sharp scales turning their tail into a powerful lash and their pointed snout being a deadly ramming weapon. Thankfully fishers don’t need to be in the water with the Serosils to catch them, but it would take sturdy equipment and a strong arm to reel in one of these armoured beasts. Serosils have a growth spurt from fingerling to adult, growing to the length of a gardener’s wagon in a relatively short amount of time. Though gradual, they never stop growing throughout their whole lives, with individuals who are hundreds of years old being documented at the size to match most fishing boats. There are rumours of Serosils thousands of years old, becoming huge leviathans hidden away in the deepest of marshes, though many fall victim of predation before then. Despite being common prey for Hiraeth’s larger beasts, Serosils are tenacious, able to swim through rapids and even up waterfalls. Schools have also been known to work together to carve through earth and shatter stone obstacles in their way, creating new pathways for rivers to form. Many alchemists wish to study Serosils as they are able to thrive in polluted areas of their marshland home. Old witch covens, excised by their contemporary counterparts, were known to warp the land they lived on: intentionally, to make their hideouts more clandestine, as well as by accident, their magics being so foul they left stains long after their passing. In these parts of the wetlands, the water can turn foul and poisonous, becoming the home of deadly monsters. Most normal creatures leave these twisted wildernesses, and while the Serosils do not linger, they have been known to be able to pass through the blighted waters unscathed. There is an understudied primal element within the Serosils and other creatures from Hiraeth’s ancient past that seems to keep them strong no matter what environments they face, even when magic is involved. It is up to studious alchemists to uncover these secrets hidden within nature, but with few guilds and resources left, it proves to be a daunting task.“ -- source link

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