Revision of item I spat the dummy on so last few added here
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2019/01/return-of-beastfolk-marine-peoples.html
Marine Folk
1 Oyster
2 Anemone
3 Starfish
4 Walrus
5 Urchin
5 Urchin
6 Dolphin
7 Octopus
8 Penguin
9 Pelican
9 Pelican
10 Stingray
11 Seahorse
12 Manatee
Oyster Folk
Are thick stone like shelled folk with squishy grey flesh and mucous within. While well armoured they peek from an opening in their shell but will seal themselves if threatened. They are kin with an array of sea mollusc folk like clam, muscle and others. Some have bristly hair like cilia that move tiny marine plankton into their mouths. While their bodies and faces are armoured while using their thick muscular limbs the have to extend them from their shells to act as a humanoid. Some have quite colourful flesh but most are green-grey. Shy and peaceful humans have killed them for millennium to eat, for pearls or shells. Oyster folk are wary and suspicious, especially of humans. Humans often kill and eat their children unaware they are in fact humanoid and intelligent. They often aided other marine races war against humans as they were easily convinced of the hairless ape menace. They often swell in reef villages living simple lives in coral huts, gathering small crustaceans and seaweed they require as they are larger than their tiny kin and need more substantial food. But they often wallow in rock pools filter feeding if they cant do better. They can be hard to see among marine rocks, many have barnacles and weed or algae growing on them. Occasionally some can get along with humans but they are melancholic curmudgeons. They often use shells of fallen kin as shields or to make weapons. These are brittle but sharp and might incorporate driftwood hafts. Such weapons also blend with the marine matter on coasts.
d12 Oyster Folk Troubles
1 An evil band of elderly retired scurvy sailors have been daily scrounging on the reef and have eaten many oyster children. If not stopped the oysters will raid the fishing villagers to steal their children warns a sea-druid
2 Oyster folk live in a shipwreck that greedy adventurers want to sack, little do they know there are more oysters than they expect, after a defeat and retreat they seek young gullible adventurers as cannon fodder to help them
3 A former fish folk sunken temple has been disturbed in a storm releasing a sea demon forcing oysters to move into a river mouth where human fishermen are horrified by them. If spoken too oysters will help adventurers destroy the demon and loot the temple
4 An evil wizard has oyster children kidnapped to make pearls which torments them. Oysters want their children back
5 A famous gourmet hires adventurers to catch young oysters for a royal feast. Some rich believe they are aphrodisiacs and demand them. Oysters want revenge
6 Walrus folk and Oyster folk have been battling on a stretch of coast and fishermen are now avoiding it and going hungry
7 Oyster folk pirates have been attacking ships on the rocky coast and have even seized a lighthouse to misuse and wreck ships. Merchants offer a reward to stop them
8 Smugglers had a secret coast cliff base but something has taken it over and they will pay to find out who. Cave full pf contraband the state would love to seize
9 A gang of wreckers preying on the coast disappeared. All kinds of locals secretly in the gang are missing as are many ship survivors. A reward has been offered for their return and capture
10 Someone is trading weapons for pearls with oyster folk who now have become bold and aggressive when ships pass their coral reef castle
11 Fisherman gathering worms by night on beach for bait seen lights on the reef and heard music
12 A village of pearl divers has disappeared, all of them. Find out why.
Anemone Folk
These brightly coloured fleshy humanoids have thick tentacle hair and live on rocky coastlines and reefs. Some are ethereally beautiful. Their mouth is used to eat and excrete. As they can live on land they no longer depend on stinger cells to catch prey. Some older ones will affix themselves to a reef and develop stingers and become a giant anemone. Some happily cohabit with crab folk and some breeds of fish folk. They often domesticate other giant sea creatures like giant hermit crabs as mounts and use to raid coastal dwellers. They trade with many great undersea kingdoms and are famous for their great balls. Many live in great reef coral castles where they dwell and dance serenely. Mostly they avoid humans and thus seem very exotic to them. In ancient times they used their giant anemone gardens and pets to form great defences for the fish folk empire. Occasionally adventurers stumble across some ancient coastal or undersea ruin anemone folk still guard. As most do not move far from their birthplace they are very stubborn to move and might conflict with humans causing pollution or building on reefs. Anenome folk seem to not just be good at domesticating sea life they seem to be able to alter life at some basic cellular level with their alien science. They used to create giant sea monsters under commission to sea kings and fish cults
d12 Anemone Folk Troubles
1 A lighthouse building crew are being attacked by strange beautiful humanoid creatures riding war crabs and they require adventurers to talk or drive the beings away
2 City garbage scows are being sunk by night and swollen mutilated corpses of their crews are found floating in the water. Nobody knows who or why
3 Sailors have seen strange beautiful women dancing by the reef and want to capture some. Alas some sailors died but others are curious
4 A wizard runs a marine menagerie to study and has a sad anemone person prisoner. Anemone kin know and want to rescue them, kill the wizard and free all the creatures creating havoc in the harbour
5 Fish folk killed a colony of anemone people and now a gigantic anemone has blocked the harbour. Anemone will move it if the killers are brought to them as prisoners
6 A wizard has been spying on nude anemone folk with a crystal ball and wants adventurer guards to escort him as he tries to contact them
7 A colony of clownfish folk have been killed by human authorities enraging anemone allies who choke the harbour with giant anemones and giant kelp
8 A giant kelp barrier has choked an area of the sea and explorers have tried to cross the sargassum. Ancient wrecked ships have been raised by the giant kelp attracting treasure hunters. Anemone folk have been using the area to create some colossal sea beast
9 A major settlement drained the swamp where their sewerage was absorbed and now the waste goes into the sea. Increasing plagues of giant sea lice, stinging jellyfish and wood eating marine termites have been attacking the docklands and some think intelligent beings are behind the plagues
10 Pirates attacked and enslaved anemone folk and in retaliation, a merchant ship has been lifted above the sea by giant kelp. The crew and passengers are trapped aboard and adventurers are sent to free them or negotiate with the anemone folk
11 A foolish noble youth of a sea merchant clan has gone out to the reef to marry a beautiful anemone woman and the family want him back
12 A great sea monster attacked a coastal village and investigators are sent to assess the threat. A cult has paid sea anemone folk to make them a living god to let them take over the coast and sea trade
Starfish Folk
Minions of the ancient marine empire, these creatures can breed rapidly and regenerate wounds making them ideal troops and workers. They also eat anything even living coral. Many varieties exist in various colours and textures of skin. Some are smooth some are covered in spiny thorns. Even if killed and dismembered the separate parts may grow into separate starfish and may even share memories. They are not clever and often are pawns of other races especially evil fish folk clans. Fish folk know their minions are often terrible at following orders and require guidance. The various tribes often act as specialist units with varying skills and weapons. As each tribe is so distinctive they stand out on battlefields. Their demon starfish ancestor is a greedy god and some human cults even worship it keeping starfish folk in pits of sacrifice. The god offers healing for servants which attracts some desperate humans. Terrible wars in ancient times featured hordes of starfish invading the land but it was fire and burning their dead that stopped them Most humans don't know this history. Some say starfish came from the stars, banished for their evil deeds by their celestial kin to the depths of the sea
d12 Starfish Folk Troubles
1 Years ago starfish folk marched from the sea and attacked. Locals defeated them and chopped them up and threw them into the sea. Now there are even more attacking!
2 A fish folk warlock has amassed an army of starfish. Working with a local cult they wish to seize a temple now landlocked in human lands
3 A pirate crew recruited some starfish in their crew. A few years later the whole crew are starfish and menacing the coast with no restraint killing, robbing and eating humans
4 A cult has been breeding starfish in a secret cave, ready for a night they will murder the local people for the demon starfish cult
5 Something by night is coming ashore and breaking into the dried fish sores and smokehouses in the harbour
6 Fishermen drying their nets all disappeared, only a star shaped sign in the sand remained
7 A strange stone spire erupted from a reef. It seems to have star symbols on it and windows. Locals are curious
8 The local reef fisherfolk are dependent on is covered in starfish folk devouring everything. Warriors are needed to kill them when fisher folk can scoop them up
9 Cultists have been seen going to the reef by night and nobody knows what they are up to. The cult wear strange star symbols with a maw in the centre on their purple robes
10 After the last starfish folk cull in the region, alone surviving starfish priest has been raiding the graveyards of the fisherfolk by night to reanimate the dead as zombies.out of revenge. Someone must kill the zombies and catch the priest in the act
11 After the last storm, a stone ruin on the beach was exposed with strange star symbols. Some beachcombers went inside and did not come out. locals are afraid
12 Locals regularly comb the beach after the storms but this year many searchers vanished. Starfish folk have been laying under the sand to grapple and eat people
Walrus Folk
This doughy folk swim in the frozen north on rocky coasts and islands and ice flows. Feed off fish, penguins and shellfish they also hunt whales, act as pirates and adventure in the pre human ruins of the frozen north. They often battle polar bear, penguin, seal and fish folk for supremacy. They also conflict with humans who dare trespass on their territory. Many males driven from their homes wander into human lands. Some end up slaves or pit fighters, but many become pirates, adventurers or mercenaries. They make the best guides in the frozen lands. They also practise handy crafts such as scrimshaw, weaving, leatherwork and carpentry they require to survive. Long ago they helped humankind repel the fish folk conquerors and helped fight necromancers who fled into the frozen wastes. Their ships and sleds are infamous and they value imported wood and metal from the south for whale ivory. Some go viking, raiding south lands for goods they crave like grain and beer. Walrus ivory highly offends them and they claim all as theirs to bury in a funeral rite. Some call them tusk folk. They often laugh at weak and skinny peoples of the sunlit lands. They infamously stoic and tough and can swing from jolly drunks to violent berserkers in moments.
d12 Walrus Folk Trouble
1 A walrus crime lord controls drug smuggling in a town and a rival gang want him gone. Adventurers are hired as extra muscle in a hit using a midnight docklands meeting as a ruse
2 A ship of walrus viking berserks is seen on the horizon, locals in panic
3 A diary and map of a pre human ruined city in the north describing great treasure is found, walrus guides are required to find it
4 Explorers found a block of ice with a thing inside. Returning it to civilisation it thaws out a walrus cursed by his berserker axe, if free and cursed axe removed he will be grateful and helpful
5 A villain robbed a walrus burial ground of ivory offending the walrus spirits and the tribe gather to hunt and kill the criminal and any aiding them
6 A hunter has been selling walrus blubber, skins and ivory actually from murdered walrus folk. Most of the good users are outraged and want hunter punished
7 Walrus folk have guarded a stone age black citadel trapped in the ice for millennia but now they are inviting adventurers and helping them
8 A walrus shaman has found a cursed fur trapper shack in the tundra and says it is a human responsibility to cleanse the haunted place of evil
9 A walrus wizard with crystal tusks has a cursed local area with freezing blizzard winds and undead walrus warriors
10 Walrus warrior maids are having a beauty contest and will force strangers they find to judge, they are vindictive and lusty
11 A great mound of a walrus warrior king has been disturbed by looters, now an angry walrus wight stalks the night murdering locals
12 Nobody had seen walrus folk for generations till a vindictive shaman planted rune encrusted tusks which grew into a band of walrus berserks who now are on a murder spree
Urchin Folk
These hard chitinous skinned folk are covered in spiny and spikes and their frightful five toothed sphincters like orifices disgust most onlookers. They are omnivorous eating seaweed, vegetable matter and any dead flesh they can scavenge. They dwell in fortified reef forts and have aggressive defensive mindsets forming phalanx walls if threatened. Every tribe has vastly different colours, spine appearance and personalities. Some with larger blunt spines may have sponges or algae growing on them. Smaller tentacles around their mouths with suckers feed off tiny often water born organisms. The very young lack spines and many do not recognise as urchins. Some develop stinging spines or might have colonies of smaller creatures living in between their spines and might defend their host.
Many served the undersea empire of the fish folk as heavy infantry and helped invade the surface world. Some tribes still raid ashore seeking food when their numbers every few generations grow and their colonies need to expand. They do tend to feud with crab folk who delight in eating them. Otter folk and starfish folk are ancient enemies also. Colonies build coral reef forts but smaller groups and lovers find a crevice or dig a hole to lair inside. Those that use magic favour protective spells. The often herd giant amphibious urchins as pets and for defence. They will trade but humans find them hideous and often fear them
d12 Urchin Folk Trouble
1 Clan of urchin warriors march ashore and terrorise fisher folk and docklands for some reason
2 Horrible humanoids from the deep come from the sea and make strange gestures alarming locals. Someone needs to meet them and determine if they are friend or foe
3 A fish folk wizard with his urchin warriors have taken over a lighthouse and people have heard strange chants from their since
4 Crab men and urchins have been battling over the reef scaring fisher folk. Both species have made crude alien attempts to seek aid from humans who don't like either breed
5 Urchin pirates have been raiding the coast and recently took a small human village and took prisoners as slaves to gather algae and seaweed from rock pools while urchins get drunk
6 A friendly sea otter merchant seeks help capturing hideous urchin folk to take to otter land
7 A wounded sea elf washed ashore tells of how a fish folk warlock with his urchin warriors has been waging war on the undersea peoples of the area and the surface will be raided next
8 A cowardly tako octopus fairy seeks adventurers to help her rob a lair of urchin folk of their pearls from their giant oyster garden. She also likes to eat their children but won't mention that
9 Dead urchin folk wash ashore, dozens of them, locals are alarmed at the hideous corpses
10 After a storm where a ship was lost bodies and survivors wash ashore where hungry urchins try to eat dead and wounded unable to move, locals want to help but are afraid
11 An urchin merchant comes ashore seeking humans to help round up his sea goblin slaves who escaped. He offers exotic fish folk gold jewellery to any who help
12 A sea urchin princess has been kidnapped by crab folk who plans to feast on her next full moon. Her page servant seeks helpers to rescue the beautiful princess and the urchin king surely will reward them. The crabs live in a coral reef fortified tower
Dolphin Folk
These folk are often well regarded by humans and some come ashore to work on ships and coastlines. Colours can vary from grey to blue or green or even pink. River breeds can be quite small and are known as dolphinlings. They tend to live in nomadic clans who hunt together. They are cheeky, playful and can be friendly. Some of the loners that come ashore are dangerous and insane, sexually assaulting and murdering for fun. Some are charlatans playing on how humans think well of them. Some claim they have healing abilities or lead cults of gullible humans. The more useful ones often work as pilots to guide ships through reefs and other marine hazards. Compared to many beast folk dolphins are acceptable and non threatening. Dolphins adapt well to trade and money making and are willing to cheat, hustle and lie to make more. It is hard to tell if their squeaks for joy are just from being happy or laughter at human fools. While they are excellent liars they can be good friends with humans. Many live on islands hunting and fishing. some human fishermen fear the competence of dolphins and some have massacred them out of rivalry. Dolphins remember this and remain wary of humans even friendly ones. Most of all they hate shark and fish folk and they aided humans fighting them long ago.
d12 Dolphin Folk Troubles
1 A dolphin peddler comes to town in a rowboat and is selling unicorn horns, cursed fish folk gold, colourful fake healing potions and treasure maps, quick to move on as has moresuckers customers to visit
2 Dolphins come seeking help as viking fishermen came to their village and murdered half their tribe
3 A peg-legged dolphin pirate needs help finding his treasure he buried on skeleton island or was it mermaid island or seahag island? One of those anyway
4 A dolphin is pretending to drop treasure maps in adventurer taverns, actually lead to lairs of his people's enemies
5 A dolphin wants revenge on a sailor who ate his dead brother's corpse. The man is now a church leader who tells of how the gods sent him the corpse when he was starving
6 Dolphins have set up a seaside carnival with gambling, sideshows, freaks from the sea in cages and athletic diving feats to amaze the crowd
7 A dolphin seeks help as fish folk with shark folk mercenaries have reoccupied a ruin on the coast for some evil purpose
8 The fine finny friends are a dolphin brotherhood who offers eternal friendship to any who aid them in destroying a fish cult rampant on the coastline. Many of the cult are respectable civic leaders and dolphins don't want to get blamed if things go wrong
9 Dolphins have come demanding sea tax from a local village and threaten to sink any fishing boats launched unless they get 10% of the catch
10 A scarred dolphin warrior wants to die gloriously on one more heist. He knows where a fish folk fortress is hidden on a reef and wants humans to help him sack the place and kill the fishy bastards
11 Dolphins have come to shore to warn of a cult of manta ray folk who worship a sea demon have moved into the area and seek to sacrifice dolphins and humans like the old days
12 A dolphin wizard offers magical seaweed of water breathing if they help him plunder the garden of a sea nymph
Octopus Folk
These humanoids octopus folk are feared by coastal folk and even disliked by tako octopus fairies. They are voracious servants of chaos with octopus heads and tentacle arms, the greater ones have more arms. While tako are civilized and cautious, these brutes are fearless savages who worship sea demons and chaos gods. Long ago they serve fish god cults but they turned on fish folk when their empire collapsed. They work with squid cults too. Octopus folk live in caves on coasts or reefs and raid enemies on land or the sea. Ever hungry and greedy for treasure and slaves they are constantly at war. Some evil powers employ them but must not show the weakness of the cunning octopus folk will turn on their masters. Often the ambush ships and sacrifice most of the crew and eat them. The unlucky ones are taken to their caves as servants and playthings. They often fight naked to intimidate their foes and often stop in the battle to eat a fallen enemy rather than chase any who flee. Most undersea races fear and mistrust them.
d12 Octopus Folk Troubles
1 A pirate had his crew eaten and his treasure stolen and seeks adventurers to help recover the remains
2 A chaos octopus gladiator has been eating mutants thrown into his fighting pit by humans and has gained new mutations. Using her new abilities she escapes into the markets to kill as many as possible and escape if she can into the sea
3 Octopus warriors have raided a village seizing all the women while the fishermen were at sea. A church offers funds to rescue the women before they are eaten or worse
4 A man covered in sucker wounds washes up on the shore and when revived tells of an offshore cave where octopus folk force human slaves to mine gold from the seafloor using strange apparatus made by fish folk wizards long ago. The man dies of the bends shortly after.
5 An octopus cult has been sacrificing gold and victims to a sea linked sinkhole for generations. Locals want the cult stopped and their false god killed. In the tidal flooded sinkhole, a kraken and his octopus minions come every full moon for treasure and victims
6 An octopus wizard keeps sending a water elemental to kidnap victims from a coastal town daily and a huge reward is offered for the fiend
7 A village troubled by octopus folk have caught an innocent tako they caught visiting fisherman's wives while washing clothes on the rocks by the sea. The villages plan to cook and eat him but he claims to know where the octopus folk lair is and tells of a great treasure hidden there from the old fish folk kingdom
8 A great octopus warrior with obsidian weapons has come ashore and will not let fishermen enter the sea unless they defeat him or give him a dozen human babies to eat
9 Sea elves come ashore seeking humans to fight octopus folk servants of an evil sea hag who wants their handsome prince to marry her
10 Strange chanting from the reef by night has been alarming locals and the tide has been rising higher than ever before. Next full moon high tide approaches and locals dread what will happen next
11 A fisherman killed a selkie who would not be his lover and now the sea king sends octopus folk to punish the humans until the villain is surrendered to him. The culprit knows why the fiend's attack but the village has no idea
12 An evil fish folk sorcerer has been kidnapping humans to turn into octopus folk servants. Predictably they have begun to attack humans when the master is not watching them, drawing attention to his evil schemes against the sea king
Penguin FolkOily flightless bird folk often living in frozen sea islands or rocky coasts. The smallest breeds are penguinlings and most think they are harmless and inoffensive other than their fishy smell. The larger breeds are often sailors and explorers joining human crews and working docks for fish. They have colonies worldwide and trade exotic seafood their preferred currency. Fish folk hate them with a passion for eating their children in their sacred spawning grounds. Some penguin folk seasonally live deeper inland to breed and some came to dwell in ruined prehuman fortresses of alien gods from pre human times. These have become dangerous albino cultists who now guard these ruins from humans. Some penguin magicians have learned the art of making iceberg citadels that wander the world and never melt. Some bring chilling blizzards with them to keep intruders away.
d12 Penguin Folk Troubles
1 A iceberg citadel of penguin folk ruled by a prehuman sorcerer in service to the evil elemental cold demon lords has been attacking coastal shipping and destroying villagers. The kingdom has offered a reward for stopping the frozen juggernaut
2 A penguin pirate knows the way to the prehuman ruins of Ultima Thule and offers humans join him in his quest for money and forbidden lore that wizards will pay for gladly
3 A penguinling colony has grown and the curious pests now wander the streets, stinking up the place and bringing their odd customs. Locals want someone to drive off the pint sized penguin folk. If bothered they are shocked they are unwelcome and call their larger cousins to aid them
4 A penguin offer maps of far off lands unknown to humans in return for helping her get revenge on shark folk who ate her family
5 A penguin hero in magical ice armour with snow golem minions demands all fishing rights in the area belong to their race, not humans. Locals hire adventures and lie to make this penguin paladin seem less sympathetic
6 A demon whale has been eating penguins fishing in their island waters and they seek humans to kill the weird beast
7 A penguin family had children eaten by walrus folk and they want revenge. Calling on an evil relic from the deep they call a tsunami to hit the walrus colony. A minor sea deity learns of the plan and warns the local humans
8 Savage penguin chaos pirates have been seen off coast spreading mass panic
9 A penguin long lost from home has become a well liked local, somebody has kidnapped it and locals worried
10 Slavers captured the local penguin colony preventing them, from performing ancient rituals that kept a chaos kraken away from the region, now it is tearing up villages and ships
11 Penguinlings were brutally set on by dogs and rendered for oil by horrible humans. They seek killers to avenge their tribe offering to pay with pearls and treasure maps
12 A penguin islander hero comes to civilised port to find athletes for island games and they seek human contestants. Offer gold and pearls to come. The events include kraken hunting, fighting demons and avoiding the deathtraps on their island while seeking a great relic for the natives
Pelican Folk
These gruff but admirable sea folk travel seas and are experts at fishing and smuggling. Many come from Island tribes and join ship crews where they excel in all climates. Many prate crews also have them as crewmen. Occasionally get up to tricks with beaks like hiding goods, snatch severed hands on a battlefield or trip someone up with hook on the beak. Pelican corsairs roam some coastlines living like pirates, some also taken as slaves or conscripted by visiting ships. Pelicans have aided several undersea civilisations for better or for worse of various alignments. There are smaller pelicanlings too but they are more like fish scroungers or sidekicks.
1 A crew of pelicans have adopted a tavern and the owner cant dislodge them. Will pay you in free beer if you can get rid of them
2 A rocky outcrop is a base for smugglers some say but they are working with a huge network of pelican folk and a few fight with them
3 An elderly pelican man with a wooden leg tells stories and sings shanties for beer knows of lots of strange treasure islands to the south. Longs to go back with explorers and speaks islander folk languages
4 A local pelican fisher comes into market warning all about signs of the fish cult in town, almost immediately some fishy fellows follow him
5 A pelican offers a ride for hire on his golem powered tug boat he found in distant ruins on an island
6 Pelicans erected idol where they conjure a sea elemental and talk to mermaids, locals suspicious of their cult and want pelicans gone and to grab their property
7 A pelican fishing boat captain saw strange haunted treasure ship exposed on the reef in a storm in full moon and he is sure conditions will be same tonight for a fee
8 Pelican fisherman has seen a strange stone barge underwater and some stuff that looks like ruins
9 Old pelican in pub gossips about local criminal gangs and their activities around the harbour, for a few coins will name names but if the mob find out the pelican will be found dead next day
10 A gang of pelican folk have been hunting for fish men cults earnestly. Will inspect visitors to town to check for fishy friends or their finny friends. Occupationally are convinced by some trivia some poor person is a fish cultist who needs interrogating and possibly burning
11 A wicked chaos pelican sect have been holding rituals on the reef at night summoning fish to eat and ancient sea demon minions
12 A pelican wizard has erected a coral tower and has declared keep out to all locals and the law. Local tax man wants him issued with a legal summons by hand
Stingray Folk
These sinister folk from the deep served greater armies of fish folk long ago. They are notorious necromancers and evil priests dedicated to marine devils which there are plenty. They often build an underwater entrance to a reef based hidden fort or temple. Many also live in the seas of hell and thus many are called devil-rays. They are reluctant to talk o humans who killed many of their greatest tribes long ago. Some live in marine districts of cities but they often end up working as bounty hunters, smugglers, kidnappers and assassins. Sometimes they start bloodthirsty cults and try to restore the ancient terror days when all gave them offerings out of fear. They like to use spike clubs often with poison, tridents and nets. Smaller ones are shy and hide on distant islands who often don't survive meeting other races. Some are seen gliding over the sea
1 Robed cultists are seen making for the coast with a screaming person, when they reach the beach stingray folk carry them across the low tide to a rocky island with a hidden stingray tentacle to their vampire demon god
2 Missing beachcombers had local search revealing strange rock carvings of stingray folk receiving human captives from humans
3 Recently local smugglers disappeared making quality grog hard to find but then an armed band of taxmen disappeared on patrol too, nobody knows how or why
4 Lighthouse keepers report cloaked creatures running about the lighthouse rocks by night
5 Travellers near the sea find cowled creature hiding in the water peeking and following them
6 On rainy nights some cult has been seen on coast holding strange ceremonies. Once a body was found swollen and purple, punctured with thousands of tiny puncture wounds and broken bones but no blood
7 A man saw ghost like figures swimming in and out of flooded caves
8 A ship came ashore with all crew gone and the hand of a strange creature was found
9 Lights from a rock at sea have been spotted and town elders want adventurers to lead night watch to find out what is going on. Some heard some strange sounds like stone working
10 A stone circle half submerged on the coast has been seen since a big storm and some say sinister robed figures were wading around the rocks
11 Local art in the temple shows long ago strange folk from the sea lived here but were driven off into coastal caves. Stingray folk tribe are very angry and will call on their evil god and fight to the death with everything
12 A dried up devil-ray hangs from shop ceiling and owner comments they used to live here but all were killed. Mentions a bay with an underwater cave. There is a sea devil idol onshore
Seahorse FolkThese creatures are flighty and wary of strangers but are also boastful and like to sound noble and important. They like to think they are more like dragons than horses and some breeds resemble vegetation they live amongst. Some are covered in algae making them hard to see. Other are more colourful and vain holding parties and courtly games. They invite other fish to show how much better they are. Male seahorse folk mostly care for and protect babies while women go exploring and have adventures. When they gather to discus various things they fled from heroically. Smaller breeds were hunted for dried ornaments
1 Seahorse folk are being eaten by a marine dinosaur and need help or they will always perish
3 Someone is catching baby seahorse folk as pets in the city where most die, seahorse elders, need help
4 A sea druid has a location of a secret seahorse dancing place and seeks helpers to meet them. They all sobbed about a giant chaos sea turtle which the tearful druids announce you will fight it
5 A seahorse tattoo artist working on docks has been forced to ally with a thieves guild. Needs some adventurers he can dupe into starting a fight with a rival gang
6 A seahorse bard wishes to study surface adventure then go tour the undersea faerie land with new songs about funny landlubbers
7 A seahorse huckster with his burly lobster folk guards is offering money to who can beat his slave crab man in a fight. He would sell the slave for a good offer
8 A seahorse wizard has come to study the unnatural child rearing practices of the feckless surface folk
9 A seahorse man stranded with a bunch of his children living in an overturned fishing boat need food and help
10 Dazed seahorse children wash up on shore and locals grab them and put them in cages to sell to freak shows and menageries. Under the sea seahorse, villagers are preparing to attack bu night
11 A band of seahorse women adventurers would like to see some monsters up close and offer pearls for safe confrontation with monsters of the surface. They will scream in shrill voices and heroically flee until they are exhausted
12 A seahorse gladiator wants freedom and asks if adventurers could buy him and he could earn cash faster, he desperately wants to get home to his babies separated from him years ago
Manatee FolkThese placid grazers of seaweed are kin to dugongs and sea cows and other similar mammals, some now rare. They are peaceful and kind and happy grazing on weed, some labour in underwater fairyland pulling ploughs for nymphs or seagrass spirit folk. Some come ashore and work on docks using great strength and endurance. Some try and sell milk but with less success but do get be wet nurses for orphan sailors. Deluded humans sometimes mistake them for mermaids or try and eat them or worse so they avoid places humans live mostly. They are quite friendly, calm and jolly when fed and content but produce huge tears when they cry. Manatee make good sailors and wharf crew but don't really like violence mostly
1 A noble wizard likes to run down manatee in his magical boat then has his servants collect the body and spitroast them. Some locals think this could be wrong
2 A peaceful islander knows of a dugong temple where local tribe threw pearls in the sea
3 A great floating raft populated by manatee folk has been seen offshore and they trade goods and welcome strangers
4 A matinee wizard from the underwater fairyland comes to trade drugs with the surface world, offers free sea wine and kelp beer drinks to new customers, locals shocked
5 A giant castle of kelp has grown in the harbour. An evil manatee wizard and his royal guards defend it from intruders while a manatee princess in the top tower calls out for help
6 A slaver has manatees gathering pearls by holding babies hostage, boasts about it in town
7 Manatee folk are swimming around having a sing and humans with harpoons are sneaking up to them
8 A manatee barbarian is hunting humans that killed his family but in meantime needs beer money and fights
9 Sailors have found an island rocky outcrop sea castle of a manatee clan and seek warriors to help them rob the magic brutes
10 A manatee wizard uses illusions to make her sea cow gang seem like attractive maidens. They kidnap people and polymorph the most charismatic into manatee folk to be husbands forever in undersea faerie land
11 A thieves guild of manatee drug smugglers have been crashing drug prices and local guilds need someone to find who. Manatee mostly lay about with hookahs and eating seagrass and dancing
12 Manatee offers magic seagrass that lets surface folk breathe water and a chance to explore a shark infested wreck full of a treasure chest from far away
Oyster Folk
Are thick stone like shelled folk with squishy grey flesh and mucous within. While well armoured they peek from an opening in their shell but will seal themselves if threatened. They are kin with an array of sea mollusc folk like clam, muscle and others. Some have bristly hair like cilia that move tiny marine plankton into their mouths. While their bodies and faces are armoured while using their thick muscular limbs the have to extend them from their shells to act as a humanoid. Some have quite colourful flesh but most are green-grey. Shy and peaceful humans have killed them for millennium to eat, for pearls or shells. Oyster folk are wary and suspicious, especially of humans. Humans often kill and eat their children unaware they are in fact humanoid and intelligent. They often aided other marine races war against humans as they were easily convinced of the hairless ape menace. They often swell in reef villages living simple lives in coral huts, gathering small crustaceans and seaweed they require as they are larger than their tiny kin and need more substantial food. But they often wallow in rock pools filter feeding if they cant do better. They can be hard to see among marine rocks, many have barnacles and weed or algae growing on them. Occasionally some can get along with humans but they are melancholic curmudgeons. They often use shells of fallen kin as shields or to make weapons. These are brittle but sharp and might incorporate driftwood hafts. Such weapons also blend with the marine matter on coasts.
d12 Oyster Folk Troubles
1 An evil band of elderly retired scurvy sailors have been daily scrounging on the reef and have eaten many oyster children. If not stopped the oysters will raid the fishing villagers to steal their children warns a sea-druid
2 Oyster folk live in a shipwreck that greedy adventurers want to sack, little do they know there are more oysters than they expect, after a defeat and retreat they seek young gullible adventurers as cannon fodder to help them
3 A former fish folk sunken temple has been disturbed in a storm releasing a sea demon forcing oysters to move into a river mouth where human fishermen are horrified by them. If spoken too oysters will help adventurers destroy the demon and loot the temple
4 An evil wizard has oyster children kidnapped to make pearls which torments them. Oysters want their children back
5 A famous gourmet hires adventurers to catch young oysters for a royal feast. Some rich believe they are aphrodisiacs and demand them. Oysters want revenge
6 Walrus folk and Oyster folk have been battling on a stretch of coast and fishermen are now avoiding it and going hungry
7 Oyster folk pirates have been attacking ships on the rocky coast and have even seized a lighthouse to misuse and wreck ships. Merchants offer a reward to stop them
8 Smugglers had a secret coast cliff base but something has taken it over and they will pay to find out who. Cave full pf contraband the state would love to seize
9 A gang of wreckers preying on the coast disappeared. All kinds of locals secretly in the gang are missing as are many ship survivors. A reward has been offered for their return and capture
10 Someone is trading weapons for pearls with oyster folk who now have become bold and aggressive when ships pass their coral reef castle
11 Fisherman gathering worms by night on beach for bait seen lights on the reef and heard music
12 A village of pearl divers has disappeared, all of them. Find out why.
Anemone Folk
These brightly coloured fleshy humanoids have thick tentacle hair and live on rocky coastlines and reefs. Some are ethereally beautiful. Their mouth is used to eat and excrete. As they can live on land they no longer depend on stinger cells to catch prey. Some older ones will affix themselves to a reef and develop stingers and become a giant anemone. Some happily cohabit with crab folk and some breeds of fish folk. They often domesticate other giant sea creatures like giant hermit crabs as mounts and use to raid coastal dwellers. They trade with many great undersea kingdoms and are famous for their great balls. Many live in great reef coral castles where they dwell and dance serenely. Mostly they avoid humans and thus seem very exotic to them. In ancient times they used their giant anemone gardens and pets to form great defences for the fish folk empire. Occasionally adventurers stumble across some ancient coastal or undersea ruin anemone folk still guard. As most do not move far from their birthplace they are very stubborn to move and might conflict with humans causing pollution or building on reefs. Anenome folk seem to not just be good at domesticating sea life they seem to be able to alter life at some basic cellular level with their alien science. They used to create giant sea monsters under commission to sea kings and fish cults
d12 Anemone Folk Troubles
1 A lighthouse building crew are being attacked by strange beautiful humanoid creatures riding war crabs and they require adventurers to talk or drive the beings away
2 City garbage scows are being sunk by night and swollen mutilated corpses of their crews are found floating in the water. Nobody knows who or why
3 Sailors have seen strange beautiful women dancing by the reef and want to capture some. Alas some sailors died but others are curious
4 A wizard runs a marine menagerie to study and has a sad anemone person prisoner. Anemone kin know and want to rescue them, kill the wizard and free all the creatures creating havoc in the harbour
5 Fish folk killed a colony of anemone people and now a gigantic anemone has blocked the harbour. Anemone will move it if the killers are brought to them as prisoners
6 A wizard has been spying on nude anemone folk with a crystal ball and wants adventurer guards to escort him as he tries to contact them
7 A colony of clownfish folk have been killed by human authorities enraging anemone allies who choke the harbour with giant anemones and giant kelp
8 A giant kelp barrier has choked an area of the sea and explorers have tried to cross the sargassum. Ancient wrecked ships have been raised by the giant kelp attracting treasure hunters. Anemone folk have been using the area to create some colossal sea beast
9 A major settlement drained the swamp where their sewerage was absorbed and now the waste goes into the sea. Increasing plagues of giant sea lice, stinging jellyfish and wood eating marine termites have been attacking the docklands and some think intelligent beings are behind the plagues
10 Pirates attacked and enslaved anemone folk and in retaliation, a merchant ship has been lifted above the sea by giant kelp. The crew and passengers are trapped aboard and adventurers are sent to free them or negotiate with the anemone folk
11 A foolish noble youth of a sea merchant clan has gone out to the reef to marry a beautiful anemone woman and the family want him back
12 A great sea monster attacked a coastal village and investigators are sent to assess the threat. A cult has paid sea anemone folk to make them a living god to let them take over the coast and sea trade
Starfish Folk
Minions of the ancient marine empire, these creatures can breed rapidly and regenerate wounds making them ideal troops and workers. They also eat anything even living coral. Many varieties exist in various colours and textures of skin. Some are smooth some are covered in spiny thorns. Even if killed and dismembered the separate parts may grow into separate starfish and may even share memories. They are not clever and often are pawns of other races especially evil fish folk clans. Fish folk know their minions are often terrible at following orders and require guidance. The various tribes often act as specialist units with varying skills and weapons. As each tribe is so distinctive they stand out on battlefields. Their demon starfish ancestor is a greedy god and some human cults even worship it keeping starfish folk in pits of sacrifice. The god offers healing for servants which attracts some desperate humans. Terrible wars in ancient times featured hordes of starfish invading the land but it was fire and burning their dead that stopped them Most humans don't know this history. Some say starfish came from the stars, banished for their evil deeds by their celestial kin to the depths of the sea
d12 Starfish Folk Troubles
1 Years ago starfish folk marched from the sea and attacked. Locals defeated them and chopped them up and threw them into the sea. Now there are even more attacking!
2 A fish folk warlock has amassed an army of starfish. Working with a local cult they wish to seize a temple now landlocked in human lands
3 A pirate crew recruited some starfish in their crew. A few years later the whole crew are starfish and menacing the coast with no restraint killing, robbing and eating humans
4 A cult has been breeding starfish in a secret cave, ready for a night they will murder the local people for the demon starfish cult
5 Something by night is coming ashore and breaking into the dried fish sores and smokehouses in the harbour
6 Fishermen drying their nets all disappeared, only a star shaped sign in the sand remained
7 A strange stone spire erupted from a reef. It seems to have star symbols on it and windows. Locals are curious
8 The local reef fisherfolk are dependent on is covered in starfish folk devouring everything. Warriors are needed to kill them when fisher folk can scoop them up
9 Cultists have been seen going to the reef by night and nobody knows what they are up to. The cult wear strange star symbols with a maw in the centre on their purple robes
10 After the last starfish folk cull in the region, alone surviving starfish priest has been raiding the graveyards of the fisherfolk by night to reanimate the dead as zombies.out of revenge. Someone must kill the zombies and catch the priest in the act
11 After the last storm, a stone ruin on the beach was exposed with strange star symbols. Some beachcombers went inside and did not come out. locals are afraid
12 Locals regularly comb the beach after the storms but this year many searchers vanished. Starfish folk have been laying under the sand to grapple and eat people
Walrus Folk
This doughy folk swim in the frozen north on rocky coasts and islands and ice flows. Feed off fish, penguins and shellfish they also hunt whales, act as pirates and adventure in the pre human ruins of the frozen north. They often battle polar bear, penguin, seal and fish folk for supremacy. They also conflict with humans who dare trespass on their territory. Many males driven from their homes wander into human lands. Some end up slaves or pit fighters, but many become pirates, adventurers or mercenaries. They make the best guides in the frozen lands. They also practise handy crafts such as scrimshaw, weaving, leatherwork and carpentry they require to survive. Long ago they helped humankind repel the fish folk conquerors and helped fight necromancers who fled into the frozen wastes. Their ships and sleds are infamous and they value imported wood and metal from the south for whale ivory. Some go viking, raiding south lands for goods they crave like grain and beer. Walrus ivory highly offends them and they claim all as theirs to bury in a funeral rite. Some call them tusk folk. They often laugh at weak and skinny peoples of the sunlit lands. They infamously stoic and tough and can swing from jolly drunks to violent berserkers in moments.
d12 Walrus Folk Trouble
1 A walrus crime lord controls drug smuggling in a town and a rival gang want him gone. Adventurers are hired as extra muscle in a hit using a midnight docklands meeting as a ruse
2 A ship of walrus viking berserks is seen on the horizon, locals in panic
3 A diary and map of a pre human ruined city in the north describing great treasure is found, walrus guides are required to find it
4 Explorers found a block of ice with a thing inside. Returning it to civilisation it thaws out a walrus cursed by his berserker axe, if free and cursed axe removed he will be grateful and helpful
5 A villain robbed a walrus burial ground of ivory offending the walrus spirits and the tribe gather to hunt and kill the criminal and any aiding them
6 A hunter has been selling walrus blubber, skins and ivory actually from murdered walrus folk. Most of the good users are outraged and want hunter punished
7 Walrus folk have guarded a stone age black citadel trapped in the ice for millennia but now they are inviting adventurers and helping them
8 A walrus shaman has found a cursed fur trapper shack in the tundra and says it is a human responsibility to cleanse the haunted place of evil
9 A walrus wizard with crystal tusks has a cursed local area with freezing blizzard winds and undead walrus warriors
10 Walrus warrior maids are having a beauty contest and will force strangers they find to judge, they are vindictive and lusty
11 A great mound of a walrus warrior king has been disturbed by looters, now an angry walrus wight stalks the night murdering locals
12 Nobody had seen walrus folk for generations till a vindictive shaman planted rune encrusted tusks which grew into a band of walrus berserks who now are on a murder spree
Urchin Folk
These hard chitinous skinned folk are covered in spiny and spikes and their frightful five toothed sphincters like orifices disgust most onlookers. They are omnivorous eating seaweed, vegetable matter and any dead flesh they can scavenge. They dwell in fortified reef forts and have aggressive defensive mindsets forming phalanx walls if threatened. Every tribe has vastly different colours, spine appearance and personalities. Some with larger blunt spines may have sponges or algae growing on them. Smaller tentacles around their mouths with suckers feed off tiny often water born organisms. The very young lack spines and many do not recognise as urchins. Some develop stinging spines or might have colonies of smaller creatures living in between their spines and might defend their host.
Many served the undersea empire of the fish folk as heavy infantry and helped invade the surface world. Some tribes still raid ashore seeking food when their numbers every few generations grow and their colonies need to expand. They do tend to feud with crab folk who delight in eating them. Otter folk and starfish folk are ancient enemies also. Colonies build coral reef forts but smaller groups and lovers find a crevice or dig a hole to lair inside. Those that use magic favour protective spells. The often herd giant amphibious urchins as pets and for defence. They will trade but humans find them hideous and often fear them
d12 Urchin Folk Trouble
1 Clan of urchin warriors march ashore and terrorise fisher folk and docklands for some reason
2 Horrible humanoids from the deep come from the sea and make strange gestures alarming locals. Someone needs to meet them and determine if they are friend or foe
3 A fish folk wizard with his urchin warriors have taken over a lighthouse and people have heard strange chants from their since
4 Crab men and urchins have been battling over the reef scaring fisher folk. Both species have made crude alien attempts to seek aid from humans who don't like either breed
5 Urchin pirates have been raiding the coast and recently took a small human village and took prisoners as slaves to gather algae and seaweed from rock pools while urchins get drunk
6 A friendly sea otter merchant seeks help capturing hideous urchin folk to take to otter land
7 A wounded sea elf washed ashore tells of how a fish folk warlock with his urchin warriors has been waging war on the undersea peoples of the area and the surface will be raided next
8 A cowardly tako octopus fairy seeks adventurers to help her rob a lair of urchin folk of their pearls from their giant oyster garden. She also likes to eat their children but won't mention that
9 Dead urchin folk wash ashore, dozens of them, locals are alarmed at the hideous corpses
10 After a storm where a ship was lost bodies and survivors wash ashore where hungry urchins try to eat dead and wounded unable to move, locals want to help but are afraid
11 An urchin merchant comes ashore seeking humans to help round up his sea goblin slaves who escaped. He offers exotic fish folk gold jewellery to any who help
12 A sea urchin princess has been kidnapped by crab folk who plans to feast on her next full moon. Her page servant seeks helpers to rescue the beautiful princess and the urchin king surely will reward them. The crabs live in a coral reef fortified tower
Dolphin Folk
These folk are often well regarded by humans and some come ashore to work on ships and coastlines. Colours can vary from grey to blue or green or even pink. River breeds can be quite small and are known as dolphinlings. They tend to live in nomadic clans who hunt together. They are cheeky, playful and can be friendly. Some of the loners that come ashore are dangerous and insane, sexually assaulting and murdering for fun. Some are charlatans playing on how humans think well of them. Some claim they have healing abilities or lead cults of gullible humans. The more useful ones often work as pilots to guide ships through reefs and other marine hazards. Compared to many beast folk dolphins are acceptable and non threatening. Dolphins adapt well to trade and money making and are willing to cheat, hustle and lie to make more. It is hard to tell if their squeaks for joy are just from being happy or laughter at human fools. While they are excellent liars they can be good friends with humans. Many live on islands hunting and fishing. some human fishermen fear the competence of dolphins and some have massacred them out of rivalry. Dolphins remember this and remain wary of humans even friendly ones. Most of all they hate shark and fish folk and they aided humans fighting them long ago.
d12 Dolphin Folk Troubles
1 A dolphin peddler comes to town in a rowboat and is selling unicorn horns, cursed fish folk gold, colourful fake healing potions and treasure maps, quick to move on as has more
2 Dolphins come seeking help as viking fishermen came to their village and murdered half their tribe
3 A peg-legged dolphin pirate needs help finding his treasure he buried on skeleton island or was it mermaid island or seahag island? One of those anyway
4 A dolphin is pretending to drop treasure maps in adventurer taverns, actually lead to lairs of his people's enemies
5 A dolphin wants revenge on a sailor who ate his dead brother's corpse. The man is now a church leader who tells of how the gods sent him the corpse when he was starving
6 Dolphins have set up a seaside carnival with gambling, sideshows, freaks from the sea in cages and athletic diving feats to amaze the crowd
7 A dolphin seeks help as fish folk with shark folk mercenaries have reoccupied a ruin on the coast for some evil purpose
8 The fine finny friends are a dolphin brotherhood who offers eternal friendship to any who aid them in destroying a fish cult rampant on the coastline. Many of the cult are respectable civic leaders and dolphins don't want to get blamed if things go wrong
9 Dolphins have come demanding sea tax from a local village and threaten to sink any fishing boats launched unless they get 10% of the catch
10 A scarred dolphin warrior wants to die gloriously on one more heist. He knows where a fish folk fortress is hidden on a reef and wants humans to help him sack the place and kill the fishy bastards
11 Dolphins have come to shore to warn of a cult of manta ray folk who worship a sea demon have moved into the area and seek to sacrifice dolphins and humans like the old days
12 A dolphin wizard offers magical seaweed of water breathing if they help him plunder the garden of a sea nymph
Octopus Folk
These humanoids octopus folk are feared by coastal folk and even disliked by tako octopus fairies. They are voracious servants of chaos with octopus heads and tentacle arms, the greater ones have more arms. While tako are civilized and cautious, these brutes are fearless savages who worship sea demons and chaos gods. Long ago they serve fish god cults but they turned on fish folk when their empire collapsed. They work with squid cults too. Octopus folk live in caves on coasts or reefs and raid enemies on land or the sea. Ever hungry and greedy for treasure and slaves they are constantly at war. Some evil powers employ them but must not show the weakness of the cunning octopus folk will turn on their masters. Often the ambush ships and sacrifice most of the crew and eat them. The unlucky ones are taken to their caves as servants and playthings. They often fight naked to intimidate their foes and often stop in the battle to eat a fallen enemy rather than chase any who flee. Most undersea races fear and mistrust them.
d12 Octopus Folk Troubles
1 A pirate had his crew eaten and his treasure stolen and seeks adventurers to help recover the remains
2 A chaos octopus gladiator has been eating mutants thrown into his fighting pit by humans and has gained new mutations. Using her new abilities she escapes into the markets to kill as many as possible and escape if she can into the sea
3 Octopus warriors have raided a village seizing all the women while the fishermen were at sea. A church offers funds to rescue the women before they are eaten or worse
4 A man covered in sucker wounds washes up on the shore and when revived tells of an offshore cave where octopus folk force human slaves to mine gold from the seafloor using strange apparatus made by fish folk wizards long ago. The man dies of the bends shortly after.
5 An octopus cult has been sacrificing gold and victims to a sea linked sinkhole for generations. Locals want the cult stopped and their false god killed. In the tidal flooded sinkhole, a kraken and his octopus minions come every full moon for treasure and victims
6 An octopus wizard keeps sending a water elemental to kidnap victims from a coastal town daily and a huge reward is offered for the fiend
7 A village troubled by octopus folk have caught an innocent tako they caught visiting fisherman's wives while washing clothes on the rocks by the sea. The villages plan to cook and eat him but he claims to know where the octopus folk lair is and tells of a great treasure hidden there from the old fish folk kingdom
8 A great octopus warrior with obsidian weapons has come ashore and will not let fishermen enter the sea unless they defeat him or give him a dozen human babies to eat
9 Sea elves come ashore seeking humans to fight octopus folk servants of an evil sea hag who wants their handsome prince to marry her
10 Strange chanting from the reef by night has been alarming locals and the tide has been rising higher than ever before. Next full moon high tide approaches and locals dread what will happen next
11 A fisherman killed a selkie who would not be his lover and now the sea king sends octopus folk to punish the humans until the villain is surrendered to him. The culprit knows why the fiend's attack but the village has no idea
12 An evil fish folk sorcerer has been kidnapping humans to turn into octopus folk servants. Predictably they have begun to attack humans when the master is not watching them, drawing attention to his evil schemes against the sea king
Penguin FolkOily flightless bird folk often living in frozen sea islands or rocky coasts. The smallest breeds are penguinlings and most think they are harmless and inoffensive other than their fishy smell. The larger breeds are often sailors and explorers joining human crews and working docks for fish. They have colonies worldwide and trade exotic seafood their preferred currency. Fish folk hate them with a passion for eating their children in their sacred spawning grounds. Some penguin folk seasonally live deeper inland to breed and some came to dwell in ruined prehuman fortresses of alien gods from pre human times. These have become dangerous albino cultists who now guard these ruins from humans. Some penguin magicians have learned the art of making iceberg citadels that wander the world and never melt. Some bring chilling blizzards with them to keep intruders away.
d12 Penguin Folk Troubles
1 A iceberg citadel of penguin folk ruled by a prehuman sorcerer in service to the evil elemental cold demon lords has been attacking coastal shipping and destroying villagers. The kingdom has offered a reward for stopping the frozen juggernaut
2 A penguin pirate knows the way to the prehuman ruins of Ultima Thule and offers humans join him in his quest for money and forbidden lore that wizards will pay for gladly
3 A penguinling colony has grown and the curious pests now wander the streets, stinking up the place and bringing their odd customs. Locals want someone to drive off the pint sized penguin folk. If bothered they are shocked they are unwelcome and call their larger cousins to aid them
4 A penguin offer maps of far off lands unknown to humans in return for helping her get revenge on shark folk who ate her family
5 A penguin hero in magical ice armour with snow golem minions demands all fishing rights in the area belong to their race, not humans. Locals hire adventures and lie to make this penguin paladin seem less sympathetic
6 A demon whale has been eating penguins fishing in their island waters and they seek humans to kill the weird beast
7 A penguin family had children eaten by walrus folk and they want revenge. Calling on an evil relic from the deep they call a tsunami to hit the walrus colony. A minor sea deity learns of the plan and warns the local humans
8 Savage penguin chaos pirates have been seen off coast spreading mass panic
9 A penguin long lost from home has become a well liked local, somebody has kidnapped it and locals worried
10 Slavers captured the local penguin colony preventing them, from performing ancient rituals that kept a chaos kraken away from the region, now it is tearing up villages and ships
11 Penguinlings were brutally set on by dogs and rendered for oil by horrible humans. They seek killers to avenge their tribe offering to pay with pearls and treasure maps
12 A penguin islander hero comes to civilised port to find athletes for island games and they seek human contestants. Offer gold and pearls to come. The events include kraken hunting, fighting demons and avoiding the deathtraps on their island while seeking a great relic for the natives
Pelican Folk
These gruff but admirable sea folk travel seas and are experts at fishing and smuggling. Many come from Island tribes and join ship crews where they excel in all climates. Many prate crews also have them as crewmen. Occasionally get up to tricks with beaks like hiding goods, snatch severed hands on a battlefield or trip someone up with hook on the beak. Pelican corsairs roam some coastlines living like pirates, some also taken as slaves or conscripted by visiting ships. Pelicans have aided several undersea civilisations for better or for worse of various alignments. There are smaller pelicanlings too but they are more like fish scroungers or sidekicks.
1 A crew of pelicans have adopted a tavern and the owner cant dislodge them. Will pay you in free beer if you can get rid of them
2 A rocky outcrop is a base for smugglers some say but they are working with a huge network of pelican folk and a few fight with them
3 An elderly pelican man with a wooden leg tells stories and sings shanties for beer knows of lots of strange treasure islands to the south. Longs to go back with explorers and speaks islander folk languages
4 A local pelican fisher comes into market warning all about signs of the fish cult in town, almost immediately some fishy fellows follow him
5 A pelican offers a ride for hire on his golem powered tug boat he found in distant ruins on an island
6 Pelicans erected idol where they conjure a sea elemental and talk to mermaids, locals suspicious of their cult and want pelicans gone and to grab their property
7 A pelican fishing boat captain saw strange haunted treasure ship exposed on the reef in a storm in full moon and he is sure conditions will be same tonight for a fee
8 Pelican fisherman has seen a strange stone barge underwater and some stuff that looks like ruins
9 Old pelican in pub gossips about local criminal gangs and their activities around the harbour, for a few coins will name names but if the mob find out the pelican will be found dead next day
10 A gang of pelican folk have been hunting for fish men cults earnestly. Will inspect visitors to town to check for fishy friends or their finny friends. Occupationally are convinced by some trivia some poor person is a fish cultist who needs interrogating and possibly burning
11 A wicked chaos pelican sect have been holding rituals on the reef at night summoning fish to eat and ancient sea demon minions
12 A pelican wizard has erected a coral tower and has declared keep out to all locals and the law. Local tax man wants him issued with a legal summons by hand
Stingray Folk
These sinister folk from the deep served greater armies of fish folk long ago. They are notorious necromancers and evil priests dedicated to marine devils which there are plenty. They often build an underwater entrance to a reef based hidden fort or temple. Many also live in the seas of hell and thus many are called devil-rays. They are reluctant to talk o humans who killed many of their greatest tribes long ago. Some live in marine districts of cities but they often end up working as bounty hunters, smugglers, kidnappers and assassins. Sometimes they start bloodthirsty cults and try to restore the ancient terror days when all gave them offerings out of fear. They like to use spike clubs often with poison, tridents and nets. Smaller ones are shy and hide on distant islands who often don't survive meeting other races. Some are seen gliding over the sea
1 Robed cultists are seen making for the coast with a screaming person, when they reach the beach stingray folk carry them across the low tide to a rocky island with a hidden stingray tentacle to their vampire demon god
2 Missing beachcombers had local search revealing strange rock carvings of stingray folk receiving human captives from humans
3 Recently local smugglers disappeared making quality grog hard to find but then an armed band of taxmen disappeared on patrol too, nobody knows how or why
4 Lighthouse keepers report cloaked creatures running about the lighthouse rocks by night
5 Travellers near the sea find cowled creature hiding in the water peeking and following them
6 On rainy nights some cult has been seen on coast holding strange ceremonies. Once a body was found swollen and purple, punctured with thousands of tiny puncture wounds and broken bones but no blood
7 A man saw ghost like figures swimming in and out of flooded caves
8 A ship came ashore with all crew gone and the hand of a strange creature was found
9 Lights from a rock at sea have been spotted and town elders want adventurers to lead night watch to find out what is going on. Some heard some strange sounds like stone working
10 A stone circle half submerged on the coast has been seen since a big storm and some say sinister robed figures were wading around the rocks
11 Local art in the temple shows long ago strange folk from the sea lived here but were driven off into coastal caves. Stingray folk tribe are very angry and will call on their evil god and fight to the death with everything
12 A dried up devil-ray hangs from shop ceiling and owner comments they used to live here but all were killed. Mentions a bay with an underwater cave. There is a sea devil idol onshore
Seahorse FolkThese creatures are flighty and wary of strangers but are also boastful and like to sound noble and important. They like to think they are more like dragons than horses and some breeds resemble vegetation they live amongst. Some are covered in algae making them hard to see. Other are more colourful and vain holding parties and courtly games. They invite other fish to show how much better they are. Male seahorse folk mostly care for and protect babies while women go exploring and have adventures. When they gather to discus various things they fled from heroically. Smaller breeds were hunted for dried ornaments
1 Seahorse folk are being eaten by a marine dinosaur and need help or they will always perish
3 Someone is catching baby seahorse folk as pets in the city where most die, seahorse elders, need help
4 A sea druid has a location of a secret seahorse dancing place and seeks helpers to meet them. They all sobbed about a giant chaos sea turtle which the tearful druids announce you will fight it
5 A seahorse tattoo artist working on docks has been forced to ally with a thieves guild. Needs some adventurers he can dupe into starting a fight with a rival gang
6 A seahorse bard wishes to study surface adventure then go tour the undersea faerie land with new songs about funny landlubbers
7 A seahorse huckster with his burly lobster folk guards is offering money to who can beat his slave crab man in a fight. He would sell the slave for a good offer
8 A seahorse wizard has come to study the unnatural child rearing practices of the feckless surface folk
9 A seahorse man stranded with a bunch of his children living in an overturned fishing boat need food and help
10 Dazed seahorse children wash up on shore and locals grab them and put them in cages to sell to freak shows and menageries. Under the sea seahorse, villagers are preparing to attack bu night
11 A band of seahorse women adventurers would like to see some monsters up close and offer pearls for safe confrontation with monsters of the surface. They will scream in shrill voices and heroically flee until they are exhausted
12 A seahorse gladiator wants freedom and asks if adventurers could buy him and he could earn cash faster, he desperately wants to get home to his babies separated from him years ago
Manatee FolkThese placid grazers of seaweed are kin to dugongs and sea cows and other similar mammals, some now rare. They are peaceful and kind and happy grazing on weed, some labour in underwater fairyland pulling ploughs for nymphs or seagrass spirit folk. Some come ashore and work on docks using great strength and endurance. Some try and sell milk but with less success but do get be wet nurses for orphan sailors. Deluded humans sometimes mistake them for mermaids or try and eat them or worse so they avoid places humans live mostly. They are quite friendly, calm and jolly when fed and content but produce huge tears when they cry. Manatee make good sailors and wharf crew but don't really like violence mostly
1 A noble wizard likes to run down manatee in his magical boat then has his servants collect the body and spitroast them. Some locals think this could be wrong
2 A peaceful islander knows of a dugong temple where local tribe threw pearls in the sea
3 A great floating raft populated by manatee folk has been seen offshore and they trade goods and welcome strangers
4 A matinee wizard from the underwater fairyland comes to trade drugs with the surface world, offers free sea wine and kelp beer drinks to new customers, locals shocked
5 A giant castle of kelp has grown in the harbour. An evil manatee wizard and his royal guards defend it from intruders while a manatee princess in the top tower calls out for help
6 A slaver has manatees gathering pearls by holding babies hostage, boasts about it in town
7 Manatee folk are swimming around having a sing and humans with harpoons are sneaking up to them
8 A manatee barbarian is hunting humans that killed his family but in meantime needs beer money and fights
9 Sailors have found an island rocky outcrop sea castle of a manatee clan and seek warriors to help them rob the magic brutes
10 A manatee wizard uses illusions to make her sea cow gang seem like attractive maidens. They kidnap people and polymorph the most charismatic into manatee folk to be husbands forever in undersea faerie land
11 A thieves guild of manatee drug smugglers have been crashing drug prices and local guilds need someone to find who. Manatee mostly lay about with hookahs and eating seagrass and dancing
12 Manatee offers magic seagrass that lets surface folk breathe water and a chance to explore a shark infested wreck full of a treasure chest from far away