Racial Description

Farthest Fathoms: Anguiliians live in the sunless depths of the ocean, where they form free-swimming tribes that cruise the ocean depths. The entire tribe remains mobile, with the females carrying their eggs along as they swim. They typically dwell at depths between 1,800 and 2,400 feet, rising near the surface only at night to hunt. Some Anguiliians even venture to the surface on moonless nights. However, the creatures limit such forays to brief raids on lonely islands or attacks on passing ships. Anguiliians communicate through clicks, thumps, and whistles, just like Sahuagin. In fact, the creatures speak a dialect of the Sahuagin tongue. Their chieftains usually know the common tongue of surface dwellers, which they speak tolerably well, and the racial tongues of one or two other land or marine races.   Wrack and Ruin: Anguiliian lore holds great reverence for their patron god, Anguileusis. Although focused on directing his people in their dominion of the seas, he held a uniquely personal interest in their welfare. Through his guidance, they built a majestic undersea empire, propelled forward by living technology that channeled Anguileusis' divine essence. Perhaps out of a desire to further guide his people, or a desire to personally lead their conquest, Anguileusis chose to fully incarnate himself, joining the Anguiliians as the son of the empire's rulers, the Deep Mother, and the Deep Father. At the moment of his birth, however, a group of elves used powerful magics to seal him away; both Anguileusis and the Deep Father were transformed into a serpentine statue, known as the Stone Which Abides. Already heavily divergent from the tales of surface-dwellers, the history and lore of the various Anguiliian tribes become irreconcilable from this point. The one thing they can all agree on is that with the loss of their deity and power, the Anguiliians were left to descend into savagery as their empire stagnated. Anguileusis has been forgotten by all but his most faithful, who desperately search for a way to revitalize him.   Beating Quarters: Anguiliians make swift attacks aimed at overwhelming the opposition. In open water, they often form a loose sphere around their enemy: a few Anguiliians swim overheard, a few more attack from the front, rear, and flanks, and the majority strike from below. Aiming to disorient their prey, they will dart in to attack, then swiftly withdraw as others move in. These eel-folk attack with their mouths, pincers, and tails. Their tails deliver a powerful slam, while their pincers slice and crush. On a successful bite, an Anguiliian may attempt to latch onto open flesh. Once attached, they will use plates on their piston-like tongue to scrape past the skin and reach body fluids; Anguiliians have been known to drill their way into large creatures such as whales, and literally eat them from the inside out. Victims of an Anguiliian bite will often need to dislodge the creature by killing it or, failing that, tearing it away.   Anguiliian Names: Befitting their language, Anguiliian names often combine smooth sounds with the harsher stops provided by clicks and thumps. As these portions are frequently omitted by surface-dwellers, the remnants of Anguiliian names end up sounding soft and fluid.