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spidermilkshake · 1 year

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Ancardia's Unusual Animals--the Hrökkáll

Classification: Beast (fish)

Habitat: Deoxygenated and polluted pools and wetland ranges in Tvearban and northern Akimmia.

The Hrökkáll is an unusual fish native only to certain northerly areas of the world, which while commonly described as an eel, is truthfully closer in relation to a muskellunge. At full size, this creature of shallow polluted pools and acidic wetland waters measure only about 55 centimeters, and in the spring thousands of squirming juveniles can be found which measure about 2 centimeters in length. The Hrökkáll is the subject of a number of superstitions among the Isyldweragh and the Hurthlings of the Helm of the East region, chiefly of their being an omen of death or a bringer of bad luck. This perhaps has more to do with the habitat of the Hrökkáll, which can include secluded ponds and pools made completely toxic and impotable by mineral intrusion from arsenic, lead, and cinnabar (mercury) deposits close to the surface rather than the fish itself. The wiser Ice Dwarf or Highrock Hurthling realizes that the fish comes after the noxious pools, and simply knows better than to draw water or catch the fish of the polluted pools and fens.

This elongate and heavy-scaled fish species is a predator, mostly targeting flying insects, small frogs and salamanders, and low-flying birds such as plovers and kingfishers. They grow somewhat stunted in places of high mineral pollution, but seem to be well-adapted to surviving in such adverse conditions. Their general submersion in acidic or toxic water protects them from many predators, and most live their whole 7 to 8 year lifespans in the same pools snatching mayflies and mosquito larva from the surface in spring and ambushing migratory birds skimming the water and the more foolish amphibians on the shores in autumn. Their juveniles, which hatch from eggs suspended from the stems of cattails, reed, and other water-loving plants at a few inches above water level, are sometimes taken by kingfishers and wandering gulls and seabirds, and in their wetland habitat the younger Hrökkáll less than 15 centimeters in length are often attacked by marsh-dwelling herons and snapping turtles, though somewhat rarely. The flavor of Hrökkáll flesh from the wetland-dwelling individuals is still said to be somewhat foul and metallic, with a constant aftertaste like clotted blood and something burnt no matter what cooking method and what spices are added to it. For this reason, whenever a Hrökkáll specimen is ever killed by locals, the flesh is generally ground up for either fertilizer or bait for other animals, and the only portions used by humanoids are the strong ribs and ray fins for primitive sewing needles, fishing tackle, and the hide and scales as a thin but tough leather used for belts, knuckle-guards, and some decorative features.

Hrökkáll are neither particularly social or anti-social—usually content to bask along the surfaces of their native bogs and pools. In some situations, these fish can be densely packed at fifteen to a square meter, at which point some fighting can occur but is usually resolved by a number of the Hrökkáll leaping onto land and wriggling to a neighboring pool or fens. This species is hardy, not only surviving high levels of metallic toxins and acidity but able to live for up to three hours outside of water, provided the humidity is high. In other situations, particularly in warmer, murkier waters, Hrökkáll have been known to turn cannibalistic very quickly if risk of overcrowding looms, though this is a stress behavior and not otherwise seen in healthy limited populations. On rare other occasions, inexperienced brown bears may attack a great many of these fishes in a small pool by opportunity, only to realize after consuming one that they are highly toxic and unpalatable.

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