Sahuagin are an aquatic humanoid race that live beneath the waters of the Thunder Sea. The sahuagin, as a rule, are hostile, though some tribes maintain friendly relationships with specific communities in Eberron, including Sharn and Stormreach.[1]
History
Once upon the time, the sahuagin had an empire beneath the seas. Little is known about this empire. It resulted in great cities build beneath the waves, and that it was responsible for the near extinction of the darfellan and the aquatic elf races. The sahuagin fought the aboleths, the merfolk, and even the Lords of Dust. At its height, sahuagin could be found in all ten seas of Eberron. However, at some point, the empire fell.[1][2][3]
40,000 years ago, the giants of Xen'drik reached the pinnacle of their height. However, the giants clashed with the Quori from the plane of Dal Quor. After defeating the Quori, and facing the elven revolt, the giant empire fell. Over the next 10,000 years, the sahuagin took advantage of the fall of the Age of Giants and invaded the giant ruins near Shargon's Teeth. The sahuagin, however, were soon pushed back to the sea by the giants; specifically the Fallen Stone tribe.[4]
A sahuagin raiding party.
In the present day, various tribes of the sahuagin inhabit the waters between Khorvaire and Xen'drik: the Thunder Sea. They live in underwater settlements across the Straits of Shargon, and amongst the islands of the Shargon's Teeth. For those traveling between Khorvaire and Xen'drik, the sahuagin tribes have no qualms with attacking the passing ships. Some of these violent sahuagin serve the ancient Kraken Zlortharkis, who seeks to rule beneath the ocean.[1][4]
While most tribes will actively hunt the humanoid races of Eberron, there are tribes that live in peaceful coexistence. Hundreds of years ago, ambassadors from the Kingdom of Galifar and Zilargo opened relationships with the sahuagin. Tribes of the Straits of Shargon to the south of Khorvaire will actively trade with coastal cities. Cities like Sharn in Breland and Stormreach in Xen'drik house a small population of sahuagin that interact with the other races. The sahuagin have even been allowed to claim a portion of Stormreach, called Underharbor, as their home. Calynden d'Lyrandar of House Lyrandar in Stormreach has made great strides in negotiating with the sea devils on behalf of his dragonmarked house. In fact, many sailors that make the voyage from Sharn to Stormreach have picked up their fair share of the sahuagin language, and even if they are not able to converse in it, they are certainly able to swear in it.[3][4]
In addition to the tribes of sahuagin that inhabit the Thunder Sea, there have been sahuagin spotted in the Bitter Sea to the north of Khorvaire.[3]
Species
A few kinds of sahuagin are known to exist in Eberron.
A baron sahuagin from City of Stormreach.
Baron
The baron sahuagin are a special type of sahuagin with four arms.[5]
Malenti
While most sahuagin are true sahuagin, occasionally a sahuagin is "born again" into a mutated form: the malenti. These malenti are usually sahuagin who have been transformed after devouring the intellect of a powerful creature, though some malenti may be bred from other malenti. Malenti may resemble the creatures they devour.[4]
Baron sahuagin can become malenti.[4]
Religion
Most sahuagin are fervent worshipers of the Devourer, who they call Shargon, the lord of the deep waters. In the sahuagin culture, he is pictured as a sahuagin, or sometimes a giant shark. Sahuagin prefers to fight with his favored weapon, the trident. The devourer teaches that the sahuagin gain power and ability by eating other intelligent creatures. Many sahuagin firmly believe these teachings and will hunt humanoid races over other creatures of the sea.[1]
According to an ancient prophecy of the Devourer, a "smoothskin" called the Shirrin Kho will rise to lead his people into an age of victory and supremacy over the land-walkers. Many followers amongst the cult of the Devourer in Stormreach believe that the "smoothskin" is a malenti, and believe that the coming of the priest K’shegla signals a time for the sahuagin to rise and take on the nations of the land-walkers.[4]
Notable Personalities
- Ak'ash'eck was a sahuagin druid that roamed the northwest fringe of Shargon's Teeth years ago. He enjoyed using his creation, a water whip, to steal sailors off their ships without even the slightest alarm.[6]
- Bulubba is a priestess of a sahuagin tribe that lives near an island off the coast of Xen'drik.[7]
- Khalaash is one of two priests that oversees the shrine to the Devourer in the city of Stormreach; the other being the elf Seryssa.[4]
- Korel is a malenti sahuagin disguised as an aquatic elf and the leader of the Raiders of the Gray Pearl. She is an agent and the right hand of the sahuagin messiah K'shegla.[3][4]
- K'shegla is also a cleric to the Devourer, but this messiah seeks to return the sahuagin to the old ways and practices the belief of ritually consuming your foes. K'shegla was originally a baron sahuagin but has now become a malenti of legend after consuming the heart of a kraken.[4]
Appearance & Personality
A sahuagin priestess.
The sahuagin are a powerful aquatic race. They have a scaly skin of green or brown, with webbed fingers and toes. Their mouths are filled with fangs and breathe through the use of gills. Fins jut out from a sahuagin's head, back, and arms, and a sahuagin has a finned tail. Traditionally, they are much stronger, faster, and smarter than humans.[2][5]
The sahuagin have a clan-based society, with most clans warring with one another with the same zeal they show to assaulting seafaring ships and fishing villages. So far, this internal clan warfare has kept the sahuagin from unifying against the other races of Khorvaire and the rest of the surface world.[2]
Abilities
The sahuagin have the ability to live and breathe in a salt-water environment. This makes them powerful under the waves; however, the sahuagin cannot easily adjust to fresh-water environments. Sahuagin have blindsense from living under the sea, but also have a sensitivity to light. They are dependent upon the water. Sahuagin can also speak with other creatures of the deep, like sharks.[5]
Though the sahuagin have natural claw and bite attacks, most sahuagin wield weapons. Most sahuagin will enter a blood rage when fighting, showing an almost instinctual desire to kill their foe.[5]
Weapons & Equipment
Sahuagin will use the same types of weapons that humans do, though they prefer the use of the trident and the net. They also have the ability to wear armor and will craft armor from the scales or chitin of creatures they have killed.[5]
Notes
Keith Baker has mentioned on his website that his original proposal for Eberron included sahuagin and the merfolk as major races of the seas of Eberron, with a smaller presence of the aquatic elves around Aerenal. The sahuagin would have a monolithic culture reminiscent in some respects of the Deep Ones from the works of H.P. Lovecraft.[8]
Appendix
External Links
- Sahuagin article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, & James Wyatt (2004). Eberron Campaign Setting. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 James Wyatt, Keith Baker, Luke Johnson, Steven Brown (2006). Player's Guide to Eberron. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3912-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Keith Baker, Jason Bulmahn, & Amber Scott (2006). Secrets of Xen'drik. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3916-8.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Keith Baker, Nicolas Logue, James Desborough, C.A. Suleiman (2008). City of Stormreach. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-4803-5.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual (3.5 edition). (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Stephen Schubert, and Chris Thomasson (2005). Magic of Eberron. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3696-7.
- ↑ Mark Sehestedt, editor (2006). The Tales of the Last War. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3986-9.
- ↑ Keith Baker (02/06/2018). Eberron Flashback: Under The Sea. Archived from the original on 08/15/2018. Retrieved on 02/26/2019.
Connections
| Races |
|---|
| Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn | Drow | Dwarf | Elf | Gnome | Half-Elf | Half-Orc | Halfling | Human | Tiefling |
| Eberron Races: Bugbear | Changeling | Goblin | Hobgoblin | Kalashtar | Orc | Shifter | Warforged |
| Other Races: Armand | Asherati | Bhuka | Doppelganger | Dragon | Gnoll | Goliath | Kobold | Lizardfolk | Medusa | Sahuagin | Shulassakar | Thri-kreen | Yuan-Ti |
| Outsiders: Aasimar | Angel | Archon | Daelkyr | Demon | Devil | Elemental | Genie | Githyanki | Githzerai | Inevitable | Mephit | Quori | Slaad |