Inhabitants and Creatures of Rokugan

[Vutall]

Inhabitants
Peasant
Most of Rokugan’s inhabitants are peasants. These hardworking people live their lives largely beneath the notice of samurai (except when it comes time to collect taxes from them), and yet without their toil, society would not exist.

Innkeepers
Any respectable town can boast at least one inn, which is run by the innkeeper. Samurai are simply given room and board (and anything else they request), and the bill is forwarded to their lord, so honorable retainers never need sully their speech by haggling or inquiring about cost. Clever innkeepers work this custom to their advantage, freely offering their best rooms and finest foods to unassuming samurai guests, knowing that it will be accepted as proper tribute––and paid for by wealthy lords

Merchants
Although they are looked down upon by nobility and rank lower than farmers in the Celestial Order, merchants nonetheless wield considerable power and influence for one simple reason: they have the money to do so. Discerning merchants make a living by selling finer wares almost exclusively to samurai nobility. It is dishonorable to haggle or even ask for a price, and many samurai are not educated in commerce and remain ignorant of what things cost, so the discerning merchant stands to make a significant profit if they maintain a trustworthy reputation.

Few peasants ever travel farther than the nearest village, and some never even leave the place of their birth. In contrast, merchants travel throughout the Empire, and some are considered more worldly than samurai! When a traveling merchant enters a village, they are often bombarded with questions about the outside world. Sometimes they are even treated as honored guests, although never quite as well as a visiting samurai

Enforcers
Little more than brutes and thumb breakers, enforcers are hired muscle employed to intimidate those who refuse to take their employer’s threats seriously. Hired enforcers do not care who their employer is—a merchant who was shorted by someone who thought they were clever, a crime lord displeased with a law enforcement official, or simply someone who wishes to assert their authority—they just care that the coin is good.

Thieves
Although folktales venerate those who steal from the samurai class and live, the life of a cutpurse is anything but glamorous. Thieves live desperate, hand-to-mouth lives, always hoping that their next filched coin will finally pull them out of crushing poverty and into an honest living. Some have come to terms with their lot in life, either because they’ve grown accustomed to it, have come to enjoy the constant threat of discovery and brutal punishment, or have simply lost hope for anything better

Ashigaru
Ashigaru are the rank-and-file foot soldiers who make up the bulk of Rokugani armies. These foot soldiers are commoners, peasants who have been drafted into military service. Interestingly, once drafted, they are considered to belong to the lowest rank of the buke, the samurai caste, even though they aren’t samurai. When they are not performing military service, ashigaru generally revert to their peasant status as farmers or tradespeople, but some continue to serve as guards or scouts, or as dōshin to magistrates. If samurai encounter ashigaru in formed bodies of troops, then it is almost certainly because they are from a clan that is at war. Samurai from that clan, such as officers and units of bushi, should be nearby.

Bushi
Bushi are warriors: armed samurai who are professional soldiers in service to their clan. PCs might encounter bushi individually, or they might meet an organized body, which could be anything from a squad (or guntai) of up to a dozen bushi commanded by a sergeant (or gunsō) to an entire army on the march.

Shugenja
Shugenja are holy people, priests who commune with the kami, making invocations to persuade them to cause spectacular and even destructive effects in the Mortal Realm. However, shugenja are rare, and seldom encountered outside of shrines, temples, and libraries

Courtier
Courtiers are also samurai, but they serve with words rather than with blades. Most are politicians and diplomats. Unlike bushi, courtiers are normally encountered as individuals or, perhaps, in small groups. They are usually engaged in their clan’s business, unless they are taking a break from their travels in an inn or sake house. As is expected of samurai, courtiers carry a wakizashi, but rarely any other weapons. Instead, they rely on their yōjimbō for protection.

Shinobi
Shinobi exist in secret, training in secret, defying the laws of the Emperor and accepting Great Clan gold in exchange for carrying out clandestine deeds. But some shinobi train for a different purpose entirely: to protect the peasants from their own cruel samurai lords. Samurai who wrong the helpless peasantry are visited in the night by an avenging shadow, and those who attempt to subjugate a village simply vanish without a trace.

While the use of shinobi has been outlawed by the Emperor, these specialized assassins and spies are still secretly employed by most Clans. However, if such infor-mation were brought to light it would bring great dis-honor and consequences down upon the heads of those who would so boldly disobey the Son of Heaven.

Tax Collectors
Imperial tax collectors are often drafted from yoriki and dōshin, but occasionally tax collection is delegated to an Emerald Magistrate as a veiled demotion. In practice, samurai tax collectors simply receive gathered taxes from the village elder and escort tax caravans to their destination, but occasionally they must deal with villages that are unwilling (or unable) to pay. Due to the tax collectors’ general unpopularity, and also because they are frequent targets of desperate bandits, individuals of some martial prowess are preferred for the task, and rōnin are often hired as bodyguards.

Samurai Daimyō
The typical daimyō is stern, serious, and inured to flattery. Their time is valuable, so they appreciate brevity and clarity from any samurai who address them. While most no longer take up arms often, they can be extremely deadly in battle, for they often possess arms and armor of surpassing quality and a lifetime of experience fight-ing to maintain what is theirs at court and in combat

Bandit
Bandits are outlaws who thrive in the more rural and remote regions of Rokugan. They usually form gangs because, unlike their urban criminal siblings, they rely more on swift, violent attack than on subtle manipulation, stealth, or subterfuge to achieve their nefarious objectives. Bandits usually target travelers on the Imperial roads, their scouts identifying easy targets in advance.

Bandits who manage to survive their dangerous profession usually become cunning and dangerous. Often, they end up leading a gang of their less experienced fellows, or join forces with a truly lethal individual such as a rōnin.

Few bandits live long enough to accumulate adequate numbers, wealth, and influence to rival those of local lords, but bandits who do are destabilizing powers in their region. These so-called “bandit lords” have enough local power to illegally claim their own “domains,” embarrassing the legitimate lords by rebuffing attempts to bring them to heel. Sometimes their names even spread to other lands. Occasionally, a bandit lord who has proven a better and more popular guardian than the local lord is granted that lord’s lands and a family name, becoming legitimate by Imperial decree. For this reason, popular bandits are considered extremely threatening, and when-ever they are caught, a public example is always made.

Ronin
Rōnin exist in a strange part of Rokugani society; they fight for money, but nominally do so for noble ends. Thus, the line between rōnin and bandits can be indistinct, depending on whether a rōnin can find legitimate work at a given time. What sets a rōnin apart is honor: a desire, on some level, to uphold Bushidō and its virtues

With the permission of their daimyō, a clan samurai could undertake a musha shugyō, or “warrior’s pilgrimage.” A samurai on a musha shugyō becomes a rōnin, temporarily casting aside their loyalties and wandering the Empire to learn as much as possible while perfecting their skills as a warrior. It is essential that the erstwhile samu-rai make no reference to their clan during the pilgrimage. Once the requirements of the musha shugyō are fulfilled, the rōnin returns to their clan as a samurai.

To survive on their own, or out of a need to belong, rōnin sometimes band together in small mercenary groups. At a cursory glance, these groups appear identical to bandit gangs, but what distinguishes them is some sense of honor. Upon joining, those recently cast aside by the clans will fashion themselves after a mentor, a rōnin who has proven they can survive the indifference of the waves

A common trope in Rokugani folktales is that of the wandering swordmaster, a rōnin whose devotion to mastery of the blade outweighs their sense of family obligation and duty. These rōnin not only cast them-selves against hardship, but embrace the wild life of the lordless, for this, they believe, is the only way to hone their skill with the sword. Such rōnin easily find work as bodyguards and duelists, sometimes even with a Great Clan



Land Creatures
Amikiri
An amikiri is the transformation of a scorpion that has reached one hundred years of age, growing in size and gaining the ability to camouflage itself. These creatures hide in ceiling corners, blending into their surroundings, and use their claws to sever mosquito nets, lamp ropes, and other such fixtures. While they are usually relatively harmless, they are deadly adversaries when confronted.

Some scholars believe that the scorpion is not native to Rokugan, but was discovered and brought to Rokugan by Shosuro during her travels as a service to her clan

Basan
Also known as the mountain rooster, or “basa-basa” after its distinct call, the basan is a native of Chi-kushō-dō, the Realm of Animals. It sometimes wanders into the Realm of Mortals. Resembling an oversized rooster with vibrant plumage that darkens into a char-coal color when it is threatened, the basan is able to breathe plumes of blue flame, although these flames do not burn unless the basan is angered or frightened. As it is a nocturnal creature, its keening call and brightly exhaled displays make it a nuisance to rural villages, often keeping everyone awake. However, a basan that wanders into a settlement can be more than just a nuisance, especially when the startled creature sets nearby homes ablaze

Bears
Bears are solitary, fiercely territorial animals that inhabit the wild regions of Rokugan. They range from the large and aggressive brown bears found in Shinomen Mori to the smaller black bears in the Seikitsu and the Twilight Mountains.

Boars
Boars are aggressive and territorial wild pigs. Even an armored bushi can be slain by their sharp, jagged tusks.

Camel
Camels were imported into the Empire by the Unicorn Clan when they returned from their eight-hundred-year exploration of the lands beyond Rokugan. Able to withstand extreme temperatures, sustain themselves by eating tough shrubs, and survive long periods with-out water, camels were useful work animals to the Uni-corn Clan while they explored the Burning Sands and were swiftly domesticated. Camels are hardy and can be trained, but they are more stubborn and intelligent than horses and ponies, and require great patience to handle. The Unicorn still use camels for their woolly fur (which can be spun into textiles) and milk, for carrying goods and other burdens, and sometimes for mounts or even cavalry, as they handle rough terrain better than warhorses. In fact, camels tend to frighten Rokugani ponies and horses, making them effective counters to enemy cavalry (when the camels feel like cooperating). In spite of this, they are generally not used by any other Great Clan, as they are considered distasteful and dirty creatures.

Cats
Cats are small, furry felines that have cunningly shaped human society to fulfill their needs over generations of adaptation. They reside in the homes of samurai and peasants alike, providing their nominal owners with entertainment, pest control, and occasional affection.

Dogs
Extremely devoted to humans, dogs assist with a variety of tasks, including acting as guards, serving as trackers and hunters, and fighting alongside their masters. Dogs come in a variety of sizes, from small hounds for rabbit hunting to massive beasts bred for battle.

Elephants
Elephants are not native to Rokugan, and most Rokugani have never seen one. But a pair are known to be owned by the Ide family daimyō and kept in Khanbulak as a token of prestige, and the Bayushi menagerie keeps one healthy elephant as a curiosity. Generally timid and surprisingly smart, elephants are dangerous only when agitated or when their young are threatened. In the distant Mweneta Empire and the Ivory Kingdoms, the elephant is a valuable working animal and a formidable war animal, and it is venerated as a symbol of intelligence, compassion, and patience

Forest Trolls
Inside the Empire, trolls are quite rare, but they occasionally enter via the great forest of the Shinomen Mori on Rokugan’s western border. They are intelligent but unpredictable, and not above eating rude humans.

Fox
There are several varieties of fox that are native to Rokugan, including the dusty white snow fox, the more common red, black, and white fox, and the rare silver fox. These creatures are considered intelligent and for many conjure up images of the trickster-spirits known as kitsune.

Furiribi
In the wake of a traumatic death, sometimes an “aimless flame” is left behind: a furiribi. These purple orbs linger in the places where their bodies died, luring the unwary to their deaths in swamps, cliffs, or other hazardous places. The furiribi’s flame burns not the flesh, but the very soul, causing spiritual illness if left untreated.

Giant Hornets
Giant hornets are the largest hornet species in Rokugan, growing up to two inches long. Most commonly encountered in Scorpion and Lion lands, giant hornets are feared despite their size due to the potency of their toxic sting, which can incapacitate even a grown adult. Giant hornet swarms are considered especially dangerous, although giant hornets are usually encountered alone. Colloquially known as “sparrow bees,” giant hornets are considered a delicacy in rural areas but must be fried in order to neutralize their toxin.

Giant Salamander
Giant salamanders are common in the marshes and rivers of southern Rokugan, although one must seek them out to find them, as they are nocturnal and aquatic, and they dislike living near human settlements. These massive amphibians can grow as large as nine feet long from head to tail, although they typically grow no larger than four. They are peaceful and only attack to retaliate, and when threatened they exude a thick peppery musk that stings the target’s eyes.

Hawks
Hawks are majestic, graceful creatures, and many samurai see a certain kinship with these lords of the skies. Some even tame them for sport hunting.

Hinotama
Natives of the Spirit Realm of Sakkaku, hinotama are sentient ball-lighting spirits. Attracted to storms and metallic fixtures, they are known to explode into electric arcs and flames without warning.

Hunting Cats
Hunting cats, such as cougars, lions, and tigers, are fearsome predators. They prefer to stalk and ambush their prey, mauling them quickly and savagely.

Kappa
Hailing from Sakkaku, the Realm of Trickster Spirits, the kappa resembles a child-sized turtle with a smooth shell, webbed hands and feet, and a small bowl-shaped indentation on the top of its head, in which water is always contained. Kappa live in lakes and ponds and sustain themselves with blood, often attempting to trick wanderers into drowning so they can feast. The water in the bowl-shaped indentation of the kappa’s head contains its life energy, so if it is spilled, the kappa becomes weak and desperate. Some say that you can trick a kappa by bowing to it, in hopes that its good manners may take over and it will bow back!

Kijimuna
These small trickster spirits live in trees deep in the for-est. The only sight of them most villagers have caught have been glimpses of distant flames like candles burn-ing in the branches. The kijimuna have hair like flames, but otherwise they look like children playing in the forest or fishing in the river. Mischievous rather than malicious, they flee rather than fight.

Ki-Rin
The ki-rin is among Rokugan’s least understood mystical creatures. It is believed that ki-rin are native to Tengoku, but they roam throughout the Spirit Realms in herds. According to local folklore, they only appear before the very virtuous and the very wicked, bestowing blessings on the former and curses on the latter.

The ki-rin’s most common appearance is that of a horse or deer wreathed in flame and smoke, with the head of a dragon and the tail of either a tiger or an ox. Some claim they have a single horn protruding from their forehead, while others say they have two back-ward-pointed antlers. Phoenix texts claim ki-rin can look into the hearts of mortals and know their karma. Unicorn folklore says they are so compassionate they walk on air to avoid harming even the smallest blade of grass

Kodama
Living largely unnoticed alongside humanity, kodama are one of many forest kami who dwell in the Shinomen’s ancient trees. Under cover of darkness, these wispy, soft-hearted spirits emerge from their dwellings and play in the treetops, jumping between the topiaries.

Kyōkotsu
Kyōkotsu are usually vengeful spirits full of rage that haunt remains

Macaque
Also known as “snow monkeys,” red-faced macaques are normally confined to the forested Seikitsu Moun-tains and the Islands of Spice and Silk. However, because they are popular pets of samurai lords, and because they are a sacred animal to Brotherhood monks, macaques are commonly captured and disseminated throughout the Empire. For this reason, they can be encountered virtually anywhere. While they pose little physical threat to an armed and armored samurai, they are curious tricksters, stealing unsecured items and leaping away before much can be done about it.

While they are considered mere nuisances, one shouldn’t underestimate the trouble these monkeys can cause. Famously, the skilled ninth-century duelist Matsu Sugeki was publicly embarrassed when, just before a duel with his rival, a macaque stole his sword right out of its sheath and scrambled up a tree with it! Unable to force the animal back down despite hours of trying, Sugeki was forced to use an ally’s sword and, unaccustomed to its balance, subsequently lost.

Nekomata
A creature of the mountains, nekomata are a type of cat yōkai, or living ghost. Many nekomata can talk, act, and appear fully human as they carefully select their victims to further their nefarious goals. While some can appear as human, their natural form is that of a very large two-tailed cat.

Night Heron
The night heron is a nocturnal bird endemic to the forests and glades of Phoenix, Crane, and Unicorn provinces. Identified by its black-and-white plumage and its eerie keen, the night heron is known for a phenomenon called “blue heron flame” (aosagi-nohi). Under the full moon, the night heron glows pale blue and casts a phosphorescent sheen over anything beneath its beating wings. While the night heron is peaceful enough to be approached, it flees when it is confronted or senses danger, only resorting to blinding phosphorescent flashes and raking talon attacks when it has no other choice

Onryō
The ghost of a person who died in extreme circumstances, an onryō is usually bound to a violent betrayal that was their last experience in life and consumed by the need for vengeance.

Penanggalan
The penanggalan is a bizarre and horrifying creature that can detach its head and viscera from its body. The latter remains hidden away, while the former fly about through the night, stalking victims. When it strikes, the penanggalan strangles its quarry with its own dangling entrails and then drinks its quarry’s blood. Returning to its lair, it must soak its bloated viscera in vinegar in order to fit them back into its body.

Penanggalan thrive by remaining undetected. They are formidable in battle but generally avoid open com-bat, heavily armed and armored victims, and the like. They flee if seriously threatened.

Pit Viper
Pit vipers are relatively uncommon, although they grow steadily more common as one proceeds west toward the Shinomen Forest. Pit viper venom rots flesh and sours the blood, making these vipers’ bites extremely dangerous to humans. They must be provoked to attack; the typical pit viper bite results from accidentally stepping on one. Generally, pit vipers are small, but a unique breed that can reportedly grow up to eight feet in length thrives on the Islands of Spice and Silk

Rakshasa
The Shadowlands stands as an imposing force of wick-edness and spiritual decay that borders the Crab lands, but this vile land stretches further than most of Rokugan realizes. Even further southwest the Shadowlands warps from long expanses of twisting hills and unforgiving winds to the lush and foreboding Ghostlands forests. Here live the rakshasa, shapeshifting beings who, like oni, feel for humanity. These creatures are bipedal and range from human-sized to over eight feet tall, and possess illusion-ary magic that can change their appearance to any who view them. Most love to capture and eat human flesh, though some have other nerfarious plots.

While rakshasa are often thought of as devious, horned and fanged creatures that are ever plotting for their next human meal, some are more perspicacious. Most rakshasa are intelligent, and not all are driven by insatiable bloodlust. When a rakshasa overcomes their urge to feed, they can spend more time refin-ing their illusory and magical arts, making them much more potent and deadly. These older, wiser rakshasa are capable of both good and bad acts, but are often driven to wicked deeds in response to being hunted by humans who view them as no more than monsters.

Red-Crowned Heron
Sacred to the Doji and Kakita families, a frequent sub-ject of art and sculpture, and considered a lucky good‡omen animal, the red-crowned heron is named for the bright-red bare patch on its head. With its black-and-white plumage and graceful gait, it is widely regarded as a symbol of beauty, cleverness, and longevity. Although it is the largest species of crane in Rokugan (and perhaps the world), it is not hunted for its meat except by the very desperate. This is partially due to the ferocity with which it defends itself, a display that has inspired martial artists to imitate its wing and claw movements. It is also in part due to the crane’s sacred status; needlessly killing one is considered bad luck.

Rhinoceros
Very few in Rokugan are be able to conjure an image of what a rhinoceros looks like, though those who hail from the Ivory Kingdoms are all-too familiar with these massive, aggressive, plant-eating behemoths. Weighing between 3,500 and 4,500 pounds, these single-horned creatures are sometimes referred to as the unicorns of the Ivory Kingdoms.

Rokugani Horse
There were small horses in Rokugan before the Unicorn Clan returned with their foreign-bred steeds, and though they are not as fierce, they still can be ridden. The Unicorn often insultingly refer to them as ponies

Serow
Roaming forests and meadows in small herds, the serow (or “forest-deer” as they are colloquially known) is a bovid grazer approximately the size of a large goat. Appearing as a shaggy cross between a goat and a deer, the serow has a long face, thick soft fur, back-ward-facing horns, and cloven hooves. As herd animals, they tend to flee when threatened. Serow are able to scale mountain cliffs with surprising ease. They exclusively eat plant matter and possess excellent hearing and sight. Their seemingly supernatural senses, combined with their natural wall-scaling agility, earns them reverence from shinobi groups, and they sometimes appear on the emblems of secretive shinobi dōjō

Serow herds are much smaller than herds of deer and oxen, rarely exceeding six individuals. More often, they roam in mated pairs. However, sometimes a wily serow reaches the age of twenty-five and sprouts a pair of branched antlers and a shaggy mane from their collarbone. This is the so-called emperor serow, a strong animal that attracts other serow into larger herds with its mournful keen. An emperor serow is accompanied by anywhere between four and twenty mated serow pairs and possesses a gleam of intelligence. Their fur is prized for winter wear, but they are difficult game to catch.

Shachihoko
Protector spirits that inhabit carvings that look like Carp with the faces of tigers

Utaku Steeds
The sacred steeds of the Utaku Battlemaidens are paragons of horses. They are fiery and ferocious, but utterly loyal to their riders and fearless in the field

Unicorn Warhorse
Unicorn warhorses are vastly superior to Rokugani ponies as warhorses. They are much less skittish, larger, and have a greater endurance and stamina.

Wolves
Wolves lurk among the forested regions of the Empire in packs of ten or more, working collectively to stalk and bring down prey. They use relentless pursuit and quick “hit-and-run” attacks to hunt, only closing for the kill when their quarry is weakened and worn down. They usually avoid humans, but can be territorial if provoked

Yamabura
Yamauba are supernatural monsters that appear as normal Rokugani. They have a second mouth at the top of their heads, though, one that is always hungry for human flesh. Yamauba are highly resistant to physical damage and often display great cunning in capturing their prey

Zashiki-warashi
Zashiki-warashi are a type of pathetic ghost of a child killed by some ill fortune.


Sea Creatures
Akkorokamui
When an octopus reaches a certain age and consumes a piece of jade, it is said to become a massive creature known as the akkorokamui. This gigantic octopus reaches over 400 feet in size and can regenerate lost limbs within mere minutes. It is said that eating the flesh of an akkorokamui temporarily bestows the properties of jade, making one immune to the Shadowlands Taint. But there is no official confirmation of this rumor, and obtaining such a meal is risky indeed.

Blue Shark
Sharks are common to Rokugan’s waters, although most species are small and harmless to humans. Rokugani blue sharks, however, are an exception. At six to nine feet long, blue sharks are known for their berserker fury and their attraction to blood. They rarely attack humans but become especially dangerous when they smell blood in the waters. They are venerated by some members of the Hiruma family, who admire their speed and silence and have adopted the symbol of the shark in the emblem of their scouting units.

Crocodile
Crocodiles are relatively common aquatic reptiles in both the coastal rivers and swamps of northern Rokugan and the marshlands of the Crane. Given enough to eat, Rokugani crocodiles have been known to grow up to twenty feet long and nearly 2,500 pounds. They hunt by floating still, appearing to be a log or other flotsam, and then snapping at unwary prey and dragging them into the water, spinning and thrashing into what is colloquially known as a “death roll.” Hunting crocodiles requires multiple samurai; facing one alone in marshy environments is unwise.

Eels
Eels are long, slippery fish. Scavengers or predators, they can be aggressive if provoked, but generally prefer to hide within crevasses, striking at smaller prey when the time is right. Eel is a popular food in Rokugan.

Isonade
The isonade is a feared creature throughout the Islands of Spice and Silk, often blamed for the loss of fishing boats. Isonade are monstrous sharks with barbed tails and hooked catfish whiskers. When they travel near the surface of the ocean, they cause stormy winds to appear, and they are said to capsize boats with their powerful tails

Octopus
One of the strangest creatures of the sea, the octopus is remarkably intelligent, capable of changing its skin color and even texture to blend into its environment and getting into or out of nearly any enclosure. These creatures are short-lived, but their curiosity and cunning is legendary. Ranging in size from tiny specimens to behemoths nearly as large as a person, their strangeness makes them the subject of fascination for humans. Octopus is also a delicacy in coastal Rokugan.

Octopuses are aquatic mollusks with eight legs and soft bodies that thrive along Rokugan’s coasts. Dozens of octopus species live in Rokugan’s seas. Most octopuses are small and harmless, and they play an important part in Rokugani cuisine. However, the monstrous octopus is an exceptionally large version, between twenty and thirty feet in size and able to amble on land for brief periods. Octopuses are generally shy and prefer to flee rather than fight, releasing an ink cloud to hide their retreat. Still, if they are forced to fight, they are skilled grapplers; many a Rokugani sailor has drowned in one’s tentacled grasp

Shark
The triangle fin of a shark cutting through the waves sends chills down many a sailor’s spine. Despite the fear they evoke, even large sharks rarely hunt humans. By contrast, shark fishing is common, and hunting a shark is a rite of passage in the Isles of Silk and Spice.

Ningyo
To most Rokugani, the idea of a city beneath the waves, filled with piscine folk called ningyo, seems nothing more than a fanciful tale—a myth of ancient days. The Kami Shiba was said to have visited such a place during his mythic journeys, but if such a place exists, it has been forgotten. Sailors claim to have seen ningyo; in their stories, some-times ningyo are friendly despite their predatory appearance—and other times they are merciless hunters.

Sea Trolls
Trolls are ancient and mysterious beings—intelligent but often belligerent, wise but often short-tempered. Whether sea trolls are the same species as their land-borne cousins or merely superficially similar in the manner of humans and ningyo remains a topic of debate by those few scholars who even believe they exist