ECOLOGY

Environment temperate and warm aquatic
Organization solitary or school (3-8)
Treasure none

The tendrul is a horror of the semi- and subtropical shallows, often attacking fishermen who wade out into the shallows with their nets, or wander out to search their crab traps. A tendrul makes its home in the shallows of the water, sleeping in underwater caves or between rocks. During the daylight hours on warmer days, it is not uncommon to see a tendrul sunning itself on the rocks or sands. Though it can survive indefinitely on land, a tendrul prefers the sanctity of its watery home, leaving the waters only to sun on the rocks or feed on some unlucky fisherman or creature that has wandered too close to the shoreline.

A tendrul looks like a hideous cross between a seal and piranha. An average tendrul reaches 12 feet long and weighs several hundred pounds. Its body is grayish-black with it being lighter on its underbelly and a bit darker on the head. Its trunk tapers off into a thin, scythe-like tail of hardened bone, dark gray in color. Its piranha-like head sports a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp dagger-sized teeth of grayish-yellow. A tendrul sustains itself on fish, aquatic life, and oceanic plants in the water, but prefers a diet of flesh from land-bound creatures. It especially savors the flesh of humans and goblins.

A tendrul's favorite tactic is to bury itself in the silt and sand of the shoreline and wait for a fisherman to wander over its hiding place where it rises up from beneath its prey, biting it, and devouring it on the spot. Amphibious, it is not uncommon for a tendrul to chase wounded prey some distance onto the shore to finish it off.

Another favored tactic a tendrul employs is to grab prey in its mouth, drag it into the water and pin it underwater where the tendrul holds it until its prey drowns.