SALIENTIANS

By J.D. Simmons (jsimmons-der@worldnet.att.net)

Author's Notes

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Introduction

You see we Salientians -- actually we prefer to simply be called the Anura, it has more style, rolls off of the tongue -- we are an interesting group. We believe our true origins may have been French, but we cannot be entirely sure. However the tale is told like this:

Long ago in a primitive France, a very strong fomor ruled with an army of Black Spiral Dancers and other less savory creatures. The fomor kept his people in a state of constant need and used their need to fuel darker things. His true intent was a kingdom entirely made of the Wyrm's legions who would then conquer all of France, then the world. The fomor allowed his horrors to grow more and more powerful and he became quite the tyrant, and quite the warlord. He had but one weakness; he was a ghastly creature, hideous to look upon, but he still needed love. He did not understand why but began a quest for the perfect bride, and he succeeded. She, however, was terrified of him, and rejected him. He grew so enraged that he killed her family and took her by force. She became his unwilling queen, and soon grew full with child.

Around this time a powerful pack of Silver Fangs and, ironically enough, Stargazers and Silent Striders, took notice of the strange happenings of this province. In a great battle that is theirs to tell they defeated the fomor and his army and stopped the Wyrm's plans for France. In their onslaught they came across the queen and her new born child. She begged them to take the child and keep it safe, and then without waiting for a response drove a dagger into her heart. Her blood fell onto the child in strange ways, leaving bizarre markings on its body. A Stargazer scooped up the child and from that moment on cared for it as its own.

The child grew strong and wise, like a Stargazer should, and as he neared adulthood the signs began to appear that he may just undergo a change. The Stargazer saw this as a sign of great luck, and began asking spirits of the boy. The only spirit who would answer was Frog, and this worried the Stargazer, because normally he had no difficulties with spirits.

Time passed and indeed the boy changed; however as his body stretched, and changed, he took on a form that was unexpected: that of a large frog. From his body wafted a stench of the Wyrm, a reminiscence of his father's evil. The sept leaders saw this as a very bad sign, but could not kill something they did not understand, so instead they banished it from France.

The boy wandered the earth and learned all he could. He became adept at magics, at spirit talking, and at even stranger powers which mimicked creatures he found as he traveled. Eventually he came upon the Congo of Africa; here he learned of a strange rite of travel and used it to reach the new world, the Americas. He befriended the Pure Ones and learned to live in the Amazon. Finally after joining and recreating a native tribe, he lived happily. He married and mated and some of his children became like him, and some did not. Some possessed the taint and he purified them, but all could change shape amongst many of their frog and human spectrum.

Now an old man, the first frog chose to return to France. He took with him three of his sons. They arrived and were immediately met with resistance; their very appearance made the French Bete believe them of the Wyrm, and they were rejected. The old one demanded a penance and left his three sons there to pass the blood of their kind amongst the French. Since then we have had equal numbers of both French and Amazonian Anurans.

Nowadays most people assume we are simply small and weak Mokolé, a strange offshoot perhaps, and perhaps we were, but I think not. However, based on what we have endured from the truth of the past, perhaps we should allow them to continue to think that we are simply cousins of the dinosaurs. In modern times we live only in four places: the Amazon, France, the Cajun regions of Southeastern America, and strangely enough, New England. We have learned of Gaia and now worship her as do all other shape changers, and we commune with the spirits, and we traverse the Umbra, though with some difficulty at times. Perhaps our greatest advantage is our ease at so called "hedge magic." Perhaps our line is simply descended from sorcerers, and perhaps we are blessed, but we don't get as many gifts as the other shifters, and ours seem harder to learn.

Forms

Homid: our homid is indistinguishable from anyone else's, though we sometimes have slightly longer legs (though this is usually just a benefit for our women).

Glabro: We grow about a foot taller, and that's all in leg height, and our legs tend to like stay bent at the knee; though they don't have to, it's more natural. Our fingers and toes become webbed; we develop very large air sacs so that we can hold our breaths for much longer than normal. This form is ideal for swimming. Also our tongues are a bit longer, which slurs speech a bit.

i Crinos: We tend to be kind of scary in this form. We are slightly hunched over, because our necks have all but disappeared; we have about three foot long tongues, though by concentrating we can make them longer or shorter by almost two feet. Our forearms are about as long as in homid, slightly more muscled. Our legs much longer, and much stronger. Our eyes grow on the sides/tops of our heads, allowing us to see in a much larger strata. We are fully amphibious in this form, and we have lost all our teeth. Size wise, we are only about two feet taller than homid, but with our legs fully extended, I've seen Crinos up to twelve feet tall. We can and still fit in loose cloaks in this form, and though our hands are webbed, we can usually use guns and melee weapons in this form.

Nema: As the name implies, we are large frogs (though actually the name is for a toad). We tend to be about the size of dogs, otherwise though, normal frogs. In this form we can accomplish many different jumping feats, and can often carry people, that's about it.

Aquus: I hear we are the smallest of the changers in our other breed form. In this form we are simply big frogs, and I mean big for a frog, not big for a person. We are rarely larger than a breadbox, and usually not even close to that.

Form Str Dex Sta App Man Kick bonus Difficulty
Glabro Crinos ^*⁺ Nema ^* Aquus^*
+1 +2 +2 -1
+2 +3 +2 +2
+1 +2 +3 -2
-2 0 0 0
-1 -3 -3 -2
+1 +3 +3 +0
7 6 7 6

^* Fully amphibious, fully usable tongue (Dex + Brawl, dif 6, Str -1 damage, +2 for grapples)

⁺ Fully prehensile tongue (like in this new frogger game or Chameleon Twist for the n64)

Deep Ones

"We are from a time much earlier than you; we are what you fear, and we know what you do not. We know of the old gods; we know of their power, their plans, and their magic. We possess knowledge that would make the boldest of Nephandi quake in terror, and the most vile Baali hide behind their infernal masters. We are beyond good or evil; we are those who live in the deep.

"We all live in the New England area; we have and we will as did our ancestors and as our ancestors still do. In particular we live below the towns of Innsmouth, Arkham, and Dunwich, though we have spread throughout the area in great numbers, stay away. We will destroy you for your worship of this false god "Gaia." We do not know how you could possibly have strayed this far from the path. Prepare, we have many powerful allies, those who dance the Black Spiral and even greater ones, and this world shall be ours.

"Apendi, the Deep"

Apparently we are not popular with our cousins, and apparently they have already been claimed by the Wyrm. However, we did meet one once. He was a nice boy and clean of taint, but perhaps he was too young.