Froglodite

Froglodites are giant frog-like creatures that live in the waterways and swamps of Albion.

Description

Froglodites resemble large, bipedal frogs with long, sharp claws, wide mouths filled with pointed teeth and huge heads. Their webbed feet are perfect for swimming in the waterways while, with their strong long logs, they're able to run down or ambush all but the quickest prey.
Despite generally sharing the same basic appearance, no two froglodites are identical. They have mild differences in height, build and eye position. They also come in a variety of colours, though always quite dark-toned.
Froglodites are sexually dimorphic, with the females being much larger than the fertile males and infertile drones being smaller again.

Ecology

Habitat

Being amphibious, froglodites live in underground rivers. They prefer to hunt and live in the dark, only venturing out when forced to by drought or uncomfortable temperature ranges.

Diet

Froglodites are carniverous and have been known to eat each other. The tadpoles are particularly cannibalistic within the spawning pools.

Behaviour

Social Hierarchy

Male froglodites live in groups of several dozen called a clan. Each group tends to be made of one breeding male, or froglodite alpha, surrounded by sterile drones. If the froglodite alpha is killed, another male will grow in size, with the ability to reproduce activating, to become the new froglodite alpha. It's currently unknown how this male is chosen.
The froglodite alpha is the centre of the troop's attention, making all the decisions, mediating conflicts, determining the movements of the group, leading the others to feeding sites, and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of the troop.
Female froglodites are solitary in nature and will guard their young for only a short time before leaving them to survive on their own.

Froglodite Alpha

Creature from the Black Lagoon remix by Dave Melvin

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Death Slaad by Conceptopolis

Stats

Size

Medium

Biological Characteristics

Vision

Low-light

Activity Cycle

Crepuscular

Diet

Cannibalistic carnivores

Habitat

Subterranean rivers

Physical Characteristics

Average Height

Drones - 1.37m
Alphas - 2.13m

Distinctions

Bipedal amphibian, bodily spines, gills and lungs.

Sociocultural Characteristics

Associated Deity

Frohk

Reproduction and life cycle

Froglodites reproduce sexually and fertilization is internal but indirect, in other words, the sperm is not inserted into the female's body by the male's genitals but by an intermediate stage. Male froglodites do not produce ready-made spermatophores but create sperm packages that are covered in slime.

When a female is detected, an alpha male and his drones will seek her out along with all other alpha males in the area. This leads to vast 'wars' amongst the males for the opportunity to breed with a singular female, creating stronger and more aggressive froglodites with each spawning cycle.
Froglodites use tributes of food packages to prevent the large females from eating the smaller males before fertilization. When the female is sufficiently distracted and sated, the froglodite alpha will insert his sperm package into the female. The females can store sperm for a long time, to ensure that conditions are favourable before they lay their eggs in spawning pools.
Baby froglodites pass some of their larval stages inside the egg sac and emerge as a tadpole. The biggest tadpoles eat the rest of the eggs and young.

The Spawnmother

The froglodite spawmother can produce hundreds, if not thousands, of eggs in a singular breeding cycle. As a way of sustaining those eggs, she secretes a jelly-like liquid around them that absorbs magic and organic matter, and uses that energy to help the eggs grow. The Froglodite Spawnmother is only present in Albion, a daemon that would have started a new species on the island if she wasn't destroyed by the Mercenary Confederation in 781.

Froglodite Spawnmother

Communication

Froglodites communicate with each other using pheromones, sounds, and touch. In particular, a froglodite alpha will communicate with a female through phermones and his drones with sound.

Intelligence

Although they live in seemingly complex social groups, froglodites are regarded as low-intelligence creatures. The drones only follow the will of their alpha, never deviating or showing any desire of their own. The alphas have a low-level of intelligence and are governed by fullfilling their basic needs.