Rúnnish eel

The caves have eyes, the castles of eels, a lang black arm wi teeth o sharp steel

A mantra taught to selkie children warning them to stay away from caves.

Rúnnish eels are a species of giant eel that hide and sneak through the reefs and caverns throughout the oceans of Chiora, despite the name they are not exclusively found on the isle of Rúnn. They get their name because of the fact that only people from the Rúnnish archipelago are brave enough, or mad enough to hunt them regularly.

Description

Rúnnish eels are frighteningly large, ranging anywhere from 15 to 20ft in length and while fat and bulky in appearance they can move very quickly and are immensely strong. They are commonly grey-green, or black in colour with a head that resembles more of a pike and teeth sharp as razors. In spite of their size they can contort their bodies to effortlessly squeeze into tight spaces leaving few places safe from them. A powerful tail propels it swiftly through water which is also used to push the eel across dry land. It is said that as long as an eel is wet it can breath on land.

prey and hunting tactics

Rúnnish eels prey on a wide variety of marine life. They eat large fish like wrasse and Pollock and their jaws are strong enough to break through the shells of spiral octopi and the exoskeletons of armoured fish. They have also developed a taste for smaller shark, seal and marine reptile species and will kill and eat humans and selkies without hesitation. Rúnnish eels are ambush predators that frequent the many underwater grottoes and caves of the Rúnn archipelago. They lay in wait, using their colours to blend into the rocks and vegetation before darting out in a burst of speed and strength to either snatch their prey then and their or ram into it's side to incapacitate it. For larger fish species 'sharks in particular' they will swim through its gills to prevent it from breathing. With humans and seals it seems to coil them up in an effort to drown it's prey while savaging the arms of humans. This may indicate that the eels may be aware that humans are probably armed. Such attacks is why the selkie refer to them as 'grotto devils'.

Eel hunting and cooking

Folk of the isle of Rúnn and the surrounding islands have hunted the eels as part of an age old tradition that goes back to the early days of the selkie culture and is held in as high a regard as whaling. Humans and selkies always work together on these hunts. One of the safer methods involves the selkies finding it's lair before the humans from a big canoe drop a large hook baited with a hunk of chum into the lair. They haul the writhing beast to the surface before beating it to death with oars. The more dangerous and thus more glorious method is to have the selkies go into the lair to chase it out, but not before setting a snare trap outside its lair. Once the eel is caught the selkies bite into its body to stop it from writhing as best they can while the humans swim down and kill the beast with harpoons and dirks. This method is commonly done as a rite of passage for Rúnnish children.

Despite being such a frightening beast the flesh of Rúnnish eels is highly sought after. It is fatty, succulent meat that melts in the mouth when cooked right. The Islanders are specialists in cooking them. Grilled eel with smokemead sauce is their favorite which they eat with fried barley and vinegar oysters. It can also be smoked, pan fried, stewed, fermented and roasted. Eel meat is a highly sought after commodity on the mainland of Chiora with the flesh as well as their teeth and fins that can be made into decorations making up large quantities of island trade stock.