Näckros Warmount

Näckros warmounts are large, often aggressive sea creatures that have been genetically engineered or magically transmuted to act as land & air transportation for the Näckros, a strictly aquatic mer-people. The vast majority are of three major types: skymantas, landsharks and scuttling bombs. The only time their use was observed was during a sudden and vicious series of attacks by the Näckros against the terrestrial civilization of Valamon, collectively named the The Näckros War.

For the riders, saddle and armour were one in the same: a series of ultra-strong kelp fronds woven around their body and their warmount. Not only did the fronds act to anchor the mer-giant to its mount and provide bodily protection, many smaller fronds were anchored to the Näckros's skull: between this and the split-second responsiveness of their mounts, scholars have suggested the kelp also acted as a direct mental connection between mount and pilot.

Though the paranoia of a second attack has eventually receded over the last few centuries, the frightening devastation of the Näckros and their warmounts left an extremely strong mark on the Valamonians. The monstrosities they witnessed remain an influential part of their mythology and culture.

Skymantas

Näckros archmages flew colossal manta rays that could fly in the air without trouble. Skymantas were not agile flyers and did not possess their own weapons, but such features may have seemed overkill: opponents of the archmages were usually struck by lightning or battered by tidal waves long before they had any hope of engaging a manta rider. When engaging with a branch of the Anzu Riders of Tel—the manta riders were also observed to defend themselves in close combat with several prehensile, tentacle-like kelp fronds.

Landsharks

Unarguably the most frightening of the warmounts, landsharks were monstrously large fish with rows of sharp teeth in a gaping mouth and four pairs of crustacean-like legs. The creatures were horrifyingly fast on those legs and were vicious to a fault, even killing their own riders if loosed from their kelp-frond "saddles".

All Valamonian records of captured Näckros identified female traits. It is possible they reproduce through parthenogenesis or some other asexual method. But there is another, more bizarre possibility. The landsharks had the same blotted, black-and-white colourations as the Näckros, but even more fascinatingly, they were 100% male. If the landsharks were indeed the males to the Humanoid females, it is unknown if that was their normal form, or whether they were the subjects of transmutation magic.

Scuttling Bombs

"Scuttlers" were large crabs used either for transport of goods (e.g. backup weaponry or bundles of telekinetic kelp) or suicide tactics. The latter were bejeweled in blue-green crystals that screamed and exploded violently when jostled, for example when the crab attacks a foe.