A I: Sea Imps

Written by Neons-Mindrealm

Sea Imps
Vicious little Creatures of Alterna I: The Lands of Paradise

Origins:

It is said that Sea Imps were originally nothing more than peaceful pond dwelling frogs. But due to the drastic changes of the Lands, as well as the introduction of many new potential predators, their evolutionary path was warped. Which turned these otherwise skittish amphibians into a new species of hyper aggressive predators, in order to survive their new home environment.

Current Habitat:

As almost fish like aquatic amphibians, Sea Imps call the waters of the Singing Sea their home.
They are mostly found either in the shallow areas on the beaches, or near the surface further into the sea.
Where they are found quite rarely is both on land, as they can only survive out of water for a short period of time, or in the depths of the Singing Sea. As the deep water pressure would greatly hinder their mobility and agility, and therefore cause them to become more vulnerable to creatures they would otherwise prey upon.

Average Size / Height:

Sea Imps average a size of around 40 centimeters in length and 28 in height with a width of around 25 whilst sitting still, and a length of up to 95 centimeters with their legs fully stretched out.

Diet:

Living on a purely meat-based diet, Sea Imps are known as ravenous and insatiable carnivores.
They do not seem to care if the flesh they consume is already dead or still alive, as well as what kind of creature it belongs to, or if they have just feasted on something recently.
Once they detect movement of a small to medium-sized being within their vicinity, they will waste no time and attack with a maliciousness only rivaled by Demons themselves.
Sea Imps also do not shy away from resorting to cannibalism, if they find themselves unable to hunt some prey for a longer period of time.

Physical Appearance:

The body of a Sea Imp is mostly reminiscent of a large, blueish brown frog, covered in a thin and soft-scaled leathery skin. With an extendable back fin stretching over its back, and four muscular limbs, where their hind legs appear almost twice as strong as their front legs, as well as long enough to more than double their entire length when fully stretched out.
All four of their legs possess flat triangular shaped feet, with strong webbing in between their four 10 to 20 centimeter long digits, and small but dangerous claws at their tips.
The head of a Sea Imp appears to be mostly a wide maw, with a dense array of small and mostly exposed fangs, giving it an eerily impish grin. As well as two big eyes with horizontally slit pupils bulging out at the top of their head like a near full circle.

Behavior and Social Structure:

Mainly encountered in schools of up to 10, Sea Imps almost never roam the shallow and surface level areas of the Singing Sea alone.
They also do not appear to follow any hierarchy, nor do they possess a designated leader, but are more instinctively bound to each other by their shared enjoyment of tormenting their prey.
Once a school of Sea Imps has locked onto a potential prey, they would begin to swarm it and carefully target anything that enables it to move. Until their prey cant do anything but wait and watch as these vicious creatures continue to cautiously tear it apart, making sure it stays alive for the vast majority of the process.

Role in the Food Chain:

As malicious predators, hunting in groups of up to 10, Sea Imps are perhaps one of the most dangerous creatures to inhabit the surface level of the Singing Sea.
Although they do not count as particularly fast or robust, it's their high number and agility with which they are able to hunt in an almost synchronized looking dance of torture.
If they sense the movement of a small to medium-sized creature within a radius of 10 to 20 meters, they are most likely going to attack, regardless of what it actually was that caused these movements.
Should one come into contact with an agitated school of Sea Imps, the safest bet would be to either hurry to dry land before these devils can impair one's movement. Or to dive even deeper into the sea and have the water pressure slow them down just enough to be able to take them out one by one.

Special Abilities and unique Physical Traits:

Although Sea Imps are mainly aquatic creatures, they are able to also briefly walk and breath on dry land. As long as their skin remains properly moisturized.
However, once they have left the water and got onto land, they can typically only remain there for 1 to 2 minutes until needing to head back into water to prevent them from drying out.
The only reason for a Sea Imp to even consider heading out onto dry land is when their prey somehow manages to escape their vicious aquatic dance. Where they would then attempt to follow it and drag it back into the sea to finish their torturous game.
In the water, Sea Imps will mostly keep their long hind legs and webbed feet closely pressed together to form a strong finned tail, while using their extendable back fin and front legs for precise navigation and agility.
Sea Imps are also capable of some miniscule form of primal Channeling, where they can slightly manipulate the currents in the water to further toy with their prey, whilst also slowly and continuously killing it.

Additional Insights:

Whilst Sea Imps may not seem to attack larger ships sailing across the Singing Sea, they do appear to frequently target smaller rafts or one man boats by jumping on board and attempting to drag their sailors into the water.
One method, both fisherman and those who live out on the islands in the Singing Sea came up with to prevent this from happening, is a special technique called herding. In which one would throw either a rock or a branch into the water close to the furthest edge of a Sea Imps detection radius, to draw its attention and slowly lure it away from their path.
Since the eyesight of a Sea Imp is rather poor, and mainly just optimized for detecting movements, they most likely won't be able to notice that the object hitting the water isn't actually something they can feast on. Until they have tried taking their first bite out of it.

Genetic Descendants

• A I: Implins