Felarya Bio: Tannin
Living in Felarya coastal regions and other bodies of water is a subspecies of Mosasaur and Tylosaur-like Squamataur called the Tannin. These aquatic giants are much larger than their terrestrial cousins, ranging from 300 to 700 ft in length, some said to be even larger. They are known to be able to swim up to 30 mph, much faster than a Niseag who are considered prey to these marine predators. It is said that the first Tannin were a group of Squamataurs that decided to return to the sea to escape from the larger predators. Over time, these squamataurs grew larger and adapted to live under the sea due to either wild magic or primordial magic, soon becoming one of the most dangerous marine races in Felarya's seas and oceans.
Description: Like many aquatic races, the Tannin has the upper half of a human with finned ears and the lower half of either a Mosasaurus or Tylosaurus with a powerful tail with a dorsal fin made of cartilage to propel them through the water. Some even have small fins on their arms. Almost all Tannin have either black or dark blue countershading to help them hunt for prey while not being hunted, some have spots or stripes covering their bodies. While they share the forked tongue with their land-dwelling cousins, a unique trait of this marine squamataur would be their mouths. Like Nagas who some speculate the Tannin might be related to, the Tannin can dislocate their jaws and swallow other giants whole, dragging their victims down their throat with a second pair of jaws lined with sharp conical teeth and bite force of 13K. Like sea nagas and Niseag, Tannin can hold their breath for up to 8-10 hours, their skin absorbs 33% of oxygen from the water while releasing 90%of carbon dioxide from their body. Despite this unique trait, they still come to the surface to breathe air and to hunt prey out of the water.
Behavior: The Tannin are mostly solitary predators, only getting together when mating and raising their young. They can be found in both the Topazial Sea and the frigid Shimmering Sea as well as some lakes and lagoons. As apex predators, they are very proud and highly territorial especially with other members of their species, Selachi, Water Pendraig, and other aquatic races. Many of them have bite marks from Selachi, some will even have sucker marks from a Kraken cealias. They consider these battle scars as a way to show their will to survive whatever Felarya throws at them. Sometimes, they'll share their territory with the Water Pendraig, but only if there is enough food for both predators.
Reproduction: Like the Niseag, female Tannin will migrate to lakes and rivers to give birth. Often they have 6 human-sized children who will stay with their mothers to protect them from other predators including other Tannin. Once the juveniles reach adolescents, they'll leave their mother's side and start their adventure into the deep blue sea. Usually, only 3 will survive to adulthood, some will be eaten by terrestrial and other aquatic predators.
Hunting habits: The Tannin are ambush predators who hunt along coastlines and in underwater caves. As apex predators, they eat literally anything from small creatures to even other Tannin. They dive down deep then burst through the water like a torpedo, ramming into the sides of large prey and ships. They'll even beach themselves like Orcas to catch prey on land before returning to the water. They'll also attack ships and devour sailors. Like nagas, Tannin can widen their mouths to swallow schools of fish, smaller mermaids, and other giants a third of their size. Prey that's too big to swallow is torn to shreds into bite-sized pieces and swallowed whole. While they could take on a Leviathan mermaid or a Kraken caelias, they prefer hunting near the coast and will try to avoid confrontation with both species unless they're hungry enough. They'll even try to catch harpies flying over by launching themselves in the air and pulling them into the water.
Known Tannin: Arnaaluk.
