ROCK LOBSTER

     Rock lobsters appear as giant versions of the familiar crustacean, some 8 to 12 feet in length. Their exoskeletons range from a sandy yellow to deep black in color, and are gritty in texture. This coarseness comes from a high concentration of silicates that adhere to and eventually become embedded in the shell as the lobster grows, which accounts for their high armor class.

     Their abrasive shells also explain their nickname among surface dwellers: "rock lobsters". The race's own name for itself is a hopeless tongue-twister to air breathers, and the lobsters themselves are rather amused by the moniker.

Combat: Though basically inoffensive, rock lobsters rarely run from a fight. In melee, the lobsters strike with both of their 3' long claws, inflicting 2-12 points of damage on a hit. If even one claw snags a creature of size M or smaller, the lobster has two options. They can either continue to crush the victim for 1-10 points per round while the other claw continues to attack, or latch onto the victim with both claws and twist, inflicting 2-20 points of damage per round. Note that in the latter case, no to-hit roll is required for the second claw.

     One out of every ten adult lobsters bears a strange mutation: their antennae have become flexible, almost prehensile. One of these mutant lobsters can lash at an opponent twice per round, inflicting 1-8 points of damage on a hit. Thrice per day, a "lasher" can attempt to paralyze its opponent through a chemical secretion; if it misses with all three attacks, the effort is wasted. If struck, victims are entitled to a saving throw vs. paralyzation; if the roll is failed, paralysis lasts for 2d4 rounds. "Lashers" attack with either their claws or antennae in a round, never both.

Habitat/Society: Lobster lairs usually number about 100 males, females and young, and no community has ever had more that 200 individuals. There are no eggs to be found in a lair, since rock lobster females incubate and protect fertilized eggs within their own bodies. For every hundred lobsters, there will be one "elder" priest of Casale of 4th to 6th level, and two junior priests of 1st to 3rd level. Further, there will be one wizard of 5th to 7th level, and two lesser wizards of 1st to 4th level. According to the lobsters themselves, there have been clerics as high as 9th level and wizards as high as 10th level among their ranks, though such individuals are rare.

     Rock lobsters maintain close relations with their fellow "exiles" from the Elemental Plane of Water: the tritons. The two races will quickly band together to fight against their ancient foes (sahaguin, ixitxachitl, etc.). On occasion, rock lobsters and tritons will share and defend the same undersea territory, and any encounter with lobsters will include 1d4 tritons.

     Unlike most marine sentients, rock lobsters harbor a strange fascination for surface dwellers. Those who stumble upon lobster lairs are greeted warmly and treated well so long as the air-breathers mind their manners, and long-term friendships between individual lobsters and surface-dwellers are more common than one might think. Where lairs have been established near major seaports, this amiability has fostered a lively (and usually regulated) trade between the lobsters and the merchants of the port.

     Lobsters want little in trade. They will provide air-breathers with raw coral to be worked into "jewels" that they embed in their shells; these tokens are marks of social rank and reminders of worthy deeds. Also, lobsters will bargain for exotic seafood not found in their home waters. To pay for these goods, lobsters will provide vital information about undersea happenings, offer up rare prizes from the deep, and even scour sunken ships for treasure. Finding the whole idea incomprehensible, lobsters have no moral qualms about "grave robbing". (If asked, lobsters will do their best to return air-breather remains for burial.)

     Rock lobsters are known in academic circles as the "mentors of the deep", and for good reason. 20% of lobster lairs are home to a sage (minimum of 17 Intelligence and 15 Wisdom.) These individuals specialize in the mysteries of the world's oceans, and often have knowledge available nowhere else.

Ecology: Rock lobsters are carnivores, existing solely on fish and other meaty sea life. (Lobsters find the taste of land animals to be disgusting, and the reverse is also true.) While they usually hunt alone or in small groups, a large hunting party can have as many as 12 lobsters. Rock lobsters will pick a carcass clean, leaving little more than bone.

     Though rock lobsters take over thirty years to fully mature, they can live for three hundred years or more.

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