Half-Fish, Half-Reptile, All Carnivorous Killer

SEMERLE (#24/29, #55/365) [OOTP IV]

SKILL: 6

STAMINA: 14

ATTACKS: 2

WEAPON: Large Bite and Large Claws

ARMOUR: Light

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Marshes, Rivers, Lakes

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-2

TYPE: Amphibian

REACTION: Unfriendly

INTELLIGENCE: Low

The swamps and marshes of Khul, the Dark Continent, are host to all kinds of weird creatures. Pool Dwellers, Flesh-Eaters, Kappas and Slime Monsters, all make their home in these misty, reed-choked wetlands. Yet another such beast is the SEMERLE, an amphibious creature that appears to be frozen in time, a relic from millions of years ago. Half-fish, with a great finned tail, and half-reptile, with muscular clawed arms, it is possibly related to the Giant Dragon-Newt, with which it exists in the same habitat. A full-grown male Semerle can be up to and over two metres long, not including the tail, and weigh a hundred kilos or more. Its squat body is solid muscle, and a flick of its tail can kill many creatures, if they survive its claws and the tusks protruding from its upper and lower jaws.

Every time someone fighting a Semerle wins an Attack Round, they must still roll one die to see if they manage to avoid its lashing tail. On a roll of 5-6, the tail strikes the beast's assailant, causing 2 STAMINA points of injury. (Of course, this roll is not made in the Attack Round in which the Semerle is killed, assuming its victim survives that long!) Semerles prey on anything smaller than them that they can subdue, and construct elaborate floating nests from wood, branches and reeds. They store the meat of victims they have killed underwater, beneath these nests until the meat rots and is considered edible enough by the creature. Marsh scavengers such as Mudclaws and Swamp Orcs know of this behaviour and occasionally raid these sub-aquatic larders for food, assuming they can dodge the ravening Semerle that guards them, of course!