| Climate/Terrain: | Oceans |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Common |
| Organization: | Pod |
| Activity Cycle: | Any |
| Diet: | Plankton |
| Intelligence: | Low (5-7) |
| Treasure: | Nil |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| No. Appearing: | 1-8 |
| Armor Class: | 4 |
| Movement: | Sw 12 |
| Hit Dice: | 12 |
| THAC0: | 9 |
| No. of Attacks: | 1 |
| Damage/Attack: | 2-12 |
| Special Attacks: | Tail |
| Special Defenses: | Nil |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil |
| Size: | G |
| Morale: | Champion (15) |
| XP Value: | 2,000 |
This is another primitive whale, one whose back is protected by an armor of bony plates, giving it a faint resemblance to a lobster. The armored back has a saw-toothed crest along the spine, and it also has up to a dozen projections to either side, like the side spikes of an ankylosaur. The animal is so burdened with armor that it must roll on one side to turn. When it rolls, the projections are visible, and mistaken for fins. The armor gives the creature's back AC 3.
The head is rounded, rather like a calf, with small but prominent eyes placed high on the head (like a hippo). The Manyfinned serpent's mouth is wide, with its nostrils clearly visible to the muzzle's front and surrounded by hairs. It has a short, slender neck. There are flippers to the front, and it has a flattened, threelobed tail that is only slightly spread and that increases the resemblance to a lobster. Its skin is smooth, like tanned leather, colored brown with dirty yellow patches that can give it a general impression of being greenish gray. It is generally reported in shallow coraline or rocky waters, and creatures that live there usually have this speckled coloration.
The Many-finned can reach to a hundred feet long, but generally does not get over 70'. It lives in tropical waters all over the world, with the most famous series of sightings made by the French Navy in Along Bay off the Vietnamese coast. This may be the reason why French scientists are, as a group, less skeptical about sea serpents than their counterparts in other countries. It has the same attack as the Many-humped, has a swimming speed of 12, and otherwise has the stats of the common whale.
by Gregory W. Detwiler