Amphibians
Magma Newt
The top predator around the magma fissures in the Ashen Steppes and volcanic regions of the Red Savannah, this crocodile-sized amphibian is covered in a tough, almost rock-like armor. Though they aren't actually capable of swimming in molten rock, magma newts do spend a lot of time in the coral groves around magma flows, feasting on the fluttershrimp, silver ants, and young kettle snails that thrive there.
Magma newts have a broad, sticky tongue that can extend rapidly to envelope their prey, and crushing jaws that can crack the thick shells of small kettle snails. These large amphibians breed in the abundant hot springs of the Ashen Steppes, and their young feed on the eggs and young of kettle snails and other larval insectoids. No records exist of magma newts preying on sentient races, but getting too close to this fearsome creature is still considered foolhardy in the extreme.
Origin: Magma newts arrived during the Naz Migration
Range: The Ashen stepped and Red Savannah
Swamp Worm
Description: At nearly eighty feet in length, this rare denizen of the far southeast makes an intimidating first impression. And indeed, the records of the first rangers re-discovering the east depict them as fearsome creatures to be avoided. However, a recent expedition to its faraway and isolated home proved that these impressions were entirely wrong.
The swamp worm is in fact not a worm at all, but some sort of newt or salamander. It has no limbs, teeth, or scales but smooth, rubbery skin and a fairly narrow mouth. The seven individuals encountered in Professor Kami's expedition all exhibited dog-like intelligence and curiosity matching that of a child. Professor Kami noted that the swamp worms fed almost entirely on the fruit of the great crimson mangrove tree that is most common in the Cain Swamps and Dragontail Delta. One of the smaller individuals was observed supplementing its diet with marsh ripper eggs, but overall the species seems poorly suited to hunting or catching prey.
Other names: Giant Worm
Origin: Unknown
Range: South-eastern Torin
Demonic Impfrog
The, perhaps unfairly named, demonic impfrog is not actually related to any kind of demon. Its name comes equally from its appearance as an adult, and its behavior as a tadpole. This medium sized frog is common in swamps and marshes across Kindreth and Torin, though in some places, it is exterminated whenever discovered.
The adult can grow about as long as a human hand and is black or dark brown in color with yellow ridges along its back and snout. Its skin is wrinkled and uneven, though still soft and damp to the touch. A pair of fleshy horns protrude about its eyes, which are an unsettling shade of red. The total effect of this coloration is to appear as an animal that has been possessed by a minor demon, and indeed the disguise seems to work under many circumstances. The frog is, of course, totally harmless to anything other than insects - at least, this is true of its adult form.
As a tadpole, this species begins like many others - a mass of eggs attached to sticks or floating vegetation in a pond or stream. However, when the eggs hatch, the young do not feed on vegetation or tiny bugs like most others. No, these tadpoles are parasites. They latch on to fish, turtles, snakes and any other large living creature they can find until they’ve grown to over half a foot in length. They attach themselves to their host with a sucking mouth filled with tiny triangular teeth, and proceed to extract fluid until they near adulthood, are removed, or the host dies. The tadpoles are even capable of surviving outside of water for several days. Reports have been made of livestock wading into rivers emerging covered in dozens of these tiny, voracious amphibians.
Origin: The demonic impfrog appears in folk tales originating in the Age of Migration, but no more specific origin in mentioned
Range: Temperate Kindreth and Torin
Mossy Dragonfrog
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Siren Toad
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Leopard Frog
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