An adult shrempen carries a child of its kind it has adopted.
World: Midgard
Diet: Any meat
Height: 2’6″-7’9″
Lifespan: 10 years
Habitat: Deep ocean
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
The shrempen are beings of the great depths, localized to a single trench in the sea floor. They are all children of the same parent, the mighty Primal Roar, only known from its descriptions by shrempen. They claim it is a mighty titan, a phenomenal beast only concerned with and capable of basic tasks of feeding, resting, and reproduction. Despite its unintelligent nature, the shrempen worship it as a god of instinct and nature and seek to emulate it.
Shrempen of all ages are armor-clad, with a pink tone that grows more saturated as they age. It only takes six months for a shrempen to reach its full size, growing from a child to a full-sized monster. At all sizes, they fight much the same, grappling foes with their long tendrils and striking with claws, and at full size, they are phenomenally tough creatures, with thick armor plating across their entire body. They suffer no ill effects from any depth of pressure or even going on land.
In following their god, the shrempen are dedicated to living simply, using instinct over reason. They travel light on land and sea, fighting preferentially with their natural weapons rather than weapons. They practice no agriculture, preferring to hunt and dig for shellfish. They form no large societies, but will gladly join small groups, adopting themselves into “packs” of other people. They do not reject trappings of civilization that are offered to them, such as willingly sleeping in a house if offered, but will never think to do so themselves, digging a burrow if they need to rest.
Shrempen also have a vast instinctual drive to reproduce, but bizarrely, have no means to do so. As a result, they are prone to adoption, the older of their kind often leading barely-controlled rabbles of their younger siblings, mixed in with various pets and even children of any race that they found abandoned.
