Lore:Sload

The   (sometimes called worms  or slug-folk ) are a race of sluglike   living in the Coral Kingdoms of  , southwest of  . 

Sload are innately cautious and careful. In their mythic traditions, all heroes spend years planning, considering and consulting with wise Sload before taking the correct action and achieving their goal. By contrast, their villains all act quickly or rashly and always fail. The Sload language has no word for 'adventure', and the closest equivalent more accurately means 'tragic disaster'. 

Sload do not experience emotions as the Tamrielic races do, but are often skilled at acting and may exaggeratedly simulate them for the benefit of more emotive beings. 

They will honor laws, loyalties, and friendships only as long as they calculate it to be in their best interests to do so. They also have no compunctions against blasphemy, theft, kidnapping, murder, genocide or anything else that may help them reach their goals. 

Sload are apparently not religious and generally reject worship, but will willingly serve   if they benefit from it.  Some, in particular the famed Second Era necromancer  , also follow the  .  

There are some rumors that Sload have airships carrying corpses from Senchal to Thras. 

Biology
It is unknown exactly how Sload reproduce. They are believed to be hermaphrodites in their youths, though the sexual organs seem to be absorbed by the time they are old enough to survive on land.  Sload parents care little for the fate of the young, and will often kill them to make Sload Soap, which they use in necromantic rituals. Sload begin their lives as "disgusting little amorphous grubs" according to Bendu Olo, leader of the punitive expedition sent by Tamrielic nations to Thras after the Thrassian Plague. The young Sload mutate into aquatic quasi-cephalopods called "polwygles" before they reach adulthood. 

Due to the corpulence of the adult Sload's slug-like humanoid body, they spend much of their time wallowing in shallow lagoons and move very slowly.  Sload supposedly have a poor grasping ability, making it difficult for them to use tools. The integument of Sload can slowly adapt to objects and surfaces, which allows them to climb surfaces like slugs.  Sloads are incapable of having mixed offspring with Man, Elves, and other Beastfolk, as such are not considered to be human.  

Sload are highly intelligent and skilled at magic.  Their mastery of the art of necromancy is renowned.

History
right|thumb|N'Gasta, the necromancer of  
The Sload Coral Kingdoms have generally followed an isolationist policy, much due to being at war with the rest of  , but they have had diplomatic relations with the   of  .  Therefore their history is not greatly known. The most important event known is when they released the Thrassian Plague upon Tamriel in  , killing more than half of the population. In response, Tamriel assembled the All Flags Navy at   that ravaged Thras, killing all the Sload it could find and finally sinking it with unknown magics.  The Sload, however, survived, and Thras has since risen again. 

Sea Sload
left|thumb|A Sea Sload
In addition to Thras, Sload also rule other realms in the  . One such realm is the undersea kingdom of  , which is home to the Sea Sload, who are known to be even more reclusive than their Thrassian cousins. In addition to necromancy, the Sea Sload are also skilled in the arts of alchemy, shadow magic, and mind magic, as well as other arcane disciplines. The Sea Sload often tend to form cabals amongst themselves to achieve common goals, which then break up or reform as those goals change. Sea Sload utilize various deep sea creatures, such as the  , as servants and soldiers. In the mid- , the Sea Sload were thought to be near extinction by the Sapiarchs of the  .  However, several sightings of Sea Sload on   were made circa  , dispelling this belief. 
 
Gallery
 

Notes
"Sload" is a portmanteau of "slug" and "toad".
A ship in the 4th Era was named the Dainty Sload after the Sload. 

See Also
For Sload names, see here.
For a list of notable Sloads, see here.
 
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References