Abyssal Hauler

Abyssal Haulers are a feared monster that dwells within the seas of Ucril.

## Description

Abyssal Haulers are a monstrosity that lives within kelp forest regions, especially those in sheer chasms. The main body of the Hauler is a large barnacle like design. The body of the Hauler is held to the sea floor by adhesive suckers that are capable of slowly moving it. It possesses a hard shell that is ridged with hook like serrations and blue-gray in color. The mouth of the Hauler is similar to a squid in nature, being a large triangular beak consisting of 5 separate plates that can move at alarming speeds. The tips of Hauler beaks are especially sharp and come to a point that faces slightly inward to prevent prey from escaping. the inside of the beak is also lined with

inwardly facing spines to prevent captured prey from freeing themselves once captured. The identifying feature of Haulers however is a cleverly disguised tongue like extrusion. This tongue is dark green in color, and has many fibrous ribs that extend it's reach and make it look akin to common seaweeds an can reach lengths of up to 200ft. This tongue is covered in an adhesive material that traps prey an restrains it. This extrusion is capable of regeneration to prevent the inability to gain food. Within the mouth itself are eyes that are fixated on the surface of the water, allowing them to judge whether to cut off their tongue and cast it out again in hopes of catching better prey. Haulers could weigh up to 2 tons, and be as wide as 20 feet across and 15 feet tall.

## Behavior

Haulers use their long tongues to capture prey swimming through weeds before reeling them into their beaks. This usually entails catching small fish or eels, however, Haulers were completely capable of dragging Hunter Sharks, Giant Octopus, or small rafts to the depths. Within 1-2 hours after sunset, Haulers will begin moving their position slowly. This process can take up to an hour. Haulers were capable of situating themselves on walls or underwater cave ceilings. In the latter case, when the tongue regenerates, it is usually with a large ball of filament at the end to act as a weight.

Haulers were known for not being very selective or intelligent. The only cases where Haulers let their prey go was when it was too large to digest, other than that, they would eat anything from poisonous fish, to divers, although large quantities of poisonous fish could harm the Hauler. Sometimes small groups of Haulers, referred to as "parties" hunted together in groups. This was a strictly competitive environment, and prey caught by two or more Haulers very well could be ripped into chunks by sheer strength of the Haulers. This event was described by sailors to be the "Sea Rack" referring to the torture device.

When Haulers were finished digesting prey, the indigestible equipment that they may have been carrying were expelled by a small jet of water, and usually sat around the Hauler until they moved.

## Combat

Abyssal Haulers are incredibly hard to take head on, even for creatures naturally accustomed to the sea. Their hard carapace are resistant to the piercing and slashing weapons that fight most efficiently in the water. This is without taking into consideration being caught in a Hauler tongue or beak. The only escape from Haulers is to attempt severing the tongue before you are reeled in or stabbing at the soft insides at the bottom of the beak, but even this is hard due to the crushing and piercing of Haulers.

While some adventurers think Haulers will be less of a threat with heavy armors equipped for diving, this could not be farther from the truth. Hauler beaks are more than capable of shredding apart mundane plated armors to bits.

When Haulers capture a victim on it's tongue, it begins to reel in the tongue at alarming speeds, before capturing it within the beak and ripping it to shreds and releasing digestive juices to melt the creature into an edible slurry. While not impossible to escape the grasp of a Hauler once within the beak, it usually requires superhuman strength and endurance.

While they are fearsome ambush predators, their lack of intelligence has lead to subversive tactics of intelligent aquatic creatures such as tritonoids being able to eliminate them. This usually involves stuffing a fish full of poison sacs harvested from stonefish or other toxic species and attaching this fish to the Hauler, allowing it to eat it and become violently ill, even to the point of death.

## Ecology

Abyssal Hauler diets consist of mostly fish, but was capable of eating non-aquatic species as well such as sea birds and humans. While they did need a large amount of food to sustain their size, their inactive lifestyle allows them to store large quantities of food for later in fat layers near the bottom of the Hauler. This food storage can last Haulers up to 2 months without feeding. This is important for the Hauler as the reforming of their tongue can take up to 2 days.

Abyssal Haulers can live for up to 50 years. Haulers reproduce twice in their lifetime and reproduce asexually. Haulers reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age, and mate primarily within the first 10 years afterwards. During mating, the glands of the Hauler will produce 1-5 spore like eggs that are roughly a cannonball in size. These eggs are jelly like and red in coloration. These eggs are fertilized and sent through the reproductive tract into the water propulsion pathways which push equipment out of the Hauler's mouth, It then expels these eggs and leaves these eggs deep within seaweed beds and allows them to mature. Young Haulers take roughly 5 years to reach full size.

Haulers are prized by aquatic races for many purposes. Their tough beaks can be used like shields with minimal preparation and have hooked spines to catch blades on. Their toughness was akin to the iron that land dwelling races used. The inner sacs which are responsible for the sticky fluid that coats the tongue of the Hauler can also be used as an underwater adhesive. Areas where Haulers dwell can also be searched for indigestible material such as gemstones, raw ores, abandoned equipment, and other baubles.