't

'/"- Dec.o-. * tol

The eoogy @S he

survived past childhood. One's lineage was fighter of awesome repute, cven in the eder
by Ed Greenwood suspected, and he was slain in combat while days of his reign. But he was only one, rvith
but an untried youth. The other one, his bodyguards dead beyond his door, and
"What's this I hear about sea lions in the Neare, grew up in a fisherman's hut on the he faced nearly forty. He stood his ground
Realms being, ah, really some sort of Sword Coast, where he helped his foster in silence, in his darkened cabin, and an-
aquatic lion?" I asked, as Elminster paused father with fishing and with the captur- swered not thcir taunts and threats, for he
-
ing and taming of sea lions, which was the knew arrows would be his sure death if he
on the heels of a few rollicking tales of the
deeps. The old sage blinked. man's speciaJ interest. opened the door or let light reveal him.
"4y.. . . . What other sorts of sea lions "It happened that about fourteen years "With blade and axe he waited - and
are there?" he asked suspiciously, no doubt after Nearel's birth, King Mhoaran took fell like a demon on those who picked his
thinking this would turn out to be another ship north up the coast to Waterdeep, to door-lock and slunk in. Lit torches rvere
of my jokes. meet rvith other rulers of the Realms- Fear- hurled into the cabin by those in the pas-
I told him that seals in our world were ing an attack, the king kept his vessel close sage. Mhoaran wielded them like blazing
called sea lions by some, and he snorted' to shore, slipping along by night and re- clubs and one by one hurled them out the
"Why not just call them seas?" he asked, maining in safe harbors by day. Mhoaran's sea-windows of his cabin as he fought
-
as though everyone in our wor]d was crazy. enemies rvere closer than the king had until he stood again in darkness, sur-
(He could, I often think, be right.) thought, and he was roused one night by rounded by dead men. The king then piled
"Well," I continued, "are these sea lions rhe clash of steel outside his cabin door. corpses in the doorway, so that the light
which we don't have here, by the way "Now, r4hoaran was a bull ola man, a would not locate him clearl and waited.
-important? I mean, in fable, land-lore, -
monster-slaying stories; that sort of thing."
The old sage thought for a bit and then
nodded. "Ye remember the arms of Tthyr
that I showed ye some time ago?" I did,
and recalled aloud (as I pulled Elminster's
sketch lrom my files) that there were sea
lions in that coat of arms. Eminster nodded
agarn.
"I'll tell ye," he said slowly, "the tale of
Nearel and the sea lions." He coughed a few
times and began sonorously.
"Of old in the land of Tthyr, there was a
king, Mhoaran the Tusk-Bearded. A mighty
man was he, tall and broad and thewed as a
great hero and coarse, fire-tempered,
-
and brawling, to boot. He took his thronw
by force of arms and held it for many long
years despite the rebellious nobles of the
v:$
land, who supported three surviving (and s{
well hidden) kin of the previous monarch.
These nobles managed to sla usually by
poison, any heirs Mhoaran fathered, until
{-r :/ T

there was not a one ofthe nobles whom

l
Mhoaran would trust. Moreover, three
successive queens died mysteriousl and the
I
?9.
lonely and bereaved king grew bitte grim, '\ I
nd wild. *-6ft-
"He took to spiriting his sons away from
their birth-beds and riding far from his it
court, offering lands, riches, and noble titles
to commoners who would raise him an heir
in secret. Many families accepted - but the
king's enemies had agents, too, and these
os*
agents almost aJways found and slew both ],.-
the royal infants and their foster parents. In
all the long years, Mhoaran lost twenty-six
sons and himself grew more feeble as, de-
spite his precautions, occasional poisons did . .
their work on him. -' '''
"Only two of his sons are known to have
34 MRcH rsae
 "Again the traitors charged in to slay the
king; again he fought, and was sorely
wounded, but battled on in deadly silence,
until the last of this group of attackers
turned and fled. Mhoaran heard much
heated discussion from the passage outside
his chamber as the king tied garments on
the worst ofhis wounds, but bled through
the bandages, and grew weal<er. He heard
the traitors decide to burn him out, and he
knew that they would in the end succeed.
Quick before someone thought to send
archers to the rails to loose shafts at him as
he swam, Mhoaran slipped out through a
sea-window and made for shore.
"The water was icy cold, and the king
very weak. The weapons he bore dragged at
him as he swam, and he was heard from the
ship. Mhoaran spat silent curses at the
waning moon, for it still cast a feeble light
over the waves, and shafts began to hiss into
the water near him. The shore was far off,
and the king despaired for he could hear
-
a boat being launched, behind him, and
wl"n he swam on he saw in the moonlight
a .er small boat ahead of him.
"For a moment he thought this second
boat was someone sent out from shore to
slay him, by some lreacherous arrange-
ment. But as it drew nearer he saw that it
held only one man a youth, and weapon-
- yet want their dinner,' Nearel said, and
less. The youth saw him and said, 'Who art
thou? Cast away thy weapons and I will
take thee in the boat-'
"Mhoaran was loath to let go his weap-
ons, but his strength was nearly gone any-
way, so he complied, giving his name bui
not his title. The youth took him aboard,
rolling him into the bottom of the boat atop
bulging sacks that reeked of fresh-slain
cattle. The youth saw the small boat hasten-
ing toward them from the king's ship and
said to Mhoaran, 'Who are tltese that
would slay you?'
" 'taitors,' Mhoaran answered.
" 'Traitors?' echoed the youth. 'To the
king?'
"Mhoaran admitted his full identity, and
the youth did not seem overly awed. 'If I
save thee,' he asked, 'may I come to court?
For I would be a swordsman.'
" '4y",' Mhoaran said. 'I can promise
that. Wilt t\ou tell me thy name?'
" 'I am ca.lled Nearel,' the youth an-
swered, and straightaway he leaned over the
side ol the boat while holding in his hand a
short, flaring horn or trumpet carved of
wood. He plunged his head into the icy
waves and blew the horn, which made a
deep, roaring noise. Nearel straightened up
and turned, dripping, and warned, 'Stay
away from the water,' as he untied a sack.
"Suddenly, the water around them
boiled, and the king saw a huge curve of
scales, dripping claws of fearsome size, and
then one two four leonine heads rising
- -
out of the depths around them. Nearel
raised the horn again and winded a deep,
roaring bellow. This signal ended in a
cough, and there came answering coughs
and growls from the waves about them.
As an arrow slashed into the water
nearby, Mhoaran realized that the boat
crowded with swordsmen had drawn very
close. Nearel stood up, hurled the contents
of a sack toward the other boat, and rored
again, this time in a high voice. Then, as
Nearel ducked low to avoid lying arrows,
Mhoaran saw the sea-creatures turn in the
water and charge at the pursuing boat,
trailing wakes like many small ships. In a
moment there was a muffled crash, and
then the full-throated roars of lions were
heard in the darkness. Mhoaran made out
the shape ofthe boat as it rolled over, and
he heard the thrashing of men in the water,
punctuated by an occasional scream. 'fhe
lions dined, and all of the armed comPany
perished, leaving the king and Nearel alone
on the waves.
"Faint roaring could be heard beneath
them, and the sea lions came up to the
surface again, huge and fearsome. 'They
began emptying sacks overboard. The king
helped him until their boat was empty of
meat, and deep purring was heard from all
about. Then Nearel turned the boat about
and rowed to shore. When Mhoaran laid
eyes on Nearel's father, the king knew that
he had found his own son.
"When Nearel came to court, he came by
sea, standing on the backs of two sea lions.
In later years Nearel fed his sea lions from
the windows of his own towe for the royal
castle stands on a rock isle in a salt-water
Iake. And that is how the arms of Tthyr
came to be supported by two sea lions."
We talked on late into the night, and
hereafter follows what details of these crea-
tures I could glean from Elminster.
Sea lions are large, powerful predators
that inhabit undersea lairs (sometimes large
wrecks in calm waters, but more often caves
or rock clefts). They will move to another
area if food becomes scarce or other preda-
tors too aggressive, persistent, and numer-
ous. Sea lions are afraid of nothing, but
they are inclined to be indolent and thus,
-
efficient killers and creatures who have no
taste for fighting over food when it can be
had elsewhere with less effort.
In a family or as a lone a sea lion will
hunt in a familiar area and rarely stray
from it. The creatures are selclom a danger
to humankind, demi-humans, or human-
oids except in cases where they view indi-
viduals olsuch races as prey a lone
-
swimmer, for instance, or a small group of
pearl divers.
Sca lions are useful, if tamed and prop-
erly trained, as aquatic guardians or
hunters (sometimes for sport, as in the
Dnecoru 35

island kingclom of Ninrblal)' Minstres ancl
bards sometimes rcfer to fct-nalc sea lions
(o more carelessl al sca lions) as
;'lyonesscs"; het-rcc thc expression "likc a
merman riding a lyonesse," said of sotneonc
who sits unconcerneclly in a sinking ship, or
a vessel adrift. Many ttndersea creatures
have been known to train sea lions; any
such arrangcment will suit the beasts le-
cause it enables them to live relatively free
of pain and danger, and obtain food more
oftn and more easily than in the wild, so
long as the sea lions get exercise and a
chance to hunt for themselves fairly often'
Many men along the Sword Coast have
trained sea lions, intending to sell the tamed
spe
itrg
(of
foo
tient trainers can slowly steer a young sea
should be rcleased into the rvid. be AC 6/4, move 18", with attcks for 1-41
Fcs, sages have examined sea lions, and
lcwcr sill obscn'ed thcm in rhc rvild, but
here [ol]orvs rvhat factual trater-ial lhninstcr
has gathercd:
Sea lions at'c robust, hcalthy creaturcs
The guardian kecps the young within.a
rvho usualy die in combat; thcy rarely
become diseased. Both sexcs have manes, half-ile of the lair, nipping and roaring at
similar coloring, and scales over their cntirc cubs who do not want to be herded where
body sulla r she wishes thcm to go. In the following two
lions begin to hunt alone
flipperlike
(not retrac carcfullY rather than
identical to adults excePt
than the st
of its strong jaws is more dangerous than nlY 5 HD, gaining the sixth
in the fourth year of their existence'
thc bite of a lion. A sea lion propels itself
through the wter by "rowing" with its Most sea lions die violently and at a fairly
young age, but some have been known to
forelibs and sweeping its fluked tail back
and forth. A system of gills enables sea lions ii,r" -o.. than eighty winters. The muzzle
s
of a sea lion grows graY with age.
to take in oxy
they can also ch Sea lions usually live in family grouPs,
known as prides, made
enab]es them e

water for relatively short periods. male, 1-2 young males,

lion's behavior toward more acceptable
lf health sea lions mate every 9 months
habits. However, adult sea lions can never
be so trained by surface-dwellers; full-grown or so, the female giving birth 7-B months
Iater to l-3 live, full'mobile offspring'
specimens will seek to slay any captor at
every opportunity, heedless of their own Young sea lions are AC 8/6 when born
(their scales are stili flexible and soft), have
ol l-3lI'
2 HD, -o". 14', and do damage
t 3/1-8. Such young cubs are watched at all
times by the mother (or, if in a family pride,
t adult males, sometimes accompanied by
I
l-2 females) and kept in the lair, where they
are fed by other members of the family that
be done to the training process lf, however,
bring home thei kills.
the young creatures learn that they can defy
If the hunting is good, the young will
theii trainer with impunit or prove often
rebellious, they are unfit for training and grow rapidly; by 3-4 weeks of age, they will
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and 1-3 young females.
cared fgr by the familY
males usually die in battle. A young male
eithcr defeats the head of a pride to take his
pace, or is driven out to hunt alone until he
can take or build a Pride of his own.
Hunting packs maY be a familY Pride
(35% chance), but are more often (65%)
adult females or young maJes, who have
gathered together under a strong leader to
take on {rong foes (such as sharks).
Adultiwiil drag prey to their lair when it
is unsafe or imprudent to eat where the prey
was killed, or to feed young, but will not do
this if it would reveal the location of the lair
to a powerful foe. If a sea lion is hunting
and there is more than one prey to bc had
immediately (when a group of whales is
encountered, for instance), it will often try
to disable a victim and then turn to fght
others, rather than finishing off the kill'
Thus, young sea lions in the second and
third stages of growth somctimes hang
about the edges of a battle, waiting to dart
in and drag away disabled prey while the
adults continue to fight off the more healthy
foes. Sea Iions never slay wastefully; they
will kill enough to feed themselves (and
their trainer or family, if any) and no more.
Of course, one will fight incessantly if it is
threatened by a group of adversaries and
escape is diffrcult or impossible. Sea lions
are intelligent enough to usually be able to
sense when an enemy might be too powerful
for them, and can certainly tell when a
combat or battle is going badly' and will not
hesitate to flee (ifpossible) under such
crrcumstances.
The lairs of sea lions contain all manner
of treasure that is not destroyed by water,
usually including a great variety of small
chiefly coins, but also
metallic litter
-
many items of no appreciable value. Sea
lions do not consider their treasure valu-
able, and will not hght to the death to de-
fend it or their lair, although they will
usually try to drive away aJ'y creatures
approaching their lair in order to establish
thir territorial rights. X

36 MnRcH tgee