Delphon

A delphon, or songshark, has a shark's sleek silver body, long strong fins and wide, sharp-toothed mouth. A few are brilliant red, deep blue or vivid green. Many carve intricate patterns into their skin by scraping against jagged rocks along the riverbank.

It can bite for 1d8, butt for 1d6 and tail-slap for 1d10, but its voice is the real weapon. Any intelligent creature hearing the keening song must save vs. paralyzation. Success means it hears only strange, jarring music. Failure means rolling 1d12 for the song's effect on the mind; a 12 is a gift, letting the listener ask the GM one question about the river, the planes it touches or places along it, such as where the nearest gate lies or how to avoid the river's hazards. Unintelligent creatures are always charmed. Intelligent beings who spend long enough among delphons become immune and begin to grasp the songs' meaning.

Delphons understand the river's many-planed nature so well that they come and go between every plane it touches whenever they like, which works as plane shift at will. Each attack aimed at one has a 25% chance to miss outright as the delphon slips through the river's folds and surfaces elsewhere, acting normally the next round.

Delphons swim in close-knit packs of relatives who support each other and sometimes mix with other clans. None outranks another, and since every voice counts equally, arguments are frequent, filling the air near the river with songs of dispute. Wise travelers steer clear of such gatherings.

They hunt the river's fish, often charming them first. The water teems with life, so they rarely need to attack people on the bank, in boats or in the water.

Someone who learned enough of the songs to understand and crudely imitate them might befriend a pack, a valuable ally since a delphon can bring other swimmers along when it crosses from plane to plane. On the plane of beasts an old, possibly mad zerathi known as the Singing Hermit claims to know every song. He says that after robbers threw him into the river, a songshark lifted him to safety and he suddenly understood its music, and that his friends have told him secrets of nearly everything. Few believe all his tales.