Ray-Folk

The ray-folk resemble little barb-tailed mantas, but they are intelligent and thoroughly malicious, devoted to evil powers. Outsiders routinely mangle the pronunciation of their own name for themselves.

A favorite ambush is to bury themselves in the sand of the seafloor and burst up to bite passing prey. They are clumsy at stealth, so this gives only ordinary surprise chances.

Some are priests casting special spells that need only a verbal component, drawn from the Charm, Divination, Elemental (Water), Healing, Necromantic, Protection and Sun (Darkness only) spheres. Each 10 ray-folk include one with 2nd-level priest power; each 20, one of 3rd level; each 50, one with 2+2 HD acting as a 5th-level priest. Groups larger than 50 follow a 4+4 HD high priest of 8th level, flanked by two 3+3 HD guardian priests of 6th level. These leaders often hold treasure type U, including magic items usable without hands. Any 20 have a 50% chance of including a vampiric member.

They dwell in shallow seas and sometimes rivers, in communities of 10-100 living in a maze of tunnels carved through coral reefs, with a concealed entrance. Each colony keeps 20-200 humanoid slaves for hard labor such as cutting new passages. Mighty rulers, such as a greater vampiric ray, may found cities on the open seafloor, full of pyramids and buildings that each house a small group, and rumor speaks of cities numbering thousands. The strongest individual heads the priesthood, which governs every aspect of life.

No natural predator hunts them, though sahuagin, humans and many others oppose them. They kill almost anything and often strip an area of all life, forcing a move to new waters.

Vampiric ray-folk look like the rest but have 2+2 HD, regenerate 3 hp per round, and drain one life energy level with each bite on top of normal damage; they often guard the leaders. Rarer still is the greater vampiric ray, created only when an existing one bites a lesser vampire. It has 8+8 HD and its bite drains two levels, except against other vampiric ray-folk. Only one in a hundred vampiric ray-folk is of this kind, and they seldom leave their cities, where each reigns as a tyrant worshiped as the avatar of a greater power and is fed a steady supply of captives.