Endless Blue - Week 37.5 - The Kraken: Ancient Wyrms from Below the Waves

Zoology

The Kraken:  Ancient Wyrms from Below the Wave

Nothing strikes utter terror into the hearts of the Known World as the mere mention of the world kraken.  Centuries of their ruthless occupation have made their name a terrifying sound, perhaps more feared than even the Vastness.  But the history of their brutality go back further than the existence of the Fluid Nation, as the depraved leviathans are far more ancient than any piscean could imagine.

The entire race numbered less than one hundred known specimens, solitary hermits that were fiercely territorial and shunned others of their own kind.  They staked out their indulgent kingdoms in and around the Maw, and from their underground caverns brought a reign of horror to the placid seas.  They competed with each other, playing out their power struggles in an attempt to gain prominence over others of their kind, forever enacting and re-enacting the same efforts of dominance.  Yet despite their isolationist instincts, under the direction of one particularly cruel kraken they put aside their petty jealousies and hubris to  band together for the first time in written history.  That wicked alliance led to the thousand years of Kraken domination over the piscean way of life.

Kraken are a long lived race, only reaching adulthood at an age when most pisceans become venerable.  Their young are born from perfectly round eggs, each with a diamter of ten or twelve inches.  The shell is thick and semi-translucent, with the gestating yolk visible through a frosty haze.  The floating embryo inside is curled into a w-shape that parallels the pupil of a grown Kraken, making the egg resemble a rendered eye.

Category	Age (Years)
Larva	0-5
Very young	6-15
Young	16-30
Juvenile	31-50
Young Adult	51-100
Adult	101-200
Mature adult	201-400
Old	401-600
Very old	601-1,000
Ancient	1,001-2,000
Squid	2,001-3,000
Great Squid	3,000 or more

Despite the length of time it takes for maturity, the Kraken are intelligent at birth.  They have not learned to talk, but have enough wits about them distinguish danger or potential prey immediately and take appropriate measures.

Kraken

Magical Beast (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: By age category
Initiative: By age category
Speed: By age category
Armor Class: By age category
Base Attack/Grapple: By age category
Attack: By age category
Full Attack: By age category
Space/Reach: By age category
Special Attacks: Improved grab, constrict.
Special Qualities: Camouflage, darkvision, frightful presence, ink cloud, low-light vision, spell-like abilities, tracescent, ultravision
Saves: By age category
Abilities: By age category
Skills: Concentration +21, Disguise +17, Hide +10, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (oceanography) +17, Listen +30, Search +28, Sense Motive +17, Spot +30, Survival +10 (+15 following tracescent), Use Magic Device +16
Feats: Alertness, Blind Fight, Improved Critical (barbed tentacle), Improved Initiative
Environment: Temperate underwater caverns
Organization: Solitary (1)
Challenge Rating: Larva 3; very young 4; young 5; juvenile 7; young adult 9; adult 11; mature adult 14; old 16; very old 18; ancient 19; squid 20; great squid 22
Treasure: Triple standard
Alignment: Always neutral evil.
Advancement: By age category.
Level Adjustment: —

These colossal squid are approximately 40 feet long, with a thickly muscled yet streamlined body, and a mass of coursucating tentacles around its hugely beaked mouth.  Its bulbous eyes stares out menacingly through its strangely shaped pupils.  Six of its eight limbs stretch out to lengths of 30 feet, with the last pair of tentacles reaching twice that distance.  Covered in barbs, these function as the monstrosity's hands.

Kraken speak the now dead tongue of Aquelan and their native Krakonian.

Combat
Kraken are wily predators, and will employ complex tactics to amuse themselves as much as to out-think their opponent.  They will employ their camouflage skills to their greatest effect, picking off stragglers until the main school is weakened enough for a full assault.  Initiating combat, they will normally use all their barbed tentacles to deal damage and their subsidiary other tentacles to grapple, but once into the fray they will take any opportunity that presents itself.  Opponents can attempt to sunder the Kraken's tentacles as if they were weapons.  The primary barbed tentacles have 20 hit points each, and the secondary off-hand tentacles have 10.  The Kraken can use any one of its free tentacles to make a retributive attack of opportunity in response to the sunder attempt.  Severing a tentacle deals damage to the Kraken equal to half of the limb's full normal hit points (10 or 5 hit points, respectively).  Should a Kraken lose both its barbed tentacles and at least three of its other limbs, it will retreat.  It takes 1d10+10 days to regrow severed limbs.

Size	Space/Reach	1 Bite	1 Barbed Tentacle	1 Tentacle
Tiny	2 1/2 ft. long/1 ft. (5 ft. with barbed tentacles, 2 1/2 ft. with other tentacles)	1d2	1	-
Small	5 ft. long/2.5 ft. (10 ft. with barbed tentacles, 5 ft. with other tentacles)	1d3	1d2	1
Medium	10 ft. long/5 ft. (20 ft. with barbed tentacles, 10 ft. with other tentacles)	1d4	1d4	1d2
Large	15 ft. long/10 ft. (30 ft. with barbed tentacles, 15 ft. with other tentacles)	2d4	1d6	1d4
Huge	20 ft. long/10 ft. (40 ft. with barbed tentacles, 20 ft. with other tentacles)	3d4	1d8	1d6
Gargantuan	30 ft. long/15 ft. (50 ft. with barbed tentacles, 25 ft. with other tentacles)	4d4	2d6	1d8
Colossal	40 ft. long/15 ft. (60 ft. with barbed tentacles, 30 ft. with other tentacles)	5d4	2d8	2d6

Improved Grab (Ex): If the kraken successfully hits with a tentacle attack, it can then attempt to start a grapple without invoking an attack of opportunity.  It establishes a hold and can constrict if it wins the grapple check.

Constrict (Ex): A Kraken automatically deals damage with a successful grapple check.  The damage is 2d8 + Str modifier for the barbed tentacles or 1d6 + 1/2 Str modifier for normal tentacles.

Jet (Ex): In the rare occurrences that a Kraken decides to flee, it can jet backwards at a speed of 200 feet (50 cubes).  This can be done once per round as a full-round action that does not invoke an attack of opportunity, and movement must be in a straight line.

Camouflage (Ex): Pigments saturating the Kraken's toughened skin are malleable, and with a successful Disguise check a Kraken can blend in with its surroundings.  This gives the Kraken the Hide In Plain Sight feat and adds a +10 racial bonus to Hide checks.  The Kraken must maintain his concentration while using his camouflage ability to maintain this effect for more than a round, however failing the Concentration check does not result in the Kraken breaking its camouflage, just losing the racial bonus (it failed to adjust its coloration to take into account an observer’s movement, etc.).

Ink Cloud (Ex): The Kraken can eject a cloud of inky pigment in an 80 foot spread once per round as a free action.  Providing total concealment, creatures caught in the cloud are considered to be in darkness.  The cloud is dissipated in 1d2 rounds.  This ability can may be unusable should the Kraken use the cloud's second form (see below)

Alternately to the cloud effect, once every 1d4 rounds the Kraken can spit a concentrated spout of the jet-black ichor.  This chemically irritating and toxic excretion inflames the gills of those caught in the area of effect and causes suffocation.  Its poison is absorbed into the bloodstream, and as the creature's panicking send its blood coursing through its veins, it carries the toxicity further and faster throughout the body.  A cure poison spell can counteract the poison effect, and the clogged gills can be cleared with a purify food and water.  There is no cloud effect in this form, and the Kraken cannot use the cloud form again until the spout effect has recharged.

Kraken Size	Ink Spout Cone (Length)
Tiny	5 ft.
Small	10 ft.
Medium	20 ft.
Large	40 ft.
Huge	80 ft.
Gargantuan	160 ft.
Colossal	280 ft.

Spell-like Abilities: Kraken may cast the following 1/day as a 9th level caster -- control currents, dominate animal, resist energy, and vortex.  Save DCs for these spells are Charisma based.

Kraken by Age

Age	Size	Hit Dice (hp)	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha	Base Attack/ Grapple	Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Ink Cloud (DC)	Frightful Presence DC
Larva	T	5d12+5 (37)	15	10	13	14	15	14	+5/+11	+6	+5	+4	+6	2d6 (13)	—
Very young	S	8d12+16 (68)	19	10	15	16	17	16	+8/+16	+11	+7	+5	+9	4d6 (16)	—
Young	M	11d12+22 (93)	23	10	15	16	17	16	+11/+21	+16	+9	+7	+10	6d6 (17)	—
Juvenile	L	14d12+42 (133)	27	10	17	18	19	18	+14/+30	+20	+12	+9	+13	8d6 (20)	—
Young adult	L	17d12+68 (178)	29	10	19	18	19	18	+17/+34	+24	+14	+10	+14	10d6 (23)	22
Adult	H	20d12+80 (210)	31	10	19	20	21	20	+20/+38	+28	+16	+12	+17	12d6 (24)	25
Mature adult	H	23d12+115 (264)	31	10	21	20	21	20	+23/+45	+29	+18	+13	+18	14d6 (27)	26
Old	G	26d12+156 (325)	33	10	23	24	21	24	+26/+49	+33	+21	+15	+20	16d6 (30)	29
Very old	G	29d12+203 (391)	35	10	25	26	23	26	+29/+53	+37	+23	+16	+22	18d6 (32)	31
Ancient	C	32d12+256 (464)	37	10	27	28	25	28	+32/+63	+37	+26	+18	+25	20d6 (34)	34
Squid	C	35d12+315 (542)	39	10	29	30	27	30	+35/+65	+41	+28	+19	+27	22d6 (37)	36
Great squid	C	38d12+380 (627)	41	10	31	32	33	32	+38/+69	+45	+31	+21	+32	24d6 (39)	39

Special Abilities by Age

Age	Speed	Initiative	AC	Special Abilities	Caster Level	SR
Larva	swim 200 ft. (perfect)	+0	16 (+2 size, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 16	Camouflage	—	—
Very young	swim 200 ft. (good)	+0	18 (+1 size, +7 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18		—	—
Young	swim 200 ft. (good)	+0	21 (+11 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 21	Jet	—	—
Juvenile	swim 200 ft. (average)	+0	23 (–1 size, +14 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 23		3rd	—
Young adult	swim 200 ft. (average)	+0	26 (–1 size, +17 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 26	Damage reduction 5/magic	5th	20
Adult	swim 200 ft. (average)	+0	28 (–2 size, +20 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 28		7th	22
Mature adult	swim 200 ft. (poor)	+0	31 (–2 size, +23 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 31	Damage reduction 10/magic	9th	23
Old	swim 250 ft. (poor)	+0	34 (–3 size, +27 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 34		11th	25
Very old	swim 250 ft. (poor)	+0	37 (–3 size, +30 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 37	Damage reduction 15/magic	13th	26
Ancient	swim 250 ft. (clumsy)	+0	38 (–4 size, +32 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 38		15th	28
Squid	swim 250 ft. (clumsy)	+0	41 (–4 size, +35 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 41	Damage reduction 20/magic	17th	29
Great squid	swim 250 ft. (clumsy)	+0	44 (–4 size, +38 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 44		19th	31

The remnants of the Kraken Empire, abandoned by their otherworldly gods, degenerated rapidly over the years into what is now called the Ceph.  Believed extinct, one Kraken still lives yet.  Trapped in the Undertow when it was still very young, it lurks hidden in the labyrinthine tunnels of the Bubble Below, avoiding all life and slowly losing touch with reality as the years accumulated and became centuries.  It guards its hoard zealously, as if its very existence depends on it remaining safe.

"Dreams do not tell children the Kraken exist; children already know that Kraken exist
Dreams tell children the Kraken can be killed.  Those dreams are our salvation."
-- famous words spoken  by the Cetacean commander at the fall of the Kraken Empire.

Endless Blue - Week 37.3 - Creatures of the Endless Blue

Zoology

Creatures of the Endless Blue

To say animals carved out a niche in the ecosystem is an understatement.  They have systematically spread across the seas, and everywhere they have gone they have evolved to excel in those conditions.  The expansive space of the oceans of Elqua have provided ample opportunity for nature to do what it does best -- diversify.

Native life on Elqua evolved in a hexapedial form.  Even the pisceans themselves share this six-limbed shape, with two arms, two pelvic fins, and two fused legs that are the tail.  Most lifeforms more complex than invertebrates will continue this common trait.

There are essentially two ecologies in the Endless Blue setting -- that chronicled here of the intelligent characters that lead daily lives of adventure, and the horrendous realm above the rolling waves known as the Vastness.  There are a fringe of species that straddle that otherwise sharp division; aquatic creatures that rise to the surface and terrestrial monstrosities that fish the waters for sustenance.  In the food chain of life, it is usually the creatures of the Vastness that feed on the life in the sea, and this is the prime origin of the abject fear the aberrations invoke.


Life in the Vastness is dominated by quixotic aberrations.  These creatures will have bizzare arrangements of organs and alien anatomy.  Familiar features for piscean races such as faces are not found among the creatures of the surface.  They will have features such as some way of sensing the world around them, some method of consuming nutrients, and mobility of some manner, but they evolved a different mechanic for accomplishing this than that of the creatures under the waves.  This is due to the Ice Age at the end of the White, which successfully cleaved Elqua into two and set frozen ice as the barrier between the two ecologies.


Below the Waves

With this divergence in mind, the following creatures from the Monster Manual are suitable for use in the Endless Blue campaign setting:

Aboleth
These creatures trap unwary pisceans and  transmogrify them into horrible parodies of their previous selves called Skum.  Enslaved, they tend to the aboleth's needs at the cost of their own.

Allip
These are the undead remnants of pisceans swallowed by black water.

Animated Object
These are the product of piscean spellcasters, and are most likely never found in the wild.

Assassin Vine
These aggressive plants are found in the Lumulus Basin and other volcanic sites.  They are also occasionally found in floating sargasso, both mundane and undead versions.

Bodak
Bodaks are formed when a living piscean is killed in the clutches of an undead sargasso.

Chaos Beast
These are solitary abominations found deep in natural caverns under water, where they lay like a bubbling brine pool until prey comes into range.

Chuul
These are an example of a Vastness aberration acclimating to an aquatic environment.

Cloaker
The appearance of Cloakers is less like a cloak, and more akin to a domesticated species of ray.

Darkmantle
These are a primitive forefather of the Kraken species, still utilizing a natural hard shell that their descendant long ago abandoned.

Devourer
As ethereal creatures, these monstrosities would only be found as a result of latent ancient magics in the Maw flaring to life.

Dinosaur
Aquatic variants of dinosaurs still exist in the vast oceans, where they have had the space to escape and hide.  Speicies like elasm0saurs, ichthyosaurs, leptocleidus, and moasaurs are ideally suited for the various sea zones.

Dire animals
Aquatic variants of dire animals would be such creatures as megalodons, coelacanths, and placoderms.

Dragon Turtle
Another example of a creature that can grow to be of Tremendous or Immense size.

Elemental (water)
These creatures are expressions of the element of water, and are more related to animated objects that to extraplanar intelligences.  They are little more than vorticies given direction by the summoner, in actuality.

Fungus
These fungi live along the ocean bottoms, carrion eaters digesting the sunken bodies consigned to the depths.

Ghoul
Called lacedon, these aquatic versions of Ghouls and Ghasts hide along the reefs of the world.

Gibbering Mouther
A variant species of chaos beast, gibbering mouthers suck a victim dry of all their bodily fluids instead of liquefying the entire body.

Hag (sea)
Each hag is an individual, and it is thought they are not a race but some kind of cursed piscean.  Despite their horrific appearance, hags are treated with a reserved respect, and are often entreated as oracles.  The prognostication of the end of the Cerulian Epoch is only taken seriously when the few known hag coveys all independently foretell of its passing.

Homunculus
These are tiny artifically created pisceans made by spellcasters as servants.  They will usually be based on some type of pre-existing fish, so the coloration of homonculi does not need to conform to those of a real piscean race.

Hydra
These are multi-headed sea serpents that swim through the deepest seas.  Pyrohydras exist, but spout gouts of boiling vitriol instead of flame.

Kraken
The Kraken are an extinct species that form the basis of much of the Endless Blue recent back story.  Their occupation of the Fluid Nations not only changed the politics of the world, but the left-behind remnants of their especially diabolic magics still linger.

Kuo-Tao
These are the Kouton.

Locathah
These are the Locanth.

Merfolk
These are the Mer.

Mimic
These masters of shape changing put the Ceph's camouflage to shame.  They do not just alter the patterns of pigmentation to match their surroundings, they can actually mold their bodies into matching shapes.

Morgh
A rare product of undead sargasso, these undead have a greater chance of appearing whenever the Maelstrom disrupts an undead sargasso.

Naga (water)
It is foolishly believed that the Yaun-Teel evolved from this disappearing species.

Nightshade
Suitable creatures, though should rarely be used due to the tenuous connection between Elqua and the ethereal plane/plane of shadow.  The nightshades are the actual native species of their etheric shadow world, walking unseen among us.

Ooze
Translucent (or nearly so in cloudy waters), oozes are the equivalent of invisible stalkers.

Purple Worm
These gargantuan creatures are found along the Spine of the World, and next to the difficulty traversing the Spine, they prove to be the next biggest barrier to the other side.  A candidate for Tremendous and Immense sized variants.  They enjoy using currentsense as well as tremorsense, and can use to two in conjuction, so long as the object is within 60 feet of the creature.

Remorhaz
A variant of the Purple Worm in the polar regions of Elqua.  Their extraordinary ability of Heat does heat damage instead of fire.  Like the Purple Worm, Remorhaz have a combined use of tremorsense and currentsense.

Roper
Due to the buoyancy of water, ropers are found both on the floor and hanging from the ceiling of underwater caves.  Their extraordinary vulnerability to fire becomes a vulnerability to heat instead.

Sahuagin
These are the Sahaguin.  Their rare malenti offspring are a form of planetouched called genasi.

Scrag
These are aquatic trolls, large lumbering abominations that have been twisted by horrible magic by the Kraken.

Shadow
Despite their incorporeal substance, Shadows are detectable with ultravision.  So even in the Shelf, the darkest depths of Elqua's oceans, they can be spotted should they come close enough to enter the ultravoilet light source.

Shambling Mound
The kelpygmies utilize these huge monsters as muscle when they attack the piscean races.  They are colorfully called "swimming bogs", or " moving mangroves".

Skeleton
The most common form of undead encountered on Elqua.  Skeletons, without the flesh that unites their fins, cannot swim more than a few feet from the ocean floor.  This lessens their threat to ambulatory creatures, but permanent structures cannot escape their relentless approach.

Skum
These are transformed pisceans pressed into the service of an aboleth.  Physically transmogrified, there is litttle left of their previous minds to rebel.

Spectre
A variant form of Spectre, called a Banshee, can make sonic attack with its wail (see the spell Wail of the Banshee).

Tendriculous
A variant form of Shambling Mound with notable regenerative abilities.

Tojanida
These creatures are one of the few aquatic species that is capable of surviving in the hostile environment of the Vastness.  As a result, they are usually avoided whenever possible, or attacked when victory is clearly evident.

Wight
As corporeal undead, wights cling to the sea bed in an instinctive urge to get closer to the Source, the final resting place it has been denied.

Will-O'-Wisp
These creatures are frequently mistaken for any of the bio-luminescent fish that fill the waters.

Wraith
The wraith's hatred of the light prevents them from entering into the Shore of Elqua's oceans during the daytime, but may encroach once the sun has set.

Yuan-Ti
These are the Yaun-Teel.

Lycanthropes
Were-beasts like sharks, rays, barracuda, and other aquatic carnivores are compatible with the setting.  The interaction between lycanthropy and the three moons of Elqua is different:  Werebeasts are always in a state of transformation, with the new moon dampening the bloodlust.

Zombie
Piscean zombies have enough necrotic flesh clinging to their unhallowed bones to enable them swim after the living,

Vegepygmy -- These are the Kelpygmies of the setting, strange, small piscean-shaped creatures composed of seaweed and other aquatic plants.  They are not represented in the Monster Manual, but their existence is important enough to the setting to be mentioned here.

Above the Waves

There is significantly less land exposed to the air of the blue waterworld than space taken up by water.  Only a tiny 5% of the planet's exposed surface is land, and that is broken up and scattered across the globe as island archipelagos.  With less space to evolve in, the species are smaller than found in the fathomless seas, and more diversified due to their sequestered habitats.  Since the glaciers' retreat during the Cardinal Epoch, the barrier between the two worlds disappeared and life has began to cross over.  The Allip is an example of aberrant life that left land behind and invaded the kingdom of the sea.  At the other hand of the spectrum, the some of the aquatic dinosaurs left the crowded waters to find prey on land.

These creatures from the Monster Manual are suitable to inhabit the Vastness.  As such, they will have little interaction with the characters of the Endless Blue unless they injudiciously swim too closely to the surface.

Destrachan
Digester
Dinosaur (terrestrial variants)
Ethereal Filcher
Ethereal Mauler
Grey Render
Grick
Otyugh
Phantom Fungus
Stirge
Yrthak

Evolution's Mistakes

These entries in the Monster Manual might be suitable, but need some type of alteration to make them mesh better or not suffer from repetition.  They could be used as the doomed remnants of practically extinct species, or perhaps as strange genetic mutations that could one day become new creatures:

Ankheg
Possibly a variant of the Remorhaz.

Arrowhawk
Remove the more obvious avian features to make the creature more of an aberration.

Blink Dog
Blink beasts would be a form of dolphin, delphiz, or porpoise.

Bulette
Possibly a silt dweller,with its crest breaking the surface of sandy sea bottoms.

Carrion Crawler
These would be better used as a form of jellyfish.

Displacer Beast
Instead of resembling a puma, the displacer beast resembles a large squid.

Dragon
The traditional role of the dragon in standard campaigns -- the great wyrm razing villages -- is taken up by the Kraken.

Frost Worm
Perphaps should be combined with the Remorhaz.

Gargoyle
A form of animated object. but following the piscean form.  Almost an intermediate step between animated object and humunculus.

Giant
This becomes a template that is applicable to  nearly living any creature, be they mundane animals or essoteric aberrations.

Golem
Some materials are inappropriate for making constructs, like iron.  Flesh and clay are possible, but either would be poor swimmers.

Grimlock
Original denizens of the Undertow, they follow the picean form.  The primary antagonist for those trapped in the Bubble Below.

Medusa
These would bei ndividuals, but not a race.  Something akin to hags.

Mummy
Mummies would be the bodies of the dead appropriately given last rites, but the weighting meant to carry them to the bottom of the sea has somehow failed.  Cheated of their resting place, the bloating corpse rises to the surface where it is caught up in an undead sargasso, thus animating the creature.

Phasm
Would better fit the setting as creatures of only animal intelligence.

Sea Lion
Perhaps best filling the mythological role of the griffon.

Shocker Lizard
These would be some form of electric eel.

Tarrasque
A unique creature, one of the few Tremendous and Immense sized monsters in the setting.

Triton
These would be the equivalent of angels, messengers of the gods.  When communing with the domain of their god, a Triton will often answer in the deity's place.

Umber Hulk
A good candidate for the Vastness, but would require a less humanoid form.

These creatures are simply not suitable for the Endless Blue campaign setting,  They either depend too heavily on a terrestrial life form that never evolved on Elqua as their starting point (birds), are extraplanar in origin (demons), or require yet another sentient race in the political arrangement of nations.

Achaierai
Aranea
Athach
Azer
Barghest
Basilisk
Behir
Beholder
Belker
Bugbear
Celestial
Centaur -- There are no "Half-piscean, Half-beast" creatures in the wilds of the seas.  The existence of the piscean form -- itself a hybrid morphology -- is a normal species in the setting.  To further hybridize a non-existing part of a hybrid race begins to strain credulity.
Chimera
Choker
Cockatrice
Couatl
Delver
Demon (This role is filled by the various religions of the world portraying the aberrations of the surface world as the horrors of hell).
Devil (This role is filled by the various religions of the world portraying the aberrations of the surface world as the horrors of hell).
Doppleganger
Dragonne
Drider -- See Centaur above.
Dryad -- The world of Elqua seems spiritually non-sentient.  There is no "spirit of the forest" that is expressed in piscean form.
Dwarf
Elemental (other than water)
Elf
Ettercap
Ettin
Formian
Genie
Giant Eagle
Giant Owl
Girallon
Gnoll (and by extension, Flind)
Gnome
Goblin (this role is filled by the Kelpygmy)
Gorgon
Griffon
Halfling
Harpy -- See Centaur above.
Hellhound
Hippogriff
Hobgoblin (this role is filled by Kelpygmy)
Howler
Invisible Stalker (this role is filled by oozes)
Kobold (this role is filled by Kelpgymy)
Krenshar
Lamia -- See Centaur above.
Lammasu
Lillend
Lizardfolk (this role is filled by the Sahaguin)
Magmin
Manticore
Mephit (this role is filled by Homonculus)
Mind Flayer
Minotaur
Naga (other than water)
Night Hag
Nightmare
Nymph -- See Dryad above.
Ogre (this role is filled by the Narwahl)
Orc (this role is filled by the Narwahl)
Owlbear
Pegasus
Phase Spider
Planetouched
Pseudodragon
Rakshasa
Rast
Ravid
Roc
Rust Monster
Salamander
Satyr
Shadow Mastiff
Shield Guardian (the role is filled by warbeasts)
Slaad
Sphinx
Spider Eater
Sprite (this role is filled by the Kelpygmy)
Thoqqua
Titan (see Giant)
Treant
Troglodyte (this roll is filled by the Sahaguin)
Troll
Unicorn
Vampire -- Vampires are unable to cross running water, and in a setting where the currents flow around all the oceans constantly, to have a vampire would result in a foe unable to move about.
Vargouille
Winter Wolf
Worg
Wyvern
Xill
Xorn
Yeth Hound

Hippocampus -- Despite their seemingly perfect fit, hippocampi are somewhat anachronistic.  There are no horses on Elqua, and an aquatic version sticks out like a sore thumb.

NOTE:  While many of these are inappropriate monsters for the game, the idea of the monsters can still exist in mythology and imagery.  The hippocampus, for example, is the name of the seahorse used in heraldry.

This by no means is the full extent of life thriving in the oceans of Elqua.  There are perhaps the more extreme forms of life.  There exists a plethora of mundane sea animals vying for survival that fill the waters in the same manner wild birds, insect colonies, and verminous rodentia thrive in the periphery of our lives.  There also exist those non-magical creatures that can pose a danger to pisceans, the equivalent of bears or wolves.  And do not forget the domesticated animals of the packbreeders, whom have given the societies of the Fluid Nations the pedogenic breeds of dolphins, the delphiz.

"Life began with water; it cannot exist without it.
It thrives in its enveloping embrace,
and followed its meandering currents across the world.
Water is the source of life, the end of life.
To it, we owe our very existence."
-- Seamus Lorwynn, father of the theory of evolution.