Kopru

Kopru were a degenerated race of monstrous humanoid amphibians.

Description
These creatures had a humanoid upper body, but their smooth eel-like heads that jutted forward from their trunks. The lower half of their bodies were sinuous and vaguely eel-like, terminating in long, flexible tails. Altogether their bodies measured long and weighed around.

Their eel-like heads had large, bulging eyes that never blinked, with members of nobility having some of the largest. Their fanged mouths were surrounded by four to eight prehensile tentacles. The number of tentacles around a mouth varied depending upon a koprus' region and breeding. Their muscular, spine-covered arms ended in webbed hands with four clawed fingers.

Kopru tails were prehensile, described by some as resembling worms, and were capped with a sharp hooked barb. The number of tails, as well as the coloration of their bodies, varied widely depending upon the region. Their skin tones ranged from shades of grey, blue, green, and orange. Those that lived deep beneath the surface water tended to have three tails.

Kopru were never known to wear any form of clothing or jewelry. However, tattooing and piercings with either bone instruments or ornaments were common practice among them.

Personality
In the centuries following the fall of their ancient civilization, kopru were noted as suffering from melancholia and manic-depressive behavioral patterns.

Those that lived near the ruins of their civilization tended to have a far more bitter disposition, due to being constantly confronted with a reminder of what their race had lost.

Biology
Kopru were an aquatic species who on average lived fifty years. Their bodies had very durable skin that was coated in oil, much like a whale, which helped to protect them from the elements. They could tolerate boiling temperatures without any harm. When fully immersing themselves in boiling waters, koprus would instinctively seal their eyes, gills, and nostrils.

Koprus' ability to function while on land varied by region, for in some breeds their species' gills and lungs had atrophied. Those that lived near islands, within marshes, or underground were amphibious and could survive indefinitely on land.

Whenever they tried to communicate vocally their words came out in a string of unnerving, faltering belches, gasps, and hisses.

Female kopru tended to be physically stronger than their male counterparts. They annually laid three to five eggs that required a warm climate to hatch. Once fertilized, these female kopru would seek out either sulfuric waters or hot springs to lay their eggs.

Abilities
While the kopru that lived on Toril had no unique abilities, those that lived on the planet of Mystara displayed a latent psionic ability to charm people.

Female kopru had a far greater innate affinity for sorcery than their male counterparts.



History
The kopru were one of many creatures who descended from the Creator Race known as Batrachi. Taking after their progenitors, they built a large civilization at the bottom of the sea. It began over three thousand years prior to the 14 century DR and was comprised of thousands of city-states. Their civilization was founded by a group of male shamans who had learned how to imbue kopura clams, which had become quite abundant at the time, with demonic magic. Early on these shamans lived as the ruling nobility, but they were quickly ousted by female shamans.

Over time their civilization declined, growing far more degenerate as it deteriorated, and became largely a mystery to all other races. Those who attempted to study their fallen civilization speculated that climactic shifts or competition from other aquatic races might have been factors.

By the 14 century DR, almost no remnants of their ancient glory remained. What ruins remained of their civilization were largely salt-encrusted and covered with seaweed, coral, anemones.

Rumors & Legends
Not knowing of their batrachi heritage, some scholars speculated that kopru were related in some way to mindflayers because of the tentacles that surrounded their mouths.

Society
Following the destruction of their cvilization, lopru lived either solitary lives or in small colonies of three to twenty six members with a matriarchal society. They tended to mate in tropical regions.



Lairs
These creatures typically lived in quiet grottoes or inside of underwater caves, close to the ruins of their ancient fallen civilization. Their ancient city-states featured a number of palaces, pyramidal temples, lesser houses, and large town squares. Carvings of kopru heads were a prominent artistic fixture.

Homelands
Kopru inhabited oceans and marshes in areas with a tropical climate. Kopru that lived deep beneath the oceans' surface spent their whole lives down in those depths. While the amphibious, coastal variety regularly made forays out of their aquatic habitats.

Languages
Kopru were capable of speaking both common and aquan. However, they rarely chose to speak.

Kopru communicated among themselves by means of eye movement, with nobles being able to perform more elaborate communications due to their larger eyes. Their ancient system of writing was an uncoordinated and loose ideographic code, with hundreds of thousands of complex symbols.

Religions
During the days of their ancient civilization the kopru worshiped the demon lord Demogorgon and his supposed ancestors. This belief system of theirs had an organized clergy that was formed by shamans.

Usage
Some wizards were known to utilize certain glands within kopru brains in the construction of rings of human influence and various other protective charms.