Marl

Marls, sometimes called slime devils, were rare aquatic cobra-like predatory creatures said to have been created by the yuan-ti through magical experimentation.

Description
Marls resembled giant snakes with cobra hoods and between three to eight humanoid arms. Each arm ended with a five-fingered hand and was long. They were usually covered in brown scales with a white underbelly and reached in length. Their scale color had minor variations, depending on their habitat; for example, marls who lived in particularly lush with greenery marshy areas had green spots on their bodies. Their hands were covered in much finer scales as opposed to the rest of their bodies.

Abilities
Marls were completely unaffected by psionics or other mental attacks; they were also unaffected by charm magic. Spells such as any version of charm nor ESP were useless against these gargantuan snakes.

Personality
Marls were intelligent creatures, however extremely aggressive. They hated all birds and bird-like avian creatures. Their compulsive hate for the winged beasts sent marls into an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty frenzy, making marls attack, ignoring all fear and thoughts of self-preservation. This frenzy would only stop after all birds in sight were dead.

Combat
Marls were tremendously strong. They preferred to lay in wait, floating underwater, waiting to strike at their opponents once they got within range. Unlike many other scaly creatures, marls found biting disgraceful and attacked with their weapons, arms, and bodies. Due to the number of arms, they could deal a staggering amount of damage within mere moments. Mostly attacking with their fists, marls occasionally used self-made clubs or weapons taken from their victims. Marls did not like using ranged or missile weapons but could be trained and convinced into arming themselves with crossbows, slings, or thrown arms.

Despite their size, marls were quick and could easily attack multiple targets at once, swiftly contorting their bodies to strikes any foes positioned along their long bodies. Another danger of approaching a marl was being constricted and crushed by their powerful sinuous bodies.

Society
Marls were rarely-encountered monsters, preferring solitude most of the time, and never encountered in groups of more than four. They could be found living in wild bogs and along rivers. Some marls could be seen serving as guardians or mercenaries for other intelligent snake-like creatures, such as yuan-ti or ophidians. Marls could also be encountered with worshipers of Sebek, such as werecrocodiles. Still, these alliances were often unstable and resulted in the parties turning on each other as soon as the affiliation was no longer convenient.

Even though they were loner species, marls showed swift adaptation to the social norms of others when serving as allies or mercenaries. They valued food and pretty knickknacks or shiny jewelry. In cases where marls spent longer amounts of time in other cultures, they were known to show artistic talents, such as painting, on rare occasions.

Marles often spoke the dominant language of the region they called home.

Ecology
Marls had little to no culture in their lives. They rarely engaged in mercantile activities and could rarely be seen together, apart from performing the mating rituals. In the wild, they showed no ability nor interest in crafts and building, exhibiting only a desire to hunt. They did not lair and lived in the warmth of the sun.

Marls mated in late winters and produced eggs three months later. It took marl eggs five months to hatch. When they emerged from the eggs, young marls appeared to be nothing but hooded snakes or cobras proximately long. The marl young grew at a rapid pace after hatching for the first two years of their lives and grew arms with hands after the first. An average marl could live up to twenty years.

Marls' diet consisted mostly of birds found close to water, with occasional prey of beasts and humanoids of medium or smaller size.

Notable Marls

 * Annaclathaer, a marl that lived on the isle of Alaron.

Rumors & Legends
Even though most sages attributed the existence of marls to magical yuan-ti experiments and breeding, some theorized that these giant snake-like creatures came from an unknown plane of existence outside of Toril, a world completely without magic.