Sea Lion, The ecology of

Ecology of the Sea Lion
by Ed Greenwood

Dragon magazine - Monster Manual III - Dragon #107

?What?s this I hear about sea lions in the
Realms being, ah, really some sort of
aquatic lion?? I asked, as Elminster paused
on the heels of a few rollicking tales of the
deeps. The old sage blinked.

?Aye. . . . What other sorts of sea lions
are there?? he asked suspiciously, no doubt
thinking this would turn out to be another
of my jokes.

I told him that seals in our world were
called sea lions by some, and he snorted.
?Why not just call them seals?? he asked,
as though everyone in our world was crazy.
(He could, I often think, be right.)

?Well,? I continued, ?are these sea lions
? which we don?t have here, by the way ?
important? I mean, in fable, land-lore,
monster-slaying stories; that sort of thing.?
The old sage thought for a bit and then
nodded. ?Ye remember the arms of Tethyr
that I showed ye some time ago?? I did,
and recalled aloud (as I pulled Elminster?s
sketch from my files) that there were sea
lions in that coat of arms. Elminster nodded
again.

?I?ll tell ye,? he said slowly, ?the tale of
Nearel and the sea lions.? He coughed a few
times and began sonorously.

?Of old in the land of Tethyr, there was a
king, Mhoaran the Tusk-Bearded. A mighty
man was he, tall and broad and thewed as a
great hero ? and coarse, fire-tempered,
and brawling, to boot. He took his thronw
by force of arms and held it for many long
years despite the rebellious nobles of the
land, who supported three surviving (and
well hidden) kin of the previous monarch.
These nobles managed to slay, usually by
poison, any heirs Mhoaran fathered, until
there was not a one of the nobles whom
Mhoaran would trust. Moreover, three
successive queens died mysteriously, and the
lonely and bereaved king grew bitter, grim,
and wild.

?He took to spiriting his sons away from
their birth-beds and riding far from his
court, offering lands, riches, and noble titles
to commoners who would raise him an heir
in secret. Many families accepted ? but the
king?s enemies had agents, too, and these
agents almost always found and slew both
the royal infants and their foster parents. In
all the long years, Mhoaran lost twenty-six
sons and himself grew more feeble as, de-
spite his precautions, occasional poisons did
their work on him.

?Only two of his sons are known to have
survived past childhood. One?s lineage was
suspected, and he was slain in combat while
but an untried youth. The other one,
Nearel, grew up in a fisherman?s hut on the
Sword Coast, where he helped his foster
father with fishing ? and with the captur-
ing and taming of sea lions, which was the
man?s special interest.

?It happened that about fourteen years
after Nearel?s birth, King Mhoaran took
ship north up the coast to Waterdeep, to
meet with other rulers of the Realms. Fear-
ing an attack, the king kept his vessel close
to shore, slipping along by night and re-
maining, in safe harbors by day. Mhoaran?s
enemies were closer than the king had
thought, and he was roused one night by
the clash of steel outside his cabin door.

?Now, Mhoaran was a bull of a man, a
survived past childhood. One?s lineage was
suspected, and he was slain in combat while
but an untried youth. The other one,
Nearel, grew up in a fisherman?s hut on the
Sword Coast, where he helped his foster
father with fishing ? and with the captur-
ing and taming of sea lions, which was the
man?s special interest.

?Now, Mhoaran was a bull of a man, a
fighter of awesome repute, even in the elder
days of his reign. But he was only one, with
his bodyguards dead beyond his door, and
he faced nearly forty. He stood his ground
in silence, in his darkened cabin, and an-
swered not their taunts and threats, for he
knew arrows would be his sure death if he
opened the door or let light reveal him.

"With a blade and axe he waited -- and
fell like a demon on those who picked his
door-lock and slunk in. Lit torches were
hurled into the cabin by those in the passage.
Mhoaran wielded them like blazing
clubs and one by one hurled them out the
sea-windows of his cabin as he fought --
until he stood again in darkness, surrounded
by dead men; The king then piled
corpses in the doorway, so that the light
would not locate him clearly, and waited.

?Again the traitors charged in to slay the
king; again he fought, and was sorely ?
wounded, but battled on in deadly silence,
until the last of this group of attackers
turned and fled. Mhoaran heard much
heated discussion from the passage outside
his chamber as the king tied garments on
the worst of his wounds, but bled through
the bandages, and grew weaker. He heard
the traitors decide to burn him out, and he
knew that they would in the end succeed.
Quickly, before someone thought to send
archers to the rails to loose shafts at him as
he swam, Mhoaran slipped out through a
sea-window and made for shore.

?The water was icy cold, and the king
very weak. The weapons he bore dragged at
him as he swam, and he was heard from the
ship. Mhoaran spat silent curses at the
waning moon, for it still cast a feeble light
over the waves, and shafts began to hiss into
the water near him. The shore was far off,
and the king despaired ? for he could hear
a boat being launched, behind him, and
when he swam on he saw in the moonlight
another small boat ahead of him.

?For a moment he thought this second
boat was someone sent out from shore to
slay him, by some treacherous arrange-
ment. But as it drew nearer he saw that it
held only one man ? a youth, and weapon-
less. The youth saw him and said, ?Who art
thou? Cast away thy weapons and I will
take thee in the boat.?

?Mhoaran was loath to let go his weap-
ons, but his strength was nearly gone any-
way, so he complied, giving his name but
not his title. The youth took him aboard,
rolling him into the bottom of the boat atop
bulging sacks that reeked of fresh-slain
cattle. The youth saw the small boat hasten-
ing toward them from the king?s ship and
said to Mhoaran, ?Who are these that
would slay you??

? ?Traitors,? Mhoaran answered.

? ?Traitors?? echoed the youth. ?To the
king??

?Mhoaran admitted his full identity, and
the youth did not seem overly awed. ?If I
save thee,? he asked, ?may I come to court?
For I would be a swordsman.?

? ?Aye,? Mhoaran said. ?I can promise
that. Wilt thou tell me thy name??

? ?I am called Nearel,? the youth an-
swered, and straightaway he leaned over the
side of the boat while holding in his hand a
short, flaring horn or trumpet carved of
wood. He plunged his head into the icy
waves and blew the horn, which made a
deep, roaring noise. Nearel straightened up
and turned, dripping, and warned, ?Stay
away from the water,? as he untied a sack.

?Suddenly, the water around them
boiled, and the king saw a huge curve of
scales, dripping claws of fearsome size, and
then one ? two ? four leonine heads rising
out of the depths around them. Nearel
raised the horn again and winded a deep,
roaring bellow. This signal ended in a
cough, and there came answering coughs
and growls from the waves about them.

As an arrow slashed into the water
nearby, Mhoaran realized that the boat
crowded with swordsmen had drawn very
close. Nearel stood up, hurled the contents
of a sack toward the other boat, and roared
again, this time in a high voice. Then, as
Nearel ducked low to avoid flying arrows,
Mhoaran saw the sea-creatures turn in the
water and charge at the pursuing boat,
trailing wakes like many small ships. In a
moment there was a muffled crash, and
then the full-throated roars of lions were
heard in the darkness. Mhoaran made out
the shape of the boat as it rolled over, and
he heard the thrashing of men in the water,
punctuated by an occasional scream. The
lions dined, and all of the armed company
perished, leaving the king and Nearel alone
on the waves.

?Faint roaring could be heard beneath
them, and the sea lions came up to the
surface again, huge and fearsome. ?They
yet want their dinner,? Nearel said, and
began emptying sacks overboard. The king
helped him until their boat was empty of
meat, and deep purring was heard from all
about. Then Nearel turned the boat about
and rowed to shore. When Mhoaran laid
eyes on Nearel?s father, the king knew that
he had found his own son.

?When Nearel came to court, he came by
sea, standing on the backs of two sea lions.
In later years Nearel fed his sea lions from
the windows of his own tower, for the royal
castle stands on a rock isle in a salt-water
lake. And that is how the arms of Tethyr
came to be supported by two sea lions.?

We talked on late into the night, and
hereafter follows what details of these crea-
tures I could glean from Elminster.

Sea lions are large, powerful predators
that inhabit undersea lairs (sometimes large
wrecks in calm waters, but more often caves
or rock clefts). They will move to another
area if food becomes scarce or other preda-
tors too aggressive, persistent, and numer-
ous. Sea lions are afraid of nothing, but
they are inclined to be indolent ? and thus,
efficient killers and creatures who have no
taste for fighting over food when it can be
had elsewhere with less effort,

In a family or as a loner, a sea lion will
hunt in a familiar area and rarely stray
from it. The creatures are seldom a danger
to humankind, demi-humans, or human-
oids except in cases where they view indi-
viduals of such races as prey ? a lone
swimmer, for instance, or a small group of
pearl divers.

Sea lions are useful, if tamed and prop-
erly trained, as aquatic guardians or
hunters (sometimes for sport, as in the
island kingdom of Nimbral). Minstrels and
bards sometimes refer to female sea lions
(or, more carelessly, all sea lions) as
?lyonesses?; hence the expression ?like a
merman riding a lyonesse,? said of someone
who sits unconcernedly in a sinking ship, or
a vessel adrift. Many undersea creatures
have been known to train sea lions; any
such arrangement will suit the beasts be-
cause it enables them to live relatively free
of pain and danger, and obtain, food more
often and more easily than in the wild, so
long as the sea lions get exercise and a
chance to hunt for themselves fairly often.

Many men along the Sword Coast have
trained sea lions, intending to sell the tamed
specimens or to use them in salvage, fish-
ing, and sea warfare. By the use of rewards
(of food) and punishment (withholding
food, expressing displeasure vocally), pa-
tient trainers can slowly steer a young sea
lion?s behavior toward more acceptable
habits. However, adult sea lions can never
be so trained by surface-dwellers; full-grown
specimens will seek to slay any captor at
every opportunity, heedless of their own
safety.

Young sea lions will occasionally rebel in
training; if they can be physically bested by
the trainer (bad or lazy trainers clip a sea
lion?s ears to break its spirit), no harm will
be done to the training process. If, however,
the young creatures learn that they can defy
their trainer with impunity, or prove often
rebellious, they are unfit for training and
should be released into the wild.

Few sages have examined sea lions, and
fewer still observed them in the wild, but
here follows what factual material Elminster
has gathered:

Sea lions are robust, healthy creatures
who usually die in combat; they rarely
become diseased. Both sexes have manes,
similar coloring, and scales over their entire
body surface except for the head area. Their
flipperlike forelimbs end in sets of claws
(not retractile) that can do more damage
than the strikes of a lion. Likewise, the bite
of its strong jaws is more dangerous than
the bite of a lion, A sea lion propels itself
through the water by ?rowing? with its
forelimbs and sweeping its fluked tail back
and forth. A system of gills enables sea lions
to take in oxygen when underwater, but
they can also inhale air as a lion does, which
enables them to travel on the surface of the
water for relatively short periods.

If healthy, sea lions mate every 9 months
or so, the female giving birth 7-8 months
later to 1-3 live, fully mobile offspring.
Young sea lions are AC 8/6 when born
(their scales are still flexible and soft), have
2 HD, move 14?, and do damage of 1-3/1-
3/1-8. Such young cubs are watched at all
times by the mother (or, if in a family pride,
1-2 females) and kept in the lair, where they
are fed by other members of the family that
bring home their kills.

If the hunting is good, the young will
grow rapidly; by 3-4 weeks of age, they will
be AC 6/4, move 18?, with attacks for 1-4/
1-4/2-8 damage. For the rest of the first
year of their lives, they remain at about this
size, growing and developing internally.
They learn to hunt during this time, always
under the watchful eye of an adult female.
The guardian keeps the young within a
half-mile of the lair, nipping and roaring at
cubs who do not want to be herded where
she wishes them to go. In the following two
years of life, sea lions begin to hunt alone
(tentatively and carefully rather than
boldly), and are identical to adults except
that they have only 5 HD, gaining the sixth
in the fourth year of their existence.

Most sea lions die violently and at a fairly
young age, but some have been known to
live more than eighty winters. The muzzle
of a sea lion grows gray with age.

Sea lions usually live in family groups,
known as prides, made up of 1 mature
male, 1-2 young males, 2-4 mature females,
and 1-3 young females. Old females will be
cared for by the family until they die; old
males usually die in battle. A young male
either defeats the head of a pride to take his
place, or is driven out to hunt alone until he
can take or build a pride of his own.

Hunting packs may be a family pride
(35% chance), but are more often (65%)
adult males, sometimes accompanied by
adult females or young males, who have
gathered together under a strong leader to
take on strong foes (such as sharks).

Adults will drag prey to their lair when it
is unsafe or imprudent to eat where the prey
was killed, or to feed young, but will not do
this if it would reveal the location of the lair
to a powerful foe. If a sea lion is hunting
and there is more than one prey to be had
immediately (when a group of whales is
encountered, for instance), it will often try
to disable a victim and then turn to fight
others, rather than finishing off the kill.
Thus, young sea lions in the second and
third stages of growth sometimes hang
about the edges of a battle, waiting to dart
in and drag away disabled prey while the
adults continue to fight off the more healthy
foes. Sea lions never slay wastefully; they
will kill enough to feed themselves (and
their trainer or family, if any) and no more.
Of course, one will fight incessantly if it is
threatened by a group of adversaries and
escape is difficult or impossible. Sea lions
are intelligent enough to usually be able to
sense when an enemy might be too powerful
for them, and can certainly tell when a
combat or battle is going badly, and will not
hesitate to flee (if possible) under such
circumstances.

The lairs of sea lions contain all manner
of treasure that is not destroyed by water,
usually including a great variety of small
metallic litter ? chiefly coins, but also
many items of no appreciable value. Sea
lions do not consider their treasure valu-
able, land will not fight to the death to de-
fend it or their lair, although they will
usually try to drive away any creatures
approaching their lair in order to establish
their territorial rights.