Editing Asrai (D&D) (section)

===Ecology===
The asrai are fond of algae and all freshwater plants; they eat no meat, prepared or raw. They also eat foods thrown on the surface of the water, swarming to it much as fish do. Their vegetarianism is part of a greater pact, for no predator of the deeps will attack them, even if under magical influence.

The asrai have loose ties to the Seelie Court and its servants. Though they rarely show themselves there, they are welcomed among nixies, selkies, and sea elves. There are even rumors from time to time of an asrai queen who dwells in the Seelie Court, hidden from most eyes. Her home is said to be either a bottomless well or a pure, everflowing spring, but she may be no more than a sprite’s trick turned into common wisdom.

In the River Oceanus, the asrai sometimes serve as guides, translators, or companions for balaena, whose songs they understand. They are indifferent to most other sentient races, except as possible targets of abuse.

Hydroloths, slaadi, and marraenoloths consider live asrai one of the finest delicacies. Evil fisherfolk cast vegetables, kelp, algae pellets, and other food on the water by night, hoping to draw more than schools of fish. Captured asrai are sealed in amphorae of water protected by a darkness spell and sold to the denizens of the Lower Planes. In this form, asrai fetch as much as 200 to 300 gp each in the Gray Wastes and nearby Lower Planes.

Ancient legends tell of a time when the asrai served as guides throughout the length and breadth of Oceanus, as the marraenoloths still do on the River Styx, but the asrai have long since abandoned this duty (perhaps because they are so hunted and persecuted) and have scattered across the planes. Stories abound of asrai on the Plane of Elemental Water, the Prime Material, Sigil’s aqueducts and sewers, and elsewhere. Elusive as the asrai are, it’s not surprising that these stories cannot be confirmed.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Monsters]] [[Category: Planescape]]