Sea Serpent

Sea serpents are a genus in the gas dragon family, characterized by their concussive breath weapon. Adult sea serpents are typically 3 to 5 meters long and 40 to 60 centimeters in diameter. They have highly muscular, blunted wings that they use for propulsion, and their legs are almost entirely atrophied. Their jaws are relatively weak compared to other dragons.

While they’re able to produce unusually large amounts of it, most sea serpents’ gas is quite mild: in humans, it usually causes mild irritation to mucus membranes, which only lasts a few minutes after exposure. However, thanks to their high rate of production, the sea serpent’s reinforced fuel stomach can build up to extreme pressures, which sea serpents use to create an explosion similar to a naval mine.

Sea serpents typically hunt in shallow waters by using a burst of speed to close the distance to a school of fish, then releasing their breath weapon to stun or kill most of the members. This technique leaves a significant portion of the school uneaten, so serpent hunting cycles often coincide with spikes in the populations of scavengers and other carnivores.

Sea serpents are adapted to higher pressures by necessity, but they are primarily found nesting in underwater caves, rather than the deep ocean. It is theorized that sea serpents stay in lower-pressure areas because the creatures living elsewhere would be adapted to high pressures and therefore immune to their breath weapon. Like most dragons, sea serpents have no family bonds, and will often kill their own offspring in territorial struggles.

When underwater, sea serpents pose a serious risk to humans, and can cause serious organ damage and death to heavily armored targets from a range up to 30 meters. They are also able to move on land, however slowly, and their breath weapon can damage human hearing within a range of 50 meters and may cause pneumothorax within a range of 5 meters.

Those hunting sea serpents are advised to attack from range, or to bait out their attack from a safe distance. A sea serpent’s breath weapon takes approximately 75 minutes to reach dangerous pressures, so once it has attacked once, it is safe for a sufficiently-armored human to approach.