Wildspace Salmon

Climate/Terrain:  Any space/phlogiston
Frequency:   Uncommon
Organization:   School
Activity Cycle:  Any
Diet:   Herbivore / Scavenger
Intelligence:  Animal (1)
Treasure:  Nil
Alignment:  Neutral

No. Appearing:  2000-16,000
Armor Class:  7
Movement:  Fl: 18 / Sw: 9
Hit Dice:  2-4 hp
THAC0:   20
No. of Attacks:  1
Damage/Attack:  1 hp
Special Attacks: See below
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: None
Size:   T (2-3' long)
Morale:   Steady (11)
XP Value:  2 xp

Wildspace salmon are very similar in appearance to planet-bound salmon except that fins and tails are elongated and broad, almost like wings. Adults can be up to 3 feet long, half of which is their tail. The wing span of such an adult can reach 3 feet from tip to tip. Their colours are similar to normal salmon except that they tend to have flecks of gold and green around their heads. Unlike their planet-bound relatives, they do not need to be in water to breath.

Wildspace salmon can fly through the air (like a bird) in a gravity well. Their problem comes when they are knocked to the ground. Like most fish out of water, they flop about completely helpless. They have no means of taking off (ie no legs). When in water, they propel themselves into the air to fly.

Combat: Wildspace salmon do not normally initiate combat. Instead, they are usually attacked. When defending themselves, they typically bite once and then fly/swim away. Because they travel in such large schools, it may appear that one is being attacked repeatedly by the same fish.

Special Defenses: Other than powerful area effect spells, it is very difficult to completely destroy a school of wildspace salmon. One effective strategy is to simply plough into them with a spelljamming vessel. The salmon are quite helpless when stranded on deck or on land. (They cannot move around or take flight when on a surface.)

Special Attacks: Being herbivores, these fish often mistake sails, fins, etc. of spelljamming vessels as edible material. One bite is usually enough to convince them otherwise, but when 8000 fish take a bite out of your sails. It can quickly leave you stranded and out of clean air, as these fish are also air breathers. Wildspace salmon schools are also large enough to knock a spell- jamming vessel out of spelljamming speed. This can greatly delay some voyages as some of the little critters are curious and might follow a spelljammer for several days.

Habitat/Society: Wildspace salmon live in extremely large schools. They fly about wildspace, looking for sustenance. They fly in several formations but typically fly in an elipsoid or spear-point formation. Spawning season for wildspace salmon is one of frenzied activity. Adults who are ready to mate gorge themselves until they are almost half as wide as they are long. Specimens 1.5 feet wide have been reported. Shortly after the gorging, they travel the phlogiston to other spheres. Unlike earth-bound salmon that return to their original spawning grounds, wildspace salmon go to spheres other than their own to mate. While in the phlogiston, they mate. Afterwards, they travel the phlogiston until they almost reach starvation. At that point they enter the next sphere and find suitable spawning grounds. The fish prefer to spawn in water but if no sizeable body of water is found, they can lay their eggs on asteroids or other rocky planets, prefering barren outcrops. As their planet-bound relatives, the salmon die shortly after laying the eggs. The young hatch quickly as they have been maturing in their mother's while in the flow. Usually 6 to 10 days later. Their first meal is usually the body of their parents. The salmon stay in their new sphere until they to are ready to mate, usually in about 2 standard years. In extremely rare cases where they are in a dead sphere, the salmon have been known to travel the phlogiston to find a new home sphere. This is usually physically taxing and half die en route. The very first sphere they find is the one they enter. Mages are stumped at how these fish gain access to the phlogiston or to the spheres they encounter therein. The Arcane may know, but they are not telling.

Ecology: Wildspace salmon graze on any vegetable matter or rotting creatures. They prefer to feed on leafy underwater plants, but have been seen grazing on grass, wheat, corn, etc. flying tail up and nose down. They are a farming asteroid's bane equivalent to a plague of locusts.

On planets with a sizeable body of water, they usually submerge to feed, very rarely coming out of the water to feed on land.