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Temnospondylus Lord
Seyhrain Batrachosuchus. Planar animal lord [he/him] N
Realm: Pangaea / Swamp of Coals (contested)
Graybeards are divided, as usual, on whether the Temnospondylus Lord is a ancestor of reptilians, or amphibians, or is something older and in between. His wards, the temnospondyli, resemble large frog-like crocodiles, with green-yellow markings which make them perfectly adapted for life in the shallow waters of mangrove swamps.
Temnospondyli come in many shapes and sizes, with barrel-shaped salamander bodies, long slender lizard bodies, wide crocodile heads or narrow alligator maws. The related leposponyli are even more varied, some newt-like, others snake-like and still more eel-like in form. They range from the size of a human finger, to thirty feet long. They are also famous for eating anything that moves, and many things that don’t. They launch themselves from the water to grab insects, they can outswim many fish, they crunch shelled creatures with the heavy jaws, and they’ll even eat each other when it comes to it. All of these creatures dwell in the flooded aquatic realms of Pangaea, especially in the Swamp of Coals, which is the preferred stamping ground of the Temnospondylus Lord himself.
Unfortunately, for both parties, this panacea for amphibians is also perfect for coelacanths, ancestral fish, and the battle for territory between these two clades is fierce. Temnospondylus is currently winning the jakishta and establishing his kingdom in the Swamp, while the Coelacanth Lord and his entourage is being pushed ever more out of the water. Chant goes they are slowly being forced to evolve into air-breathers, or perish.
Let the Second Temnospondyl Empire Begin!
—the Temnospondylus Lord
See, the Temnospondylus Lord himself is a ruthless pragmatist. That’s what comes of surviving for so long. Chant goes here was a time on the Prime called the Great Dying, where some kind of cataclysm—some say starfall, others reckon volcanoes—wiped out ninety percent of all life. Somehow against all the odds, the temnospondyls not just survived, but thrived in the wreckage of the world. Oh sure, Mother Nature finished off the creatures in the end, but for millions of years his kin ruled the drowned forests like an empire. Here on Pangaea, he’s determined that will happen again. The wetlands are the best place to see off environmental threats, in his opinion—plenty of water, plants and animals for food, fresh air, places to hide. Therefore, they belong to the temnospondyls. Complete control of the Swamp of Coals is therefore essential, if his kin are to survive the next end times.
Source: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt, based on an idea by Greg Jensen. Canonwatch: Everything here is homebrew (in the context of Planescape at least, all of these prehistoric creatures roamed the world once upon a time!)
