NOVEL WEB The Bestiary — Section 4, Deep-Sea Creatures, Entry 7 — Ninki Nanka
—A brief summary
This clan of marine sea creatures originated in the murky swamps of the Mirbyt Nuan—an ancient mangrove forest near the ocean. It was once located between the human and beastmen empire. After discovering rare magical crystals and gems—which can be found under the peat—humans began to use magic to drain the swampy forest. In their greed, they ignored what lurked beneath the countless intertwined roots. Thus, an ancient Mana Beast awakened. The events that followed are sketchy, but the end result of this encounter was the almost complete destruction of the ancient swamp. Many of the native species and creatures living there had to flee. Since this conflict also affected part of the adjacent beastmen empire, the two races remained hostile to each other to this day.
One of those species that fled was the Ninki Nanka, who lived peacefully in the swamps until that point. Since then, they have been at war with mankind, blaming them for the destruction of their homeland. This conflict involves the seas, oceans, and adjacent rivers. It is essential to mention that till then, the Ninki Nankas consisted of only one race. However, they welcomed some of the other creatures who wanted revenge and thus became a clan under their leadership.
What precisely the Ninki Nankas looked like, no one knows exactly. Some reports and eyewitnesses claimed to have seen them. Though, as far as anyone knew, no one has ever really survived an encounter with them. Also important to mention was that they have entered into an alliance with the Taniwha in order to disrupt the humans and other races who wanted to trade across their territories as much as possible. In fact, their allies are hostile to more races than just humanity.
Since the original species of the Ninki Nanka had to adapt to the deep seas, they probably became much larger over time. They live now near the coasts and the immediate vicinity of the human and beastmen empire. However, after many losses of war trading ships, mankind and other races have managed to find reasonably safe routes for their travels. These are heavily guarded. Although those paths continue to be attacked, losses and damage can often be prevented.
Strangely, the nature and furiosity of their attacks had slowed down over the last decades.
—What we know about how they could look like
The original race was said to be reptilian-like, being up to 300 feet long. The head may look similar to that of a dragon or serpent. It's said that the whole body is clad in light silvery emerald scales, so sturdy that even S adventurers couldn't get through with their magic or weapons. There are rumors about giant wings, which they also used to swim faster, but they could also simply be large fins.
—Danger level
The Adventurer Guild's HQ classifies them as an S+ Tier in the open and deep-sea—they don't come near shoals. Nobody knows their actual strength and abilities, but no dispatched heavy-exploration ship with several top-tier adventures ever returned.
It is assumed that they can cast original weather magic that controls the sea state.
The overall clan is ranked A since they are associated with different sea species like lesser Hydras and the Coastal-Kraken.