Dolphin, Athasian

''A sleek, fishlike creature glides through the water, seeming sometimes to skim the surface like a stone. Silvery-white and as long as a grown man, the animal cavorts effortlessly, joyfully, occasionally emitting a series of staccato clicks and squeals.''

Tactics
Athasian dolphins, while generally peaceable and funloving creatures, are more bellicose than dolphins of other worlds, not least due to their ongoing conflicts with the competing shark population of the Last Sea. Unless outnumbered two-to-one, dolphins will attack and pursue sharks wherever possible.

Athasian dolphins also fight aggressively to defend pod and young, even going so far as to sacrifice themselves to protect their offspring. As psionic wild talents, they often have unexpected solutions to combat problems and use their telepathic powers to fight as an organized unit under the command of the most capable leader.

Description
The dolphins of Athas are like their counterparts on less blighted worlds in most ways but, unsurprisingly, feature a number of traits specific to their home that make them an almost forgotten blessing for a needy world. Now confined to the Last Sea of Marnita, dolphins are a highly intelligent species of telepathic, ocean-going mammal that once roamed the entire planet in the era known as the Blue Age. They also boast a number of minor psionic talents and possess a racial memory that dates back to the azure dawn of their race. All Athasian dolphins are natural telepaths and use this power to remain in contact with each other, address newcomers and pass on their histories and lore from time out of human memory.

They keep to themselves as a rule, but will cooperate with Marnita‘s lizardfolk in matters of mutual importance (such as addressing the activities of the local shark population). They also have been known to come to the aid of the humans and humanoids that dwell along the lakeshore, when these find themselves in trouble upon the waves. In return, these same shore dwellers have agreed not to hunt the dolphins, but there is little interaction between the two groups besides.

Athasian dolphins are between five and six feet in length, with glistening white skin and hard, bony bottlenoses. They weigh as much as 180 pounds.

Society
The dolphins of Athas are an ancient species whose origins are lost in the shifting depths of the Blue Age. In those days the dolphins were friendly with the Rhulisti, communicating with the halfling nature masters through their innate animal telepathy. At the best of times, the dolphins and the Rhulisti were allies, cooperating in the construction of vast underwater structures, shared by both races in times of need.

With the dawning of the Green Age, however, the dolphins of Athas were appalled to discover the extent and severity of the troubles affecting Athas‘ oceans. As the waters dried and the sun burned from blue to gold, the Athasian dolphins began a steady retreat into isolation. By the end of the Green Age, Marnita was cut off from the rest of Athas‘ oceans but the dolphins of the Last Sea remained in telepathic contact with their cousins elsewhere on the planet. These were harrowing years, as the dolphins of Marnita could do nothing to save their fellows from extinction, but could nevertheless hear their telepathic cries as, one by one, the planet‘s remaining oceans withered and their estranged cousins met their grisly fates, beached beneath the baking sun.

The remaining dolphins of Marnita remember all of this as if it were yesterday, sharing telepathic memories that stretch further back than any known civilization on the planet. They have pledged their existence to carry on the oral legacies of their forebears and see themselves as keepers of lost lore and forgotten wisdom, held in trust for those whom come after.