| Plural | Aquabats |
| Height | 1.65 m - 2 m |
| Weight | 38.56 kg - 72.57 kg |
Aquabats [ˈa kwaˌbæt] are amphibious and spend a majority of their life in oceans, seas, inlets, and even large freshwater lakes. They have evolved features such as echolocation and sex-shifting to suit their aquatic environments. They have delicate features with sharp snouts and sensitive facial whiskers for seeking prey in murky waters. Their entire body is streamlined for quick swimming. Useful webbed hands and feet, as well as a rudder-like tail. Some even have fins that extend off the tail, which, combined with shoulder or underarm wingspans, aid in underwater movement.
Aquabats have slim air bladders beneath their skin which help them float, or sink, depending on to what degree they are inflated. They have the ability to breathe through their skin, an innovation that enables them to venture safely on either land or water.
All Aquabats have a pack identification tattoo inscribed on their right palm. They are varying hues of green, blue and violet to blend in with the ocean depths.
¶ Sexual Dimorphism
Male Aquabats are often only able to be distinguished by their slightly longer whiskers. Both male and female Aquabats are lithe and muscular. In a single-sex environment, an Aquabat can change sex to increase breeding potential.
¶ Reproduction
Females carry the eggs in a pouch instead of leaving them in a nest, where they could be eaten, or otherwise wash away. It is not possible for an Aquabat-hybrid to exist.
To prevent inbreeding, Aquabats seek mates outside of the pack. Young Aquabats will sometimes leave their birth pack to join a mate in theirs, but the more common scenario is for two young Aquabats to meet, mate, and then move on, with the female of the encounter raising the young. A few Aquabats are monogamous, and more likely to switch packs, while most are polyamorous.
¶ Health
Aquabats start with bonuses to Athletics and Notice.
¶ Diet
Hunting is a major part of pack life. Whether they hunt primitively or use modern means to aid their quest for food, all Aquabats are formidable carnivores. They have several hunting techniques. The most common is for a pack to simply give chase, each individual using hands and teeth in order to kill the prey, which is often fish or small aquatic mammals. A more advanced technique, which must be employed with the cooperation of the pack, is to herd the prey, and then stun it by slapping or lashing with the tail. Sometimes while doing this, Aquabats also toss the prey around, until it is essentially "played" to death. The most modern Aquabat packs use nets and other contemporary tools in order to catch large harvests of prey, and they store their catches for later consumption.
¶ Culture
Nearly all Aquabats live in social family packs. Some packs live in cities, such as Aurius, but others live in open oceans and seas, hunting like primitive carnivores. Very bold individuals venture away from the water, and their families, to embark in a life on dry land. However, this is an uncommon practice, as Aquabat packs are tightly knit. Packs consist of a grandmother, the matriarch, along with her offspring and her offspring's offspring.
In order to display these position and level of dominance within their pack, Aquabats are known to breach. They can breach several feet into the air, even at a dead start. They are flashy when they do so, whipping tails, spreading wings, and so forth. Some even glide for a bit on their wings, before re-entering the water.
Besides having positions and ranks within the pack, each member also has a number. Instead of a surname, Aquabats are given the alphabetical letter of their pack — for example, J for the JPack — as well as a number given to them at birth. This number is assigned by their chronological time of arrival in the pack. Those that have transferred from other packs are stuck with their original letter and number, as well as with an unbreakable connection to their birth pack, though they are almost always embraced by their newer pack. At birth, each Aquabat is tattooed with their Ramathian letter and numeral, so that they will be eternally marked, and carry the emblem of their pack's pride. All Aquabats' pack identification tattoos are inscribed on their right palm.
¶ Habitat
Aquabats are found in oceans, seas, inlets, and large freshwater lakes. A large population of Aquabats also lives in the underwater city of Aurius.
¶ History
Aquabats share an ancient bloodline with Pendragons, but have branched off far enough over the millennium to be considered a separate, evolved species.