TACH

Tach

The Tach are an amphibious race from the mist shrouded forests of Karns. Their height is generally 4 ½ ft to 5 ft, weight averages 80 to 85 lbs. Their skin color ranges from pale brown through light orange. Tach have three fingers and an opposable thumb on their hands and five toes on their feet. All Tach are carnivores. They eat fish, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.

Like many other amphibians they have the ability to grow back lost limbs. A lost tail is regrown in one week, an arm in 2 to 3 weeks, and a leg in 3 to 4 weeks. They use this ability to their advantage by pulling off their own limbs to escape. The loss of a limb will never cause the tach to drop below 1 hit point nor cause unconsciousness. A natural reflex action will cause them to flee for 1-10 rounds after losing a limb before they regain control of themselves.

They have retractable gills in adult stage as well as lungs. In the water they can use a form of aquatic sonar. Tach swim at a rate of 120 feet/min. Tach must keep their skin moist or suffer extreme pain and possible death. All Tach are familiar with tridents and a form of crossbow modified for under water use. Note: this does not mean they are proficient in these weapons, just that they do not suffer a non-proficiency penalty for using them untrained..

The Tach choose a new mate each year and their eggs, which number 1-4, are laid in a communal hatchery. The eggs are jelly like and only 50% of them hatch. Incubation period for their eggs is about 6 months. After hatching they are in a tadpole state for five years. At five there is a burst of growth during which they loose most of their tales and grow limbs. Tach young stay in the nursery till they are 5 years old. After growing limbs they are in an aquatic juvenile state until they are 15. At 15 they develop lungs and can surfaces for short periods of about 2 to 16 minutes. By the age of 16 their lungs are fully developed and they can breath either air or water. From 16 on they are considered adults. The average lifespan of the tach is 80 years.

Because of their soft, moist nature of their skin they have a minus 2 to saves against fire. Because they are cold blooded their body temperature fluctuates and their level of activity changes with outside temperatures. At temperatures between 40 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit movement decreases by one-third and they suffer a -2 to attack rolls and a -2 dexterity penalty. Below 20 they can move only with great difficulty and can not think clearly. At 0 degrees they go into hibernation with a chance of freezing to death.