Hooktongue

Legendary creatures lurking in remote lakes, water orms always find their way into the tavern tales of lakeside communities. To some travelers, every lake of respectable size seems to be surrounded by towns full of fishers claiming to have spotted a water orm. These elusive creatures inhabit lakes mainly in cool and gloomy regions. Some claim that water orms are an offshoot of sea serpents and linnorms, but no credible link between these creatures has been found.

Water orms have many features that sea serpents do not, such as the ability to understand the rudiments of language. Their natural inclination to avoid contact and remain hidden often remains at odds with their equally compelling curiosity about those they might spy upon the shores of their lakes. Water orm sightings usually occur when they can't help but to rise up to the surface to take a peek at someone particularly unusual on the beach or floating on the water's surface.

These creatures are extremely long-lived and can go for decades, or even centuries, with very little to eat. This allows water orms to subsist in lakes without surfacing for many years, even in bodies of fresh water without ample food sources. Water orms might lie in a silty lake bed for years, their elusiveness only contributing to their mythical reputation. When a pet or child goes missing near a lake, rumors might hold that the local water orm is responsible, leading to folk tales that caution residents against venturing out alone near the water.

While most water orms are described as serpentine or long-necked reptiles, others look similar to bizarrely elongated seals or whales, impossibly large sea horses, or long-necked creatures with paddles resembling those of elasmosauruses.