Auñ Pana
Image © @a-book-of-creatures, accessed at his website here
[The auñ pana is a creature I first heard about through @a-book-of-creatures, and all of the sources I can find for it online are paraphrases of that entry. It’s a monster from the Yanomani, and exists in print in ethnological studies that are difficult to get a hold of. So my version likewise spins off of the short, but intriguing, info on ABOC. They school with other (undescribed) killer fish, which inspired me to give them the powers of a trident of fish command, and they seem to turn people into animals more out of spite than anything, which inspired me to take them in the Mafiosi direction I went. Also, I was recently reminded of The Sign of the Seahorse, a children’s book where a grouper crime boss is the villain.]
Auñ Pana CR 9 LE Magical Beast This creature looks like a fish the size of a rhinoceros, except that it has shaggy hair growing from its sides and belly. It has two slender, disturbingly human-looking arms, and a short snout packed with rows of razor sharp teeth.
The auñ panas are lords of the tropical rivers in which they dwell. A hybrid of arapaima and piranha, they are steady and determined swimmers, but they don’t have to be particularly fast. They use their magical mastery of fish and other aquatic animals to charm them into complacency long enough for them to tear their prey to shreds. Although they are deadly in the water, they can also leave the water and drag themselves on land using their forelimbs (albeit very slowly).
Auñ pana are social among themselves, existing in a strict hierarchy based on age, skill and ferocity. These schools work to control larger territories, and to exact tribute from sapient creatures above and below the water. An auñ pana demands exotic foods (particularly plant or animals that live in dry land), treasure and the occasional life as sacrifices, and disrupt fishing, destroy boats or bridges, and otherwise make life miserable for those that refuse. Like a good protection racket, they do add an element of stability to the lives of their charges, keeping other aquatic monsters at bay unless they join the gang. They also have been known to make examples of those that resist or refuse them by transforming them into animals—pigs and monkeys are popular choices.
