Trawlers are very rare creatures, in the uncommon case in which they venture into fresh water rivers and lakes they are generally mistaken for turtles swimming in from the ocean. They only end up far inland when called by the Soul of a body of water in distress, and get their name for the large number of people who go missing not long after they arrive.
In the water Trawlers tend to float along the surface by an expandable sac that sits underneath a hard protective shell not unlike that of a turtle or tortoise. The rest of their body unfurls up to fifteen feet below, almost resembling a giant humanoid in body shape, except extremities and legs end in long free floating seaweed-like appendages. Two eyes each a foot across project their own light allowing the Trawler to see well at extreme depths, and cut through the murk.
A River’s Angel of Death
When a Trawler has been called by a lake or river it will spend several weeks in the area assessing the proposed threat before it ventures onto land. In doing so its body melts into a mass of fluid indiscernible from a puddle of water. They can stay in this form for many hours before they must return to the water. Now undetectable they can squeeze through any gap at least of an inch wide. The Trawler carefully plans its attacks beforehand, watching the patterns of its target, ensuring it will be asleep when it strikes. It flows into the victims room, finds their nose and mouth, then drowns them in their sleep. If the victim’s body would be noticed, the Trawler carries the body along a preplanned route back to the water where it either feeds it to the local fish population, or digests it.
If forced into an unplanned altercation a Trawler will revert to its more solid form. Above the waters surface this form is much more compacted into a blob-like mass. If it believes itself to be losing or near death it will revert back to a fluid and attempt to escape any way possible.
Underwater Handymen
Trawler’s have a limited capacity for Meyda-work, primarily several kinds of repairing spells capable of fixing up and healing both flora and fauna. There are rare cases in which the tell tale sign of Trawler’s has been reported and no deaths occur. This most likely means the problem that summoned the Trawler was not one caused by civilization.