Hagula
I try to avoid them if I can. I see them sometimes herding their flocks of flabby grey creatures into and out of Boston harbor, and it always gives me the chills. Briano tells me that they brought me back to life, but I can't remember it. I can't remember a lot of stuff. He also tells me that I was good friends with one of them once. One of the ones that begs outside of Grand Island Bank for nickels or blood. I can't tell you why I'm uncomfortable around them. They're just fish.
Hagulas, more commonly called 'haggers', are humanoid fish (perhaps a blend of lamprey, catfish, and hagfish). They are more formally called myere, which means 'honorable egg'. If you want to insult one, call him a churlfish. They stand between 5' to 7' tall and have sinuous, slimy bodies. Their movements are lightning quick and their skin is like wet rubber coated with fine grit. They smell like dirt, metal, and water. Their broad faces are mostly just a mouth ringed by four barbels (like a catfish). Their beady black eyes are tucked in behind this, along the sides of their head. They cannot see straight ahead, and so turn their heads sideways when they want to look at you. They are fully amphibious and take great pride in their paddle-like tails.
Biology
Once a male hagger reaches maturity, he becomes able to breathe air, and they can only get nourishment by drinking blood through their teeth, which cluster in rows like stubby hypodermic needles. These physiological occur in order to their bodies for fusion with a female.  Males attach themselves to the females by fusing their jaws into the female's body, and eventually sharing a bloodstream as the males atrophy into little more than gonads with faces, that provide the much huger female with the sperm she needs to lay more eggs. Females are huge things with the size and habits of orca whales. They are also beautifully intelligent, eloquent, and usually ravenous. While the females hunt along the shores, they are capable of lurching around on land if they are very hungry. They are most comfortable at the bottom of ocean trenches, where they have their secret places.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of males decide being their mate's gonad isn't the life they want. These ‘bachelor' males are numerous, and you can find them around the shores and ruins of America's newly submerged cities. They run clinics by the shoreline, where body alterations are provided. They salvage and sell scrap from our sunken cities. They manage huge manatee farms, where they harvest most of the blood that sustains them. Some of them go to sea, and live for years attached to a whale like a remora, sucking blood all day long in a lifestyle reminiscent of their homeworld. Some poor ones become beggars, and sit outside of stores begging for blood from humans. Just a drop, mister. . .
Hagula can excrete a small amount of yellowish goo that can turn into 30 gallons of thick slime if it touches water. Â They use this to escape anyone who is trying to hold them. Â Humans that eat the enjoy headaches, constipation, and mild euphoric hallucinations. Â Haggers who don't protect themselves dry out on land, and die in less than 90 minutes. Â They avoid this fate by soaking in tubs, wearing many layers of wet clothing, or constantly covering themselves with a thick layer of grease (although this makes them short of breath).
Culture
They are quick witted, secretive, and rarely take charge. They are sluggish unless they are very motivated, usually by someone yelling at them. They are fond of irony, sarcasm, and reversals. Most of them don't handle disappointment very well, and are prone to throw tantrums or disown their friends, depending on the type of disappointment. Oftentimes, they will say something only to say the exact opposite a few seconds later. . . not! Alcohol and chocolate are deadly poisons to them, and they are known for their persistent expressions of gratitude, which are often in poor taste. Smiling is not reflexive for them, but they do it frequently just to freak people out with their rows of teeth. the 'lips' they talk with are behind these teeth, so their voices always seem to be coming out out from their throats.
Haggers are masters of biology. Flesh is putty in their hands, and they have even found a way to reverse aging (though it only works on haggers). They run clinics around the world that are capable of healing any injury, redesigning creatures to be more awesome, and even bringing people back from the dead. All they need is your brain to resurrect you, and if the brain is fresh enough, you even get to keep 50%, 60%, or maybe even 70% of your memories! Of course, all of their procedures carry a certain risk of mutation. That's tough to shake. But think what a great conversation starter you will have with a line of fingers growing out of your spine! Aside from resurrection, you can also pay the haggers to reroll your HP dice.Â
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? Responses (6)

The 1973 classic 'Blacula' was on the other night. The title reminds, naturally, of that film.
They sound almost comical in appearance to me, begging for blood with their sideways, toothy smiles. Basically a humanoid hagfish vampire. I don't think anyone's made quite that combination before, so kudos to you.

I like the tone of this, and the images that it brings up. The world they inhabit is an interesting one as well - I hope to see more!

One could sell blood to them for some small item.

iBasically a humanoid hagfish vampire. I don't think anyone's made quite that combination before, so kudos to you./i
I beg to differ.The eel-man, hagfish-man, remorah-man has been done ad nauseaum.
However, the details in this one are really good! (churlfish, honorable egg, manatee farms, flesh is putty in their hands, etc)
I second val's comment too. Once I saw 'America' i immediately thought, 'Wait, what? Wow, cool!'

Thanks! And yeah, I've seen eel-men plenty of times before. I just like the idea so much that I wanted one of my very own.
I really like that the Boston guy has no idea what a manatee is, and they gross him out.
This is part of the new setting that I'm working on. I'll try to post more.

Cool