Nimues Salamander



= Nimue’s Salamander = Salamandra exhaurirus


 * Habitat: In or near water
 * Range: Central and eastern Alps above 700 meters; however, it is considered extinct in the wild
 * Frequency: Extremely Rare
 * Identification: Nimue’s salamander is a small, tailed amphibian with a 15-centimeter body and 10-centimeter tail, and it masses roughly 80 grams. It is black with an irregularly shaped yellow patch between its eyes, a yellow streak on its belly, and wide, bright orange stripes along its sides and the dorsal surface of its tail.
 * Habits: Nimue’s salamander was discovered in 2028 and noted as an unremarkable new species of alp salamander. It lives in rocky terrain near rivers and lakes in the Alps and eats insects, fish, and invertebrates. Nimue’s salamander gives birth to two live young with pregnancies lasting two to three years, depending upon the prevailing environmental conditions. If agitated, it may birth them early as eggs and consume them.  Dr. Nimue, however, performed due diligence in recording the species and discovered its remarkable ability to ground magical energy and even absorb it, similar to the absorption metamagic. While there are no known species that hunt Nimue’s salamander with sorcery, it is theorized that Nimue’s salamander can prey on magic cast from spirits for its own use. This finding suddenly granted the breed an interested following among megacorporations as a significant security possibility. Many were collected in the ‘50s, as several corps attempted to train and breed the animals. By 2058, parabiologists reported that due to poaching and increased pollution in the Alps, Nimue’s salamander was extinct in the wild. The majority of the species is held by several European megacorporations, primarily in cryo-suspension. Difficulties in breeding the species and lack of successful training has kept them from being widely used for security. They remain a highly valued species; even untrained, they are an effective deterrent to magical use. They just can’t distinguish security from intruders. Nimue’s salamanders have an axolotl form in times of poor nutrition, and like many salamanders, resort to cannibalism and even autocannibalism under stress - therefore, they must be retrieved in individual terraria.