Suahagan are thin, gray-skinned humanoids with small ears, milky eyes, and mouths full of lamprey-like teeth. They are said to use floodwaters to move stealthily, snatching up people to feed on, commonly characterized as tearing prey into long strips which the Suahagan can chew with its strange mouth. Though Suahagan abound in Krellian folklore, the most well-known story is the Sorrow of Suaha, inspiring fear of any isolated Elgan. After Corwin's Flood, these fears eased as the risk of becoming isolated in a flood was reduced, but their tradition survives today to scare children that wander in the swamps.
The Sorrow of Suaha
as told by Afesotinuilar Matari
Long ago, the Dagan Tribe lived in Locorin Swamp. Chief Torom had died suddenly, leaving the village divided over which of her two sons would be the best leader to take her place. Being a superstitious people, they looked for an omen and found it Aygar's wife Suaha was found to be pregnant with twins, while Kayam's orchard was stripped bare by malaca.
The floods came earlier than expected, catching many of the villagers out in the swamps. Kayam used his coracle to bring stranded folk to the storehouse one by one, but to Suaha's great sorrow, Aygar was nowhere to be found.
Though Suaha was married to Kayam in accordance with tradition, hatred for his brother was rooted firmly in his heart. One night, he poisoned her with herbs, wishing that his brother's children would die along with him. After an early labor, Suahas son and daughter were grey and silent; stillborn. Being well-pleased, Kayam tossed them into the floodwaters, and using his coracle, spirited Suaha to her own half-flooded home.
When they reached her flooded home, Suaha wept for the children she wished she had been able to meet. In her anger, she shoved Kayam into the floodwaters, praying that her children would feast on the family that had betrayed them. To her surprise, the waters became violent, turning red with blood as Kayam was torn to shreds beneath the gray surface of the floodwater.
Two figures emerged once the ripples faded, with gray skin, milky eyes, and long limbs that moved with great dexterity in the swamp. Their mouths were disjointed and askew, suited only for tearing flesh, but still they spoke to her.
"Mama," they said, eyes streaming with tears, "We were lost and afraid. We never want to be alone again."
Suaha led her monstrous children into the upper floors of her drowned home. She sang them lullabies. scratched behind their ears, and loved them even as she grew weaker by the day.
"Mama," they said, noticing how frail she was becoming, "You look so hungry. We will find you some food." With that, the two children disappeared into the night.
In the morning, they had returned, stained red and carrying a bloody haunch. At the edge of starvation, Suaha was left with little choice than to eat the raw meat. They curled up in their mother's lap again, joining her in childish verses and stories of better days.
While they were out hunting the next day, Suaha returned to the village to tell her story.
She found a nightmare.
People were torn to pieces, and in their entrails was writ a terrible tale of terror and cruelty. Each corpse was trailed by two bloody pairs of footprints, and as she walked past them, hunger pangs began to gnaw at her once again.
Following the sounds of weeping, her children found her there, gnawing on a bloody femur.
"Do not cry, Mama. We will never be alone again."