Creatures, Whales, and Monsters That Lunk in the the Crimson Sea
What lurks in the depths of the Crimson Sea? Herman Hazard has collected a fascinating, terrifying, and useful list of creatures, whales, serpents, and other monsters found in the red waters.
Whale Hunting
Hunting (together with trade) has made the Crimson Elves rich over the last thousand years. But not all creatures of the sea can be hunted. The best targets are the filter-feeding baleen whales, because they’re plentiful and less dangerous.
The whales are hunted primarily for their oil, but their meat, bones, baleen all come to good use. The oil is refined into the pressions leviathan oil that is used in lanterns and as currency in most Elven lands.
Common Whale
It might appear small in this comparison, but it’s still a sizable catch. Common to the point of being a pest, these whales are a good source of food for both elves and sea creatures. Sadly, they contain no leviathan oil.
Length: 16 arms.
Danger: None.
Right Whale
Named as such because it’s the whale the hunters want. Easy to catch and bring back with even a modestly sized ship, and it yields a good amount of oil.
Length: 30 arms.
Danger: Minimal.
Wrong Whale
Easily mistaken for a Right Whale, but this beast is faster, far more aggressive, and gives hardly any oil. A waste of time to hunt.
Length: 20 arms.
Danger: Moderate.
Goldfin
Notoriously fast and skittish. Catching one will make you rich in a single hunt, though only a handful of elves have ever managed to do it.
Length: 100 arms.
Danger: Low.
White Whale
A highly sought-after catch. A toothed whale such as these beasts put up much more of a fight, but also bring a much greater reward. Only experienced hunters venture into deeper water looking for them.
Length: 70 arms.
Danger: High.
Elven Ships
Elven ships are classified based on their size and capability. From the small ships used for fishing in shallow waters, to the gigantic ships needed to cross the open sea.
Medium Class Ship
A step up from your ordinary net-fishing vessel. The medium class is built for both hunting and trading on the inner sea.
Length: 26 arms.
Large Class Ship
A larger ship is needed to venture out on the open waters and hunt larger whales. The federations often hunt with fleets of several such ships.
Length: 60 arms.
Dangers of the Sea
Crossing the red waters is filled with peril. Whales, leviathans, serpents, and monsters of every kind lurks beneath.
Honey-Squid Hive Leviathan
The hive’s shell is the home of the smaller honey-squid you might have met on land. Hundreds of them live together with their queen inside of the leviathan. There are even a few elves that have been allowed to travel inside one.
Length: 60-160 arms
Danger: Very high if engaged, but the hives are generally friendly to elves and often eager trade with ships.
Pirates
Beasts aren’t the only danger on the seas—the waters to the east are infested with pirates. Depicted here is one of the most infamous pirate ships: the Bonerattle captained by the notorious Kira “Kindfate”.
Class: Colossal Bone-Ship.
Length: 86 arms.
Danger: Very high.
Tooth Flower
How many teeth does a creature need? All of them, apparently.
Length: 120 arms.
Danger: Very high.
Laughing Leviathan (aka Mad Fish)
A sound that makes even the hardest sailor quiver in their boots. The call of the Mad Fish sounds like a rumbling chuckle at a distance, but close-up the sound alone is powerful enough to tear ships apart.
Length: 160-300 arms.
Danger: Extreme.
Sawtooth Leviathan
Bad tempered doesn’t even begin to explain it. These whales seem to just like smashing things.
Length: 100-200 arms.
Danger: Extreme.
Terror
Say your prayers.
Length: 4 arms.
Danger: Omega.
Blind Serpent
“Sail south, sail quiet,” as the saying goes. Native to the most southern part of the sea, these giant snakes have forced the elves of the region to build specialized quiet ships and wear padded shoes on board.
Length: 60-600 arms.
Danger: Very high.
Giant Trap Clam
Keep an eye out when navigating the shallows. Don’t stick your ship in it. Can be harvested for meat, but it’s not particularly tasty.
Length: 36 arms.
Danger: High, but easily avoided with good lookouts.
Phantom
Little is known about the leviathan that have been described as “vast beyond belief.” We have no detailed description of its appearance other than that it’s so large it has, on several occasions, been mistaken for land.
Length: 3000+ arms.
Danger: Unknown.
