Spelean Slug
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Slug)
Description: The giant slugs of Eorzea are nuisances on a grand scale due to the oozing secretions that coat their flesh, which have been observed as acidic enough to eat away even stone on some occasions. This has earned them a reputation amongst the inhabitants of the Aldenard, and they are often killed on sight or trapped using ale, which attracts them. These creatures have earned their title of ‘spelean’ (or cave-dweller) for their habit of living in caves, namely the seagrot.
Dripping Sallet
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Sallet Crab)
Description: Such have been the wars and raids of Eorzea’s coastlines that the ocean bed is littered with arms, armaments and bones. This is so extensive that some hermit crabs have taken to living in helmets, given the title ‘sallet crab’ in reference to common sallet helmets.
Capabilities: Sallet crabs have been somewhat affectionately described as being able to give ‘bubblebaths’ in which they exude torrents of water-aether infused bubbles, similarly to how standard crabs often foam with bubbles when breathing air instead of water.
The Drowned
Taxonomy: Spoken (Various)
Description: Those who are over-exposed to Leviathan and his corrupting water aether are twisted in body as well as the standard mind-corruption of tempering, earning the name ‘Drowned’. This process further extends the loss of self experienced by the tempered, leaving its victims with an even lesser amount of their original personality. These particular drowned are members of the Serpent Reavers, and seem to comprise members from the highest and lowest ranks. This includes deckhands, crewmen responsible for cleaning and cargo loading, powder monkeys who carried gunpower across the cannons of the ship and steersmen, those who steered the ships. Further in were lodesmen who functioned as navigators, boatswains who were responsible for ship maintenance and acted as senior officers and topmen, those who were trusted to navigate the high ropes of the ships and who bore bows here, presumably trained in them to allow them fire from the rigging they would normally be aloft in on a ship. Foremost amongst these twisted warriors was the first mate of the crew, a marauder known as Haerstymm. First mates are the most senior officers on a ship, directly under the captain, and they are responsible for the safety and security of the crew and ship. Certainly more tragic than these vicious pirates-turned monsters were their unfortunate female captives, the so-called courtesans and wenches, who had been twisted as well. In their case, into horribly mutated beings resembling the ananta of Gyr Abania, who were forced to fight for their tormentor against their will.
Sastasha Pugil
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Pugil)
Description: Bizzare wavekin that propel themselves in a primitive form of flight using a wind-aspected gas filled bladder within their body, pugil are famed for their voracious appetite and single-minded attitude towards food.
Capabilities: These pugil were able to force their bodies into a violent corkscrew movement, surrounding themselves in water, to drill into their prey. This move has commonly been nicknamed ‘screwdriver’, presumably for its twisting motion.
Etymology Notes: Pugil means fist, or boxer, in latin, which may refer to the aggressive outlook of the pugil in Eorzea.
Karlabos ☠
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Karlabos)
Description: Karlabos is a terrifying beast who is not, despite appearances, a venomous scorpion. Instead of using venom to disable its foe, Karlabos detaches its preys appendages and saves the dying victim for later. Rumors swirl of Karlabos tearing open the hulls of ships as they pass through shallow water.
Capabilities: Karlabos was able to gather twisted, unstable aether in its tail and unleash it in a fatal blast, nicknamed ‘tail screw’ for the movement it comprised. It was also capable of lobbing ‘aqua balls’, gobbets of viscous discharge capable of impairing prey’s movement considerably. Finally, the beast was possessed of a ‘wild instinct’, granting it greater speed and knowledge of where to strike to inflict more damage.
Etymology Notes: The name Karlabos is a reference to the boss of Final Fantasy V who drew its name from a mistranslation of ‘karabos’, a greek term for a spiny lobster.
Grotto Piranu
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Ogrebon)
Description: Fearsome wavekin who sit beneath layers of silt and lure in prey with their glowing lures, the Ogrebon is a cousin of the simpler orobon species.
Capabilities: The ogrebon is Sastasha were able to ‘flounder’, violently throwing their large bodies around to bludgeon and knock around their target.
Etymology Notes: Just like the orobon, or orabau, these creatures were named for a cryptid of Brazil reported by the priest Andre Thevet in the 14th century. Most noted for being foul-tasting, the orobon was almost certainly a misidentified reptile but the name serves to reinforce the pseudo-mythical status of the orobon and their kin in Eorzea pre-calamity. Of course, the grotto portion of their name refers to the Seagrot, and the piranu title alludes to their carnivorous nature.
The Megalocrabs
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Megalocrab)
Description: Inhabitants of rivers and coastlines, the megalocrab is possessed of an astoundingly hard shell that can weather many an assault and have become famed for their size. Those in the Seagrot were divided into a slower, red variant simply named cave crabs, and green, faster ones named beryl crabs after the form of gemstone that includes emeralds, presumably linking to their green hue.
Capabilities: Just like their smaller, helmet wearing cousins, the megalocrabs of Sastasha were able to unleash torrents of harmfully forceful bubbles, named ‘bubble showers’ by adventurers who were presumably a little less indulgent of these huge terrors than they were their smaller, cuter kindred.
Captain Madison ☠
Taxonomy: Spoken (Hyur)
Description: Once again, the saviors of Eorzea came up against Limsa Lominsa’s worst son. The former captain of the Serpent Reavers met his end at the hands of his sahagin overlords after failing to hold off the assault of the adventurers that purged the Seagrot, but was apparently brought back as one of the Drowned. Madison was famously craven but managed to rise the ranks due to his low cunning. Records held by the Admiralty at Limsa Lominsa indicate that he was a simple navigator aboard a merchant vessel with crippling gambling debts, forcing him to flee from the city. He joined the Serpent Reavers and was quickly tempered by Leviathan, albeit only very lightly, until he failed him one too many times.
The Kraken ☠
Taxonomy: Wavekin (Kraken)
Description: Terrifying beasts known for tearing ships apart with their limbs, kraken such as these are extremely rare but when they do appear they almost always spell a briny death for the ships their target. This particular kraken attempted to sink the Harr, Mistbeard’s flagship, decades prior to modern day but was beaten handily and submitted to Mistbeard’s authority and was left to guard his ship. After being beaten once by adventurers the squid was driven from its home and towards the Seagrot of Sastasha, where it was slain once and for all.
Etymology Notes: The Kraken is, of course, a reference to the kraken of Norse lore, a form of huge squid-like creature famed for sinking ships.
Leave a Reply