A/N: This was a long time coming. I became busy and distracted. There's many parties I had to attend to and assisting in doing things. December is surprisingly busy.
Aberration Fog
In the darkness of the night, a thick fog settles to obscure much of the world. Above the waves, one could not see very far, less than they could in complete darkness. The creatures of the waves return to their nests and hide in their dens in fear of the things they could see lurking in the darkness. Even the fish of the sea, avoid the darkness of night in favor of the darkness of the deep as they hear the phantom calls of nonexistent currents and eerie melodies of the rare winds.
In the deep haze, one may catch eldritch glimpses of aberrant creatures. Plants and animals of twisted nature, transformed flora and fauna, or distorted reflections of creatures imagined by a broken mind: flounder covered in pigskin and human teeth, crab with transparent shell and luminous entrails, cod covered in eyes and legs of insects...
They are very rare, and often do not live long or do so but do not give birth to offspring or give rise to completely ordinary creatures at first hand. Sometimes they disappear into the mist, never to be seen for many years, until they reappear another time in another part of the sea.
Worm Plants
Worm plants sprout around the active volcanic floor, growing around the geysers of rich black smoke. These strange animal-like plants root into the sand and rock, and protect their stems with a hard pale shell. They stick out their flesh tongues to absorb the necessary minerals and chemicals they need to grow and thrive. The heat of volcanic waters operates their engine of life; the heat necessary for continued growth, turning on the chemical processes that build and feed their flesh. Worm plants far from the heat of the seams struggle as they couldn't muster the heat needed for great life.
Tall spires of worm plants cover the sooty black sediment around the vents. They served as the foundation of the food chain in these parts of the sea. The once black waste became a forest of pale spires. Fishes that only lingered here for the warm waters and the rich sediment made their permanent homes here once they saw that abundant food had begun growing around the dangerous columns. A few sharks have found their way here too, following the schools of fish that migrated here.
Cluster Archaea
Archaea begin clustering around the black smokers. Producing nutrition and energy from chemosynthesis, these archaea became another food source around the vent fields, becoming another principal factor in getting fishes to migrate near the vents. There is another special property of these strange organisms. These archaea are capable of clustering together, to form colonies and multicellular structures permanently and temporarily. There was an explosion of variety at the beginning of the turn, with archaea clustering into primitive plants and animals. There were sheets of archaea laying on the sediment. There are tubes and jellyfish-shaped ones floating about near the black pillars spewed by the vents. There were ribbons and tubes of the stuff stuck to the ground and waving in the air like kelp and sea grass.
Weird Folk
A race of sentient fish appears in the ocean. Unlike the fish that appeared in a previous turn, these fishes are indeed weird. These are silvery smooth fish with wing-like fins that allow them to soar above the water much like real wings, as well as spider legs that allow them to skitter onto dry land. They are amphibious creatures, capable of living basically anywhere, from the land to the sea to the air, but they are not well adapted to any environment.
Their competition on the isles is fierce, with the ferocious fish and sharks of the sea and the hungry seagulls from the sky. The shallow bay in the middle of the White Isle would have been a perfect space for them, but alas, the existence of the seagulls has made any sort of residence in shallow waters very impractical. Some have delved deep, into the deep darkness, to live among the reefs and smokers. Some stayed relatively near the surface, burrowing into the marble to make their nests.
A few weird folk have become champions of the Arena, and they became champions of their kind as they leveraged their newfound power against the forces that would like to consume them. No weird folk had managed to become repeat champions but the number of one-time champions is certainly respectable. They regarded these champions as heroes, protecting their weak comrades. The Arena of Monsters becomes a prominent feature of many weird folk stories.
Cave Gems and Crystals
The mysterious caves that criss-crossed the world beneath the sands are a barren unrewarding place, but no more for ___s has decreed gems and crystals to grow into the walls and stone of these winding tunnels. All sorts of them, of all colors, glittered in these lightless halls to be found and taken by those intrepid enough to brave the dark hollows. Ametrine, citrine, agate, peridot, carnelian, jasper, malachite, jade, and all other sorts of gems not named here crystallize and embed themselves into the stone.
The creatures of the deep were enamored by these strange stones that many of them, even the more dim ones, decided to go down into the caverns to get one for themselves. The fish first grabbed one by virtue of curiosity, but when they saw how they gleamed in the light of the crystal reef, they knew they had to get more. Every nest had at least one, even on those that lived far from the Crystal Reef, but their paltry desire was overshadowed by the great greed that burned inside the sea dragon's heart. Over the turn, the sea dragon plundered enough from both fish and cave to make a mound that makes their bed.
SQUAK! Said the Seagulls
From seafoam and blood, the flying vermin that would plague the isles for the rest of time were made flesh. A tide of birds with white and grey feathers, yellow beaks, and red feet emerge from the foam, and their annoying cries break the serenity of the shores. They find their home on the narrow ring of dry land of the White Isle, but some built their nests on the shores of the Black Isle, much to the chagrin of the magma crabs. They preyed on much of the creatures that have called this sea their home, and the crabs, the fish, and the weird folk saw them as menaces that feast upon their kin. The sharks are quite happy to bite upon these diving pests, and they cherish the challenge of catching them.
A good number of them enter the Arena of Monsters and some of them even come out as champions. By the end of the turn, a few flocks had formed with a champion as its head, many of them being repeat champions, having won two to three arena fights in their life. The crabs now hide deep in the rock barely climbing out of their warrens in fear of being snatched.
Shark Monument
A magical statue appears on the sea floor. It is made of some sort of unidentified non-rusting metal that shines like silver, and it is shaped in the likeness of the first Shark. It whispers gently and kindly to the minds of nearby sharks, offering comforting words and noises to them. In addition, the Shark Monument creates sharks ex nihilo in the event that there is no sustainable population of sharks. In the first day of its creation, the Shark Monument creates many sharks of many species. Hammerhead sharks, great white sharks, and tiger sharks came into being, made flesh as adults to bring the glory of sharkdom to the deep and offer the first lonely Shark.
The first Shark discovers the Shark Monument with a large group of sharks swimming around it like the walls of a tornado. The Shark Monument lay in the center of the shark storm, beckoning the lonely shark into approaching. It projects comforting feelings towards the Shark, to tell it that its lonely days are over, that it may now have a family. The sharks make way for the titanic shark, to let it near the equally giant statue.
Lightwound Trench
The Lightwound Trench is carved into the barren earth, cutting through some caves in the process. The jagged trench stretches deeply into depths much darker than the abyss of the ocean floor, stretching a kilometer or two into the world's crust. At the bottom of this trench so pooled an oily black ooze like the river that carved the valley. It flowed into the caves, flooding the deepest parts of the cave system with this ominous black goop.
Whoever touches this strange black goop will find themselves corrupted and turned into exaggerated caricatures of themselves. Healthy individuals that braved the strange chasm returned as gaunt figures with oversized fins and limbs. The lucky would have their closest friends and family take care of their turned body, but those unlucky would find even their own schools repulsed and shunning them out of their collective. Many fear the goop of the deep, but that fear is tempered by the desire for untouched gems and crystals that are embedded in the deep caves.
It is possible for one to resist the corruption of the ooze, but it needs great force of will that most of the sea lacks. Only those that had won many battles in the Arena of Monsters could muster enough will to contest the goop.
Crown of Bone
The Crown of Bone is fashioned from the bones of those that had fallen in the grounds of the arena. This magical headwear goes to the strongest champion that had graced the grounds of the Arena of Monsters. This ivory crown gives those that wear it an aura of authority that could be felt by those of the same species as the greatest champion. It is permanently affixed upon their head and could only be removed by proving oneself stronger in the Arena of Monsters.
At the beginning of the turn, it first appears on the head of the first Shark, where it stays for years as the five-time champion of the Arena. The sharks happily bowed to the newfound authority donned upon the first Shark. It was the biggest, oldest, and smartest of them all, so it was only right that the first Shark would be their king. But in the middle of the turn, an upstart had usurped the crown from the Shark's head. After winning its sixth Arena, a monstrous seagull was surprised when the Crown of Bone suddenly appeared on top of its head. The lesser seagulls were enamored by the champion's aura of authority and bowed before it, but the other champions would not bend before its authority. It was a massacre as a few flocks were dissolved as their head champions were vanquished. The other seagull champions saw the paltry resistance of the vanquished ones, and some bowed before the power of the Crowned One, and some flew away, far from its tyranny.
The sharks meanwhile were alarmed when they saw the disappearance of the crown. They were sad. The first Shark did not want to see them sad, and so it went out to search for the crown. They combed the dark deep for their missing treasure, but they did not find a trace of it in the reefs, the forests, the vents, and even the caves. They approached the treasure-loving sea dragon lounging on its pile of treasure, but they did not find it in its pile. They did not find it for years.
The surface was the last place it could be. The first Shark and its envoys went to the surface and found it worn by the usurper gull. They saw the usurper standing on the edge of the White Isle. They were overjoyed in its discovery and angered by its theft. The first Shark jumped out of the water to snatch the offending bird, but it was too quick and was able to alight from its perch and escape its yawning maw. It commanded its subordinates to carve into the flesh of the shark as it slowly but surely goaded the ancient beast into the confines of the Arena of Monsters. The envoys feared for their king and attempted to help their majesty by snatching some birds from the air.
Eventually, the bird managed to trap the sharks in the Arena, and the Arena's walls became solid. The verminous birds swarmed at the sharks, tearing them and each other apart. The Crowned One merely watched above, ready to take the prize at the last moment. Alas, the first Shark was too tough to be torn apart by mere non-champion gulls, but its envoys aren't and they float about with all their life torn out. It was now only the first Shark and the Crowned One left, and they stare at each other with hate in their eyes. The bird swoops down to prove to the Arena that it was the strongest among all its champions, but the first Shark opened its mouth and captured the bird in its maw. The first Shark couldn't swallow it immediately and must chew first, and the bird tried its best to tear open a hole in the shark's mouth, it was being crushed by the shark's jaws. One by one, its bones shattered and it cried a defeated cry. Water rushed to fill its lungs and blood stained the water. Soon, the Crowned One was defeated, and the first Shark earned again its crown. A pair of feathery wings sprouted on its back, bursting through skin and scale; its spoils of combat. It returned to the Shark Monument mournful, carrying the dead bodies of its envoys with it.
The indignant visage of the Crowned One appeared on the mural of the Arena alongside its defeated flock. Under them, under the waves and with the fishes, the memory of the valorous envoys who fought to their death beside their king was etched into history.
Sea Dragon
A serpentine dragon emerges from the Egg. It breaks through the stone shell of the Egg miraculously without making a nick upon it. Forged from the energy the Egg has drained from the sea for many years, the Sea Dragon was a fierce predator with a sleek sinuous body armored in hard scales and armed with cutting teeth, sharp claws, and crushing coils. It possess great cunning and high intelligence as well as capable of communicating telepathically. Like all true dragons, it has the power to only grow ever stronger with age, never weaker.
It has a greed for gems, and finds their hardness the beauty to be the ideal bedding for its draconic form. It takes an ever-growing amount from the caves to make a bed for its gradually growing bulk. It was responsible for stripping bare much of the upper caves, and making holes in the marble cliffs for their gold. It is a proud creature, and all the fishes of the sea avoid it for fear of gaining its ire. Some foolish champions have attempted to trick the dragon into the Arena, but it was far too powerful for many of them. For the entire turn, it was challenged three times and three times did it win.
The sharks approached the Sea Dragon in search of their lost crown, but the Sea Dragon merely scoffed at the thought of stealing something as ugly and cheap as the Crown of Bone. It told them that it could not bear to have such treasure join its hoard, and impressed it deeply into their minds that it did not find the crown worthy to become part of its bed.
EGG! DRAIN! MORE!
The touch of another ___ has drained the Egg of energy. 20 years of non-stop draining went into the creation of the sea dragon. The ___ of the egg retaliated and put a second touch on their precious Egg. "EGG! DRAIN! MORE!" They commanded. The once placid flow of the water into the egg turned into a cyclone that threatened to suck even the Sea Dragon. All that touched the Egg was dissolved into energy to feed the avian embryo that so grew within. A strong current moved towards Egg much like a wind flows into a tornado.
In a single turn, the Egg managed to gather twice as much energy as it had in the previous turn, recouping the energy lost from the sea dragon's creation and then some. It was almost as though it never lost energy at all.
And so the world turns, the seas change and isles breathe. Time passes without divine touch, but soon enough, the world once again yearns for your touch.
