Every Dredge Aberration (2024), Part 10

Every Dredge Aberration (2024), Part 10

Medusa Octopus

Encyclopedia #160

Aberrant form of glowing octopus

Description:

Eight snapping mouths crawl over each other at the behest of a silent master.

Comment: Eight times the mouths for eight times the menace. Notably, it has also forsaken the bioluminescence of its natural kin, suggesting alterations to living more as an active hunter in the night, rather than potential prey.

How to catch: A shallow swimmer within the Basin's coral reefs. Only comes out after sundown, but can be passively caught with crab pots (10 meters of above) in addition to the reel. The telltale blue glow of the regular octopi make their harvesting spots easily visible in the darkness.

Bursting Anglerfish

Encyclopedia #161

Aberrant form of anglerfish

Description:

The deep faces its own consequences of creation. In the darkness, brutality becomes the ultimate filter.

Comment: It is aptly put by the first source. Even moreso, there is an additional familiarity that is all too tantalizing to see in this design.

How to catch: Available through day and night, lurks the abyssal depths around the Basin.

Savage Baracuda

Encyclopedia #162

Aberrant form of baracuda

Description:

It thrashes about ruinously, jaws snapping and tearing its own flesh apart. A body sundered by ravenous hatred.

Comment: It can’t go unsaid that source did a strangely phenomenal job on the art delivery with this. The description as well, since it invokes to me another disfiguring madness I’ve seen before.

How to catch: A Day-swimmer found in shallow shoals in the Stellar Basin.

Concertina Baracuda

Encyclopedia #163

Aberrant form of baracuda

Description:

Its body extends, then collapses together with each gasping breath. Nature dissected into mechanical motion.

Comment: Your childhood accordion fish paper crafts, brought through the stark filter that is reality.

How to catch: ^^^

Gazing Shark

Encyclopedia #164

Aberrant form of hammerhead

Description:

Huge bulbous eyes move about on large fleshy stalks, siphoning energy from its body. Its search is not over.

Comment: Disfigurement and intrigue aside, what makes this mutation particularly notable is its bounty- starting at base of $425 per head. Prior to the discovery of The Pale Reach, this was actually the most valuable individual aberrant available in the sea. While later outshone by expanded entries in the encyclopedia, it is still not a wretch to be completely overlooked by any means.

How to catch: Giving one of the biggest vanilla bangs for a buck, a couple of these could go a decent length towards your next ship renovation. As with other large sharks, hammerhead spawns are few and far between at oceanic depths. This species called the Stellar Basin its home. While it will be available night and day, it may be worth risking a trip or two into the fog after this beaut, for the slightly raised chance of an aberrant appearance. As with any abominable fish, bait and the fishing tools from the deep can only help in your search. Before anything else, a sturdy and spacious hull must be considered before seeking out the beasts, keeping in mind their 9 Slots of cargo requirements.

Asenath deserved better

Actually, it kinda is! Now, I'm less expert than you, but as far as I'm aware- throat soreness as per the cause of an ick bug kinda depends on the specific cause but for the MOST part it's just plain old inflammation. Same reason a healing ankle or eye giving an allergic response can be really sore. Inflammation is like the main item in the bod's toolbox for responding to stimuli it sees as harmful: injury, allergens, and pathogens. It's a really big, flawed hammer, ergo everything can be a nail. Inflammation's painful because it's literally tissues swelling up on the micro level and the process can push up against a lot of sensitive things. I had a long battle for a while with tendinitis (literally inflammation of the tendons) in the hands a couple years back, not fun. Makes you learn real quickly how little room there actually is in your joints for things to balloon up when you think about it. But yeah infections and physical damage just tend to trigger inflammation at the site no matter where in/on the body. Unless it's so bad that it's closing off an airway, it's usually a good thing in the sense that it's the body trying to rush extra bloodflow to the area to get more white blood cells and antibodies on the frontline against the cause of the problem. The tenderness is just an unfortunate side effect. Obvs I'm way simplifying all of this, but I hope I got the gist down. Evolution never made a perfectly comfortable machine, just one that stays alive a bit longer than the others.

sore throats might be the stupidest response to illness i've ever experienced. oh you want to eat? drink?? breathe air??? TEN THOUSAND KNIVES ATTACK

Skool field trip moment