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Every Dredge Aberration (2024), Part 8
Parhelion jellyfish
Encyclopedia #149
Aberrant form of aurora jellyfish
Description:
Two spires of light shine from within its hood. Stinging spiked tentacles trail below.
Comment: “Parhelion”, also referred to as a sun dog- a bright spot in the sky appearing on either side of the sun, formed by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals high in the earth's atmosphere. Photo example of what this kind of glare appears like in life. A rare phenomenon.
It is worth curious reflection on whether there is a relation at all between these animals and the hostile "jelly bombs" that pepper the nighttime stellar basin like sea mines.
How to catch: The quickest way to end up with one of these is to have great luck while completing the main story objectives for the region. Otherwise, this one can be a challenge in patience to catch. Aurora jellyfish can only be caught within trawl nets, when they emerge at night in the Stellar Basin's costal range.
Cursed Fangtooth
Encyclopedia #150
Aberrant form of fangtooth
Description:
A small and feeble mind, easily conquered. Now, brought screaming from the depths, it lies powerless.
Comment: On the bright side, real fangtooths… fangteeth?… these fish are calmingly tiny. On the dark side, they look not much less intimidating.
How to catch: Living at greater depths than most sealife, these critters will require special equipment to reach down into the abyssal zone. Rod for them day and night, if you can find a shoal around the Basin.
Voideye
Encyclopedia #151
Aberrant form of barreleye
Description:
Inside its eye, a perpetual pattern repeats. Red cyclones meld through shimmering green swirls. The abyss burns through you.
Comment: Dare say, an eye constructed with the most peculiar sense of irony. Formed not to look, but to show. It beckons for your gaze, unable to pull away.
How to catch: Identical method as the above fish.
Radiant Squid
Encyclopedia #152
Aberrant form of firefly squid
Description:
A beacon from the depths below. A glimpse of a new sky.
Comment: Born from that which loathes the light, it seems to almost rebel against the Deep’s law. Could it be a child of the stars, instead? Perhaps not. In either sense, its light is not our light, and its world is not our own. Pray that its blinding skin will be the only glimpse gained into these far places.
How to catch: Firefly squid can likened to the arrow squids in The Marrows- coastal depth, nocturnal, and vulnerable to trawl and rod. Generally they tend to be found among the shallow reefs that encompass the heart of the Basin.
Blood Snapper
Encyclopedia #153
Aberrant form of red snapper
Description:
Blood leaks endlessly from under its scales, pooling beneath it no matter where it's placed.
Comment: This masterpiece is a sanguine gem among stones. Of all the harvestable fauna within the sea, you, blood snapper, you are among my most beloved.
How to catch: Snap up one of the reds about anywhere in the coastal waters of the Stellar Basin. They are an easy tug and an even easier find in your net.
Latching Snapper
Encyclopedia #154
Aberrant form of red Snapper
Description:
Swollen flesh folds back over its eyes. Cracked lips bleed through mounted scar tissue.
Comment: PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME.
You are not beautiful like your complementing variant. You are abhorred and detested. All about you only reveals the profanity of your existence and I know not whether to toss you back to the waves or do them the kindness of your removal.
That all said, latching snapper, it is admittedly impressive that you managed to land a role in SpongeBob.
How to catch: ^^^
Every Dredge Aberration (2024), Part 9
Ruptured Vessel
Encyclopedia #155
Aberrant form of giant amphipod
Description:
Willing host, or sacrificial receptacle?
Comment: I'm going to go with the latter; although, the bigger question may be to what this creature served to hatch. Whatever the answer, it apparently fetches a nice price to the traveling merchant, relative to cargo space it takes.
How to catch: This crustacean is one of a couple of trickier finds in the Stellar Basin. Deeper than deep, they are only able to be angled up from the hadal zone. Pursuing amphipods generally will require an advanced upgrade along to the abyssal-suited rod line, as well as story progression through the way of operating the generator at the abandoned research outpost. Be wary of those limited windows of safety its pulse will provide. Thankfully, amphipod presence is not determined by night or day.
Perished Loosejaw
Encyclopedia #121
Aberrant form of Loosejaw
Description:
A few ragged scraps of skin hang like cobwebs from its fins. Its exposed muscles are riddled with small white worms.
Comment: Why the fish markets will accept one of these at the price they do is beyond the scope of my own comprehension. A shudder rolls through my body to consider the fishmonger scraping this morsel’s bones for the tainted scraps he seeks.
How to catch: Haul up from the inky depths of the abyssal zone. Circling the Stellar basin should reveal the glowing “stoplights” of their shoals before long.
Calcified Snailfish
Encyclopedia #157
Aberrant form of Snailfish
Description:
Waiting in dormancy for its moment to arrive.
Comment: Even at the bottom of the world, this vessel found no respite from the hook to hide its transformation from the light. Appearing as a fossil, but functioning as a calcium chrysalis. Few could truly appreciate the metamorphosis taking place within- just as the caterpillar that is unmade and rebuilt for a new purpose, its fate belongs to a new cycle.
How to catch: Sailfish are a bottommost inhabitant of the hadal zone, only hooked from the treacherous core of the Stellar basin. Narrative progression is the pathway to accessing these few harvesting spots. Ensure it is safe to do so before fishing for this.
Seizing Snailfish
Encyclopedia #158
Aberrant form of snailfish
Description:
Fingers of flesh hold teeth on their tips, a grasping grip that feels through the dark depths.
Comment: It may be a further leap of logic to guess that this is the matured form where the previous aberration is the pupa, but it is a tempting consideration. At least, it is a superior form to the merchant’s appraisal.
How to catch: ^^^
Consumed Grouper
Encyclopedia #159
Aberrant form of coral grouper
Description:
Once dazzling skin now bleached and eroded. It barely resists, relieved at a final end.
Comment: Another reminder that the Deep’s influence is partial and without compassion. It knows nothing of worthiness, and less of mercy. There are simply those it gifts, and from those it takes. Without rhyme. Without reason.
How to catch: Haul by sunlight, only in the shallow waters about the Basin’s reefs.
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.
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 10
Entwined Mullet
Encyclopedia #133
Aberrant form of grey mullet
Description:
Twisting, twitching tendrils sprout from the gill plates of this little fish. They heave in unison, moving the fish against its will.
Comment: Picture with me the feeling of wading in a marshland and having this animal brushing against your leg. Now shudder.
How to catch: A visit to the Twisted Strand’s coastal shoals should find a mullet on your hook or in your trawl in no time.
Gleaming Mullet
Encyclopedia #134
Aberrant form of grey mullet
Description:
Scales swollen into large, clustered pustules. A golden liquid shimmers from within.
Comment: Picture with me the feeling of a small water balloon between one’s pinched fingers. Think of the building tension that commands you to grip tighter, forcing, squeezing until a satisfying-
How to catch:^^^
Blistered Tarpon
Encyclopedia #135
Aberrant form of tarpon
Description:
Scales given way to bubbling flesh. A surface dweller singled out and cleansed by the sun.
Comment: A most inconvienient bastardization to an innocent shallows inhabitant. Pushed by nature to cling to the light, and punished by aberration calling it for the Deep.
How to catch: Available by day along the shallow waters in the Twisted Strand. Can be netted.
Vortex Interloper
Encyclopedia #136
Aberrant form of sergeant fish
Description:
A slow swirl twists its body, stretching it towards an unseen dimension.
Comment: Having not merely been touched by the fathomless realm, but even bearing a small rift of its own. We’re getting closer now, closer than we have before to the Deep’s most troubling implication.
How to catch: Obtainable only by net or rods equipped to handle the silted mangrove water throughout the Twisted Strand.
Clawfin Gar
Encyclopedia #137
Aberrant form of gar
Description:
Crooked talons hang from its fins. Periodically they shudder and come together, grasping like a hand.
Comment: The direction and position of these new graspers imply clutching in the opposite direction of how this fish swims. It’s not only meant to hold, but to drag something along with it.
How to catch: Haul or trawl up from the brackish mangroves during the day.
Grinning Gar
Encyclopedia #138
Aberrant form of gar
Description:
Muscular gums grow and force cracking teeth against each other. Softer flesh tears from the strain.
Comment: I hate this animal. In the worst way, and in the best way, or actually, just the worst way, the longer I stare at those teeth. The sooner it is dismissed from my sight, the better.
How to catch: ^^^
Good god my life flashed before my eyes
A Cleft-Mouth Shark purportedly caught on rod by a young boy. In some areas, these wide-grinned aberrant sharks are considered a rare trophy as well as a delicacy.
This is fanart of the game Dredge! I really recommend it!
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 11
Twinned Eels
Encyclopedia #139
Aberrant form of longfin eel
Description:
Endlessly pulling away, but torn apart they would surely perish. Two spiteful siblings splitting at the seams.
Comment: A bond stronger than will alone, and yet so short lived. Another creation of the Deep unfit for life in the old world. One way or another, their wish will be realized soon. I wonder if it was intentional for how easily we could compare this visual to the a most famous relic from the Aztec civilization, the double headed serpent.
How to catch: The elusive longfin eel feeds at night, gathered in the thick of mangrove water.
Nightwing Catfish
Encyclopedia #140
Aberrant form of catfish
Description:
Hooked barbels seek out prey in the twisting mangroves. A once sluggish fish given haste upon crimson fins.
Comment: Alarmingly, there is not included mention of the catfish’s own venomous spines. With those bigger fins comes ample danger in handling this river monster.
How to catch: Exactly as the above eel, with the minor advantage of a suitable trawl net being able to bag catfish.
Effigy Crab
Encyclopedia #141
Aberrant form of horseshoe crab
Description:
Wisps of yellow light flicker within this ghastly shell, a screaming skull with a spinal tail.
Comment: I wish I could just dissect the little mutant to find out exactly what’s ticking inside that bone armor. Whether flesh, gem, or fluid, the whole animal will be needed as one of the pigments making up the Golden Treasure paint selection.
How to catch: Simply set crab pots about the Twisted Strand, specifically at water no deeper than 10 meters.
Mire Screecher
Encyclopedia #142
Aberrant form of giant mud crab
Description:
A lashing yellow tongue whips around a mouth of flattened teeth. Two humanlike eyeballs burst between dripping claws.
Comment: When a wise man once remarked that he had fought mud crabs more fearsome than you, perhaps he had been referring to these. Take one of them down to Little Marrow to complete the requirements for a beautiful new paint job.
How to catch: With enough space, these are probable to also turn up in the same pots as your horseshoe crabs, but their full depth range runs between 5 and 25 meters.
Ossified Searobin
Encyclopedia #143
Aberrant form of armormed searobin
Description:
Chittering mandibles scythe the air in front of this deep-dweller, its small body encased in a suit of thick bone.
Comment: The first abominable spawn of Devil’s Spine makes for a fine greeting to the volcanic region’s gritty underbelly. A similar boon as the bony wreckfish, but accepted in grace.
How to catch: Pack a rod, and or your net, and sail the shallows at Devil’s Spine. They spawn by daylight.
Infernal Eel
Encyclopedia #144
Aberrant form of cusk eel
Description:
Grown fat from countless corpses that rest in the deep. The harbinger of a sick mercy for lost souls.
Comment: There is nothing I can say to add on to the poetry of that description, but I appreciate that this eel wears a big smile.
How to catch: Get ready to take the heat. They can be hauled or trawled, but only with the proper heat-resistant equipment… oh, and only after dark.
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 12
Serpentine Mackerel
Encyclopedia #145
Aberrant form of snake mackerel
Description:
It lashes out with its fangs, and tail. A hissing rises from its mouth, and then from the water around you.
Comment: What I enjoy about this one is not the way that the dark forces have warped it away from its natural form, but accentuated its original unique qualities. For an example, take note of the intimidating look of a real snake mackerel. Good eating I bet, either way.
How to catch: Funny thing, for requiring a trip all the way out to Devil’s Spine, this fish actually has a relatively poor value to inventory space ratio. Unless the wiki has been misled, its base price has been written at $50, matching the same value as the three headed cod which can be hunted right out of little marrow. Consequently, the method to get one of these for your own encyclopedia is not much different either. Haul or trawl at coastal depth, the time of day not mattering.
Tattered Mackerel
Encyclopedia #146
Aberrant form of snake mackerel
Description:
A tangle of ribbons stream behind this fish, its form converging around a shadowy head. A strip slides away, retreating to the depths.
Comment: Still wondering what trick of survival these strands are playing. Are they meant as distractions, detaching in the jaws of prey in order to save the main head? Or, could they be an aberrant way of spawning more fiends, fleeing to grow and mature anew?
How to catch: ^^^, with the obvious sidenote that this is the more valuable variant.
Defaced Skate
Encyclopedia #147
Aberrant form of pale skate
Description:
Bones replace cartilage and erupt through soft skin. A frightened new form begins to emerge.
Comment: Speaking of bones, that right there is the sort of imagery which rolls a shiver down my own. Fantastic job.
How to catch: This critter only dwells in the hearth of the Spine’s volcanic waters. Bring a suitable net or rod and start your search by dawn’s bright.
Rapt Shark
Encyclopedia #148
Aberrant form of ghost shark
Description:
A grinning maw turned upwards to the sky. Wing-like fins, ready to take flight.
Comment: A worrying foreshadow, very very worrying indeed. A creature in all visual ways meant for the depths, away from light, yet threatening to jump beyond the surface. Another one of deep’s warnings for what kind of new world it plans to replace this one with. More interestingly is that rapt was the adjective decided most appropriate. A clever double entendre that I hope did not go unappreciated.
How to catch: If you ditched your abyssal rod(s) before you arrived at Devil’s Spine, this where bad news arrives to tell you that you’re far from through using them. Ghost sharks feast at nearly the darkest depths, and are not picky about the time.
Twisted Shark
Encyclopedia #149
Aberrant form of frilled shark
Description:
Three tails that twist and turn. Three unite behind the head. Thrice the body that must be fed.
Comment: A delicious rhyme, whether intentional or not. An aquatic realization of the ancient three-fish motif, allegedly seen across many of the world’s major religions.
*other note- purely measuring by price proportional to inventory slots required to hold one of these, THIS is actually the single most valuable renewable catch in Dredge, beating out the other aberrant sharks and even the pale grasper at a whopping $50 per cargo square.*
How to catch: They lurk the Spine’s volcanic waters, only able to be brought in by hook and rod.
Grasping Snail
Encyclopedia #150
Aberrant form of volcano snail
Description:
Bony fingers extend though a membrane of mucous, feeling for a target. The frantic eye locks with yours.
Comment: An odd reminder in an odd place of the evolutionarily relation between gastro and cephalopods. What are you but another timeline’s vision of the nautilus?
How to catch: If you are of the same mind as me, this catch may quickly become more nuisance than wanted after you’ve discovered the species. Like the untainted volcano snail, they have a surprisingly poor value per slot, and take up a whole 4 units of space within a crab pot. They can be caught in traps placed down to 10 meters deep.
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 13
Sable Reacher
Encyclopedia #151
Aberrant form of squat lobster
Description:
Wings of muscle spin webs between inky black legs. A gloomy core grows in the deep.
Comment: You know what else will glow? The sheam of fresh pigment across my hull, as soon as I have the other half of the black abyss recipe.
How to catch: Get your pots fit and ready, keeping in mind the 5 slots of inventory needed for just one squat lobster. Set them to wait between the surface and 25 meters. I recommend setting pots deeper than 10 meters at minimum to avoid volcano snails.
Umbral Puppet
Encyclopedia #152
Aberrant form of spider crab
Description:
Long limbs hang idly from a body mounted with blackened spheres. It waits for the call of the void.
Comment: We all dread in the assumption that it waits not for a call from the depths, but a call from above. Claim one of these before it realizes its dream, for a sleek new boat paint is calling for you.
How to catch: Conveniently, these can be caught in crab pots placed at any depth within the confines of Devil’s Spine. That’s right! Your only barrier to effectively catching these will be a spacious requirement of at least 7 slots, making this a more fitting use than ever for a highly upgraded trap or the maw of the deep. All previous info in mind, it’s easy to conclude that the most effective way to hunt for umbral puppets/spider crabs alone is to place pots past 25 meters.
Anchovy King
Encyclopedia #153
Aberrant form of anchovy
Description:
...and in their numbers, they will rise.
Comment: This is truly a gruesome reference to the knowing. I don’t suppose my fisherman knows anything of rat or squirrel kings, but he knows that the more meat, the merrier in this economy.
How to catch: *Note- THIS exact aberration is one of many reasons I continue to give for why it is wise to obtain and use an oceanic trawling net sooner, rather than later, in this journey. Where my older advice would have suggested obtaining the heavy duty trawl net as soon as possible, I’m instead now telling you not to do this, if and only IF you are able to venture to the Pale Reach. Within the heart of those icy fragments you can find a trawling set that puts the heavy duty equipment to shame, in that it takes less cargo space, works in 4 different kinds of sea, and most importantly, it raises the chance for netting an aberrant fish by 5%.* As for advice specific to the anchovy king, it is what is known by the encyclopedia as an open-ocean dweller. It calls none of the major islands its home, and lingers out in the far, far ocean between and around the main regions. Rumor also has it that the upper left portion of F10 on the map has an unusually high concentration of anchovy spawning, so it wouldn’t hurt to focus there if you are determined to bag this ball of fish sooner.
Leeching Prawn
Encyclopedia #154
Aberrant form of scarlet prawn
Description:
This tiny parasite rasps away the flesh of whatever it attaches to. Its hooked legs ensure an enduring grip.
Comment: Requesting for someone to let me know whether or not I’m the only one seeing a resemblance to another world’s “rock grub”
How to catch: Like the humble anchovy and its mutagenic sibling, open-ocean prawn can take a lot of luck or patience for most fisherman to add to their collection, for they also cannot be caught by rod; however, they can be collected by a crab pot in addition to an oceanic trawl net. They only take a single inventory slot and swim at any depth greater than 25 meters in the open sea.
Razormouth Tuna
Encyclopedia #155
Aberrant form of blackfin tuna
Description:
Half teeth, half muscle, this fish's sole purpose is the pursuit of its unfortunate prey.
Comment: Much the function of the normal blackfin, so what really has changed past the eyes and the teeth?
How to catch: Haul or trawl out of those vast, open waters.
Decrepit Viperfish
Encyclopedia #156
Aberrant form of viperfish
Description:
Gnashing teeth are the only hint that this withered body still holds life. An urge to bite that persists in perpetuity.
Comment: And yet still, as with all of the Deep’s children, there’s more value to be found here than the typical viperfish… somehow.
How to catch: Bring a line that can tackle the abyss out on the open ocean. Nothing more will be needed.
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 14
Collapsed Viperfish
Encyclopedia #157
Aberrant form of viperfish
Description:
A rejection of the light - or a return to the ways of the deep?
Comment: Well then. I was content to assume the former on my own. After all, many deep-dwelling fish can endure a horrific strain from a quick ascension to the surface, but no, I was denied that peace of mind by the second half of the description. It is harsher learning that to some, the Deep’s ways are a full-body prolapse.
How to catch: Much the same as the previous entry. Abyssal rod, open sea. Simple enough.
Skeletal Moonfish
Encyclopedia #158
Aberrant form of moonfish
Description:
Chittering bones still operate a ghostly body impossibly devoid of organs.
Comment: And yet they stay bound in a new ghostly skin. Imagine if the organs were all unharmed, merely now transparent to the eye. Or don’t, the fish is every bit the same seeming abomination.
How to catch: I admit with no reservation that this (and the one below) is a fish I stooped to baiting out and using atrophy for over scouring for many natural spawn points. They aren’t impossible to find, just few and far between, and especially tricky to cast in. See, moonfish are one of the more dangerous quarries to seek, combining the fact that they are strictly nocturnal and only found in the open ocean. An underwhelming challenge for the experienced angler, it still remains hazardous to linger so far out in the night’s fog if you consider yourself still wet behind the ears in this place. Mechanically, you’ll only need an oceanic rod to pull them up. Keep your wits about you and your lights on.
Beaked Moonfish
Encyclopedia #159
Aberrant form of moonfish
Description:
A rocky body that bears the scars and scratches of things from below. A crushing beak, a tool of its own deep terror.
Comment: Letting you know that the maximum size of this specimen can top out at about a meter and a half long. It speaks volumes to the strength of this animal to be able to swim on with all the added weight.
How to catch: ^^^
Congealed Rattail
Encyclopedia #160
Aberrant form of
Description:
The flesh of this deep dweller has turned to a thick ooze, secreting an oily gel that covers its entire body.
Comment: Probably with the texture of hagfish slime. A revolting change, but one that cold serve a new survival advantage against predation. Except from us, of course.
How to catch: Drag them forth from the very deepest corners of the wild sea. This creature knows nothing but the pitch black of the hadal zone.
Charred Sunfish
Encyclopedia #161
Aberrant form of
Description:
Scales chipped and flaking, its crackling body is hot to the touch.
Comment: That’s a crispy pancake right there. Does the deep burn? Perhaps this is a similar case to the ailment of aberrant tarpons we saw before in the twisted strand. Sometimes their boons make the kiss of the sun… unwelcoming to their new bodies. A common mola would frequently bask at the surface as a natural behavior, and such habits may die hard.
How to catch: True to name, the ocean sunfish prefers the open waters, and sunlight. All you will need is an oceanic rod and definitely your spyglass to track a good spot down.
Glaring Sunfish
Encyclopedia #162
Aberrant form of ocean sunfish
Description:
Ocular tongues watch from socketed mouths. Each offers its own form of deep pity.
Comment: It’s like looking into the face of an angel… an emissary of the fathomless, gazing with sympathy to the unworthy. Why? Because they’ve seen what’s coming.
How to catch: ^^^
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 15
*Welcome to the Pale Reach~!
Fractalline Icefish
Encyclopedia #163
Aberrant form of icefish
Description:
Crystals of ice pierce through its body, distorting scales, teeth and fins.
Comment: The fog certainly hasn’t lost its touch for craftsmanship out in these frigid waters. Here we can already find in this wretch a namesake made poetically literal.
How to catch: Found in abundance throughout those glaciers and cold. You’ll only need a rod or trawl net capable of functioning in the new icey biome. For now, focus on the rod, you’ll already have moved onto other aberrations by the time you obtain the superior of the new DLC nets.
Thawed Icefish
Encyclopedia #164
Aberrant form of icefish
Description:
Globs of flesh drip from this fish, its departure from the icy waters causing an instant, irreversible reaction.
Comment: It seems the most unfortunate, compared alongside the former and upcoming variants. It’s fathomable that this is but naught one of the Deep’s rejections, unable to be fortified in fractals, and now all the weaker to ascent. Flesh brought ruin and change, failing to meet expectation.
How to catch: ^^^
Astral Icefish
Encyclopedia #165
Aberrant form of icefish
Description:
Constellations of light dance through its body, stitching fin to flesh and spine to bone.
Comment: The most interesting of the icefish aberrants, and finally a true taste of the Pale Reach’s unique flavor of corruption. Somewhere in these waters echoes the song of the stars just as loud as the song of the depths. Your search, your hunger to listen and know is only just beginning anew.
How to catch: ^^^
Bubbling Char
Encyclopedia #166
Aberrant form of char
Description:
Seared flesh forms the mantle of an incandescent core. Water boils into the air around it.
Comment: A charred char, if you will… or less playfully, a startling departure from the Reach’s expected theme, looking more at home in the volcanic crevice of Devil’s spine than under the ice sheets. Certainly this only makes the observation of the creature the more discordant from nature and reason alike. The only thing predictable about the Deep’s grand design is its indifference for the laws it did not decide.
How to catch: Pretty so the same advice as had for the icefish, minus the possibility of using a net, so, even more reason to rely on the old rod method.
Hinged Wolffish
Encyclopedia #167
Aberrant form of wolffish
Description:
Teeth interlock through flesh to create a brutish trap. Countless yet will meet their doom in the deep.
Comment: What else, but another agent of the cycle?- The cycle of life, death, undeath, and unlife. The corruption must thrive and spread, and all that seeks to do either must feed.
How to catch: Turn those jaws into a device of the fish’s own entrapment. Suit yourself up with that ice worthy rod and go out for a little night fishing in the Pale Reach.
Craterous Seer
Encyclopedia #168
Aberrant form of stargazer
Description:
A bright eye spins inside an impacted socket. An answer from above.
Comment: Give a round of an applause for this one especially. Out of all the new discoveries found in the pale reach, this breed of specimen is the one that makes me the most uncomfortable to look at. Someone please tell the fog and/or “above” that no matter how hard I search over these waves, I’ve still yet to find who the hell was asking.
How to catch: Save this for one of the last to mark off your encyclopedia. They can only be found with an ice-ready trawl net, and I highly recommend skipping the brittle one that is offered at the bleak pontoon. Patience and a little searching for your purpose among the ice will find you a much greater tool.
Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Part 16
Feral Lizardfish
Encyclopedia #169
Aberrant form of lizardfish
Description:
A bipedal body burgeons with primitive limbs, preparing for an ascent.
Comment: …Is there really anything else worth saying?
How to catch: These awful, awful things share the frigid waters with the rest of the new region’s fish. I’d recommend using the rod to seek them out over the dinky little net offered by the merchants, for reasons I hope I made clear in the last segment.
Bulbous Toothfish
Encyclopedia #170
Aberrant form of toothfish
Description:
Vessels feed a distended, fluid-filled body. A shadow stirs inside.
Comment: I do hate that “Is this where pale graspers come from?” was the most optimistic line of thought I initially ran down at the first sight of this poor host. A trophy sized specimen can be caught nearing 7 feet long, that passenger is not to be assumed as some ignorable little cuttlefish. Horrible things have grown from smaller seeds. Listen, at least in my view, that bastard mystery spawn of the stars is a thing to fear in implication. Relieve these poor fish of their burden, and the seas of these invading strangers, and do it without guilt.
How to catch: This is a rod-only catch of the icey waters.
Grisly Shark
Encyclopedia #171
Aberrant form of goblin shark
Description:
Errant teeth push through failing skin. A single mouth is not enough.
Comment: But can the other mouths also do this?
How to catch: For time spent catching these, they can be a decent money maker for those still in the process of exploring the Reach. Rod them up from those dark, chilly depths where found.
Pale Grasper
Encyclopedia #172
Aberrant form of colossal squid
Description:
Hands of ice reach upward, a sharp hoarfrost blooming across whatever they touch.
Comment: Enormous, eldritch, iconic… the largest and most infamous of the catchable stock under that ice. My theory runs that these colossal agents work on behalf of the great sleeping master, patchworking and keeping the flows knit together, even in these warmer waters where otherwise impossible.
How to catch: For most, this is the very last aberration, at least within the Pale Reach, they will obtain. They are a net-only catch that is only awarded to the patient and/or the lucky, to the chagrin of many a fisherman around the ice. Requiring 11 slots of cargo space, they are completely ignored by the brittle net, requiring you to have otherwise completed your exploration and tasks in the Pale Reach before even thinking about trawling one of these up. You’ll know the appropriate equipment when you find it. Colossal squid are already an uncommon sight, and their twisted brethren much more so. This is why I advise attaching as much other equipment known to raise the chances of grotesque catches as can fit to help the odds. At a whopping $500-$625 per specimen, you’ll think your time well compensated for at first. Not to burst any bubbles on that front, but do keep in mind that their incredible size rounds their base value-per-slot as around $45.45. This is a relatively high price for a fish, but it is still narrowly beat by the cleft mouth shark’s $45.83 per slot base price.
Fallen Stars
Encyclopedia #173
Aberrant form of sea stars
Description:
An assembly of asteroids, conjoined in the dark. Finger-like roots stretch down through the substrate.
Comment: How many more will they send down? Less and less, Dredge gives me a world where I can look up at the great expanse beyond the ground and sea, and call it “the heavens”. There are things below us we were never meant to disturb, just as the things above should know not to disturb us. How many rungs exist on this great ladder?
How to catch: Taking only 2 slots and readily found anywhere in The Reach plentiful in life and measuring at over 50 meters deep, you shouldn’t have to do much waiting to get your hands on sea stars with your crab pots.
King’s Wreath
Encyclopedia #174
Aberrant form of King Crab
Description:
A clockwork crown of claws. A cycle of succession in the deep.
Comment: You know, it’s almost disappointing that there were no new paints to be found from scouring the Pale Reach. I would have found the slate-grey of these mutated crabs to be a nice addition to the pigments available in Little Marrow, fittingly cold and sleek. I guess a full grotesque collection will be keepsake enough for tackling these new abominations. To date, the King’s Wreath makes the final entry in the encyclopedia its throne.
How to catch: Like the above, this is another quarry meant for the pot. Same depth and biome, just keep in mind that they take up a 2x2 square of space when selecting your traps. I still personally use the maw of the deep for all of my crab fishing, and I carried that habit unchanged to the new area.
Send his ass to Dredge. He wants to see horrors and sea monsters and dark magic in person? well let him freaking find it.
Dredge Cover, Dredge
Addendum: Close Encounters of the Piscine kind
I bear news of startling implication, as have many other watchers of the peculiar, for what was once a hesitant speculation has come to pass as prophecy.
It is happening. The corruption of marine life has finally been confirmed to be on the rise, spread beyond what once we assumed were its contained boundaries, and even with it, arrives the infamous Marrows miasma. From one wonder of the world, now these grotesque creatures are finding themselves visitor to another- the Blue Hole tourist destination; a craterous lagoon gaining renown for its own rumored mysteries and for being home to a global headquarters of exotic dining.
There is still no answer to whether the crimson fog is what induces the mutagenic infection to take hold, or if the fog itself is a product of the rift-spawn’s presence. All we can be certain of is that the fog does indeed signify the arrival of these tenacious breeds. At least, as of yet, the weather anomaly has been noted to not bring any significant risk to boats and ports it passes over, other than the decreased visibility. Compared to what has been noted of its qualities closer to its source, it appears that crimson fog is of no special concern this far away from the Marrow Islands. A previous disappearance of a cargo vessel around Blue hole has also been confirmed as not associated with any red fog event. Nonetheless, local advisory already warns mariners and swimmers of lingering in the coastal fog after dark, and more than a couple wirlpool incidents have been correlated with it.
Yet, just as in their home waters, the fog signals a warning for most to avoid, and an exciting trail for some to follow. Merchants and devotees of a fledgling religious movement are flocking to the atoll in their interest for the tainted fish, and to sate their demand, more brave fishermen have risen to the task of harvesting specimens. Amazingly, new reports have even come in from some who were fearless enough to spearfish for these aberrations. For the very first time now, we have up face to face sightings with living aberrants! Never-before-seen details about some of their wild behavior and ferociousness is, and longer a matter of conjecture, thanks to anonymous accounts from the Blue Hole region.
[Fog Coast - Part One]
[Fog Coast - Part Two]
[Black Cliff - Part One]
[Black Cliff - Part Two]
[Jellyfish Basin - Part One]
[Jellyfish Basin - Part Two]
Aberrant Fish
The first hint many an angler will get of the dark, insidious secrets these waters hold,
and yet, they are the first thing to be accepted as only another flavor of mundane.
The game text calls them grotesque. The fishmonger calls them corrupted. You get to call them a bonus. Rather than fear and revile them, tradesmen will pay a shiny extra penny to add them into their stock. They are gestured to and spoken of, but never truly elaborated on by the townsfolk. They have probably been here long before most of them, and so will be here long after they are gone. They were certainly here before you. Maybe you don’t need their answers, and yet if you are like me, you still witlessly question and keep dredging for more.
Like many things pulled from those cursed depths, they whisper flecks of madness from an impossible voice. What messages do they carry, and what forces do they play vessel to? Are they the lingering embers from a long-extinguished calamity, or are they harbingers of the next one to come?
I believe we have already seen signs of fire with our own eyes- impossible, great beasts that prowl the four (now five) coasts, the dying cult, gibbering fog…. That damned book. These tortured creatures are but another form of the same smoke.
To the question of where they came from, if your fisherman pokes around enough and braves the darkness, he may have already found a response in one of the many obelisks scattered around the map. Specifically, I refer to this.
This would suggest the aberrants themselves are what leaked in through the cracks that the largest of all monsters wants to rend apart? Not entirely, but in part. For the researcher at the Stellar Basin came to her own conclusion I want to factor in.
Her words give credence to the possibility that it is actually those greater beasts themselves at the heart of the corruption. I think she was half onto something, because what if these twisted forms, both large and small, were blooms along the same set of festering roots?
The more dark stones you disturb in the frenzy of your own madness, the more you learn about the age before your arrival, about the islands, and especially about their current guardians. The Mindsuckers- carrion puppet masters given a home, the Basin creature- a spore that miraculously survived its dive to the abyss, and the Serpent- lifeless stone made animate and malicious, all had their creation remembered in great detail by the obelisks. Some hints point that their emergence was rather recent, relative to even more powerful beings, such as the leviathan.
Maybe there are even more unseen horrors far below, blessedly out of our reach, for now. My view is that the malformed beasts are the aimless children of that unfathomable thing which waits beyond the veil. With them came its influence, and its corruption, and from them it continues to spread to all life surrounding. The smaller rifts were always a transformative disease upon the harbor’s fish, but with the rise of the new monsters, the sickness runs farther and less avoidably than ever. Whether these aberrant spawn are a gift to the worthy, or another deceptive evil that leads to madness remains left to be seen.
I will be giving a spotlight to each of these fascinating specimens at the back of Dredge’s encyclopedia, including those found in the Pale Reach, for further comment and appreciation. Updating the list below as we go along!
[#79-84]
[#85-90]
[#91-96]
[#97-102]
[#103-108]
[#109-114]
[#115-120]
[#121-126]
[#127-132]
[#133-138]
[#139-144]
[#145-150]
[#163-168]
[#169-174]
[Bonus I. Night Angler]
[Bonus II. Serpent]
[Bonus III. Basin Creature]
[Bonus IV. Mindsuckers]
[Bonus V. Unseeing Mother]
[Bonus VI. “Narwhal”]
Dave the Diver: On Aberrations
Between a scattering of recently discovered islands rests a jewel of paradise, mystery, and a hint of exotic danger. The famous Blue Hole has found a name for itself among the most envied tourist destinations among the world, with a gorgeous view, thrills to experience, and rich natural resources… but on a day like this, the scene has become anything but recognizable as the bustling hub described. That is because a ponderous fog has decided to linger over the lagoon by the time my vessel reaches port.
Despite the warm weather, I could feel my hairs standing on end from the very moment the clouds had enveloped our ship. Aside from the occasional day like this, fog horns would usually be a rare sound to hear across the bay. Since the discovery of the area, vacationers have enjoyed a tropical climate punctuated by mild storms. It all paints a picture so drastically unlike the eerie one I have pursued to this end. By sunset, I know that the white mist outside will give way to a crimson haze. With it, begins the investigation into the unusual animals only spotted on previous fogged nights: What familiar aberrants have made their way to the region, what are they capable of, and to where they fit within the additional puzzle of Blue Hole’s astounding ecosystem.
The Fog Coast, Part One
The hour is roughly 10pm, and “Blue” Hole has turned to a sight otherworldly. Thick, red vapors and an eerie silence hang in place of what was a starlight sky over the whistles of dolphins a mere night ago. The locals claim that the lagoon is an inscrutable locale, whose underwater geography both hosts an impossible collection of species and undergoes rapid, unexplained changes every few hours. On a night of crimson fog, it has been made enigmatic even from the surface view. Rocks easily seen by daylight make sailing close to the shorelines a hazardous endeavor along a coast with no lighthouse or other navigational indicators. It is a coastal venture treacherous, but also rewarding, for much more hides under these waves than the rocks. A watery gyre is barely seen at the edge of shiplight, and at its core, I have heard there can be found treasures far more interesting than mere gold.
• Encyclopedia Entry No. 83, 84
[Testimony of a local fisherman]
“Now it’s not unusual for cod to happen up close to the shores at night. Obviously, I was hoping for it or I wouldn’t have been fishing in that stuff, but there was something else going on with these fish. Something not right. They weren’t taking to the bait, but they just kept coming up closer. Like they were trying best they could to get up on my ankles without getting stranded. Almost like they see someone standing on the beach and that’s all they’re interested in. Not that I let them, but they got close enough to tell something ugly about them. The only thing I managed to get hooked snapped my line before I could figure out what I was even looking at, other than big teeth and nasty looking eyes.“
Analysis: Our first descriptive cases of mutated cod corroborated with archived specimens from off the coast of Greater Marrow. Though there are instances where residents have managed to capture these codfish whole and live, no success has been found in attempting to keep them or any other mutated fish in captivity, due to their propensity to die shortly after they are harvested from the ocean. The two ‘flavors’ of tainted cod found here include the Fanged and Three-Headed variants, with no cases of hypertrophy. Their behavior has observed to feature heightened predatory behavior, to the point of stalking and testing large animals as oppurtunistic targets. They approach sluggishly at first, and lunge to close distances. They pose some hazard to swimmers, notably the unarmed, but can be reeled or netted as readily as any scrod. The three-headed cods are generally larger than the fanged variant, and both can be found close to the surface during a fog night.
• Encyclopedia Entry No. 79, 80
[We join the crew of a commercial trawler, company left unnamed to permit this revord of the onboard operations. As the ship coasts upon the outskirts of one of the smaller outcrops, fishermen gather at the fresh haul to do their work. Mackerel from all global ranges and climates incredulously line the deck of the vessel, meticulously sorted into an array of containers. One worker calls out as an unusual sight is plucked from the pile- a brown shiner with half a dozen too many eyes for an average fish. The bosun indicates for me a specific container the individual is packed into. What I find there is a collection of similar wretches, scales still twitching and mouths gasping wet with a shimmering fluid.]
“We don’t actually come across that many of them in the nets. One for about every hundred of the healthy ones. Their meat is considered tainted and has to be separated from the catch, but we aren’t allowed to return them to the environment either. They’ll stay on ice for now, later today they’ll be dropped off with a merchant who’s agreed to handle the… disposal.”
Analysis: In spite of the sheer diversity of mackerel to be seen at Blue Hole, these turned pacific mackerel are the only shared species between Greater Marrow and this living collection in such regard. Specifically, the Many-Eyed and Grotesque mackerels found in shallower coastal water. Like most aberrants, they are prone to agitation and exhibit territorial, if not predatory aggression at first contact. Like all aberrations, their blood runs a purple hue, and their sightings dry up once the fog has dissipated.
• Encyclopedia Entry No. 91, 92
[Shared anecdote from a lionfish diver]
“You have to really love a place like Blue Hole to do what I do. A lot of people don’t think of lionfish as an invasive species here, but they can do real damage to reefs where they’re not native, and ours are no exception. Worse still is that they’re far more aggressive here than anywhere else in the world, and not any less venomous. I thought if anyone was prepared to do a part in protecting local animals from these new pests, why not me? And yeah, I bagged a few. I speared things with a few too many eyes, a few too many heads, a few too many teeth. I found these great big ugly fish with no eyes at all that still would come right at you. And then I saw a… thing. The thing, Reason I don’t go night diving anymore. Came out of the dark like a ghost, black bones and green light. It didn’t look like something that should have even been real. I was lining a shot up and I felt like my arm had taken a lion’s barb. I didn’t even know what happened, that thing sparked, and I felt pure pain pulse through half of my body. Everything was panic after that. Panic to get back up and the hell out of the water. Fingers were still tingling almost until morning. All I know that I know is, I’m sticking to day hunting.”
Analysis: What’s to be expected was found in observation of the Tusked grouper. Despite their blindness, they show no hesitance to begin tracking and pursuing any nearby disturbance of water they sense. While their sole offensive boast is a strong mouth full of elongated teeth, the Voltaic variant wields a far less conventional weapon. When approached to a range of a couple of meters, it is capable of discharging a potent shock. Likely, this is utilized both as a defensive and hunting technique, similar to the currents produced by an electric eel. Similar accounts have attested to this stunning capability, reporting temporary paralytic effects from direct contact with the fish. Mechanism of this ability remains unknown. Especial caution recommended in presence of Voltaic grouper, not only for the risk of attack, but also from the drowning hazard posed by their stray arcs.
Dave the Diver’s Sea Monsters:
Iron Lung's sea monsters:
Dredge's sea monsters:
The Four Horsemen
Me when a game lets you explore the ocean, find fish, help people and there are also horrors.
Woe, aberrations be upon ye.
Radiant Squid
All-Seeing Cod
Anchovy King
Vortex Interloper
Taking screenshots in horror games.
It’s creepy af when it’s the guy in Marrow cause we saw him be reckless enough to assumedly eat one of the mutants himself.
The merchant is a very competent saleswoman. Ever since the Dave the Diver crossover DLC I have been fully convinced that she’s reselling them to the hooded figures on the side, being how familiar she is with them and how to contact a large group of them. There’s clearly some connection she’s fostered between her business and them.
Fishmonger in Greater Marrow: He’s doing something weird to those aberrations and you know it. Just don’t question it and accept the extra cash.
Traveling Merchant: ‘Wow this lil guy’s fucked up. I want 10.’