Roaming Murkmakers

Roaming Murkmakers - an unaffectionate nickname so common that their original was forgotten - are large, flat, aquatic creatures with wide mouths and no eyes. Their mouths are lined with hundreds of sharp slicing teeth, as well as several hooked teeth to entrap prey.

Murkmakers are blessedly uncommon, but in saying this, are unequivocally dangerous; they are known to devour shoals of fish, and the largest specimens - storied beasts whispered only in quiet eves on coasts, between sailors and shore-walkers with shifting eyes and in anxious murmurs - are rumored to have been able to devour ships whole. Though unproven, there are numerous sightings of impossibly large beasts, broad and hungry. Wherever a Murkmaker may go in the ocean, it is known that it will leave a turbulent mess, hence their name.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Roamer's Murkmakers are broad, flat creatures that move by lackadaisically rippling their wing-like sides. They have long, thin tails that allow the Murkmakers to more precisely control their turns - or to whip through the water at such speeds as to create a noise like a thundercrack and stun anything within twenty feet. Particularly weak creatures, if within ten feet, tend to perish spectacularly as their eyes and eardrums explode, assuming they retain those features.

They have immense mouths with several rows of teeth leading far back into the body; the first few sets are hooked teeth that draw the prey further in, while the rest are serrated for sawing and cutting apart flesh and bone. They have gills with dedicated vestigial fins that serve as both protection and breathing mechanisms - in that they flap water over the gills, or clamp down to protect them in times of duress.

Certain fresh-water variants of the Murkmaker - though significantly smaller than their oceanic cousins - feature protective spines along their backs, venomous barbs on their tails, or mucous coatings to enable the creatures to wriggle onto land in search of prey.

Genetics and Reproduction

Murkmakers are generally solitary creatures, and only come together every few years to reproduce. Often, this entails the creatures congregating in open waters, near to the surface, in huge packs. These meetings last mere weeks, with males attempting to attract a mate to potentially dance with.

Dancing, in the context of Murkmakers, refers to elaborate courtship displays led by the potential partner. These often move at impressive speeds for such large creatures, and typically include a chase, leaping from the water to great heights (and subsequently splashing down hard), diving to almost unsustainable levels, and mild fights between Murkmakers over a single partner. Said fights never escalate to lethal levels, but do involve much jostling and warning calls that can echo for miles through the ocean.

Upon a successful dance, wherein the partner is duly impressed, the two Murkmakers drift together for the remainder of the season, hunting and breeding until it is time to part.

The carrying partner will gestate its eggs (typically three or four) for up to six months before laying; from then on, it will carry these eggs in its mouth, severely hampering its ability to feed, until the young have hatched and are able to swim with it. Occasionally, this involves cannibalizing an egg to ensure the carrier's survival.

The little ones will travel with their carrier for several years, sometimes refusing to leave until chased off, and for the first two years of their lives often retreat into their carrier's maw if scared or startled.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Murkmakers, while largely preferring isolation unless with young or breeding, occasionally drift into colder waters and form 'shelves' dictated by size, with the largest 'supporting' the shelf and the smallest neat the top. Given their predilection to cannibalism when faced with sufficiently small Murkmakers, it is suspected this is to minimize such attacks on each other - though how or why Murkmakers would group together like this is a mystery; certain studies suggest they collect for warmth to survive the frigid waters while hunting for meals, though more bold theories posit that they enter a psuedo-hibernal state in cold waters, allowing for digestion - something that would allow smaller Murkmakers to hitch-hike on larger, older ones for safety while hibernating themselves, or while hunting in the colder areas.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Though largely unproven, there are rumors that certain sea-side, or even sea-borne civilizations are able to herd Murkmakers. Though the creatures remain undomesticated, they are, apparently, used in some form of symbiotic relationship, where the Maker is guided towards large shoals of fish, and the civilization herding it collects the scraps of its meal and whatever happens to fall off its body.

The meal scraps are naturally used as food sources - and sometimes stated as a delicacy, due to the lingering Murkmaker oils present on them - but the collected Murkmaker shed skin and teeth are the true valuables. In addition to being incredible for tourism, bits to be added to a museum or sold if they're small enough, Murkmaker pieces are the closest to any form of anatomical study that are managed - presuming these are indeed Murkmaker hides and teeth.

Conservation Status

Data Deficient - Least Concern