Sky Tentacle

Everything else has a hunger - why would the heavens be any different?

— Saencha, Blight-Tracker

Rare predators of the Surface world, Sky Tentacles reach down from unfathomable heights to snatch prey and haul them to fates unknown. Said to be born of the very stars, the Sky Tentacles are horrors from beyond, merciful by the infrequency of their intrusions into the lives of mankind.

Description

Like the night sky given form.

— Saencha, Blight-Tracker

Though they appear as a singular creature, Sky Tentacles consist of an endless mass of tentacles coiled together as one predator. They are dark shades of color, from shimmering black to deep violet, blue, and red, like a nebula. At night, they shine with a hundred points of tiny lights along each tendril, masking their presence against the starry skies. Tendrils that erupt from the main body and quickly turn into hues of brighter red - as do ones severed by violence or accident.

Tendrils cut from the Sky Tentacle continue to wriggle for up to an hour, partially melting while it dies.

by Midjourney by Q

No one has ever seen the end of a Sky Tentacles, each descending from above for miles. When concentrated into a single strand, they are about a meter across but can split apart to reach as much as ten meters around in a swarming mass of grasping tendrils. Some tendrils vary in size and form, ranging from inches to meters. Tendrils have been observed as flat and shallow or needle-thin and long, with hair-like quills, each suggestion function that can only be guessed at.

Sky Tentacles don't bleed when injured and offer little resistance to force. If grasped, fingers sink into the tentacle's flesh, seemingly without injury, before closing around whatever has pierced it.

Those enveloped by the Sky Tentacle describe an odd sucking sensation where it holds them, like trying to pull a boot out of quicksand.

Despite this apparent flimsiness, the tentacles that coil around a prey can hold and crush with surprising strength. Less solid than flesh but more so than water, the Sky Tentacles flow and crawl to envelop their victims before plucking them from the earth.

Behavior

— Saencha, Blight-Tracker

Though their attacks seem random, felt as far apart as Kagarai to Hela, the Sky Tentacles only appear on still days. They avoid the scourging storms of the Surface and prefer to strike at night, when their dark and glittering flesh is easily mistaken for the night sky. Beyond that, there has been little evidence of any higher intelligence from the Tentacles and little motivation beyond hunting. It attacks the same no matter its prey, wrapping around them to pull them skywards.

The Sky Tentacles always appear alone - except during the Season of Dark, when the Surface is doused in terrifying gloom and frigid cold. On rare occasions, the tentacles will attack in entire packs, enveloping predators they would usually have no chance against.

Sky Tentacles rarely plunge straight down but follow a convoluted path that leaves them corkscrewed across the sky. They sway and writhe in the heavens, forming loops and spirals miles long as if searching. They show little awareness about the land beneath them, slowing only when they come close to something. Once near, the tentacle spreads open and releases countless smaller tendrils to fan out, converging again once they sense something living.

Some of these tendrils extend as far as ten meters, so thin to be almost invisible. The tentacles' senses appear to continue beyond that for reasons beyond current understanding, with survivors and hunters providing an only limited, first-hand accounts that are usually tainted with terror.

by Midjourney by Q

Besides grabbing the victim, a tentacle can whiplash its whole length down and around the ground to catch and crush prey - sometimes splattering itself against something harder than itself.

As terrifying as the Sky Tentacles are to mankind, they are prey to a number of creatures of the Surface. Beasts like Mahu'ca have enough mass to tear the Tentacle from the sky while Stormbrils shear through it like a razor. When grabbed or trapped, Sky Tentacles can separate themselves at any point along their length. Once injured, most Sky Tentacles swiftly withdraw back to heights unknown.

Life Cycle

When in doubt, what makes the best story?

— Saencha, Blight-Tracker

Almost nothing is known about what secrets lurk at the end of the Tentacles. No one has seen whatever beast controls the grasping tentacles, and no one can say with any certainty where the tentacle might end. Some claim to have seen the tentacle disappear beyond sight into the stars at night. Where knowledge ends, speculation has stepped in the fill the void.

by Midjourney by Q

Early explorers on the Surface thought the Sky Tentacles were some form of daemon or divine agent, something to punish them for an intrusion into a world not meant for them. Not much of that fear remains after encounters where defenders have carved up then eaten attacking tentacles, but some trepidation remains.

Having a sky is a novelty for much of Araea, so many just assume it to be some titanic beast, and the Tentacles are how it feeds itself. The idea of an endless, yawning expanse is more alien and frightening to the cave-bound people of Araea than any monster... Even one that spans the horizon.

The tentacles are not of this world, and most agree that nothing good can come of that.

In this school of thought, the night sky is made of the same gelatinous, malleable matter as the Sky Tentacles. Night and day are nothing more than predator and prey, with the sun chasing whatever spawns the tentacles away, just as the sun will one day descend upon Araea and feast on all.

Death From Above

Just another day on the Surface.

— Saencha, Blight-Tracker

Thankfully for all who visit the Surface, Sky Tentacles are rare terrors... And the kind of terror can be driven away by blade and flame with enough effort. In the day, they're hard to miss, and most settlements have learned to keep an eye on the sky for any threats.

In Kagarai, the Sky Tentacles are seen as just another danger among many. The Surface is a deadly place at the best of times, least of all starvation and Blight, both of which trouble mankind far more frequently. Still, few sights compare to that of a Sky Tentacle descending from the stars.

Such spectacles become a sport, so long as spectators are at a fair distance. Watching Sky Tentacles coil and writhe across the heavens can draw an entire settlement out to watch - doubly so if the Tentacle in question crashes into a mountain... Or better yet, a Mahu'ca. Entertainment like that can turn deadly should the battle drift in the direction of the audience.

by Midjourney by Q

The Surface
A land of blasted wasteland and yawning, open skies, most of the Surface is blighted and forbidden to mankind's visits. What parts they can visit are invariably hostile and bleak, but the lure of wealth draws the brave and the desperate to challenge the Surface.
Here, the Sky Tentacles prove what all right-thinking Araean's know - nothing should be as endless as the starry skies.
Read More About The Surface

by Midjourney by Q

Sky-Calamari

Life on the Surface is hard and desperate, such that there are few things people won't try to make a meal out of. Those who have eaten Sky Tentacle compare it to jellyfish with a sharp, clean taste that leaves an electric tingle in the mouth and on the tongue. It is difficult to cook, turning into an oozing gel when boiled or roasted.
On the rare occasions when Sky Tentacle is on the menu, it is usually boiled to a shimmering purple broth with raw chunks added.

Consuming Sky Tentacles doesn't appear immediately toxic or poisonous, and whatever long-term consequences there might be are usually overruled by the threat of starvation.

by Midjourney by Q

Endless Reach

Sky Tentacles have been encountered almost everywhere humanity has roamed on the Surface - as limited as that is. Neither cold nor heat seems to deter their reach, and they appear equally impervious to Blight.
Only storms and cutting winds seem to drive the Sky Tentacles back to the stars. As such, they are never found in the maelstrom of the Howling Plains and retreat whenever one of Araea's many storms begins to brew.

Water offers no refuge against a tentacle on the hunt, and they have been seen plunging into even the cold waters of Hela to pursue prey, seemingly with no ill effect.

Other Visitors

The Forbidden Zone is one of the few places untroubled by the Sky Tentacles, with the alien Q'x appearing more than able to drive the creatures away. Crystallized remnants of such encounters are occasionally found on the outskirts of the Zone, as if miles of Sky Tentacle has been made solid and then shattered in an instant.

by Midjourney by Q

Thaumatentacles

As Outsiders, the Sky Tentacles react to Thaumaturgy explosively. The ichor that powers Thaumaturgy causes the Tentacle to recoil and mutate, violently splitting apart and growing cancerous lesions where touched by magic. The result isn't much better for the Thaumaturg, who becomes the target of an unusual fury from the Tentacles.

In the end, Sky Tentacles are treated much like weather or earthquake - dangerous, unpredictable, and something to be mitigated. When one appears above a small settlement, people either hide or escape. In larger towns, militias rally with spears, javelins, and crude artillery like ballista and do their best to deter the monster from their homes and property. Some swear that the beasts fear fire, and many attempt to drive it off with great bonfires, torches, and whatever else is handy.
Such actions have mixed success, and the Sky Tentacles remain a rare but potent danger across the Surface, ever waiting to pluck unwary victims to unknown heights.

by Midjourney by Q