Archerclaws

"It doesn’t aim to kill. It aims to shut the world up. Permanently."

There are things in Everwealth’s waters that don’t swim, they wait. The Archerclaw is one such thing: a magickally volatile crustacean bred from rage, pressure, and ruin, lurking in the reef-choked gullets of drowned coasts and forgotten shipwrecks. No larger than a newborn hound, it is mistaken for colorful coral by the doomed and arrogant alike, until the water splits open with a sound like the sky cracking in half. Its claw doesn’t just strike. It fires. A blinding, pencil-thick arc of white-hot magick detonates from its claw faster than thought, faster than sound, blinding, deafening, and in most cases, breaking bones with the pressure wave alone. One bolt can rupture a diver’s eardrums, cause hallucinatory fear in sea-beasts, or shatter the hull of a shallow-keeled boat. And it doesn’t stop with the first strike. The Archerclaw’s shell burns like sunset fire, a riot of orange and sun-yellow scales flecked with pale, warning-white edges, a natural war-paint worn like a dare. It grows endlessly, molts during lightning storms, and remembers who came too close. Worse still are its jellyfish-coated antennae, which inject numbing, spasming venom with a brush, leaving victims convulsing in panic as the creature aims again.
To the unwise, it is a curiosity. To the learned, it is a caution. To those who survive it, it is a living silence, weaponized and coiled beneath the waves, waiting to scream.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Archerclaw possesses a segmented mantis-shrimp-like carapace colored in fiery oranges, streaked with sunburst yellow, and flecked with chalky white accents. Its underbelly is scaled like a reptile, offering it enhanced flexibility while swimming or contorting mid-strike. Its defining feature is its massive primary claw, capable of snapping shut to unleash blinding, sonic, magickal bolts; A strange feature in-tandem with this ability, Archerclaws will fire one into their mouths instead, where it can be magickally stored for later use if the claw is temporarily disabled while grappling prey or to loose volleys of 2-3 at-once, moving it's hand back and fourth between it's mouth after firing a volley with it's claw in like an archer reloading his bow. The claw opens to reveal an orange, membranous magickally saturated channel that launches the 3-4 inch pencil-thick white 'spines'. Its antennae and nerves are coated in a jellyfish-like venom, causing numbness, tremors, and spasms when contacted by any species.

Genetics and Reproduction

Archerclaws are solitary breeders. Females lay 50-70 gelatinous eggs in reef alcoves or submerged ruins. Eggs glow faintly orange and cling to coral or barnacled stone. Males do not raise or protect offspring. Cannibalism is frequent. Hatchlings are venomous from birth, and by the end of their first week, will attack siblings if crowded.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Hatchling (0-1 month): Soft, scale-less, bolt-incompetent.

• Juvenile (1-6 months): Bolt chamber develops; carapace hardens.

• Adult (6 months+): Full venom, strike ability, territorial behavior.

• Elder: Grows indefinitely, lethal to boats, divers, and mages alike

Ecology and Habitats

Archerclaws favor magickal coral beds, drowned vaults, and sunken shrines, especially those near The Bay of Knives, the outskirts of Three Land's Run, or the reefed coast of eastern Everwealth and northern Kibonoji. They mark territory with discarded shells and uneaten prey, defending it against intruders with precise sonic strikes. Dead waters, silent, fishless, and hazy, often mark their hunting zones. Sometimes Aquian will make efforts to hunt them, their albeit small quantity of meat a rich and buttery lobster-like delicacy to their people. Aquain markets will often be seen with glass cages containing varying amounts of the creatures, their projectile-launching claws severed and stored separately as a safety-measure; One can only imagine the horror that would envelop the market when a curious Aquian child gets too close to the claustrophobic crustacean inside the viewing tank with an unattended cannon attached to it's arm

Dietary Needs and Habits

They consume fish, crustaceans, magical plankton, and carrion. They kill with bolts first, then drag stunned or boiling prey to crevices where the venomous antennae assist in shredding soft tissue. They also seem to respond to spell residue, occasionally targeting enchanted objects or mages. This has led some researchers to suspect a type of magickal cognition.

Biological Cycle

Active year-round, Archerclaws molt twice yearly, typically on nights of high magickal saturation or lunar eclipses. During molting, their bolt glands become unstable, and random misfires have burned boats, blinded alchemists, and shattered cave walls. Their venom potency increases with age, as does their bolt velocity.

Behaviour

Archerclaws are solitary, territorial, and aggressively defensive. They will not retreat if cornered and may snap bolts even in shallow air if sufficiently provoked. Despite their ferocity, they exhibit strategic behavior:

• Hide until prey is close.

• Fire bolts at weak spots (gills, face, joints).

• Disappear into terrain immediately after.

Some folklore claims they “remember boats” and will lie in wait for returning crews.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

• Heat and blood sensing.

• Magickal residue detection.

• Tremor tracking via antennae.

• Blind-sight adaptation in murky water.

Flash reflex detection (can see shifts in light like lightning before it hits the surface)

Scientific Name

Pistophora luminaris.

Origin/Ancestry

Believed to be a crustacean species warped by post-Schism spell residue, especially in coastal warzones or drowned magical armories.

Conservation Status

Uncommon but stable. Hunted for magical parts but too dangerous to harvest regularly. They are forbidden to kill in some druidic coastal circles, viewed as guardians of drowned secrets. Their increasing aggression toward enchanted vessels has led to restricted routes near their known colonies.