Griefscales

“It’s not the fish that bite you, boy. It’s what comes after.” -Rudderhand Parlen Ashcoat, moments before vanishing off the pier in Gullsperch.

The Griefscale is a saltwater staple and a sea-borne curse, a creature born of famine, forgotten alchemy, and unintended consequence. Found in mass swarms along the coasts of Wardsea, Gullsperch, and northern Kibonoji, it is fished daily, eaten by the barrelful, and yet never seems to vanish. The meat is tender, the flavor hearty, and it sustains both Everwealth’s people and its beasts alike. But it is not a gift, a boon of plentiful filling fish for a people plagued with starvation. It is a warning that never stops arriving. Mottled in yellow-green scales with thin white-bordered green lightning-like striping, the Griefscale is striking even before you gut it. Its deep violet eyes, ringed in black, are known to glint just beneath the surface in still waters, a sign that predators are close behind. When carved open, its underbelly glistens lavender and oily, like something preserved too long in a brine of secrets. Legends say the Griefscale dates back to the Origin Age, long before the Fall, before even some of the first mortal empires dared name themselves. It is whispered to be the vengeful work of a scorned alchemist, who, after warnings that his favorite fish would be fished to extinction were ignored, created a chimera that could never die out. His final act was to make the Griefscale irresistible to every predator, yet impossible to eradicate. That story may be myth, but its consequences are real. And bloody.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Griefscales grow 10-14 inches long on average, resembling a stout blend of cod and haddock, with slightly larger heads and firmer fins. Their bodies are soft-scaled, flexible, and colored in chartreuse and yellow-green, patterned with jagged chalky outlined green striping across the flanks. Their coloration makes them highly visible in shallow waters, perhaps an evolutionary taunt to every hungry thing that sees them, or a maliciously implemented pigmentation for this very purpose by its alleged creator. When gutted, their lavender-hued entrails emit an oily scent that draws other predators like blood draws sharks. Their gill-flaps are ringed with calcified whorls, possibly remnants of ancient chimera crossbreeding or latent arcane modification.

Genetics and Reproduction

Griefscales breed rapidly, uncontrollably, and often. Their eggs hatch within days, and juveniles mature in mere weeks. Some scholars claim a single female can lay over 10,000 eggs per month under ideal conditions. They require no parental oversight and swarm in breeding columns that roll like underwater dust storms. Their breeding is so relentless that even major fishing operations fail to dent their populations. This has led to their nickname in Kibonoji: "the fish that feeds the tide."

Growth Rate & Stages

• Fry (0-2 weeks): Microscopic and translucent, vulnerable to shrimp and minnows.

• Juvenile (2-4 weeks): Rapid growth phase. Attracts small predators in droves.

• Adult (1 month+): Full size and sexually mature. Begins to swarm in coastal arcs.

• Elder (1+ year): Rare, fatter, considered a delicacy, and fished for ritual feasts.

Few Griefscales live beyond a year, but their death rate does nothing to slow their growth.

Ecology and Habitats

Griefscales thrive in salt-brackish transitional zones, estuary mouths, shallow seabeds, reef-skirts, and shoals. They swarm near coastal inlets, and can often be seen from docks as writhing shadowed clusters just beneath the waves. They are hunted heavily in Wardsea, Gullsperch, and beyond, but not without risk. Their presence always attracts predators, from sea-hounds and Glintspears, to Ship-Snap Turtles, and even the fearsome Tiderazors, who follow their migration like wolves follow deer. Their overabundance poisons the ecosystem not by toxicity, but by imbalance, giving monsters enough food to survive, thrive, and multiply unchecked.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Griefscales are voracious omnivores, devouring Elfshrimps, minnows, mollusks, carrion, and even each other. They eat constantly, often forcing other species out of their breeding zones. Their swarms can strip small reefs bare overnight, and their gorging behavior may even attract arcane attention, certain trawlers report Griefscales feeding too calmly near cursed wrecks. Yet, for all their appetite, they do not overhunt the smaller bait fish, at least not directly. Griefscales exhibit a curious tendency to favor eggs when food is abundant, consuming them by the dozen from any nest they find. In doing so, they often spare the adult Elfshrimp and minnow populations, focusing instead on devouring unhatched young and their own spawn alike in cannibalistic frenzies. Ironically, this behavior seems to balance the ecosystem rather than collapse it. With Griefscale fry and rogue eggs forming the base of a food chain even their prey can feed on, entire schools of smaller fish often flourish in their wake, feeding on Griefscale juveniles while benefiting from the reduced pressure on their own young. It is a parasitic symbiosis at scale, a cycle of predation so violent it stabilizes itself, ensuring both predator and prey continue to thrive in the blood-warmed waters they share.

Biological Cycle

The Griefscale does not follow a traditional seasonal cycle. Its reproductive frenzy is continuous, with brief slowing only during late autumn when plankton and prey become scarce. During spring and high tide cycles, their numbers surge wildly, darkening the coastal shallows with wriggling bodies. Some fishermen report the sea “boiling with green” during these migrations, their glinting stripes flashing like lightning beneath the surface. Elders, though rare, grow increasingly lethargic and are often found floating belly-up near spawning zones, only to dart back into life when disturbed, feigning death like some aquatic jest.

Behaviour

Griefscales exhibit school-mind behavior, but lack central leadership. When threatened, they scatter violently and then reform in a spiral that resembles a whirlpool made of teeth, a tactic believed to confuse predators or attract larger ones to kill off the threat. Unfortunately, this often results in entire boats being pulled into attacks meant for the fish. Their visibility and breeding density make them an easy food source. But this ease ensures that predators linger, and the fishing grounds become traps for the unwary.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Despite their dull intelligence, Griefscales are remarkably perceptive swimmers. Their lateral lines pick up vibration from nearby movement and even faint sounds above the waterline. Schools often shift en masse away from dockwork, boots, or oars before humans notice the fish themselves. Their olfactory sensitivity is fine-tuned to detect injured prey, especially Elfshrimps and minnows, making blood-slicked waters a frenzy ground. Some scholars believe their sensitivity extends to low-level enchantments, as Griefscales are drawn to wrecks, ruins, and cursed ships more often than coincidence should allow.

Conservation Status

To the hungry, Griefscales are life. To the wise, they are a tide-fed blade waiting to slip beneath your feet. In Wardsea, their bones are crushed into Saltblessing Powder, scattered on docks to “warn off the deep.” In Gullsperch, fishers paint Griefscale eyes on their hulls in hopes the sea will think the vessel already taken. In Opulence, fried Griefscale roe is a delicacy among the poor, called “Tideglass” for its shimmer and price. But there is no swimming in Griefscale waters. The fish come first. And what follows them… comes fast.