Wolves of the Sea

Watching from the crow's nest, as your crewmates and captain move from the wreck of the merchant ship you've taken, laden with plunder, you smile to yourself. The merchant was laden with spices and fine silks, a shipment bound for Geata-Iarainn. It was a bold strike, but then again, Captain Tel'naviri Suna'tronix, one of the Fell Elves, was a bold sailor. He'd made two other such strikes in the last month, collecting a fine haul of booty for the crew. Those bearded pig dwarves and their famous 'war vessels' of the Suranthi Navy were no where to be seen. You see some of the gobos bringing over casks of what can only be proper strong booze. A wide grin comes across your face. Its going to be a good night.

Suddenly your eyes are drawn to a movement in the water. A silhouette? Look there, a second? Maybe, its hard to tell, the water is dark and thick, the burning merchant ship clouding the water between the two vessels, the smoke obscuring your vision. But....wait, there it is again, is that, no it can't be, can it?! Before you can shake off your shock and raise the alarm, there is the unmistakable sound of an orca, calling out in excitement, clearly on the hunt, as it breaches......and comes down right on the mid-deck of your vessel with a thunderous crunch, sweeping sailors off deck, scattering crewmen, and most importantly....the casks of what you can smell to be near pure whiskey, even from the crows nest, go scattering all over the deck, many fracturing, leaking their contents all over the timbers. Just as swiftly, as if in tandem, the second beast's tail flukes slam and rattle the ship on the port side tripping some men whom had been bringing over lanterns and more straw to help torch the merchant ship. It sent them stumbling and slamming into the deck, and their lanterns careening all over the place. Including many shattering on deck.....in pools of the dangerously strong liquor. At this point you see the silhouette of a ship through the smoke, approaching from a distance. You grab your spy-glass and your heart sinks. Its her. Its the Glacial Ghost. Which can only mean one thing. These two orca are not alone, and as men scramble for the few dinghies on board, you listen in horror as they are shattered and ravaged as they try to escape, hearing the excited chirps, calls, and songs of at least six other killer whales. No, they were not alone. Nor were they mere orcas, which would be dangerous enough. These were no mere apex predator. These were apex predators with military training. These were the Wolves of the Sea. 

Basic Information

Anatomy

Orcas are large marine mammals, but contrary to their popular name they are not whales, they are more closely related to dolphins. They are highly intelligent and the premier predator of the Nor'Westor Sea, even though many other more individually dangerous and larger creatures call the ocean home, they do not fear these, even the beasts such as the Voganta, the strange monstrous serpent like beasts that hunt the deeper waters of out towards the lands to the north and the Sea of Ice beyond that. That is not to say orcas are small, of course. They are large creatures, capable of growing up to almost ten meters in length, and getting to weights up to some 5500 kg. For perspective to any first year recruits reading this, 80 kgs is the average weight of a human male adult. Dwarves is 65 kgs. This puts these animals, on the upper end, at about 84 times the size of the average sailor in the navy. They are strong swimmers, and can outswim all but the best of our ships, and even those need a perfect wind at their sails, and they would outpace us eventually. You will at some point in your careers, if you are lucky, work 'alongside' that is, on the same assignment as one or more of these esteemed animals. Treat them with due respect. They won't think twice about eating you, because to be frank, if you've decided to do something to piss them off that much, then you likely deserved it. And it wouldn't be the first recruit to 'slip and fall into the water, never to be seen again' for making an ass of themselves. These animals outrank you until their magister handlers or your commanding officer say otherwise, which will take a long time. If that is not bloody crystal clear, then you'd best leave the academy now.

Biological Traits

Females live an average of about ten years longer and are generally very slightly smaller, averaging a meter shorter in length and an estimated few hundred kilograms lighter on average.

Babies, when born, at best guess, average between a whopping 150 to 200 kilograms.

Genetics and Reproduction

"The sole problem with these animals, from a military perspective, is their long gestation period and somewhat lower reproductive rate. Males do not reach sexual maturity until twenty-five, though on record we know they can breed successful, and start trying to, at twenty. Females mature faster, the youngest we've seen birth a calf was about eighteen, if our records are accurate. Gestation once pregnant takes anywhere from fourteen to nineteen months at our best guess. On average a female will have one calf every five years or so. The good thing is they can live to be about fifty on average, hell the oldest we are aware of served until she was eighty-one. Died in battle too, tough old girl. The other benefit of course, with these four pods in particular, is that they seem more willing to tolerate multiple males' presence, even though the females are clearly dominant. This may have a lot to do with the ease of food, lack of direct environmental stress, as the whaling fleets utilize their skills, with our distinct permission, and feed them quite well for the efforts to boot. As do we of course, the budget will tell one that. This seeming weakness is also counteracted by their generational approach to their pod structure and hunting, which therefore is also fighting, techniques. They pass these things down, mother to calf. Its quite remarkable really, how few generations it takes for them to master a new prey item and the techniques to hunt them. It has helped ingrain the lessons far easier, to the point where this latest generation need no teaching from our hands directly, we are already seeing the mothers teaching their calves all the skills and approaches necessary to excel at their tasks. The Suranthi Navy has existed for almost four hundred years. This program has only been around for about ninety-three, and this current generation, and the next batch of calves growing up currently, whom are showing all signs of taking their parents intellect and sheer ability even a little further, are already better in 'ship to whale' combat than we are in ship to ship combat."

Excerpt from one of the early reports in the Suranthi Navy archives in regards to the 'Wolves of the Sea' initiative. Dated Fenrok 11th, 1533 SuD

Growth Rate & Stages

• Entirely reliant on their mother for the first five or so years

• Females hit reproductive age at about seventeen or so years of age, males take until they are at least twenty

• Gestation period for a pregnancy, Fourteen to nineteen months

• Females seem to be reproductively viable until they are in their early forties

• Average life span seems around five decades, shorter in males. The oldest male we are aware of lived until sixty-two. Oldest female, lovingly called 'Granny Vinegar' by the various sailors and magisters whom ever worked with her, lived and served until she was eighty-one years of age, dying in a naval engagement when a pirate vessel's powder stores caught alight and they cooked off as she breached to slam into their main deck.

Ecology and Habitats

Cold, oceanic water. They have never been spotted swimming up river or even in the Glacial Sea, and have no interest in do so. Our best guess is fresh water is either to cold, or simply not rich enough in prey large enough to keep them going.

Dietary Needs and Habits

"one hundred thousand gold crowns feeding the Navy's working animals?!? That is frankly perposterous First Admiral Varnis!! I demand to know how you incur such an expense, and why it is justified!"

"Ah. T'at. Well master Ambrose, if'n ye look down a couple lines ye should see the near one hundred and fifty thousand gold crowns in confiscated plundered goods whom no one was alive ta reclaim. So we liquidated 'em back inta t'e local market as laws order us ta. That number tells t'e story sir. Orca. Killer Whales. Feedin' those massive beasts is an expensive an' full time job. But 'tween pirates and t'e occasional Norvai raiders from t'e north, along wit' t'em damned dark elf slavers whom try their luck out o' desperation on occasion, these beast manage ta pay fer t'emselves and then some, especially accounting fer number o' lives we save and men we avoid losing. T'ey make a huge difference sir, but t'at kind of game changer 'as an equally large upkeep expense as well. High King Cormac already gave us t'e rubber stamp again fer t'is year sir, so if'n you'd be so kind as ta simply sign off? Tis a formality, but ye are the Throne's Reeve, seemed poor form ta nae give ye some warnin' afore the budget meetins at t'e end of t'is week."

"Well you are too kind. There signed and official. Now if there is nothing else, make yourself scarce please. I have a long night ahead of me rewriting my entire budget proposal to account for this....ludicrious expense. Good day to you"

Excerpt of a conversation between Ambrose Wenrick, the First Reeve of High King Cormac's government, and First Admiral Alec Varnis, supposedly overheard by a house servant, so rumor says. Sometime in 1524 or 1525 SuD

Orca are apex predators and master of the sea. Any living thing in their domain, it seems, if given enough time to learn, they will figure out and master a technique both efficient and relatively safe, to hunt, kill and eat it. They will pass these down, until they seem to become an instinctual genetic trait, which doesn't seem to take long at all. Their diet regularly includes;

• lobster or crabs and other crustaceans

• Other Whales and dolphins

• Any and all fish one can think of

• Seals and sea lions

• Sea birds

• Octopus and Squid

• Sea Turtles

• Other strange denizens of the sea, they seem to have no fear or discomfort hunting some of the strange and horrifying things that on occasion make their way in from deeper water, despite the 1 on 1 size difference. They are pack hunters, capable of hunting things much bigger than themselves.

• One was even reportedly observed picking off a moose that was up to its belly in shallow water on the shorelines off the east coast, grazing on seaweed. So it seems even creatures not normally oceanic in nature are on the menu, as also evidenced by their willingness to eat pirate crewmen.

"Now to demonstrate both the power and intellect of these animals, as well as their raw skill, and the generational capabilites passed down, please pay special attention to the seal being currently released by your CO and his aides along the waters edge of the bay just east of us there with your spyglass. Watch closely, for we will very likely only manage to get any of them to do this once, especially when they realize we are watching. We don't starve them, they eat better than we do some days, so they are not desperate. With luck, Lucille there in the bay is about to show you something she's never done herself, but her great grandmother, or older perhaps, pioneered, and has been passed down by mother to child over and over for generations. She is going to show you just how little water, on a sandy or gravel beach head that is slick, she truly needs to land a strike. Watch now here it comes."

orca gif.gif

Killer Reason by National Geographic

"There it is! Absolutely magnificent. And that, you lot of greengills, is why we work with them and value these animals like our own. They are brilliant, bold, powerful and masters of the sea. Any bloody questions? or has today's point been suitably made?"

Second Mate Henrik Ulfinston of the Wave-dancer, 1st battle group, North Fleet, in a lecture to his ship's newest crew members.

Additional Information

Social Structure

They are matriachal in nature, and the female leading a pod is almost always the one whom is the biggest and strongest, and generally the most successful mother as well, of course.

Domestication

"To call this program domestication is an insult to my fellow companions in the service sir, and I will not stand for it. We have not tamed or domesticated these creatures, they are the dominant species in their environment, and if they so desired, could turn on a Suranthi warship and, though with casualties, utterly destroy it and its crew. Yes our two magisters work magicks to communicate with them. But I assure you, sir, that they are not, contrary to what your paper suggest, using said spells to 'control' these creatures in some way. I've been on ships where both magisters have died. Cannons don't care for or about about your pathetic magickal talents. These creatures, if under some sort of spell, would have been free and bolted. They did not. They stayed, fought on, and because of their efforts, we survived what I can say was the most harrowing naval conflict I've ever been in. Pinned between two dark elf slaver ships? Not a place I recommend anyone ever be. So no, this will not be published in the recruit introductory manual. You have a week. Rewrite it."

First Admiral Varnis berating one of the naval research team for their research paper.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

They are hunters by nature, and that is how those so utilized by both navy and whalers utilize them as well. Be it pirate ship or humpback, right, or bowhead whales, orcas can track them, chase them down, and insure a solid clean kill themselves, or set one up for their human allies, saving them the efforts whilst garnering the rewards of almost half a whale carcass, generally. Whalers see this boon as well worth it, as their catch rate sky rockets whenever they are lucky enough to get the chance to work with these creatures on loan from the navy.

Facial characteristics

Many children would think these creatures seem cute, cuddly, and silly. They are playful it is true. Their thick blubber coating hides their impressive teeth well, and their coloration, though adorable to the mind of an adolescent, is a deadly weapon, camofloguing them when beneath the waves.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They are one of the most successful species in northern waters, and are a common sight on the prowl. Whilst they have predators, their natural instinct to stick in tight knit family groups or 'pods' as the term used by scholars goes, is a strong defense and a deadly offense. One on one there are precious few creatures in the sea that would willingly tangle with an orca and win, though their are some. But tangle with an entire pod? I can think of no beast I've ever seen or read about that is likely willingly going to make that choice.

Average Intelligence

As discussed previously, they are highly intelligent, capable of learning generationally, passing that knowledge forward through teaching amongst their own. They do have a 'language' of their own of course, and it is complex in its variety of sounds that one can hear used.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Orca seem to use sound and how it behaves in water in some advanced way to really give them full understanding of their surroundings. We do not fully understand this yet, but we have taken to calling it 'Echolocation' though we can find no visible ears upon these creatures, so again, take that name with a grain of salt. Besides this, they are exceedingly smart creatures, excellent problem solvers, and most important for your job, fast learners with an excellent memory. Direct communicaton is the sole job of the Uisce and Dulra magisters with your crews, but they are very smart. You come upon a wreck burning, and tell them to 'inspect and investigate'? They will do so and very likely, if its still floating and burning at least, and hasn't gone to charcoal and begun sinking, they will very likely pinpoint the direction of the pirates whom did it. They will take off at that point, and once again, your Magisters are your connection to them. The spells they weave daily to keep a proper communicative connection with these animals have incredible effective distance.

Lifespan

50 years (females living longer than males)

Average Weight

Males, on average estimation, likely weigh in between 4100-5400 kilograms, though the largest ever recorded upon death in the program was almost ten meters in length and a whopping nine thousand kilograms or so.
Females weigh in a little smaller, between 3500-5000 kilos, though the largest in the program ever recorded, the infamous 'Granny Vinegar' was over 8 meters in length when she died, and was estimated to likely weigh nearly a whopping 7000 kilos.

Average Length

Females average 6 to 8 meters. Males average 7 to 9 meters.

Average Physique

Mostly black with a white underbelly, along with some white splotches, likely aiding in identification within the pod structure, as each whale's pattern is unique.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

As discussed, the white markings and splotches that can appear along their sides, where normally the dark black would dominant, are all unique patterns it would seem upon studies done by various scholarly sorts. Likely, if one had to guess, this aids the pod in telling who is who as it were.

Geographic Distribution

• Nor'Westor Sea