The Song of the Depths

The vast sky-sea of Yrdde is home to creatures both wondrous and terrifying. Among the most awe-inspiring are the Sky-Whales – colossal leviathans that drift through the clouds, their immense forms casting shadows upon the floating islands below. While generally solitary creatures, they gather in massive pods during their annual migration into the far-sky, their movements guided by a mysterious song that has sparked legends and chilling tales amongst those who sail the skies.
Sky-Whales, when alone, are generally silent, their presence marked only by the gentle creaking of their immense bones and the displacement of air as they gracefully navigate the currents. However, when they gather in large pods for their migration, they communicate through a low, resonant song - a complex symphony of clicks, whistles, and deep, rumbling vibrations that echo across the sky-sea.
Legends tell of a rare few individuals, usually hermits, explorers, or those driven to the edge of sanity by long periods of isolation in the vastness of the sky-sea, who claim to have learned the Sky-Whales’ song.
These individuals, often ostracized and dismissed as madmen, speak of hearing voices in the wind, understanding the creaking language of ancient trees, and sensing the subtle currents of the Aetherial Flow. They develop an almost obsessive fascination with the song, spending countless hours staring into the clouds, their own speech gradually degrading.
When the Sky-Whales begin their annual migration, descending into the far-sky, drawn by an unknown force or perhaps a cyclical instinct older than the sky itself, these individuals exhibit strange behavior. They become agitated, their whispers intensifying, their eyes fixed upon the horizon. And as the last whale disappears into the swirling clouds below, these individuals, compelled by an irresistible call, follow – their airships, if they possess one, abandoned, their fate intertwined with the mysteries of the depths. They are never seen again.

Theories and Interpretations

Some believe the whales’ song opens a temporary gateway to the place beyond the sky, where the whales are safe and free to rest, procreate, and prepare for another year crossing the skies of Yrdde.
A few Chimera clans believe that the Sky-Whales and those beings who understand their song share a deep, symbiotic connection – a spiritual bond that transcends the boundaries of species and consciousness. These people become, in a sense, adopted kin, their souls drawn into the whales' ancient family, their knowledge and memories adding to the sky-sea leviathans' collective consciousness. In a final act of bonding, they are drawn into the far-sky where they become whales themselves.
The most common interpretation dismisses the notion of a mystical interaction, attributing the actions of the effected to the psychological toll of isolation, the sky-sea’s vastness twisting their minds and creating a delusion of understanding the whales’ song, luring them to their deaths in the crushing depths and unstable aetherial radiation of the far-sky.

The Song of the Depths… Those colossal whales, singing their mournful melodies as they vanish into the clouds below – it’s enough to make even the most hardened airship captain weep into their ale.
They say it’s a language, ancient and complex, whispers of forgotten worlds and memories carried on the wind. And those who hear it? Those poor, deluded souls who claim to understand its secrets? They're drawn to it, obsessed, their own minds twisting into knots as they try to grasp a truth too vast, too ancient for their fragile human comprehension.
I’ve met a few of these “whale whisperers,” darlings. They're usually found mumbling in taverns, their eyes fixed on some distant horizon only they can see, their speech a strange mix of clicks and whistles. They’re a sad lot, driven to the edge of sanity by the sky-sea’s vastness, their minds grasping for a connection, a meaning in all that endless blue.
And then the whales sing, calling them down into the far-sky, promising answers, belonging… oblivion. They follow, those desperate souls, lured by the promise of a truth that will finally set them free.
Is it madness? Or is there something more, something ancient and powerful calling to those who’ve lost their way, offering them a passage to a realm beyond our knowing?
Frankly, darling, I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on my airship’s deck, thank you very much. Some mysteries are best left undisturbed. Because sometimes, the most beautiful songs lead to the darkest depths." - E Dawnstrider