Marvenken

"Hey, what's that?"
They both peered over the ship, staring into the icy waters below. Two glowing eyes floated along the surface, as the waves rolled over and crashed into the boat.
"I don't know, but it's making me uncomfortable. What if it's one of those creatures the tourist man warned us about? The one that eats people."
"It fucking better not be. I still have a book to finish writing back home, I don't have time to die."
The pair looked away for just a few seconds as they headed back to their room. They had twelve days on this tourist ship, and they didn't want to risk dying on their second day. As Verti moved back from the edge of the ship, it lurched to the side, crashing into an iceberg. His entire body was thrown into the air and over the side of the ship, where it plummeted into the ocean.
"VERTI! GRAB MY HAND!"
But it was too late, as a slithering tentacle reached up and hooked onto his leg. Verti was dragged down into the abyss, as a few bubbles escaped from his mouth.

Marvenkens are large deep sea beasts that prey on tourist ships. They are considered one of the most monstrous species on Ocearia, because they have large territories and frequently target tourists.

Anatomy

As adults, marvenkens reach about 20 metres in length. These monsters have only one limb, along with small, stub like appendages that they use to shuffle along the seabed. This makes travelling difficult, as any rock or pebble more than a foot tall cannot be climbed over, it must be walked around or trampled on.

The only notable limb marvenkens have sit right near the back of the monsters, next to their snake-like tails. The limb ends with a small, shiny, coin like feature that is designed to attract attention from small-minded tourists who see the coin floating in the water, and attempt to reach it, ultimately being dragged down by a bunch of long tentacles, released from within their mouths.

Marvenken mouths are large and circular, with several rows of tiny teeth all around the mouth. Their eyes are large, sitting just beyond their mouths, resembling dark blue pearls more than eyes. Marvenkens have a range of tusk-like spikes protruding from below their mouths, resembling a beard.

Habitat

Marvenkens inhabit a range of biomes, with ranging climates, but always prefer something colder. They are slow-movers, so they preserve their energy no matter where they are, but less predators live in colder waters so you'll often find more marvenkens within the north and south poles, or close to the Frozen Volcanoes, where the volcanoes release freezing water.

Reproduction

Marvenkens are one of the most territorial species on the planet, willing to kill any animal that gets remotely close to their eggs. These eggs are laid in clusters, glued to rocks and boulders, with the parents circling the eggs, making sure no creature dare gets close. Some marvenkens have even been seen to lay eggs on icebergs, where the eggs are best camouflaged, and by sticking their tentacles to the ice they suspend themselves in the water around their eggs.

Marvenkens mate for life, and have been seen to show immense love for their partners. They will mate multiple times a year despite only being able to lay eggs during breeding season.

Diet & Hunting

Number of Territories: 145
Number of Scents: 183

Marvenkens are strictly carnivorous, and prey on a number of animals, but primarily enjoy hunting. They commonly target slow-whales, as these slow-moving mammals are easily enticed. They don't have the ability to feel fear, or danger, which is why they are so easy to hunt.

They enjoy targeting the occasional tourist, who venture out into the Frozen Volcanoes on large ships. Marvenkens will extend their arm, displaying their coin-feature, in an attempt to attract tourists. When a tourist reaches out their arm and tries to grab the coin, the marvenken will shoot out tentacles from within their mouths, and drag the tourist away to be eaten.

Scents & Territories

Marvenkens are very territorial against others of the species with differing scents. Different marvenkens excrete a scent. Some marvenkens excrete the same scent, some different.
Each marvenken territory contains animals of the species with a particular scent. These scents are given codes for scientists to identify, but to marvenkens these scents are the difference between a friend and a foe. If a marvenken meets another with a different scent, they will attempt to scare the other into submission. If this doesn't work, they will fight. They will try to avoid conflict, since it is a waste of energy, but unfortunately fights are not all that rare.

There are 145 identified territories, and scientists are confident they have discovered every single one. Unfortunately, there are more than 145 scents. The marvenkens with a unique scent without a territory are killed fairly quickly after birth - sometimes even by their own parents. Scents are inherited from parents, however despite both parents having the same scent, mutations are common. Babies are killed so quickly that scientists cannot capture them and study them to record their unique scent.

Scientists have formed the Marvenken Research Facility, where they study marvenkens with unique scents that otherwise would've been killed by others of their kind. During breeding season, fleets of submarines will attempt to capture eggs that have a high chance of mutation, all while avoiding the parent marvenkens which try to rip the vehicles apart.

Geographic Distribution