Baby Kraken

Beneath the waves, the kraken sleeps for untold ages, awaiting some fell sign or calling. Land-born mortals who sail the open sea forget the reasons their ancestors dreaded the ocean, even as the races of the deep ignore strange gaps in their histories when their civilizations nearly vanished after the appearance of the tentacled horror.

Leviathans of Legend. At the beginning of time, krakens served as fierce warriors of the gods. When the gods’ wars ended, the krakens shrugged free of their servitude, never again to be bound by other beings.

Whole nations quake in fear when the kraken emerges from its dark demesne, and even in the middle of the deepest oceans, storms rise or abate according to its will. The kraken is a primeval force that obliterates the greatest achievements of civilization as if they were castles in the sand. Its devastating attacks can destroy ocean trade and halt communication between coastal cities.

An ominous darkness presages a kraken’s attack, and a cloud of inky poison colors the water around it. Galleons and warships vanish when its tentacles uncoil from the deep, the kraken breaking their masts like kindling before drawing down ships and crew.

Not even landlocked surface dwellers are safe from a kraken’s wrath. Krakens can breathe air as easily as water, and some crawl up rivers to nest in freshwater lakes, destroying cities and towns along the way. Adventurers tell of these monsters lairing in the ruins of lakeside citadels, their tentacles twined around leaning towers of disintegrating stone.

Mortal Foes. Some krakens are virtual gods, with cults and minions spread across sea and land. Others are allied with Olhydra, the evil Princess of Elemental Water, and use her cultists to enforce their will on land and sea. A kraken pleased with its worshipers can becalm rough seas and bring a bounteous harvest of fish to the faithful. However, the devious mind of a kraken is ancient beyond reckoning, and is ultimately bent to the ruination of all things.