Coral Grazer Larva

“I used to live in a village in the western shallows. Then a grazer came by and, in one night, everything I knew was gone.”

Unnatural Disasters. Sea- and coast-dwellers fear coral grazers. Many such people consider the arrival of a coral grazer to be a natural disaster, but these monsters are far from natural. Equipped with beaked tentacles surrounding its single massive eye, a coral grazer uses its beaks to tear apart and consume coral. But the creature doesn’t restrict itself to coral shelfs—it eats anything made of a similar substance, from shells to some stone. It also consumes bones, although in smaller quantities. One coral grazer can lay waste to a whole fishing village.

Ancient Horrors. Accounts of coral grazers can be found throughout recorded history, yet their origins remain a mystery. The oldest legends tell of a cataclysm that precedes the creatures being seen in the shallows. Sages speculate this disaster either gave rise to coral grazers or forced them into new territory. The look of coral grazers is akin that of Aether Kindred and denizens of their mad realm. If the cataclysm that gave rise to coral grazers had its source there, it could explain much.

Progeny Plague. Coral grazer spawn can be as much of a threat as their elder kin. Larvae are up to 6 feet long and they eat tremendous amounts to fuel their growth. After gorging themselves for a year, they retreat to deeper waters, returning to familiar feeding territory when they have reached full size. Most folk prefer to kill the larvae before they can grow.

An adult coral grazer can attract several larvae to its feeding area. That means adults are more dangerous when larvae are about in surrounding waters. Sages have noted that larvae are more likely to show up when an adult is in danger.