Have some filler art as the next page is coming along!


If you don´t care about all this text and just want to know what the deal is with this thing.

- What Mori´rai was told to drink, contained treated chemicals from this creature.


Below is some lore for the animal!



Information by :
High-Guild Nagl´far and it´s institute of Baramor wildlife research.


Chioqua - Abyss watcher



The Chioqua or "abyss watchers" as they are called, are filter feeding sea creatures
usually found on the rocky sides of the underwater cliffs of Baramor.
"Later discoveries of them existing on the New Isle as well"

The Chioqua´s body consists of a main "middle part" and eight tendril-like "appendages".
The exposed "eyes" in the middle are actually gill-tissue

While the middle, or prime part is holding various organs,
The eight arms functions as both tools for movement, mouths, storage and fluid circuits.
The arms will eject cilia-like filter-hairs from each of the arms which It then uses to take in
small plankton and other micro-animals.
The food is then taken inside the hollow arms, and with fluid circuits,
transported to the stomach in the middle.


One of the most peculiar things about the Chioqua is its habbit of creating a "shell"
around it´s middle part. The creature takes in sand, minerals and leftovers from it´s food, and over time,
slowly creates this shell. It uses the shell to anchor itself to a rocky side, and as protection,
and as the Chioqua grows, it simply expands it shell and re-distribute the minerals of the shell to accommodate it´s growth.



The Chioqua is hunted regularly on the underwater cliff sides near Baramor port.
For their meat, eggs and various other parts.

While most find their meat to be very foul tasting, some chefs have found
ways to treat the meat and make it into a local delicacy.

When gathering the eggs from the Chioquas body, they are quickly emptied for their contents and are treated
with chemicals to harden the now empty shell. The final product, is a very hard, hollow and shiny gem-like pearl.
The shells are hardy enough that it can be amassed into works such as window melting and other high.temprature works.
But they are most commonly used in dresses, furnitures, jewelry. etc.


The Chioqua also contains various fluids that many chemists and alchemists
are very intrested in.


However.
Hunting the Chioqua is a ridiculously dangerous task.

Not only because of the deep water they reside in.
Or the other predatory marine creatures swimming around.

While the Chioqua has it´s hard shell to protect it.
It has another far more deadly defense in its arsenal.

If threatened, the Chioqua will utilize its prime deffense method.
The metus light.

The Chioqua shifts it´s inner exposed gill organs around rapidly, and with
its inner fluid circuits excreting chemicals. This combination creates bursts of bioluminescence light, or "blinks"
The blink has an astonishingly effect on marine life, in that it instills a form of terror.
Marine animals have been observed to flee and be distressed even after 5 minutes of being exposed to the metus light.

However,
this is not what happens to humans.


If a human is exposed to the Metus light, The person will go into an violent epileptic shock.
This is almost everytime followed by death by drowning.

It is not known why the light causes this in humans.
Experiments have not yelded any results as of yet to why this effect only accurs in humans.


Though, divers who dare hunt these sought after animals, have figured out a way to hunt them,
relatively safely

Trying to kill the animal is advised against. as you may stop it from producing it´s light, but the death
of the Chioqua will most likely ruin its precious inner parts, and thereby lowering its worth considerably.
And few wants to buy a Chioqua that has been mutilated too bad.


By having a thick piece of cloth ready to cover the eyes of the Chioqua, the diver can somewhat negate
the metus light effect. But it is no guarantee, as the animal will usually anchor itself near others of it´s kin,
which again most likely also will deploy its dangerous neuro-targeting defense.

The diver will have to observe his chosen prey and swim as close as possible without alarming the creature/s,
as it only takes a second or two for it to produce it´s light
.
Then, as the diver closes in, he will have to close his eyes shut very tightly,
and trust that whatever he grabs, is his prey.

This task is not made any easier, as the Chioqua will try and escape by casting off its shell and try wiggle away.
And while the animal is not strong by any means, the added factor of swimming blindly while grabbing a squrmy animal
while also trying to cover it´s deadly blinks with a piece of cloth, and then try to get up to the surface with his struggeling prey.

The risk of getting confused on what is up and down quickly becomes a very real risk.
This risk can be mitigated however by having another diver tagging along. But most extra
divers will only be there to assist if the trapper gets in trouble.


But,
If one can train oneself to hold ones breath for a very long time, train ones body to push the depth-limit of how deep a human can dive,
and not to drown by being mindfried by underwater eldritch marine animals. The payoff is very good,
as the guild-tied Baramor institute of wildlife research pays well for each unharmed specimen. ach unharmed specimen.