[center][h1]First Cephalopod [/h1][/center] [hr] [h3] The New Small Bright Thing[/h3] The First Cephalopod saw the birth of a star. It didn’t know this at first. But it was there when there was still the White Bright Thing that occupied the White Above, and the next moment the New Bright Thing came to be. It was present in the “in-between” of these moments. And this, the First Cephalopod understands, was monumental. The feeling of something bigger than itself, bigger than the black whales that inhabits the Darkness Beneath. And it felt awe and giddy at this transition, not of fear but surprise and curiosity. The warmth was still the same, but the light now punctured to a deeper part of the sea. Well, the remaining part of the sea. The First Cephalopod rose to the surface, and felt the heat of the New Small Bright Thing. But unlike the sparse white blob that once occupied the White Above, the New Bright Thing was much more defined. It is round, with clear edge. Drastically smaller compared to its original size. Orange when it rose, yellow at the center, and returned to orange at fall. But size, shape, and color is not the only significant thing about this New Bright Thing. Its mood has changed. Its light is no longer soothing, but burning with prolonged exposure. The First Cephalopod learned this when its skin burned and cracked under the enduring exposure of the New Bright Thing. It then quickly swam beneath the surface, letting the water to mend its skin and the darkness to sooth its burn. The White Bright Thing has changed. The First Cephalopod hated the New Bright Thing now. And this it understands. [hider = Dictionary and Explanation] New Bright Thing = the Sun White Bright Thing = the shapeless white blob that used to provide heat and signaling day night cycle White Above = white sky The First Cephalopod witnessed the birth of the new sun. It doesn’t like the new heat intensity so it sinks toward the darkness zone and continues swimming with the current. Reaction to [@Thayr] post[/hider] [hr] [h3]The Concerted Madness[/h3] As water continued to decrease and land rose from the dark water that once enveloped them, so did the crowdedness of the creatures beneath the waves. Sharks swim along mackerels. Crabs scuttles along cephalopods. Predators and preys, side by side, willingly or unwillingly, pulled by the mysterious current toward their unknown destination. But with such concentrations of living things, blood is bound to be spilled. Perhaps the gods were stupid. Perhaps the gods are sadists. Perhaps they are both. Because as the water drains, the corruption that lingers on the surface sea concentrates. What was the usual level of corruption, now increased by the amount that disappeared. Fishes grew extra eyes or lost their eyes completely. Crabs with dorsal fins. Sea horses that swim gracefully instead of clumsily tying itself to some sea grass. Even the First Cephalopod is not spared from such rampant mutation, with its original ten limbs now drastically increasing to something of twenty. Not normal limbs either. Arms split in the middle. Some tips deformed. Suckers with hooks outward instead of inward. Deformed hooks. Arms without suckers… And with more fights happening on a more regular basis, the more of this mutation gets out of control. The cause for such mutation is simple to recognize but hard to understand for the First Cephalopod. It simply lost its limb in either hunting or being hunted. Usually, the limbs would be generated as normal. But, for some reason, ever since the First Cephalopod has begun this journey toward the unknown, its wound hasn’t healed like before. But mutation was not the only problem. [quote] At irregular intervals, sometimes hours apart, sometimes days, the ocean would clear. For a handful of heartbeats, the lightless depths would become transparent, the water as pure and safe as it had been before corruption touched it. Ships could sail. Fish could swim without mutation. The alluring whispers would fall silent. Then, just as suddenly, the clarity would fade. The corruption would return, darker than before, as if angered by the interruption.. [/quote] The water becomes clear. But there aren’t many bodies of waters left on the surface. So instead, what little sea remains becomes clear. An entire sea becomes crystal blue, where the light from the New Bright Thing could reach into its deepest darkness and uncover its hidden mystery. But what treasure is there to display but the carcass of decomposing Black Whale, the torn limbs of cephalopods, or the crustaceans shells picked clean? And then the corruption returned, more severe. More fervor at punishing its criminal inhabitants. It gave them rage. Pure carnage. Of mackerels feasting upon sharks. Of squids feasting on more than it could reasonably consume. Blood spilled for the punishment that originally designed to torture other intellectual inhabitants, felt only by those without it. The draining seas clear. The seas become corrupted again. Pristine of blue. Purest of red. The First Cephalopod should learn something from this. Too bad, it is busy counting its appendages, now numbering at fifty-three, with fifteen tentacles, thirty eight arms. Twenty three of which suffered suckers mutations, split arms, or no suckers mutation. And as it is counting this, it… The waters around it clears for the split of moments. Barely seconds. Barely enough for it to realize that the water cleared. And then the corruption returns, and the number of split tentacles goes from ten to eleven. [hider= Explanation] Refer to this [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5642874] post for my explanation on why more corruption happen when sea clears[/url] Explaining what is happening in the sea. Less water = more corruption. As there are fewer seas and less water, the area where the seas become pristine clear (percentage wise) should increase. And as explained from a few previous post, this would correspond with an increase in corruption Also, mutation is more biological and environmental based rather than some magical boons or blessing. I just attached the mutation to magic because of our setting. Here is how the actual octopus look like with [url=https://pinktentacle.com/2008/07/monster-octopi-with-scores-of-extra-tentacles/]split arms [/url].[@Thayr] [/hider]