Bestiary
The bone leviathan is a unique species of sea reptile. There are two primary subspecies that belong to the bone leviathan group: the Greater Bone Leviathan and the Lesser Bone Leviathan.
Lesser Bone Leviathan
Habitat
Lesser Bone Leviathans are nomadic, moving from place to place in search of food. They are deep sea creatures, and will avoid swimming above -1,000m (3,300ft) sea level. They tend to visit trenches, where they can corner their prey easily and steal from the Abyssals that live inside. They tend to travel in the Boreal Ocean or the northern Heaving Expanse, but may also be found in or near the Gaping Sea.
Appearance
Lesser Bone Leviathans are, to say the least, not something one would want to see as they’re swimming. Unlike most other marine reptiles, Lesser Bone Leviathan flesh is almost completely transparent. This also includes every organ except the heart and eyeballs, which makes the Lesser Bone Leviathan look like an undead, swimming skeleton. Its eyes come most commonly in warm colors, such as yellow or red. These beasts are similar in size to a Tidekeeper, though the largest can grow to be nearly twice as large.
Abilities/Traits
Lesser Bone Leviathans are powerful, with a bite force of 7,000 lbf (pounds-force) on average, making their bite stronger than a Great White Shark’s. Additionally, Lesser Bone Leviathans possess a powerful nose that helps them find food in the dark, as well as a sensitivity to light. This is helpful in their dark habitat, but comes at a disadvantage in light-filled environments. Because of this weakness, Tidekeepers have been known to blind Lesser Bone Leviathans with their markings to escape them in the past.
Diet
Lesser Bone Leviathans are strict carnivores. Their teeth are made to catch squids and smaller fish, but they will hunt larger prey, even dragons, when they get the chance. However, they rarely hunt Abyssal Tidekeepers and prefer the more passive Tidekeepers and Northern Shipwreckers. They’ve also been known to be cannibalistic, and will not hesitate to eat an opponent after defeating them in a fight.
Temperament
Lesser Bone Leviathans are an aggressive species, attacking with almost no hesitation. They often get into squabbles with other creatures, and may be especially pugnacious if they’re hungry. They don’t back out, either; if they get into a fight, they will finish it, or die trying.
Interspecies Relations
Generally, Lesser Bone Leviathans are very aggressive towards other species. They will leave others alone if they’re preoccupied with something else or simply disinterested, but will fight if provoked, either through direct challenge or simply approaching the beasts. Oddly, some Lesser Bone Leviathans may work together and even bond with Abyssal Tidekeepers, likely due to their similarly savage natures and motivations. Tidekeeper legends see them as creatures of evil, similar to Abyssal Tidekeepers, and they are often associated with them as well.
Courting Rituals
The courting rituals of the Lesser Bone Leviathan are quite violent. Once a year, during the spring, Lesser Bone Leviathans will release powerful pheromones to find each other. There is no difference between male and female pheromones, so Lesser Bone Leviathans will have to take a chance whenever they follow a trail. If two or more males find a female they want to mate with, they will compete in deathmatches. The winner will get to mate with the female and move on in search of more females. As for females, they, too, may fight each other, though they are unlikely to do so if they have already mated with someone. This process will repeat endlessly until the end of spring, when the mating season concludes.
Life Stages
Despite their terrifying appearances, Lesser Bone Leviathans are slow growers. Their life cycle is rather slow and drawn out compared to other species.
Egg: The females who mate will lay eggs in the deepest, darkest, most remote area possible (often at the bottoms of trenches), where they will be left completely alone. The eggs hatch after 10 months.
Hatchling: Life for a Lesser Bone Leviathan is violent from the moment they hatch. The new hatchlings (often numbered by the dozens) will either flee the nest immediately after hatching or fight to the death. Those who escape before the fight begins and the winner of the fight will be the sole survivors for that nest. The winners of these nest fights often go on to become the alphas of their species (for females, this means being fought over far, far more often than others and generally getting better mates, and for males, this means more success winning females during mating seasons).
Juvenile: A juvenile Lesser Bone Leviathan’s main goal is to hunt and survive. Despite being 4 years old, they have not yet fully developed their pheromones, and will not pick up on them until they reach young adulthood. They have a near insatiable hunger and will attack pretty much anything it sees as food, as it needs lots to grow. Feeding frenzies are not uncommon for juveniles, and some may even work together to hunt large groups of fish (and dragons, though they’re usually not strong enough to take them on yet).
Young Adult: In the young adult stage, at 10 years old, Lesser Bone Leviathans grow larger and more powerful. Most have lost their insatiable hunger and are now more balanced when it comes to feeding. Feeding frenzies often end in bloodshed, as they no longer work together to hunt things down as they did and will fight each other over food.
Adult: At 18 years, adults have finally reached sexual maturity and have fully developed their pheromones. The ability to reproduce is pretty much the only difference between an adult and a young adult, though adults are able to easily overpower young adults due to their larger size and bulk.
Elder: Elder Lesser Bone Leviathans are extremely rare, as most adults don’t make it past 25, let alone the age of 35, which is required to be considered an elder. Elder Lesser Bone Leviathans are powerful, but have slowed down over the years. They barely eat more than is necessary to keep them from dying, as it is difficult for them to catch prey. They often fall victim to Tidekeepers, though they are worth little, as their eyes no longer glow as vibrantly and their bones are more fragile.
Egg: The females who mate will lay eggs in the deepest, darkest, most remote area possible (often at the bottoms of trenches), where they will be left completely alone. The eggs hatch after 10 months.
Hatchling: Life for a Lesser Bone Leviathan is violent from the moment they hatch. The new hatchlings (often numbered by the dozens) will either flee the nest immediately after hatching or fight to the death. Those who escape before the fight begins and the winner of the fight will be the sole survivors for that nest. The winners of these nest fights often go on to become the alphas of their species (for females, this means being fought over far, far more often than others and generally getting better mates, and for males, this means more success winning females during mating seasons).
Juvenile: A juvenile Lesser Bone Leviathan’s main goal is to hunt and survive. Despite being 4 years old, they have not yet fully developed their pheromones, and will not pick up on them until they reach young adulthood. They have a near insatiable hunger and will attack pretty much anything it sees as food, as it needs lots to grow. Feeding frenzies are not uncommon for juveniles, and some may even work together to hunt large groups of fish (and dragons, though they’re usually not strong enough to take them on yet).
Young Adult: In the young adult stage, at 10 years old, Lesser Bone Leviathans grow larger and more powerful. Most have lost their insatiable hunger and are now more balanced when it comes to feeding. Feeding frenzies often end in bloodshed, as they no longer work together to hunt things down as they did and will fight each other over food.
Adult: At 18 years, adults have finally reached sexual maturity and have fully developed their pheromones. The ability to reproduce is pretty much the only difference between an adult and a young adult, though adults are able to easily overpower young adults due to their larger size and bulk.
Elder: Elder Lesser Bone Leviathans are extremely rare, as most adults don’t make it past 25, let alone the age of 35, which is required to be considered an elder. Elder Lesser Bone Leviathans are powerful, but have slowed down over the years. They barely eat more than is necessary to keep them from dying, as it is difficult for them to catch prey. They often fall victim to Tidekeepers, though they are worth little, as their eyes no longer glow as vibrantly and their bones are more fragile.
Greater Bone Leviathan
Habitat
Greater Bone Leviathans, like their Lesser counterparts, are nomads, though they occasionally settle down in specific areas if food is plentiful there. They can be commonly found at -200m (650ft) sea level, though some may travel above that. Those that settle down often do so in reefs or other places teeming with life. They prefer warmer regions, and are common in the Dragon’s Eye Bay.
Appearance
Greater Bone Leviathans bear a strong resemblance to Lesser Bone Leviathans, so much so that it is rather difficult to tell them apart at first glance. One key difference between them is that Greater Bone Leviathans have eyes that come in cool colors, especially blue and turquoise, rather than the warm colors of the Lesser Bone Leviathan. The most noticeable difference, however, is their lack of teeth due to their diets. They are far bigger than their Greater cousins, with the biggest being more than two times larger than a Tidekeeper.
Abilities/Traits
Greater Bone Leviathans have a few unique abilities, but are otherwise not that special. They can unhinge their jaws to take in more food, similar to how a Basking Shark looks with its mouth open. They’re also sensitive to even the smallest vibrations in the water, and they can withstand far more light than the Lesser Bone Leviathan.
Diet
Despite their terrifying appearance, Greater Bone Leviathans are actually filter feeders and pose no active threat to others. They filter their food through a specially designed filter in their throat, like that of a whale shark.
Temperament
Greater Bone Leviathans can be considered the polar opposites of Lesser Bone Leviathans when it comes to temperament. They are very passive and easy to befriend, as they do not have a reason to be aggressive. The only time when they may truly act out is when they feel scared or threatened, which is rare since they don’t have many predators due to their immense size. They can be considered the gentle giants of the marine world.
Interspecies Relations
Being a peaceful group, Greater Bone Leviathans have positive relationships with most other creatures. They’re even tameable with enough work, and Tidekeepers and Shipwreckers may occasionally keep one as a pet. However, more often than not, Tidekeepers kill them for their eyes and bones, or simply just leave them alone.
Courting Rituals
Like many other creatures, mating season for Greater Bone Leviathans is in the spring and early summer. Greater Bone Leviathans each play an equal part in impressing each other, and males and females can sometimes be seen dancing together as part of their personal courting rituals. Every individual’s approach to courting is different; some appeal with gifts, others with elaborate displays of skills. In the end, once a male and female decide that they like each other, they will mate for life, meeting up together once a year to perform their same courts, pairing with others only if one of them dies. They develop a special pheromone pattern only they can identify, helping them find each other when the time comes.
Life Stages
Being large fish, Greater Bone Leviathans have a slow growth process.
Egg: Females tend to lay their eggs in places like reefs, and will watch over the eggs for two months before leaving them to incubate on their own for the rest of the 10 months it takes for them to get ready. Nests are around one or two dozen eggs each.
Hatchling: When they hatch, Greater Bone Leviathans are small and fairly helpless. They form groups to protect each other until they’re independent, using their numbers to ward off predators. They usually stick around in the coral reefs they were hatched in.
Juvenile: At the age of seven, Greater Bone Leviathans will significantly grow in size. The groups will leave their reefs behind and travel out on the open ocean. During this time, they may come across other groups of Greater Bone Leviathans and merge with them. If a group is large enough, it may even ward away dragons.
Young Adult: 14 years after they’ve hatched and grouped together, Greater Bone Leviathans will disband their groups completely and travel their separate ways, now old and large enough to protect themselves. Young adults are the main target for Tidekeeper pods, as they are around the peak of their physical growth and have the highest quality materials.
Adult: As adults, a stage that begins at 20, Greater Bone Leviathans mainly spend their time feeding. They feed almost constantly, as they need a lot of food to support their large bodies. It’s not recommended to hunt them, as they are fully capable of defending themselves despite not having teeth.
Elder: Greater Bone Leviathans, as elders, are slower and more fragile than they were before. They are far larger at this stage than at any other, and though this may be enough to ward off most predators, there are some who see through the size facade, and are usually the ones to seal the fate of these giants. Even so, Greater Bone Leviathans can live for decades, and the oldest one ever found was 94.
Egg: Females tend to lay their eggs in places like reefs, and will watch over the eggs for two months before leaving them to incubate on their own for the rest of the 10 months it takes for them to get ready. Nests are around one or two dozen eggs each.
Hatchling: When they hatch, Greater Bone Leviathans are small and fairly helpless. They form groups to protect each other until they’re independent, using their numbers to ward off predators. They usually stick around in the coral reefs they were hatched in.
Juvenile: At the age of seven, Greater Bone Leviathans will significantly grow in size. The groups will leave their reefs behind and travel out on the open ocean. During this time, they may come across other groups of Greater Bone Leviathans and merge with them. If a group is large enough, it may even ward away dragons.
Young Adult: 14 years after they’ve hatched and grouped together, Greater Bone Leviathans will disband their groups completely and travel their separate ways, now old and large enough to protect themselves. Young adults are the main target for Tidekeeper pods, as they are around the peak of their physical growth and have the highest quality materials.
Adult: As adults, a stage that begins at 20, Greater Bone Leviathans mainly spend their time feeding. They feed almost constantly, as they need a lot of food to support their large bodies. It’s not recommended to hunt them, as they are fully capable of defending themselves despite not having teeth.
Elder: Greater Bone Leviathans, as elders, are slower and more fragile than they were before. They are far larger at this stage than at any other, and though this may be enough to ward off most predators, there are some who see through the size facade, and are usually the ones to seal the fate of these giants. Even so, Greater Bone Leviathans can live for decades, and the oldest one ever found was 94.