Kraken

The long-lived lords of the seas, lying dormant for decades and causing destruction to fulfill their inscrutable goals.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Krakens can grow to be well over one thousand feet long, and well over sixty thousand tons. They possess draconic heads, with single-hued eyes and six to twelve rows of jagged teeth, easily enough to bite a ship in half. They have large frills on their heads and spiny, scaled torsos with paw-like flippers. Their tails, whale-like in structure, provide about half of their length, and between forty and eighty tentacles, which can grow to be up to six hundred feet long, ring their hips.

Genetics and Reproduction

Krakens only have a single biological sex, referred to by scholars as X. Since krakens are so infused with magic, it takes quite potent magics to create one. Every thousand to two thousand years, a kraken will create one to three eggs within its womb and hold them there for three months as the egg itself develops. It then manifests potent magics to spark life within the egg, after which the egg is ejected and gestates outside of the parent for another year.

Growth Rate & Stages

A newborn kraken is only about two feet in length, and is referred to as a pup until it is fifty years of age. A pup grows at a rather slow rate, and is not yet fully mature. Pups require their parent to help protect them and feed them. Once it is around fifty years old, it is known as a squall, at which point most of its development occurs. A squall, until it is about five hundred years old, grows at a very fast rate, and most are about two hundred and sixty feet long by the time they finish their squall growth spurt. Kraken squalls also undergo a strange process known as planeshifting, which is thought to be an evolutionary advantage to help kraken proliferate despite their infrequent reproduction. Planeshifting is fairly straightforward, in that every few decades a squall will, instantly be transported to another plane. The kraken does not have control over which plane it goes to, but it always arrives in a plane and place which is not immediately dangerous to it. Because of this planeshifting, a mere two generations of kraken can quickly spread across the multiverse. Beyond five hundred years old, the kraken no longer planeshifts, and its growth slows down significantly. It is at this point that a kraken is considered mentally and sexually mature, being able to create eggs and hold intelligent conversations at about the level of a moderately-educated adult human. Scholars have been unable to identify the maximum age of a kraken, or even if they have one. Kraken continue to grow as they age, in both size and power. Because of this, older kraken are very rare, as they can quickly become seen as a powerful threat which entire armies or even the gods themselves strike down. The oldest recorded kraken across the entire multiverse was just over forty thousand years old when he died, and had grown to be over fifteen hundred feet long. It took four armies and fifty of the globe's most powerful mages to put him down, and the ensuing battle lasted eighteen days, resulted in twenty million deaths, and caused the sinking of an entire continent.

Ecology and Habitats

Krakens, despite their large size and destructive reputation, are actually very docile most of the time. They make their homes in caverns or beneath shelves at the bottom of the ocean, and often cultivate gardens and livestock there. They tend to prefer colder temperatures, but have been seen nesting in tropical waters as well.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Despite their incredible size, most kraken require very little food, comparatively. They are omnivores, and primarily eat kelp and small fish. It is commonly thought that kraken must always be on the move, as their feeding disrupts the ecosystem, but they do not actually eat enough to do so.

Biological Cycle

Being as long-lived as they are, kraken's biological cycles can take decades or even centuries. They are only ready to create an egg every few millennia, and they often hibernate for decades, though it is unknown precisely why they hibernate.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Due to planeshifting, it is incredibly rare that two kraken will ever be on the same plane at the same time, discounting pups.

Average Intelligence

About equivalent to an elven scholar

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Krakens have rather poor hearing when out of water, but possess a form of truesight along with their regular eyesight, which is incredibly detailed.

Lifespan

Unknown. The oldest living kraken was over forty thousand years old.

Average Height

Two hundred and twenty feet

Average Weight

Forty thousand tons

Average Length

One thousand feet

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Kraken scales tend to be copper, bronze, black, grey, or green. They often have red or white markings on their faces, and the inner sides of their tentacles are tinged the same color as their facial markings.