Livyatans

Deep within The Horizon Ocean lie creatures of such size that they beguile the imagination.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Livyatans have very little consistent traits. There is active scientific debate on wether Livyatans are actually not so much a single species, as a phenomenon that occurs across different species. If they are one species, their morphology is incredibly diverse and, for lack of a better word, sloppy. Livyatans exhibit tumors and half-formed structures larger than most creatures will ever grow.
Most Livyatans are somewhere between 20 meters long, up to 100 meters. The largest ever recorded, Tyran, was 400 meters in length.

Ecology and Habitats

Livyatans live and grow in the deep ocean trenches that scar the Horizon Ocean between Kosai, Daelin, and Ebrin. At some given point, perhaps due to lack of food, Livyatans emerge to the ocean's surface, where they wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Livyatans have been known to menace ocean ecosystems and decimate wet shipping between the continents since record keeping began.

Dietary Needs and Habits

How Livyatans feed is a mystery, as when they live near the ocean's surface, they destroy it. Despite the breakdown of the food web where they live, Livyatans survive. According to the known laws of physics and biology, there is not one example of a lone Livyatan occupying a territory with the calorie-richness to sustain its massive size. By all accounts, they should waste away and starve within years of surfacing. Despite this, they remain.

Additional Information

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Livyatans were used extensively during the War of the World Tumor, exclusively weaponized by the invading Cancers. Due to the Cancers' affinity for the beasts, many have since theorized that Livyatans are a form of Cancer themselves. Similar to how environmental factors can slowly mutate a human into a Cancer, some scholars theorize that Livyatans are merely mundane sea life exposed to the same factors.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Livyatans are normally given the names of historical beasts and monsters from the folklore and mythology of Apaea's myriad cultures. Of course, this is not a helpful explanation, as many cultures' monsters are based on human experiences with Livyatans. Aside from mythic allusion, there is no consistent naming scheme for Livyatans.

History

Livyatans have been with humanity since prehistory. As long as humans have sailed the Horizon, they have known of the places where monsters lie. Twice did the Silver Empire declare them eradicated, only for them to return. 
While there have been many notorious Livyatans through history, "Tyran" is the most prominent. Named for the ancient enemy of Taika, in the Silver Empire's founding myth, Tyran menaced the southwest Horizon Ocean for 1700 years. It was only after the War of the World Tumor, and the invading Cancer's use of Livyatans as machines of war, that Tyran would be slain by the newly crowned emperor Axiozuzno. In the coming years, the mythical villain and historical Livyatan would become a symbol for human resistance to Silver rule.

Scientific Name

Livyatan Megamutatis

Conservation Status

Livyatans were once though exterminated during the Silver Age, on multiple occasions. Each time, their population bounced back, and they are now accepted as a part of their ecosystem in many parts of the ocean.

Geographic Distribution

• The Horizon Ocean