The Underwater Shambler
The Underwater Shambler?
Aye, I've seen'im. Dreadful figure, he is, covered in barnackles and seaweed as he stumbles across the bottom of the sea.
Mark my words, he'll eat yer crew if he gets the chance.
Some sailors report having seen a peculiar figure wandering on the bottom of the sea. It looks like a human, though upon observation the figure stays beneath the water for way longer than anyone could hold their breath.
A Source of Many Tales
Several sailors have seen the Shambler on their voyages over the Bay. There's almost as many stories about the Shamblers that there are sailors, some more fantastical and unrealistic than the others.
Children are often warned about bathing in some parts of the Bay, due to being too close to Siren settlements. This is a real threat as Sirens do eat humans. However, in other parts of the Bay it has become more common to warn about the Underwater Shambler instead. This is despite the fact that there are no actual proof that the Shambler will attack humans without reason.
There's no clear consensus on how the Shambler looks. Some say he's a mostly skeletal figure with long, grabby fingers, others describe him as a hulking mass of seaweed with red, glowing eyes. Some say he has shark teeth. Some will tell you he's covered in seaweed, or barnacles, or both. Some says he can turn into a shark, and some of these are adamant about him being a wereshark.
The Truth
A handful of people living around the Bay knows the truth behind this myth. These individuals won't part with the truth easily to protect their shambling friend, though. If too many people actually knew the truth, the man behind the myth might be hunted down and killed.
The truth is that the Underwater Shambler is a Ghoul, created by mistake a long time ago. Nobody is quite sure just how long he's been wandering the sea, but it has at least been half a century. Usually a Ghoul would decompose in a few years, but not this one. Maybe it is the seawater or a deity's influence that prevented him from decay. Nobody really knows. But it will sure be interesting to see how long he'll last.
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