The White Sky-Whale

The cloud cities of Rhilladryn dispatch fleets of aether-ships each and every day to gather resources and hunt the various creatures who call the sky realm their home. Amongst the most sought after and lucrative, both in terms of money and resources, are the Sky-Whales. Immense beasts resembling Whales crossed with a squid the Sky-Whales meet, clubber, organs and oils are highly prized by the denizens of the cloud cities and whole fleets of Whale Hunters work to take the beasts down. The Sky-Whales themselves are intelligent enough to try and avoid these flying poachers but their numbers have been greatly reduced in the past century by over hunting.

There is though one Sky-Whale that has upset the balance. It is not prey and instead of avoiding hunters, it seeks them out.

It hunts them, hiding its bulk within cloud banks before emerging to crush its would be killers.

This is the White Sky-Whale.

Records of its attack stretch back at least half a century; this albino Whale with its red eyes and longer than normal tentacles being quite distinct amongst its kind. Why this specimen and not others of its kind has turned aggressive is unknown, yet scores of aether-ships and their crews have been lost either hunting the White Sky-Whale directly or simply running across it on a hunt.

The scant accounts giving by those who have survived its attack describe an immense white whale, its scarred flesh seemingly impervious to harpoons and gunshot. They describing piercing eyes and tentacles that writhe in constant motion. And they whisper how silent it is. It makes none of the usual Whale songs, a beautiful and soulful sound all Hunters know well.

The White Sky-Whale is an utterly silent killer of ships, even as it crashes its bulk down atop them, crushes them in its jaws or wraps its tentacles around hulls and tears through screaming crewmen.

Thus far it has stayed well clear of the cloud-cities, their formidable defences and cannon batteries likely ensuring it will never attack.