Songs of Reamere: The Beast Approaches

The waters of the Reamere felt warm against Samwell’s wings and nose, where his dense oiled fur wasn’t present to keep the water from reaching his skin. Though Reamere was far from a tropical ocean, it may as well have been on by comparison to the icy waters of the Idamir Sea. The sealife aught to have been much the same however, Samwell knew. He had been here not long before. Small groves of kelp lined the sea shelf, and within them a host of fish, urchins, sea stars, crabs, and other such creatures could be seen. The occasional waddles had also present, sleeping at the water’s surface or diving below to feast on the bounty that the kelp forests provided.
This time however, the lively forests he saw dwindled more and more the further in they went. Only the urchins had seemingly grown in number, their natural predators having been hunted down or fled, leaving them to repopulate unhindered. The effect of this could clearly be seen, groves of kelp having been mowed down by the ravenous spiny creatures, which ate away at the stalks of the kelp until they were cut through, and floated away. Samwell knew that if the urchins were left to continue in this way, the damage to that ecosystem might become irreversible. With this thought in mind, he redoubled his speed.

The weather above the ocean was warm too, a gentle spring breeze playing with the waves. It had been well over a week since he and his rider Anuk left their home in the north, and they were finally approaching their destination, a quaint little fishing town not too far from Sol. Though here the sun was shining, a dense fog could be seen further off shore. Samwell was no stranger to thick sea mists, but given the tales they’d heard, and the reason for their visit there, the lycan knew it would be wise to avoid straying too far from the shoreline, at least until they could gather more information from the town itself.
By that evening, they finally reached the town’s port, where a small fleet of fishing boats and larger vessels sat docked. It was an unusual site, so many ships in such a small port. Samwell reckoned non of the sailors and their crew were willing to leave and risk attack by the mysterious beast haunting the Reameren waters, and so their vessels sat idle. No one bold enough to come and help them, no one brave enough to leave. The sun having already gone down, the town was filled with lights from the windows of various shops, houses, and taverns, as well as a lanterns posted at regular intervals. These lights reflected off the waters, dancing with the shining pinpricks of the stars as the surface rippled gently. Samwell though he aught to have heard the merriment of people joining together for the evening, but the town was mostly quiet, as though the people feared to draw in the fabled beast with the sounds of merry making.

Finding an unoccupied strip of dock, Samwell pulled the sea sled snug against it. Anuk stood and stretched, his legs having grown stiff from sitting for so long. He then hopped over the side onto the dock and began securing it to the dock posts, before unharnessing Samwell from it. The lycan’s fur was disheveled and matted down slightly where the straps had been, but it was nothing a little grooming wouldn’t fix. Anuk gave him a firm pat on the head.

“Good work Sam, you rest now, and get what food you can in you. I’ll see what information I can gather here.”

Samwell watched with dark eyes as the man walked across the docs and into a nearby tavern, then he slipped into the water…

Late that following morning, Samwell woke to the sound of his rider’s footsteps on the dock. The lycan hadn’t had much luck in located food that night, and had settled on a few mouthfuls of urchins, so he was grateful when Anuk tossed him a large fish.

“That’s all I can bring you I’m afraid.” The old man said solemnly. “The people here truly are in dire need of help. The fish had almost all but run out, as you have seen.”

“Are we to venture into the mists today?”

“Yes.” The man answered. “Though not by the sled. You see that ship there, the Nullarbor, it’s captain wishes us to accompany it. He seeks out the beast as well, but few of his crew members dare join him. I will do such, which will allow you to swim beside the ship.”

Samwell looked to the ship. It was one of the largest docked there, alongside the sea sled.

“Would not the sled be faster and more maneuverable?”

Anuk shook his head. “The sled would, but not yourself. This way, you can remain unharnessed to it.”

The lycan supposed this made sense, though he was more worried with the safety of his human than himself. Still, he agreed to it, and by midday they had set off. The captain of the ship, Wayre, seemed like an experienced man, much like Anuk himself. Knowing this, Samwell felt more at ease. The rest of the crew seemed much younger, and all them were rather curious about him, having never seen a sea lycan before. As he swam alongside the ship, he saw a few of them watching him between tending to the rigging. The Nullarbor was swift for it’s size. It did not take long to reach to reach the thick veil of fog, which has persisted from the previous day. The captain’s visibility limited, Samwell helped to guide the ship in a straight course, and avoid the stray seastacks which protruded from the waves.
After a time, they had finally cleared the fog, and found themselves amidst the vast open ocean, sun shining down warmly on their mist-dampened clothes. Samwell dove deep beneath the water’s surface and began to circle, sensing for any sign of a large predatory seabeast. Isn’t wasn’t long before his whiskers began to pick up on strange vibrations in the water, and soon after, a stream of bubbles rose up from the dark depths below him.
Samwell wasted no time to cut swiftly though the water to the surface. Moments later he breached the waves where the ship waited.

“Below us!” He warned, just as a bellow erupted from directly below. Whatever this beast was, it was headed immediately for them, and did not sound pleased. As the occupants of the Nullarbor scrambled to ready the ship for impact, Samwell dove back beneath the water and poised himself to attack. He would not allow for the Nullarbor to be sunk.

Moments later Samwell could begin to see the shape of the creature heading toward them, a massive sea serpent with hooked jaws and sharp fins. It was headed straight for them, but something seemed off about the manor of it’s approach. For one thing, it did not appear to be slowing down. There was no time to analyze it however. It reach them in a matter of seconds. At Anuk’s instruction, the crew of the Nularbor tossed thick rope into the water, the other end having been tied to the ship. Samwell grabbed the rope in his teeth and began to pull with all his strength so as to move the ship out of the serpent’s path. The sturdy wooden hull was much heavier than the sea sled, however Samwell manage to get it moving, the sails being angled to catch the breeze and aid in it’s flight across the ocean’s surface.

Looking back, he saw that the serpent hadn’t changed it’s course, however with it’s long arching movements, they were not entirely in the clear. Never in all his years had Samwell seen such a truly colossal beast. It looked as though it’s long body stretched for miles, and was thick enough around to swallow the Nullabor whole if it so desired. It loosed a wailing sound, and a second later it was passing them, some of it’s long scaly coils striking against the ship as it went. Samwell had kept pulling the ship to the side, but the impact sent it lurching forward with the sound of scales scraping away wood. The timbers moaned as it was knocked away, out of the creature’s reach, and the waves from the serpent caused the ship to rock violently. Some of the crew was scrambling below deck to see if the hull had been breached, while the captain shouted orders to the others to man the harpoons, before then ordering Sam to pull the ship around towards it. As the sea lycan did so, he could hear the sharp twangs of the harpoons being loosed at the beast. Then one of them hit it’s mark, the rope snapping taught, and the ship lurched into motion again, this time alongside the beast. Samwell used his rope to keep the Nullarbor to the side of the creature, rather than back behind it where it’s coils would resume striking the ship. However it eventually dove back down below enough to be safe, and Sam released the rope from his teeth, swimming swiftly alongside the ship as they begun to travel Northward...