Sternothol
The sternothol is the undisputed apex predator of the Endless Southern Sea, a beast whose presence casts a long shadow over the waters. Once dismissed as a myth propagated by barbarian sailors, who named it skjoldmar, it has crept into the realm of the known. Sightings have become more frequent, prompting the Imperial Navy to officially catalog the creature under the name sternothol.
Those who survive its passing speak of a colossal, shell-armored behemoth capable of splintering hulls and dragging entire ships into the briny abyss. Its jagged carapace, ringed with ossified spines the length of a man’s arm, gleams dully in the moonlight. Below this armored dome lies a hide of thick, gnarled leather. Scholars note with unease that such defenses suggest the sternothol is armored for protection. But from what, they dare not guess.
Indeed, though no larger sea-beast has ever been documented in Imperial annals, the brutal, primal design of the sternothol implies a need to withstand assaults from something even more terrible dwelling beyond the edge of the known sea, where Imperial maps surrender to blank parchment and inkless borders.
Some sailors claim the beast is drawn to battle, or perhaps to blood; others that it emerges in silence, drifting below like a continent of dread before breaching in a fury of froth and foam. Whatever its purpose or origin, one thing is certain: where the sternothol rises, death is seldom far behind.
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