#depth maiden

[pleb-the-original]

Day 2: Animal

(At first the animals I kept finding in the codex were all prehistoric in nature and I honestly did not want to go back to Prehistoric Paradise this soon. Then I found the Buru and figured it'd be interesting to see how hell handles a creature that is believed to be extinct by humans)

Buru Welfare Project Report 1

Things have gone a lot smoother than initially predicted. The Buru in captivity still kept to their wild instincts, even attacking one of the workers while they were attempting to lure it into the transport aquarium. I was worried that their time spent with the monster keepers would've sanded off some of their wild instincts but it appears their cruel nature outweighs the comfort of free food and shelter. Our initial plan was to dump the Buru population into a cordoned off area of the lake wherein they would be able to acclimate to the water's condition and the scent of the Depth Maidens before getting into contact with them. This enclosure would've also allowed us to test their hunting capabilities to see if they had regressed during their care. This did not go as plan. One of the Depth Maidens swam especially close to the net that bordered the area. We believe that a Buru that did not recognize the scent perceived the new stimulus as a threat and proceeded to rip through the netting. The Depth Maiden, sensing the aggression in the Buru, then went into an aggressive state as well which caused the two beings to wrestle each other violently. The commotions soon attracted other Depth Maidens which then completely ripped the net apart to get to the other Buru to wrestle them as well causing a frenzy that no one on our team dared risk interfering with. We worried how this event would effect the relations between the two species but after the brawl was settled, we spotted the Depth Maidens actually giving a select few Buru a helping of fish. The two species now coexist together in the lake with amicable grace towards each other. Our hypothesis was that the brawl that occurred acted as a test of dominance, similar to play fighting in many animals. The Buru most likely passed the test and earned the respect of the Depth Maidens due to their aggressive hunting prowess. We will now continue forward confident in the welfare of the Buru. Although we may need to look into artificially increasing the population of prey animals.

[pleb-the-original]

Day 26: Sea Creature

(Wow, I knocked this one out fast after the last one. Also I’m on my laptop so proper formatting this time. Since I already did an Atlantean creature, I didn’t wanna rehash that again despite how easy it would be. So I went for the hell mermaids. Because why wouldn’t hell have mermaids? It’s also another cited book entry, these are actually pretty fun to write.) Being creatures of myths themselves, it is of course no shock that our resident Depth Maidens have garnered both a fearsome reputation as well as a myriad of false information about them. For example, the many myths about the origins of Depth Maidens. Being mermaid adjacent, many beings think that Depth Maidens come from demons having relations with Atlanteans. Some believe that they come from demons having relations with ningyo or other aquatic yokai. Some also say the ningyo themselves act almost like the incubi and succubi of old to Atlanteans and assault them in the night. In my research, I have found the true origin of Depth Maidens. They are indeed tied to the ningyo, but not in the way most people expect. The first recorded Depth Maiden birth occurred from an incident wherein a ningyo was accidentally struck with a lust snail dart. The ningyo in its lustful stupor managed to make its way into Echidna’s chamber wherein it proceeded to, in layman’s terms, lay upon the monster. I interviewed Echidna after this discovery and she said she fully consented in this incident. Although she would not contest as to why she allowed the ningyo upon her, she did contest what to the first Depth Maiden was like. Despite rumors of variations and subspecies within the species, Depth Maidens keep a lot of very similar traits. Echidna attested to that first Depth Maiden keeping the same traits of their venomous tentacles, their shark-like teeth, their hagfish slime production, and their trademark mindless ruthlessness. Further research then showed that that initial Depth Maiden proceeded to actually prove to be fertile and lay roe somewhere in Siren’s Canyon. A group of scientists from Titivillus’ program recorded the species and then proceeded to fertilize the roe that had been laid. Contrary to common belief, there is no such thing as a truly wild Depth Maiden. They act wild, but all Depth Maidens are a part of a controlled population in Siren’s Canyon. So far I have not heard of any plans to introduce them into other areas although I have heard of feral Depth Maidens escaping to other watery areas of hell. The Leviathan himself has been considering adding Depth Maidens to the list of watery spirits that Atlanteans can be incarnated into but introducing Depth Maidens to the mortal realm has been contested by those who want to preserve the exclusivity of our wildlife here in hell. I am biased myself and believe Depth Maidens should stay where they belong. The Depth Maiden’s sheer propensity for terror is an underworld exclusive and I for one am glad that they swim only in our waters, for better or for worse.  (Living Among the Dead: A Bestiary of Hell’s Natives pg. 36)