Every Dredge Aberration (2024) , Part 12
Twisting tendrils thwarted, then followed down,
by the flotsam’s single-minded greed.
Unyielding until they have found what they need,
so very soon they too, can feed
on nature distorted and innocence drowned. ₊˚.༄
Crown of Nadir
Encyclopedia #169
Aberrant form of crown of thorns
Description:
A fractal gateway, reaching beyond the abyss. From its maw whispers a call from below.
Comment: It resembles uncomfortably the crab pot boon from one of the shrines- Mouth of the Deep. Perhaps one of these was involved in its construction. Despite this creature's association with the water, "Nadir" is a celestial term. In the astronomical sense, it directs to a point on the sphere one stands on directly under the observer's current location. It means below one in the sense of the lowest bottom possible, and taken from the literal Arabic, "opposite". For pondering's sake, if symbolic link from the name “crown of thorns" is to Jesus of Nazareth, ask yourself what more fitting a name could be given to this cosmic perversion than Crown of Nadir? | have no answer, myself.
How to catch: Must be captured by a large enough crab pot. Requires 9 squares of inventory and is only found at depths of 5 meters or shallower in the Basin.
Entangled Crab
Encyclopedia #170
Aberrant form of blue crab
Description:
Glistening purple strings sprout from solid rock, tying and untying themselves. They fall way and whither, making way for new knots.
Comment: Can barely be recognized as the crustacean it supposedly once was. A lovely color of sea spaghetti, at least, and this is a good thing, since the painter will be wanting one towards unlocking the royal purple pigment.
How to catch: Dwells the same depth and areas as the crown of thorns starfish, while only taking up 2 slots, making it suitable for smaller traps if checked frequently.
Imperious Lobster
Encyclopedia #171
Aberrant form of Spiny Lobster
Description:
Iridescent purple feelers recoil from the dry air. Sacs of violet fluid embedded in its carapace begin to drain.
Comment: No answers in sight as to what this fluid is, or its purpose, but there has been discovered a much better function- mixing into a stylish new coat of paint for the fisherman's vessel.
How to catch: A pot catch that actually does not overlap with the zone of the previous two. Place traps between 5 and 50 meters in the Basin.
Mimic slug ˚.༄
Encyclopedia #172
Aberrant form of sea slug
Description:
Foolish morsels of the deep make mistakes they will not live to regret.
Comment: A slug befallen a hideous sort of infection, or an entirely new visitor with a picky selection of prey? Nudibranch often are toxic, or themselves mimics… of their toxic relatives. This makes fairly interesting the theory that this aberrant’s resemblance to these slugs, which try so hard to deter threats with their appearance, is actually meant to draw in their narrow would-be predators, quite possibly the genuine specimens they impersonate. I find amusing though a speculation that there are even stranger Deep dwellers we haven’t yet seen, and how their appetites may crave the promise of danger that most life is wired to fear or find distasteful.
How to catch: The trickster is, ironically enough, easily fooled itself. Any crab pot will do, provided appropriate placement over a tarry patch at sea level to 25 meters of depth.