Leviathans

= Leviathans =

Leviathans are an elusive, ginormous, serpentine, race of highly intelligent aquatic beings that dwell across the world's oceans. They are also capable of taking on a more human-like form via a specific ritual, which will last until the counter ritual is undertaken. While most leviathans never leave their oceanic homes or only leave for brief periods, some choose to preform the transformation ritual with the intent of living on land and among land-dwelling races.

Appearance
Adult leviathans tend to be extremely sizable, with most reported sightings estimating around 1000 feet in length, though a few have claimed to see leviathans of many times that size. As sightings of juveniles are substantially rarer than that of adults, their average size is unknown but is estimated to be somewhere from a half to a third as big as an adult leviathan. It is theorized that leviathans' grow continuously as they age, slowing down but never stopping, however this has never been confirmed.

A leviathan's coloring can vary wildly, and, though shades of blues and green seem the most prevalent, leviathans of every color of the rainbow have been spotted at one point or another, and information from deep dwelling merfolk as well as the occasional nocturnal surface sighting have confirmed that at least some leviathans display bioluminescent traits. It has been observed however, that tropical leviathans tend towards brighter and warmer colors, while arctic leviathans tend the opposite. It has also been hypothesized that deep sea dwelling leviathans tend darker and are the ones to display bioluminescence, but there has never been enough data to prove this as universal.

Leviathans that have undertaken the ritual to assume a humanoid form will attain an overall human-like physique and skin coloration as well as gaining a head of hair in a color that is assumed to correlate to their true form in some way. They will retain from their original form some fins in various places (most commonly behind the ears, on the forearms, and on the calves), a set of fangs intermingling with otherwise human passing teeth, and a tail. If the leviathan possesses horns, they might also find themselves retaining those through the transformation as well. In addition, leviathans in humanoid form will find themselves with sharper than normal finger nails.

Subspecies
There are three known and one theorized leviathan subspecies, arctic, tropical, bathypelagic, and abyssopelagic. Arctic and tropical are fairly self explanatory as being leviathans adapted for colder and warmer climates respectively and, as described previously, having coloring reflecting this. They, along with the standard leviathan, are the ones sighted most often. Bathypelagic leviathans are those that live in and are adapted to their namesake zone of the deep sea. The few recorded observations of them have noted similar dark coloring and bioluminescence. The last subspecies of leviathan is only theorized to exist, as no sighting has been reported since the legends of old, and none have ever been confirmed. Abyssopelagic leviathans are presumed, if they do exist to be a rare, gargantuan subspecies with untold abilities. If this subspecies is in-fact real, there could only be a few.

Names
It is said that few will ever have the privilege to hear a leviathan's true name. Very few know why this is, and none are willing to share. Many reasons have been hypothesized, from true names being of cultural or magical significance to the more cynical presumption of arrogance on the leviathans' parts. Whatever the reason, when doing business with others, leviathans will adopt a pseudonym. Whether this pseudonym remains consistent or changes appears to be a personal choice.

Luna Maris Argentea
Luna is the founder of the town of Asterism and a citizen of the Lunari Empire. Not much is publicly known about her background, though she has admitted to being "fairly young for a leviathan" and having a mother of a bathypelagic subspecies and father of an arctic.