Lakara Sea Creature Competition [Open to All!]

Since I’ve come back into the position of leader of the seas, I’ve noticed that the variety of life down there has been… rather lacking. I thought it would be a good opportunity to allow the community to express their creativity, allow them a chance to have their creation a part of the official DH lore, and a chance to grab up an upcoming rank in the Lakaran tribe: an advisor.

Lixemi (Advisors) have two roles; helping the Occimi (ruler) with duties related to the advisor’s specialty and making sure things get done in their section. While the Occimi still has full control over the tribe, the advisors serve as their helpers, especially in areas where the Occimi might not have as much knowledge or experience. Even though some advisors help lead certain sections of the tribe, the Occimi can take over those sections when they want, such as taking over the navy during a war if they’re inclined, but can still get advice and help from their advisor.

Lixemi Omeunis (General Advisor): Helps the Occimi with general parts of leadership, such as appearances, speeches, behavior, etc.
Convultaus Exotilum (Foreign Relations): Aids the Occimi with foreign affairs and works with the General Advisor with appearances when meeting.
Convultaus Thunorim (Civilian Relations): Plans festivals and activities, as well as raises concerns from the voice of the people.
Lixemi Aquermor (Navy Advisor): Controls and organizes the navy and gives updates on how they are faring.
Lixemi Ceristus (Farming Advisor): Oversees farming and helps plan future improvement and land designation.
Lixemi Procinon (Architecture Advisor): Oversees buildings, construction, and city planning.
Lixemi Regodaquer (Law Advisor): Helps create and manage rules and regulations for the tribe.

There are a lot of different types of creatures that can be made, and because there are a lot of advisor positions that will need to be filled, I’ve made different categories that you can submit your creatures into. Each category will have a main winner that will receive their advisor.
To encourage creativity, I want you to interpret what you think each category means and build your creature for the one that speaks the most to you, or make your creature first and decide which category it fits into! Choose whatever way fits you. Also, just because a category may mention a certain place of feature (ex. Teeth, coral) doesn't mean that your creature has to have those things.


Rules

    1. All entries must follow the site rules, including no NSFW artwork or descriptions.

    2. All entries must be your own original work. They may have elements of designs from other works such as myths and games, but ultimately the name, description, and/or artwork must be your own. Any entries found to be plagiarized will be immediately disqualified.

    3. Only a description of your creature is required to enter. Art and other details can be used to enhance your entry but will not guarantee a winning spot. The more interesting and unique your creature is, the more likely you are to win.

    4. You may submit multiple entries, however only one of your entries will be considered to win the advisor position. If there is a category that you believe you will be the strongest in, feel free to mark which entry you want reviewed. Each applicant may only win one advisor position.

    5. Even if your entry does not win you an advisor position, by entering into this competition you give the right to the site to use every aspect of your entry for official lore purposes, with proper credit. All entries will be run by the staff for approval into the DH lore. If the staff do not agree with a creation, it may be altered to fit or not added at all. They have final say over what can or can not be added to the website.

    6. Approved and added entries will be credited to the creator on site within the Lakaran tribe information. However, Zolt, and any future Lakaran Occimi, have the right to modify, with the staff’s approval, any entries to fit into the Lakaran lore and world. For example, if there is no mention of a specific size for your creature, then the Occimi may put one in. Entries may be reworded within the lore, but the overall idea will be conserved.

    7. When submitting your entry, please put a brief overview of your potential advisor character, including preferred position, before your creature information so I know you read the rules. If you would not want to receive an advisor as a prize, please state so in your entry. Potential advisors can be a currently active Lakaran character, an old character being repurposed, an entirely new character, or any character that is rightfully yours. For lore reasons, the character must be a member of the Lakara tribe to receive the position, not a rogue or member of another tribe (to the Lakara’s knowledge). Advisors must also be an adult character, as no adolescent or hatchling would be given the position. Remember, in the eyes of the lore and site this is a serious position, so please make/have a character that would reflect that when needed. Refer to the example entry for how this section should look, but take any creative liberties in your description as needed. The advisor section will only be looked at as proof of rule reading and will not affect your chances of winning thereafter. If you have any questions about your potential advisor, please contact Zolt either through dm on site or, preferably, on discord.

    8. The winners of each category will be ranked, and the top winner will get first pick of their advisor position, moving to the next and so on. Do not be mad if your first pick gets chosen before you are able to get it. Please be prepared to get any of the available advisor positions.

    9. After winning an advisor role, the position is not guaranteed to be forever. If the Lakaran Occimi decides to look at advisor activity and open up positions that have not been active, then they are free to do so. If you are not going to be active, or do not want your advisor anymore, please let the Occimi know so that they can plan accordingly.

Note (For discord-only users): If you would like to enter but do not have an on-site account, send your entry to Zolt on discord and it will be posted for you!

Entry Template:

Code:

[b]Onsite Username:[/b] (If this is not your main account, what is your main username on the site?)
[b]Offsite Profile Link:[/b] (If you are known elsewhere [Ex. Deviantart, Instagram, YouTube, etc.] and would like your creature to be linked back to you, put a link to your account here.)
[b]Category:[/b] (Which category are you entering your creation into?)

[u][b]Creature Information[/b][/u]
(Under here is where you put all of the information for your creature. You can format however you like, but the bare minimum is a written description. If you have any images, put them here)

Entry Example:

Onsite Username: Zolt
Offsite Profile Link: https://toyhou.se/Kfalash
Category: Watery Reflections [Note: This is the category that I felt fit best for my creature, however I could also see it going under Sands of Time. Pick which one speaks to your creature the best!]
Advisor: Minnow. Adult female, blue-scaled drake. A happy dragon with an intense love for all creatures who would love to be in charge of the farms (Lixemi Ceristus).

Creature Information

Balcruna anucitus is a whale-like creature. Their strength, docile nature, and long lifespans have made them a vital part of Lakaran culture. They are typically found as aquaculture aids, helping farmers collect their crops and haul it around, however, there are some Lakarans who keep them solely for pets. No killing is allowed of Balcruna’s of any kind under Lakaran law.

When a B. anucitus gets old and has difficulty swimming, a Lakaran tradition is to find an empty spot on the seafloor to set them to rest. Their body allows for new life to grow where it was once decolate.

Advancements from the Lakaran breeding program have caused these creatures to grow up to 40 feet tall and 120 feet long, weighing in at 150 tons. Babies are typically 30 feet in length and weigh up to 8,000 pounds. [Note: Your creature does not need to have an in-depth relationship with the Lakara tribe, or any relation at all. However, it is likely that sea dragons and potentially terrestrial dragons will come into contact with them eventually.]

Onsite Username: Jayderg
Offsite Profile Link: N/A
Category: The Water has Teeth
Advisor: Larumi - Calculated and cold on the job, a little nicer off the job. He's a medium sized wyrm with a mostly white and blue complexion. Would prefer to be a Law Advisor (Lixemi Regodaquer)

Creature Information

Name: Vyrumix
Fancy Name: Tyrannicae Timoris

Appearance: Vyrumix are large, mostly navy blue and black creatures. The pattern of their scales can vary between individuals, but the colours remain about the same. They have vaguely dragon-like faces … except for the fact that it actually splits open to reveal several rows of jagged teeth. The inside of its mouth is partially bioluminescent, often emitting a deep, blood-red colour, most likely to invoke fear in its prey. Its lower body is a mass of 17-23 bladed tentacles. Its upper body is also dragon-like, with large spikes going down its spine, and a long neck, where its gills are located. The typical size for these creatures is around 65 feet in length, and 35 feet in height. The largest Vyrumix ever recorded was 87 feet long, and 46 feet tall, and the smallest adult was 48 feet long, and 23 feet tall. They tend to weigh in at 35-45 tons. The babies have a lighter colouration to them, and are usually around 17 feet long and 9 feet tall, weighing in at ~4 tons

Behaviour: The Vyrumix live mostly in the deeper parts of the ocean, but they come closer to the surface to hunt. They tend to wander around while idle, searching for something to eat, or just doing nothing. They try to kill pretty much anything they see, it is unknown why they are so aggressive, but they are, to everything, even creatures larger than them. They will relentlessly pursue anything they've begun to hunt, being known to go so far as to drag themselves on to land momentarily to catch amphibious creatures.

Abilities/Weaponry: The Vyrumix have bladed tentacles, as mentioned before. These tentacles are able to make very precise movements, but can also move at startlingly fast speeds. They are smart, but not sentient. They are able to track prey through more than simply sensory organs, and can often perform basic problem solving tasks, as well as having a good sense of object permanence. Their most frightening weapon is their innate ability to create noises very similar to the call of a dragon pleading for help, that along with their false face can create a trap for dragons who just want to help. Lastly, they can digest bones. Which is only a problem if you're already dead.

Relationships With Dragons: Obviously, they are not well liked among dragons, given their kill-on-sight nature. They seem to especially enjoy going after dragons, and it's hard to explain why. They even adapted to have the dragon-looking false face over time. However, the Vyrumix are said to make an amazing meal if you can manage to not become its meal.

Onsite Username: Solarlight and Darksky
Offsite Profile Link:Nope
Category: Life of the Corals
Advisor: Trench, an eastern dragon more likely to be spotted researching various sea creatures than interacting with others. She can come off as a bit uninterested and absent minded, though this usually means she’s starting to connect dots on things.

Creature Information
Reef Krakens are a strange colonial creature. While the main creature is a shelled cephalopod, the shell supports a coral colony. The corals and Kraken seem to have a form of symbiotic relationship, though the full nature of it isn't know. These creatures are ambush predators by nature, and can remain near motionless for years at a time if needed, possibly being sustained by their coral colony. It is also unknown what a baby Reef Kraken looks like, as they have never been observed, which has made studying their growth extremely difficult.

On rare occasions, these creature's will get incredibly large, and can sometimes be mistaken for small islands, or sea mountains, and are given the name Direkrakens. These immense creatures are even a danger to dragons unlucky enough to not notice the beast in time.

Onsite Username: Tharasis
Offsite Profile Link: N/A
Category: Sands of Time

Creature Information
(Under here is where you put all of the information for your creature. You can format however you like, but the bare minimum is a written description. If you have any images, put them here)



Name: Veshivera

Description: A large turtle like creature, towering between around anywhere from 80-150 feet in height, and going anywhere in terms of length up to 300 feet. Their most prominant feature is a giant spiked shell on their backs, alongside sporting a rather large fin tail. The most notable of which is the 2 longer and thicker spikes, a pronged fork of sorts. Allowing the Veshivara to excavate the sea floor, and even fight off enemies should it need be. But it also allows the Veshivera to swim through the waters.

The Veshivera is also known for their large reefs of coral and other sea life that take residence on their shells, forming miniature eco systems. Filled with corals, and other underwater fishes and plants.

Nature and information: Veshivera's are often docile creatures, even when faced with a threat they often swim away with their fast speeds. And only ever retaliate if cornered or severely wounded, they are rather self reserved and often times shy. They are curious in some ways. Often using their large tail fin to dig up unknown objects that they find interest in, or to simply see rocks raise up and fall back down as some form of entertainment. They also often move in herds, in sizes that range 8-18, but those numbers can often raise to as high as 30. But these are often observed to only happen during mating period, and when such herds have given birth to their young.

Female Veshivera and males, are often distinguished by their colors. With males having a coat of darker green compared to lighter green for females.

Veshivera youngs are laid in eggs, usually in clusters of 3-6. The sizes of such eggs can reach up to 10 feet in height. Veshivera are known to be monogamous creatures, often spending their entire lives with only one mate. Though a very rare occasion occurs when a female or male may take another should their current mate suddenly disappear. With mateship, Veshivera are very cooperative with one another when taking care of their young, both having duties of their own. For instance, the female relies on the male to take the eggs after laying, and deposits them into the females spike shell. Where coral colonies, and other sea foliage make for a good nest alongside the shell itself offering protection.

When the young hatches, Veshivera young called "Eshavera" stay very close to their mother and father, often hiding on their spike shells. From which they spend the next 10 years with their mother and father growing and learning how to survive. During this time, couples of Veshivera's with youngs often come together to form "Family schools" where groups of up to 6 to 12 pairs help one another to protect each other and their children. A very interesting observation from this is that children from these schools often. Once matured, stay together, forming little herds of their own when they separate from their parents, Eshvara's often separate from the family school with their fellow brothers and sisters. Only do Eshavera go completely alone after spending 1 last year together with their friends to either go find a mate, or to develop their shell reef and coral colonies.

During their first few years alone once matured. Veshivera often travel far and wide to search for many corals and reefs, often once found. They use their tail fin to scoop up the reef and deposit it onto their back, they continue to do this until they feel that they have sufficiently acquired enough sea foliage to start their own colony on the shell. The main reason for this is that these colonies, give the Veshivera a sustainable source of food, one that they can always rely on should food become scarce, alongside that. It allows them to blend better with the sea floor when they sleep. And as for females, corals and sea foliage colonies give their shells a soft overlay of sea foliage. Allowing them to use it as a nest for their young.

Veshivera's are known to live up to between 500 and 1000 years.

History: Veshivera's have been seen, written, and even studied by dragon kind from as far back as 50,000 thousand years ago. With the first pages and art depicting them and sea dragons forming relations, and sometimes even a sort of friendship. Dragons from past records have been noted to have tried to domesticate Veshiveras. And while to some extent this has worked. With some art from old Lakaran books showing dragons using Veshivera's to sow their sea floors with lush colonies of corals and other sea life foliage. They are often regarded as a stoic and calm creatures by many books. Some connecting the Veshivera with serenity and peace. They have even been used in fiction to depict lifestyles and to answer deep questions about life. Because of their ability to live for as long as dragons. In many Lakaran books, Veshivera's are sometimes used as an example for dragons. Be it in some form of a wisdom word, or perhaps and insight. Or maybe even a comparison. But despite all that, it is agreed by many. That the Veshivera's have played a big part in Lakaran society.

Today, Veshivera's are still plentiful. And can be found anywhere if you look hard enough. From the deepest depths, to the shallowest seas. The Lakarans see them a lovely creatures, and value them dearly.



Significant notes:

Because of their shells having large colonies of corals and other sea foliage, it is often an observed thing that Veshivera's are considered the "Seas Bees" Where on land, a bee spreads pollen to the world, the Veshivera spread Corals on the sea floor. And because Veshivera's often travel far and wide, they often bring with them many species of corals and other sea floor plants.

Fishes, and sometimes even other predators use the Veshivera shell as a home to keep themselves safe from other predators. Such predators have been observed to even go as far as to restrain themselves from feasting onto a Veshivera's eggs, and even so when they have hatched. Les they face the wrath and lose their home from an angry Veshivera. Some predators and fish even form a sort of mutualism relationship with Veshivera, in where in exchange for protecting their young and or their coral colonies from predators or parasites, Veshivera's offer them a safe home where they can rest and live if they so choose.

In the Lakara, it is highly prohibited to hunt Veshivera, the price for offenders caught hunting Veshivera's can range from years of imprisonment to even death.

Onsite Username: Whispering Soul
Offsite Profile Link: https://www.deviantart.com/fienduredraws
Category: Sands of Time
Advisor:   Johalan, Adult white scaled male drake , A blind dragon who seems to “see” more than he lets on. He has a way with words and cares deeply for the drakes of the Lakara Tribe. (Convultaus Thunorim) (chosen or not he will become an actual character!)

Creature Information
Giant "Pygmy" Angel Jellyfish
(Large Adult with single, one year old offspring pictured below)





The Giant Pygmy Angel Jellyfish is deceivingly named, accidentally categorized by the youngest, and smallest of its species, as a fully grown specimen is hard to find- it is still common to find them incorrectly described in oceanology guides. The true size of an adult Pygmy Angel is yet to be discovered, with the largest specimens -all adolescents, maxing out at a tentacle length of 100 ft, and a bell width of 62 ft. It roams large swaths of deep sea trenches, grazing and looking for opportunities to scavenge. Every few years or so, they return to the sea floor to reproduce, and create young.
Upon birth the Pygmy gathers a sandy shell around its vulnerable bell, sticking close to their parents until they are at least 20 ft in length.

At first glance, one would think the Pygmy Angel isn’t a Jellyfish, due to its odd adornments. The Jellyfish is very soft, vulnerable to attacks from sharks, leviathans, any predator that can outmaneuver its appendages, so in defense, from a young age, they pick up skeletons, sand, from the sediment and muck upon the sea floor, often gravitating towards leviathan and dragon bones, stringing many skulls or ribcages, even entire skeletons around their bells, wrapped together with odd nematocyst structures that deliver a deadly sting, and painful venom.

Some older Pygmy's have been known to manipulate the jaws of the skulls on their shells to bite at enemy's in a sort of macabre puppetry.

Surprisingly, opposed to other jellyfish, the Pygmy is generally a herbivorous creature, feeding on algae, kelp, and any dead organisms that float their way. It has also been observed feasting upon unattended dragon eggs, before wearing the shells. Strangely, they have been seen preying on [i]only[i/] dragon eggs, avoiding any other species’ unhatched young.

All Pygmy Angel Jellyfish are [i]extremely[i/] dangerous. They are not docile herbivores. Upon spotting any sort of large, threatening creature in their roaming grounds, (it is unknown to how they are aware of predatory presence, as they do not possess any eyes, just a very convincing pair of eyespot markings), it will rush the threat, gathering all their skeletal shells around their bell to protect their delicate insides, while swinging their tentacles and nematocysts recklessly towards the threat, in an effort to drive them out or kill them. This does prove an issue to ships sailing through Pygmy Angel territory. It is thought that the jellyfish incorrectly perceive the shadows of ships as the outlines of leviathans, and rush out to defend their territory. Thankfully, most attacks on boats prove to be nonfatal, with ships only sustaining slightly scratches from the jelly’s protective shells, and crew sustaining light injuries consisting of a few stings. However, encounters with adult or ancient Pygmy Angels prove to be very dangerous. With some adult Pygmy’s being the size of common seafaring vessels, they could, if they desired, take out a ship by breaching its hull with its collection of skulls and skeletons.

Pygmy Angel’s possess quite the venerable lifespan, being known to live way past a century, with some suggesting the jellyfish may be immortal like its much tinier relatives, regenerating and reverting to a younger form when “killed”. The best way to judge how old a Giant Pygmy Jelly is, is to count the patterns worn into its shell from its tentacles. The more extravagant the pattern, the older the jelly is.


Pygmy Jellyfish, unlike their smaller relatives, have much different behaviors, including strong social bonds and their tendency to gather in large family pods. They mate for life, and their young often travel with them for many years after reaching adulthood. Pygmy Angel Jellyfish communicate through different colors displayed on their skin, each glow representing an emotion, every pattern representing some form of intelligent, maybe even sentient communication. A Pygmy can change color to nearly every known light visible to draconic eyes, except for green (Perhaps an evolutionary method to prevent Pygmy's mistaking each other for vegetation). Parent Pygmy’s have been observed gifting parts of their skeletal shells to their young, and it appears to be a way for them to express affection with their mates and offspring.
Due to these strong bonds with their own kind, it is impossible to tame a Pygmy Angel. They simply cannot imprint on dragons, and their dangerous nature makes it too costly and difficult to attempt any other methods.

One should NEVER approach a Pygmy Angel surrounded by young Pygmy’s. They are much more aggressive when accompanied by their babies, sometimes chasing down a perceived threat for days, even weeks, in rare cases, until death.

One sting from a Pygmy Angel Jellyfish is enough to paralyze a small dragon completely, only numbing the struck area, (or entire limbs if struck) on larger dragons. The venom of a Pygmy Angel is very sought after on less than legal markets, with it being v e r y deadly in high concentrations, capable of paralyzing the muscles of the heart when ingested. Its rarity, and difficulty to acquire gives it quite the price.

Often ancient Pygmy's are hunted when they enter heavily occupied spaces of ocean, as their size and unpredictable nature prove dangerous to heavy seafaring traffic.

Onsite Username: Tridon
Offsite Profile Link: N/A
Category: Watery Reflections
Advisor: Riptide. Adult male, striped blue western. An energetic dragon with an inclination towards naval warfare and a passion for all things involving the sea. (Lixemi Aquermor)
Creature Information
The Dark Ones
A personal Journal of a Researcher
The ocean gives, and the ocean takes.

Even as I write this, the pen feels harder to move. My eyes yearn to close. My body wants to stop and rest. I forgot the way home. I cannot sleep.

Concrete information on the Dark Ones is difficult to collect due to their rather elusive nature and deep-sea habitats suspected to be more than 11,000 meters beneath the ocean surface, completely devoid of light or a majority of sea life. However, the information presented in this journal has been put together over decades of draconic marine life research. I only hope you find this information to be of some use; whoever might find this in the case of my demise.

Do not sleep.

The Dark Ones are deep-sea predators that have an extremely similar body structure to that of sea serpents or eels, with long black serpentine bodies with comparatively small fins for quick maneuvering in the waves. They are solely aquatic creatures that typically live in deep underground caves miles below the ocean surface, where there is a complete lack of natural light or visibility; implying the ability to sea in the dark proficiently through night vision or echolocation. They have reportedly been heard making distinctly 'loud pings' which have been heard from up to two miles away presumably for inter-communication purposes. Many take it as a dead giveaway to get out of dodge.

Do not sleep.

Their true size and length is unknown, but the largest ever recorded was estimated to be over 150ft in length, with the smallest ever seen being a mere 12ft. Researchers who have encountered the Dark Ones have reported feeling severe mental side effects including migraines, drowning sensations, visual hallucination, auditory hallucination, bodily pain, nausea, short-term memory loss, disorientation, and unconsciousness. These effects seem to worsen in severity in accordance to how long the individual is in the vicinity of a Dark One and their personal mental endurance. It is theorized that they accomplish this by emitting naturally produced chemical pheromones into the water.

Do not sleep.

The Dark Ones do not seem to attack while their targeted victim is awake. They are known to hover just out of view in the darkness, cloaking themselves until their prey falls into a state of delirium or unconsciousness before revealing themselves, whereby they strangle they strangle the victim and drag them back to lairs presumably for consumption. It stands to reason that should a victim manage to simply stay coherent during their entire stay in the deep ocean; the Dark Ones will simply not attack.

Do not sleep.

The Dark Ones do not venture out of the deep ocean. Any attempts to put one in captivity have resulted in its death for reasons that are still unknown. They are the danger that lurks in the deep. More research is required. So much yet to learn. So little time. So hard to go on.

Do not sleep.

Do     not      sleep

Do    nottt        
sleeeebb

...

(Music I played while writing this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-heSRbvCErU)

Was I late to wrapping up this event? No, this post is actually from February 28th but got lost in the world wide web and is only just now being posted. Anyways, lets get to the results~

We had five total entries! I know I originally said I was only going to give out one advisor per category, but I enjoyed every entry so much, and have 7 positions in total, so everyone will receive one if they want. For Jayderg, Whispering Soul, and Tridon, if you would like to make your advisors please feel free to since you all chose different advisor positions in your entries! :)

Solar and Sky, you can choose between Lixemi Omeunis (General Advisor), Convultaus Exotilum (Foreign Relations), and Lixemi Ceristus (Farming Advisor). Tharasis, you can choose between the two remaining positions afterwards.

I hope everyone had fun with this competition! I can't wait to see your advisors and to incorporate your creations into the Lakara lore!

Exdem aintur di divura,
~Zolt