#the deeps

(source) The head of the arrowworm Sagitta, with its grasping spines fully emerged from the oral hood. Arrowworms (phylum Chaetognatha, translating to "bristle-jaws") are a smallish group of marine carnivorous worms with retractile feeding spines and fish-like fins. They usually measure a few cm in length.

Full-body image of Pterosagitta draco, from Animal Diversity Web:

Live photo of Spadella cephaloptera, with grasping spines retracted (source):

“My Queen.” Yara takes a knee first, and that seems to irritate Ser Jorah further. The man is made of absolutes. He must be Daenerys’s most loyal servant. The most eager. The most valiant. In his book, he is the only one deserving of her love. She has dissuaded him as gently as she could, several times, but he is undeterred. “I come bearing news.”

Daenerys turns, and the scent that reaches Yara’s nose is full of relief. The Queen takes a half-step forward, then realizes Jorah is there as well, and her face hardens.

“Ser Jorah, go and gather the members of the Small Council, please. I will assess Lady Yara’s report, and convene with them.” The man rises sullenly accompanied by the creaking of his armor, and opens his mouth. “You will find Lord Tyrion asleep in the stables I believe.” Daenerys adds, before he can say something so stupid she will have no choice but to make him regret it. “He hit town with his squire last night.”

There’s no need to say what for.

“You may still find one or two whores as well, if you’re quick.” Yara can’t help herself. For weeks now he’s pushed for a confrontation. Today, with her blood up and her mood fouled by the weather, she’s more than ready to give in. “I’m sure the Hand will share if you ask nicely.”

They face one another in silence, and for a beat everything else fades. Yara’s aware of Daenerys’s displeasure, hot on her skin, but ignores it. She will not be the first one to look away.

This reckoning has been a long time coming.

Jorah's pupils shrink, his lips peeling back to reveal gnashing teeth. At his side, calloused hands curl into fists and Yara hopes he'll give into the violent urges that cloud his face. Like Yara, he’s an alpha, which never bothered her before. Most of the men under her command are too, and one gets used to the smell quickly, especially when stuck at sea with half the deckhands going into rut. But she finds his reek particularly offensive now, mostly because he’s trying to use his scent to cover hers.

Yara’s eyes narrow. Good luck with that.

The concept of alien colors evolved relatively slowly, but originated from two major sources. The first was finding out the mantis shrimp could see several colors other animals couldn’t, which was interesting.  The second was the theory that ‘color’ as we know it is malleable, where concepts such as “blue” may not have existed in places like Ancient Greece.

These led down the path of creating a series mind breaking, alien colors that highlighted how The Deeps weren’t like our own reality, that something as fundamental as color from the realm didn’t belong in the mortal world.

The colors themselves are not creatures to be slain, but obstacles to be overcome.  Some creatures from The Deeps can utilize them for their own purposes, but the real threat is stumbling across some long buried and forgotten shard of coral or stone containing the color. The color itself can be central to forming mysteries for players to unravel, from cults worshiping it to the color’s insidious manipulations of a community to polluting a nearby local and bending it in strange and terrible ways.

If desperate enough, players may even find uses for such dangerous, eldritch things as the deep colors.

🎵Oh father, please father

I'd love to leave you alone but I can't let you go

Oh father, please father

Put the bottle down for the love of a daughter 🎵

This! This song is just perfect for Ellie and the history i got plan for her!, and also this drawing was a practice with some effects of the sai