River scales
Some two-day travel from the trade city of Marleon lies a small cluster of ruins located near a stretch of the Caledon River, it's a place no one dares to fish, not anymore. The locals say that the place is cursed or that something ancient sleeps in the deep, underneath the river.
The locals have stories that from time to time a brave soul ventures near the ruins in an attempt to find a good fishing spot and then, notices a shimmer of scales that glints under the water, slick and black, moving just under the rocks covering the bottom of the riverbed. People not from the area will say that it's just an old legend someone invented to either avoid kids going near the ruins or more likely to them, to keep people away from their good fishing spot. But asking anyone who grew up in the area and near the river will tell you that whatever lurks under the water is very real.
They say that is not fish, it's something far far older, something that only wakes when it's hungry. According to the elders of the nearby villages and the recordkeeper in Marleon, the entity have not woken up as far back as anyone can remember and there are no written sources about it waking up ever, so many mothers use the uncertainty to ensure that their kids behave, saying that if they dont, the beast will wake up and eat all the naughty kids.
f you hear the sound of scales brushing against stone, you’re already too late.Whatever lurks beneath the riverbed is not known to feast on people who get too close to the stretch of river but every disappearance over the years has been attributed to the entity.- Elder to a young child
The image of scales shimmering in deep water is so terrifying to me.
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
Same, normally not scared of the water but if something moves down there I'm not going near it