Shipbreaker Kraken

Though a smaller cousin of the traditional kraken, this fearsome sea monster is no less dangerous for the many ships that travel back and forth between the ports of Theros. In fact, shipbreaker krakens are perhaps all the more dangerous for the frequency with witch they appear. While the larger krakens are just mysterious monsters that appear once every decade from the deepest reaches of the sea, shipbreaker krakens spend their time in shallower waters, and several might be spotted in the course of a single week.   Clutching Claws Comparing depictions of the two krakens, numerous similarities can be seen. Both start with a heavily armored head, which slowly transitions into a thickly muscular body, before splitting into numerous whip-like tentacles. But while the original kraken might have more in common with a squid or a shark, the shipbreaker kraken clearly shares an origin with crustaceans. Instead of a beard of tentacles, the shipbreaker kraken's head is lined with crablike pincers, with two enormous claws front and center, that the kraken uses to pick up and crush entire ships.   Rage of the Storm Shipbreaker krakens also stand out from their larger cousins by their incredible temper, which has ben aptly compared to a storm at sea. If a shipbreaker kraken feels that something has disturbed it or intruded on its territory, it won't hesitate to fly into a rage, doing everything it can to remove the offender from its presence. This includes sailing ships, giant sharks and even other deep-sea monsters. Some tales even tell of epic battles to the death between shipbreaker krakens and their larger kin. When faced with an angry shipbreaker, the best course of action is often to flee, and hope leaving its territory settles the storm. While a shipbreaker could be killed by a heavily armed military ship, doing so risks not only lives and resources, but further angering the shipbreaker as well an action that only seems to make these powerful creatures all the more dangerous.