Creatures of the Blue Seas
A fan-made natural history of imaginary waters — every species invented, none of them real.
Invented wildlife. Every creature on this page is fictional — original creations for Martin’s world. No real animals are described here.
The Mistwhale
A large, gentle whale with soft blue-grey skin and rows of small lantern-like glowing spots along its back. Mistwhales surface at dawn in misty water and are said to remember ships — Martin’s particular friend, “Old Lantern,” recognizable by a chipped dorsal glow-spot, has escorted the Second Dawn through three fogs. The log records eleven days of conversation with one during the Glass Calm; the log does not record what was discussed, “as it was private.”
Lantern Eels
Long, ribbon-thin eels that drift in the night water trailing cold green light. Schools of them mark the edges of the Lantern Isles’ tide-pools, and sailors read their patterns the way farmers read clouds. Pip claims to navigate by them; Brinley claims Pip navigates by luck and takes credit afterward.
Gull-Citizens of Gullhaven
Ordinary gulls in every biological respect, and full voting citizens of Gullhaven in every legal one. They hold two council seats and, since the famous election, the harbormastership. Martin treats them with the solemnity of an ambassador, which the gulls repay by stealing his breakfast with the solemnity of a tax.
The Deep Blue Thing
Past the continental shelf, in water the charts tint a darker indigo, something large moves. No sailor has seen it whole. The charts mark the region with the words “here be patience,” and Martin’s standing order is simple: slow down, go quiet, and give it the right of way. “Whatever it is,” the log reads, “it was here first.”
Brassback Turtles
Enormous sea turtles whose shells gleam like polished brass in sunlight. Harbor legend says a brassback once carried a lost dinghy to shore; marine scholars (there are none in the Blue Seas, but if there were) would call this unlikely. Martin keeps a brassback shell fragment on his chart table as a paperweight and a reminder.
The Lighthouse Cat
Not a sea creature, strictly — a large orange harbor cat resident at the Port Mercy lighthouse, fed by Martin on every return before he greets a single human soul. Technically Keeper Anselm’s cat. Spiritually, everyone’s.