The Kaiju Sea

Conspectus The Kaiju Sea is an alternate reality version of Earth, almost completely covered by oceans and inhabited by colossal aquatic and semi-aquatic chimaeras. It is speculated that this is where the Quin Krake that attacked Hy-Brasil in 1988 originated from. If this is the case, the Kaiju Sea may pose a risk of other such entities invading other realms, possibly en masse .

Illustration An orbital photo of the Kaiju Sea, a ruined Earth. Taken by Munin of the Nautilus.

Knowledge Traits: The Kaiju Sea appears to have been a common version of Earth until some point in the mid to late 20th century when it was subjected to an invasion of Kaiju from a currently unknown reality. The Kaiju numbered in the thousands at the very least, and their assault put a quick end to the endemic human population. Their presence also seems to have gradually altered the planet itself, most notably by producing a drastic increase in the amount of water. Roughly 90 percent of the land is submerged and there is a near-permanent fog at the surface. The Kaiju themselves vary wildly in size, anywhere from 20 to 500 feet. Their bodies are typically an amalgam of reptilian, cephalopod and ichthyological traits. Nearly all Kaiju observed to date are pentaradially symmetrical, with body parts that typically come in pairs instead coming in sets of five. The Kaiju have been observed to be highly aggressive, attacking most other entities on sight as well as frequently battling each other. Although spectacular, these fights are rarely fatal as Kaiju possess both supernatural durability and regenerative abilities. They also possess a variety of offensive thaumaturgical abilities as well, such as being able to exhale spellfire that does not extinguish underwater . Nature: The Kaiju Sea is completely devoid of all human and terrestrial life, presumably due to a combination of the mass flooding along with attacks by and competition from the Kaiju. Non-anomalous ocean life is abundant, with a notable increase in the population of most species of starfish. The Kaiju occupy the niche of apex predators, feeding predominantly on whales. The exact population of Kaiju is unknown, but as they have yet to deplete their primary food source, it appears that the Kaiju kill significantly fewer whales than Humans did during the era of industrial whaling. Given both the size and aggressive nature of the Kaiju, this is somewhat perplexing. In addition to the problem of food, the colossal size of the Kaiju clearly violates the square-cube law, as well as introducing a variety of other scale related problems. Most knowledge we possess on Kaiju anatomy was acquired from ICSUT , who performed extensive tests on the remains of the Quin Krake after its attack. They came to the conclusion that in addition to possessing extensive non-euclidean biology and abnormally thaumaturgically active cells, the Quin Krake had a relatively low internal Hume value, lessening the effect of our reality's laws of physics on its body. No one has yet observed Kaiju mating . Based on ICSUT's analysis of the Quin Krake's carcass, they are believed to possess biological sex i.e. produce either male or female gametes. The Kaiju that attacked Hy-Brasil was female and contained several million unfertilized eggs , but did not possess a uterus, likely indicating that eggs are fertilized externally. This would make sense, as the Kaiju's apparently universal aggression towards each other would seem to preclude the possibility of internal fertilization . History & Associated Parties: Exactly how and when the Kaiju Sea was brought into being is not known. There are few known survivors from that realm, and none of those know exactly what had befallen their world aside from a flood and an invasion of monsters. Certain members of the Fifth Church, Southern Fifthists in particular, have claimed that the Kaiju are in fact angels of the Starfish and were sent to deliver Judgement upon that world for its lack of devotion, as well as to serve as an example to all other worlds as to what would happen if they did not accept the Starfish into their hearts . Other sources claim that the offence was more egregious, and that some mortals somehow tried to gain entry into the Starfish's Heaven during their Earthly lives. The latter explanation seems more likely, as the vast majority of realities have only small populations of Fifthists, and none of them have been invaded by five-limbed angels. Approach: Many of the Ways connecting the Kaiju Sea to the Library before the Flood are still functional, although passing through them requires a deep dive suit. Also take precautions so that when you open them you will not flood the library, lest you face the wrath of the docents. The Kaiju Sea may also be reached using vessels, machines, or entities capable of multiversal travel. There is also allegedly a spell one can inscribe upon any seafaring vessel that will transmute it into a submarine, which will then transition to the Kaiju Sea upon reaching an adequate depth. This spell is said to have been discovered by IJAMEA and is currently kept secret by the Jailors. Other Detail: Determining how the Quin Krake was able to reach our world from the Kaiju Sea is of paramount importance if we are to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. One of the most accepted theories among the Serpent's Hand and other Library Patrons is that the Kaiju are able to use their thaumaturgical capabilities to generate their own Ways and migrate to alternative realities. They can do this either individually or en masse. ICSUT is currently investigating leyline manipulation, in the hopes that our world's leylines could be used to disrupt or redirect such massive Ways. Some scholars at ICSUT have also speculated that it was only the failing wards of Hy-Brasil that permitted the Quin Krake to enter our world, and even that was only a chance manifestation of the great misfortune the failing wards demanded as balance for their centuries of protection. The merits of this theory remain hotly debated. If a way is not found to prevent the Kaiju from migrating to our reality we could very well suffer the same fate as befell the Kaiju Sea. Further research is needed to discover precisely how and why the Kaiju travel between worlds in order to find means to deter or prevent them from entering ours. Considering what it took for the Book Burners to bring down just one of these creatures, a large-scale invasion would be truly unstoppable .

Observations & Stories That Bird Wizard, the one who calls himself The Wandsman of Kul-Manas, chartered us to take him to the Kaiju Sea shortly after he first heard about it in the Library. He could have got there on his own, but is apparently not a very strong swimmer. The first weird thing that happened was that we emerged in low earth orbit instead of the surface, which is where I took that photo. Evidently, something about the Kaiju Sea triggered our protective wards and we had to cast counterspells just to land. The air on the surface was damp and cold, with fog so thick you couldn't see a furlong ahead of you, let alone the sun. The eerie silence was only broken by distant and monstrous wails that carried across miles of unperturbed ocean. Since we couldn't see a damn thing on the surface, we decided to dive almost immediately. To our surprise, we were right on top of a major city. Couldn't tell you which one though. There wasn't enough left of it. It was all toppled and crumbling buildings encrusted in barnacles and seaweed. It was a heartbreaking sight, to be honest. Fortunately we didn't have much of a chance to mourn for the people of that world, because it was at that moment that one of the Kaiju spotted us. Do you know what a Mosasaurus is? It kind of looked like that, except with five tentacles in place of a tail, five pairs of flippers, five dorsal fins along its back and five axolotl gills ringing its neck, each with an eye at the base. Oh, and it was over 400 feet long. It came charging straight for us, screaming some horrid sonic attack, so we took evasive action. The Wandsman wanted a chance to observe it but Nemo wasn't about to risk the Nautilus and all our lives, and she fired our spectral cannons at it. They barely made a dent in it, and even that healed before our eyes. We tried to shake it but despite its titanic size, it could really move. Nemo ordered that we surface but somehow the Kaiju got over top of us. Matching our pace, it started descending, forcing us down with it. Deeper and deeper we went, each second bringing us closer to being crushed on the seafloor by the colossal chimaera. It was then the Bird Wizard proved himself to be more than just an armchair scholar. He grabbed a hold of one of our spectral cannons and used it to carve a sigil of some kind into the beast's flesh. I'm not sure exactly what it did, but the Kaiju started flailing around in pain and it was enough for us to pull ahead and make for the surface. Of course, the sigil healed within seconds and the Kaiju was right back on our aft, its fifty-foot jaws opening and snapping shut as it tried to nab us. When we breached it leapt out of the water after us like a flying fish. For a second we were all afraid it might actually be able to fly, but as we rose above the ocean we happily heaved a sigh of relief as gravity pulled it back down into the abyss. We were less reckless after that. That Kaiju Sea may have poor visibility, but the Kaiju themselves produce so much EVE they light up our Aetherscopes like a Christmas tree. We tracked one of the smaller ones down near the shallows, drove it aground and spirited it into our hold. We've done that a few times now actually. Usually sell them to a zoo . If you really need specimens for research, we can get you some of the smaller ones if you have the means to contain it, but it's a fool's errand to try to study them in the wild. It's impossible to observe them covertly; even if they couldn't detect EVE, their non-anomalous senses are as sharp as a shark's and they'll strike at anything the instant they become aware of it. They're enormous, they're vicious, they're magic, and hit and run tactics are the only thing that have a snowball's chance in hell of taking them down, unless you're the Book Burners of course. Or the Shark Punching Center. - Munin, Second Mate of the Nautilus, Brother of Hugin