Lifebergs
"The Unterzee is not short of terrors, but few things can match the crushing horror of a predatory landmass filling the horizon. The vile, ammoniac stench; the hulls of broken ships jutting from the ice like teeth; their blind and avid hate. Many a salt-encrusted zailor still harbours nightmares of being hunted across the zee by homicidal geography."[1]
It is a well-accepted fact that icebergs are not alive, do not plunder ships, and do not display a murderous hatred towards all life. Lifebergs, for some inscrutable reason, do all of the above.
Titanic[edit | edit source]
"An icy crag rising out from the Zee in the distance. The cold wind that follows carries an unpleasant scent of ammonia. Your ship's course is bringing you close to a hulking lifeberg."[2]
Lifebergs are rare[3] but extremely dangerous monsters that menace the northern Unterzee,[4][5] feared even among those hardened against the zee's terrors.[6] They are infamously hostile, willing to chase down and "devour" any ship that veers too close.[7] The debris from a lifeberg attack often remains embedded to the lifeberg's body;[7] this may include wood and metal from ships,[8] barrels of goods,[9] and frozen blood.[7] Within each lifeberg is a core of black glass; only when this glass is extracted[10] or destroyed[11] will the lifeberg finally die.[12]
On more than one occasion, an abnormally large lifeberg[13] called the Ravenous Lifeberg left the northern zee and traveled south, apparently en route to London.[14] To combat this threat, the Admiralty called for a Citizen's Armada composed of mostly civilian ships.[15][16] While the Admiralty was willing to reward those who impeded the lifeberg's advance,[17][18] it is not clear if these missions were truly motivated by a need to protect London, or simply the prospect of valuable salvage.[19]
Biology[edit | edit source]
"Those - rifts - in the Lifeberg's surface. Are they mouths? Lifebergs do not breathe. They kill from malice, not hunger. But they speak. Dear Christ, they speak."[20]
The biology of lifebergs is bizarre even by zee-monster standards. They are large enough to dwarf a ship,[21] and Ravenous Lifebergs are several times larger still.[22] Their facades are dotted with rifts and caves which resemble mouths and can apparently speak;[23] when a lifeberg is injured these "mouths" may roar.[24] Lifebergs are said to be motivated by malice rather than hunger,[25] and their hate extends to all forms of zee-life that catch their attention.[26] They are also known to display cunning, such as by lowering themselves underwater before rising to moor enemy ships upon their cliffs.[27]
Lifebergs superficially resemble icebergs, and even have mass concealed beneath the zee's surface,[28] but they are not made of ice.[29] Rather, the fleshy "ice" that composes them[30] has an odor of ammonia and cooking oil,[31] is much tougher than ordinary ice,[32] and sublimates into vapor when heated.[33] It seems this "ice" is at least partially made of paraffin,[34] a waxy, highly flammable substance. Lumps of white paraffin called hell-droppings may collect on a lifeberg's surface; it is unknown if they produce or eat these lumps.[35]
The Alabaster Hells[edit | edit source]
"Fragments gleam like obsidian in the depths of the ice. Their glassy blackness recalls Mt Nomad, the predatory terrain feature which haunts the blackness of Void's Approach. What is the connection?"[36]
"THE LIFEBERG LIES. NEVER TRUST IT. IT DECEIVED ME. IT WAS NOT DEAD WHEN IT SANK. IT WAS CUNNING. ROSE FROM THE DEPTHS SLOWLY SPITEFULLY UNDER US. BROKE US ON ITS CLIFFS. IT AGONISES ITSELF TO SHIFT AND ALTER. WE CANNOT MOVE. ONLY SIT AND STARE AT THE ICE. MY REFLECTION TURNED WICKED. DO NOT TRUST YOUR FACE"[37]
Despite the obvious dangers of such a profession, lifeberg-hunters regularly track and kill lifebergs for profit.[38] They fire cannons to crack the outer layers, launch further weaponry to bore deep into the lifeberg, and finally extract their black glass hearts to slay them for good. They then harvest entire barrels worth of valuable paraffin and minerals.[39][40] Lifeberg-hunting is a grim profession: hunters are not well-recognized in London, partially due to their dour temperaments,[41] and their crews suffer frequent casualties,[39] especially if someone gets "over-eager."[38]
Beneath their vicious exteriors, lifebergs have a few mysteries of their own. Their ice may form mirror-like surfaces, but looking at one's reflection is ill-advised, as it may turn "wicked" and display autonomous, unnerving behavior.[42][43] The black glass that composes the lifebergs' hearts resembles the black glass of Mt Nomad;[44] this is because Mt Nomad is apparently their parent. If they are the children of Mt Nomad, then lifebergs are the grandchildren of the Thief-of-Faces,[45] who created Mt Nomad as a weapon after "taking jewels" from the wombs of Stone.[46] For its part, the Thief considers lifebergs, and grandchildren in general, "perpetual disappointments."[47]
References[edit | edit source]
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