Field Journal: The Sea Dragon

Collected and recorded by Marenya of the River Sanctuaries, Keeper of the Living Bestiary

Date: 47th Turning of the River’s Ice-Thaw
Location: Upper Emaris, near Drakkensund

Field Journal: The Sea Dragon of the Emaris

Collected and recorded by Marenya of the River Sanctuaries, Keeper of the Living Bestiary

Date: 47th Turning of the River’s Ice-Thaw
Location: Upper Emaris, near Drakkensund

First Impressions

I have spent decades walking these riverbanks, and in all that time, I have heard the same story told in different voices. Ferrymen speak of it. Hunters mention it in passing. Children whisper about a shadow beneath the water, something vast, something that moves like a hill come alive.

For years, I thought this was nothing more than fancy, the sort of tale that grows in the telling. But the stories kept coming, and they all said similar things. An ancient presence in the deep water. Something glimpsed and then gone. Feared by some, revered by others.

The Sea Dragon is real. I know that now. And it is more magnificent than any story could capture.

Physical Description

Those who have seen it describe scales like mother-of-pearl, shimmering so that the whole creature seems made of light and water at once. Its horns curve upward, pale as ivory, elegant in a way that makes you think of old carvings in temple stones. The face is beautiful and strange together, impossible to look away from.

But it is the eyes that people remember most. Deep as night pools, and filled with something that feels like sorrow and wisdom mixed. One woman told me she met its gaze for only a moment and felt a loneliness so profound it made her weep. She said it was not frightening, only sad, as though the creature had been waiting centuries for someone to truly see it.

When it surfaces, the river rises with it, as if the water itself is part of the dragon’s body.

Behavioural Notes

This is not the sort of dragon you read about in old battle songs, all fire and rage and destruction. The Sea Dragon seems drawn to kindness more than fear. It watches. It waits and it even teaches those who will listen to its wisdom. It appears to those who can somehow hear what it is saying without words.

I have documented several behaviours:

It lowers its head when it trusts someone, not in submission but in greeting, the way an equal might nod to another. One sailor said he felt honoured by the gesture, though he could not say why.

It seems to recognise suffering in others. Perhaps because it has suffered itself, carried pain through long years beneath the current. There is empathy in how it moves, in how it looks at those who are hurting.

Every movement is graceful, deliberate, as though the dragon and the river are dancing together in some ritual older than memory.

Eyewitness Accounts

A boatman on the lower reaches said, “It passed right beneath my ferry. The water churned and boiled, but my boat remained untouched. Not even rocked. I swear I felt the river itself look at me through that creature’s presence.”

A child gathering reeds saw its horns break the surface one morning, mist clinging to them like a crown. She told me it watched her for a long moment, then sank without making a sound. She was not afraid, she said. Only entranced.

An elder in Drakkensund put it plainly: “That is no monster. That is the river’s memory made flesh. It comes to the surface when it grows lonely.”

Rituals and Reverence

Some of the clans still cast offerings into the water. Silver thread, mostly. Smooth stones from the riverbed. These are given in honour, not in fear.

They call it The Silent Witness. Some believe it saw the river form and will see it end. Others think it is the Emaris herself in another shape, clothed in scales and sorrow, walking through her own waters to see what her children are doing.

I think the Sea Dragon is a mirror. When you encounter it, you see something of yourself reflected back. It reminds you that even ancient things can be lonely. That loneliness is not shameful but simply a call that deserves an answer.

Closing Reflection

I have given most of my life to watching this river, and still the Sea Dragon fills me with wonder I cannot quite name. It is not ours to tame. Not ours to own. We can only honour it, protect its waters, and hope that one day, if we are fortunate, we might glimpse it in one of those rare moments when the river opens her heart.

Marenya of the River Sanctuaries