#DIY30 #9

9. Who rules the deepest ocean floor?

There are many oceans, and thus many ocean floors. There is always argument as to which ocean floor is the deepest. One of the contenders would have to be the Inverted Plateau of Olarus, a flat plain surround on all sides by underwater cliffs over five kilometres high. Unlike a simple trench, this ocean floor stretches over countless hectares, barely explored by intrepid divers in bathyscapes. Rubble, and a number of ruined buildings have been identified across the plain, but nothing has been successfully brought back to the surface.

Aquatic druids and shamans, have translated the scared words of the piscean creatures in the area. Common folklore states that sharks do not die of old age, and that they must continually swim to maintain their buoyancy. Those sharks who do not die from violence sometimes lose the will to continue swimming, literally dying of ennui; those who continue swimming can do so for centuries, growing larger with every passing year. The least words are spoken about one of the oldest sharks, said to be millennia old, with a name that can only be translated vaguely as "Crack-of-cartilage, Crimson-mist-on-the-current". Said to be a size rivalling many dragons, this shark is the undisputed ruler of the Inverted Plain, only two expeditions to the seabed have encountered it and have returned to tell the tale. In both cases, their diving apparatuses were severely damaged, and the dives lived out the rest of their days muttering about blood and teeth, often in padded cells, never venturing into the sea again.