Growing up, your father always told you tales of a fearsome creature sleeping in the bay of the little town you’ve been born and raised in, a giant cryptid that only wakes to gobble up greedy fishermen. It always fascinated you. You even spent a week sneaking out at night and going to the bay to look for signs of the creature yourself. One night, you thought you saw a tiny pink light coming from somewhere in the water, but it was gone before you could focus on it. You’re finally going back to the bay, almost twenty years after your last visit. Your father has passed, and as his only child, you are left to carry his fishing business, the most successful in Buchtstadt. The water looks black as the moon begins to rise. You’d rather not have come so late, but you remember your father telling you that that’s how he always caught more than other fishermen. You sit at the edge of the small pier, you bait and cast your line, and you prepare to wait for a long time. But, luckily or unluckily, you don’t have to wait long. You see ripples near your bobber, but not from a normal fish; it looks like a giant thing has shifted below the surface. You begin moving away from the edge of the dock, but you notice a bright pink light rising in the water. You see the silhouette of the creature a moment before the top of its head emerges: a head of long black hair. Indigo-skinned shoulders follow it, and as a finned arm comes from the water, you see pink, glowing spots along the outside of it, from wrist to shoulder. The clawed hand reaches up, pushing aside the curtain of hair and the bright angler lure on its forehead, and you prepare to shield your eyes - until you see a humanoid face looking out at you, wide magenta eyes shining curiously. You’d be put at ease by the expression, if the thing’s head wasn’t larger than your whole body. After a moment, the dark face splits into a tentative, sharp-toothed smile.

“Hello,” says a deep, but nearly melodic voice.