The Original Kraviathan

Before it ultimately ended up being used in Serina, I originally conceptualized the kraviathan for a nebulous no-K/Pg project which never really got beyond the preliminary stages (at one point it swapped to a more complex concept also involving dinosaurs, but the basic idea was a bit too convoluted so I didn't have the drive to keep at it).

The original idea for the kraviathan ultimately had relatively few physical similarities with the Serinan version outside of being a giant predatory mollusc, but I liked the name so I reused it mostly just for that. This was a coloured sketch done of the original idea of a gargantuan, deep-sea, cuttlefish-like belemnite drawn back in April of 2018, although the idea preceded it by a bit (the unfinished writing for one iteration is presented below)

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Kraviathan (Colossoteuthis infernis)

Capable of stretching nearly twenty metres from tentacle tip to mantle tip, the kraviathan is the largest cephalopod that has ever existed, unrivalled by any known species in either timeline. This records comes not entirely from its sheer length, but from its proportions; unlike HE giant or colossal squid, the kraviathan is more similar to cuttlefish in appearance and so the tentacles only make up a small portion of its length. The massive invertebrate may weigh over ten tonnes, an order of magnitude larger than the next largest species. It usually (and ironically) occupies a niche similar to the HE sperm whale, hunting fish and large invertebrates in the deep sea, but occasionally rise to take advantage of spontaneous gluts of food. The kraviathan is a passive animal, content to slowly drift through the water, preying upon any animal enticed by the bioluminescent markings on its tentacles. Despite its size, it can be surprisingly stealthy, using its cephalopod camouflaging abilities to become nearly invisible against the water, allowing it to move in unnoticed by its prey. Unlike most cephalopod species however, it also readily scavenges, and the carcass of a tyrant-whale is a giant lure for the kraviathan, which will use its large hooked tentacles to shred bodies into bite-sized chunks for swallowing.

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(tyrant-whales were a type of gigantic, baleen whale-like iguanian which resembled pliosaurs, while HE stood for Home-Earth)