Naming conventions
I searched for an hour or so to find any rocks or volcanoes in Greek mythology to name these creatures, and I have found several possibilities: Cyaneans, Planctaeans, and Etnans, all of which come from Greek mythology (as the naming convention implicitly demands)
The Cyanean rocks, also known as the Symplegades, also known as the Clashing Rocks, were a pair of large rocks in the Bosphorus Strait that were said to have clashed together when a ship sailed through. It was encountered by the Argonauts, who tested the speed of the rocks by first letting a dove fly through the rocks before they rowed through. After they safely made it across, the Symplegades remained motionless permanently.
The Planctae, or Wandering Rocks, are commonly confused with the Symplegades, having been encountered on the Argonauts’ return voyage. They are also a pair of rocks, but instead of crashing together as the Symplegades do, the sea between them is “mercilessly violent” according to wikipedia. Their similarity to the Cyanean rocks is debated among scholars.
The Caucasus, where Prometheus was chained to, are a real place with people who live there. As a result, they shall not be part of the naming convention for these large stone beasts.
Mt. Etna, though also a definitively real place, is said to have been where Hephaestus’ forge was. It is also the mountain Typhon was trapped under by Zeus.
For the sake of convenience, I will refer to these creatures as Etnans. I will, however, add a poll for the preferred name.
Etnans
Like how the Atlanteans were corrupted by the Dark Sea’s waters, Etnans were sailors corrupted by the volcanic islands of the Dark Sea, having either been abandoned by their fellow shipmates, leftovers from an Atlantean’s meal, or shipwrecked. Etnans are primarily themed around the stone magic type, with occasional lava and crystal. Even rarer are explosion and metal magics. The partial reason for this is, as the rain in the Dark Sea is unrelenting, any melting magma parts on these creatures have all but completely cooled solid.
Despite their similarities to Atlanteans, having been corrupted by the Dark Sea in one way or another, Etnans can be more accurately described as walking corpses, puppeted around by disturbingly hostile rocks growing on their body. The reason for this behavior is not known for certain, but is speculated to be driven by territorial instincts.
Etnans have 6 classifications: Lesser Petrified, Greater Petrified, Ancient, Fossilized, Mountainous, Tectonic
- No 7th classification because these guys don’t have ships. As a result, there is no “lost sailor” analogue.
- Follows the same pattern of level range and location as Mutated through Legendary Beast in Atlanteans
Lesser Petrified Etnans can be identified by their still mostly-human forms. They typically have rock formations sprouting from under their skin, or still-recognizable signs of mutilation.
(Image blurred because it has blood and stuff in it, don’t click if you’re sensitive to depictions of mutilation and/or things sprouting from your skin)
2 examples of Lesser Etnans. The one on the left was shipwrecked, and starved to death after eating rocks and some of his own fingers. The one on the right was an unfortunate sailor, who must’ve taken a wrong turn (straight into the welcoming arms of an Atlantean, no doubt).
(Can you tell which one of these 2 figures I spent more time on?)
Greater Petrified Etnans, while their growths are more pronounced than Lesser Petrifieds, lack the impressive size and behavioral characteristics of Ancient and above.
Ancient Etnans, as well as all higher classifications, are typically inanimate. Their rocky growths have become too cumbersome for them, and/or have fused to the ground beneath them. As a result, their host, which is still capable of mobility, is preserved within the rock.
- Should someone break open this rock, perhaps looking for unique Dark Sea minerals, these Etnans will promptly awaken and violently repel them.
- Rarely, these Etnans are capable of breaking out on their own to attack trespassers. Whether others like them are unable to do the same, or simply unwilling, is a mystery.
An unidentified Ancient Etnan. Or worse.
In terms of gameplay, these Etnans can initially appear as statues, rocks, larger rock formations, or conspicuously buried in the side of an island rock wall. Additionally, you cannot begin a fight with them with a surprise attack, as you have to aggro them first to be able to hit them.
Upon death, the corpse of an Etnan will begin to glow a fiery orange, which increases in intensity over a few seconds. Timing may vary from 2 seconds to 10 seconds. Once time’s up, the corpse will either harmlessly crumble away, or violently explode. The explosion’s damage is calculated based on the Etnan’s level, and it’s range is calculated by the classification.
- A level 200 Etnan’s explosion should deal about 1000 damage
Etnan Loot
Like Atlanteans, Etnans have their own unique modifier on any armor looted from their bodies. This modifier boosts the stats of items, with a heavy emphasis on adding defense over increasing other stats. Equipment with this modifier will have a brown, earthy visual effect on them, and some equipment may even have rocky growths sprouting from them. However, armor with this modifier has a unique debuff: Bulk.
A conceptual symbol for Bulk.
Bulk could do one of 3 things (I will make a poll for which one is preferred)
- Lower dash distance, high jump distance, and run speed
- Lower attack speed
- Increase stamina cost on all actions, including swimming and climbing, by about 10%
Additionally, you can get their Atlantean Essence analog: Etnan Seeds. Small clumps of the magic-infused living rock, to be placed lovingly in the back pocket of your Sunken Pants.
- Nondescript lump of either gray or brown, depending on what Vetex prefers. Might even be the same model as Atlantean Essence. Could have glowing magma lines running through it or a shiny crystal popping out of it
Optional additions
In addition to other loot, Etnans could drop rock-based brewing/gemcrafting reagents that have a modifier which functions the same as if you were to brew a potion in a Silver Cauldron. It’s like being able to make Shining potions anywhere you want! They could also drop gems with a similar modifier.
- It’s probably fine to have this shining modifier stack with the effect from silver cauldrons. While the time-dedication required to make such tonics would be too much for most players, the possible drops from Etnans are too niche to be applicable to most situations (unless someone’s underhanded enough to try and bleed another player to death in a fight).
- I, for the most part, don’t think this should be added in, especially in regards to gemcrafting. Optimizing builds takes a lot of time as it is right now. The power gap between people who don’t particularly care for it and people who do really has no right to be widened, especially considering how many more of the latter are “unsavory” players compared to the former.
Special Thanks
The creation of this suggestion was inspired by this other suggestion, and it follows a similar format: New Enemy Type for the Dark Seas: Nymphs
Special thanks to myself for being fantastic and giving myself an opportunity to do my creative hobby. Don’t mind the logos on most of the images above.
Credit to FireAlpaca for being a good art software
Polls
There’s a couple of things I’m not sure of, so I’ll have the viewers vote on them
- Planctaean
- Cyanean
- Etnan
- Something else (Share it with us! I’ll add it to the poll, probably)
- Lower the speed of movement options, including running
- Lower attack speed
- Increase stamina cost on all actions
- Something else (Put it in the comments! I’ll probably add it to the poll)
