ISSUE #35

Horrors from the Deep

Happy Friday, everyone.

 

Something new on Rahaman Writing:

                                                       

I very much enjoy writing about nature and find numerous excuses to do so in my fiction. Be it a demonic ecosystem or a high fantasy realm of completely different natural laws than our own, I sometimes like to pretend that I'm the god of some fictional universe as I spawn worlds with my thoughts and words.

 

One of the environments that I find the most alluring and interesting to write about are those that exist within a liquid. That is to say: oceans, seas, and lakes; regardless if they are composed of water or some other fluid. The variety of life and the mysteries of the deep give me endless flexibility and freedom to come up with the most interesting settings and creatures that my heart could ever desire.

A couple of weeks ago, I told you all another advanced creature creation tip in Issue #32. This week I'm going to give you another, though a more specific one pertaining to one of my favourite environments. The reason this is a 'creature creation' tip is because all living organisms evolve based on their environment.

 

The Baron of Beholders' Writing Tip #24:

 

Oceans (and smaller bodies of water), as I've mentioned, are fascinating and full of potential. There's a lot of variability of life in the seas of any given world, real or fictional. However, there are still some things that need to be considered besides basic food, predation, and shelter concerns for those who live below the waves.

 

Storms can flip entire habitats on their head. Imagine a thunderstorm, but where the air is as thick as water. It would ravage and toss about anything not sheltered or secured.

 

Wounds are signal flares to predators. Since blood, as well as other scents, travel so far in water, if an animal is even slightly hurt it can lead a horde of hungry sharks, or worse, to the injured animal.

 

Currents bring nutrients and different temperatures. This exchange and transportation of resources can create massive blooms of life in certain areas, even amidst otherwise inhospitable conditions.

 

To summarize: if you write about an oceanic environment, make sure to give the water, or other fluid, important properties as well! It's not just a medium for things to live in, it should have traits that affect all life found within it in order to feel real.

Despite not taking place exclusively on or in the sea, I've got one short story on Rahaman Writing about abominations that invade the small and fictional coastal city of Seravek. My usual work in this area is within the fantasy genre, but this one is a bit different.

 

Plague from the Sea, which I once mentioned in Issue #5, is set in an urban setting much like our own and follows a young woman as she fights strange creatures that seem to be infesting her home.

 

This is going to be one of the longer tales (about 10'000 words) in my upcoming short story collection, however, you can read it right now! I even edited it recently for increased readability.

 

If you like urban sci-fi stories with horror elements, consider checking it out below!

 

Plague from the Sea

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"Approaching the docks, we heard the violent smashing of wood and the clanging of metal being pounded through the cold veil of white mist that hung in the air by the coast. With a sudden gust, the pale haze cleared to reveal a beast from the brine like none I had seen before or after my time on Kioshell Island. It was roughly the same size as the fishing ship that had ferried me here and was in the process of tearing apart a vessel of similar proportions with a cold fury, pausing only to fling away huge bits of debris or adjust the monstrous maw that was its shell: the living, partially decomposed head of a sky serpent.."