Cyclades
Legacy Name: Cyclades

"Wrecker of ships, widower of man; None shall abide the mighty sea ram."

That's at least how the fable goes. The actual story is much longer, with a mosaic of accounts puzzled together, often with conflicting pieces of information. Once thought to be a serpent, or a type of large fish, recent accounts have added horns and hooves to the beast, suggesting the animal to much more closely resemble the 'Capricorn' of myth. What remains an indisputable feature, differentiating the creature from the latter, are the tentacles often accompanying it; embodied within them the vessel of demise for the ships of sailors intrepid enough to invade its waters.

Sightings spanned the Mediterranean Sea from Djerba, island of lotus eaters, to Crete, home of Minotaurus, and eastward, all the way to Cyprus. Most often, however, it could be seen in waters even farther north-- wrecking sailors that wished to leave port in the Aegean Sea. It is said that weather was the most reliable distinction between a safe voyage or a doomed one. The presence of boisterous anemoi usually called upon the beast; a wind-spout its unmistakable calling card. In fact, it was actually far too late if this was spotted-- the only hope for survival would be to abandon all cargo, and pray that it took interest in the forfeited lagan. Avaricious sailors that did not concede would invoke the wrath of the covetous beast, and it would soon take far more than what they could have ever hoped to bargain for.

Said to have transmuted from a goat cast overboard to make room for higher treasures, it now wanders, dissatisfied with its circumstance and eternally green-eyed over the loot that took its place. Its true desires remain unknown. Perhaps it desires by chance to wreck the ship containing its original keeper, despite assuredly being centuries deceased. One way or another, the beast of a thousand names, known colloquially for its stomping grounds-- 'Cyclades', is assuredly where the word 'capricious' originated. Relegated to never actually "stomp" around anywhere ever again, your only safe option is to live out your days ashore.

Ku-mie Kim, "Lotus". 2011.

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