Caly

An enthusiastic beast of the depths, Caly is more immense than a dragon can comprehend. A single part of her extends into the Rootways, an underground system of rivers. The locals believe this to be, if not all, then at least most of Caly. They consider him their local river spirit.

They do not know how wrong they are.

Caly came to this realm formless and alone. Fluid like thick mud, he slipped into the ocean and settled there. Something else lurking down there taught Caly how to shape herself. It was familiar with boneless, sinuous shapes, so that is what Caly learned.

He has since learned other shapes. More solid shapes. Bones. Bones are interesting. She can't quite make sense of how they're supposed to work, but she makes a decent approximation.

Unfortunately, Caly struggled to comprehend the difference between bones, coral, and rocks. She spent some time as a coral reef, whose polyps many fish have lost their teeth trying to gnaw on. He spent some time as a cliff face, with many tentacles inexplicably extending seamlessly from the rugged limestone.

Someone tried to chisel a home out of her. Caly permitted this out of curiosity. No-one had ever tried to chisel him before. Due to the beast's inherently fluid nature, however, his cliff face collapsed, the home with it.

It took several more such incidents before the marens declared her unstable and off-limits for building.

Caly hadn't realised how much she'd enjoyed the company until it was no longer available.

He did his best to recreate the shapes that had been carved into him. It took practice to get them right. The rough, chiseled edges were particularly difficult.

Other beings moved in. They brought new architectural styles. They bolted things to him. She learned to copy them. They soon learned they lived in a rather magical cave. They did not understand why.

Caly has experimented with many shapes since then. He now forms several shipwrecks - some he has simply repaired, otherwise made entirely out of her own form. Intricate, detailed carvings. She loves to challenge herself with new shapes.

Several dragon and beast clans now live within Caly, separately, unaware that they technically share a dwelling. Where part of her reaches deep into a trench, he houses a particularly ancient clan, the like of which she hasn't seen anywhere else. They have an air that is out of place. Too elegant for this one, too absolute. They move in a way that is unfamiliar to Caly.

They're not of this world. They're not of his, either. They fascinate him, and she lives to learn more about them.