Counting Echoes

The word hung in the air, both ominous and strangely familiar. Sunny frowned and studied the remains of the crude weapon. Finally, he asked:

"The Drowned? We have never met abominations like that."

Which, of course, meant that they had. 

Nephis nodded. 

"Yes. A group of them attacked the Chain Breaker once… Drowned Outcasts, that was what the Spell called them. They weren't too powerful, apart from the depth dweller that arrived with them."

Cassie shook her head somberly. 

"The Outcasts are the dregs of their kind. Most Drowned are much more dangerous. They are… a special tribe of Nightmare Creatures here in Ariel's Tomb. No one really knows where they come from, but many believe that the Drowned were humans, once. They hunt in groups and herd true horrors of the depths to use as war beasts. Most troublesome of all, all of them possess at least a rudimentary level of sentience… they follow strange rituals, too."

Nephis frowned.