Talk:Whales/@comment-5607198-20160315084411

While we now know that the (awful, terrible) idea that the Outsider IS a whale to not be true, we do still have the association between whales and the void.

What I'm wondering is, what does this association mean? It could be simply that, as the last remnant of a dead and forgotten civilization and embodiment of the inevitable decay of all things, the outsider identifies with the perscuted species as it dwindles its way to extinction.

But then again, it could be more than that. We know the most powerful runes and charms are those made from whalebone. We know Granny Rags places huge significance on the whale. So if the whales are inherently related to the void, how and why is this so? What do they do?

The explorer who took a bathysphere down to learn about the depths was attacked, presumably by whales, and doomed to die alone in his tiny steel coffin. But if it WAS the whales, who are then described as if concerned for the explorer's wellbeing, why did they attack in the first place? Was it animal instinct? If so, why would they be trying to comfort him? If it was intentional, what could the reason be? Perhaps they don't want humans learning more about them. Maybe there's something they dont want getting back to the surface. What if the whales are guarding something? Something down in the depths of the ocean, that they'd rather kill a human than risk it being seen and reported. That doesn't seem likely to me, but i have no reason for that.

Of course, it could be that it wasn't the whales who brought the explorer down, simply that he saw a whale (or rather, a part of what he assumed to be a whale), and something else in the ocean snapped the line.

Or it could all be pointless fluff that'll never be followed up on. who knows