The Dendan is the larger cousin of the whale. The great beast of the deep, the fear and desire of ever sailor. The tales of the Dendan are told by firelight, when sailors remember their lost brethren. The shanties of those who have slain one are only sung to defy the very waves themselves.
Stories of the Dendan are as common as stories of mermaids seducing sailors, but sightings of them are rare and precious. A Dendan can destroy a ship with a careless swipe of its tail, and swallow a sailor whole. They are so large it's said crews of small sloops have managed to live inside them, eating swallowed fish and burning the remnant of ships, for months.
The Dendan is prized for its oil, its meat, and its bones. The oil from the liver of a Dendan can be spread on the nose and neck, and allow the user to swim underwater without the need for breath (though can still be strangled) for a full day. A single Dendan can provide a mere ten thousand applications of this oil, making it a rare and prized commodity. Dendan meat is a delicacy, and many kings and dukes will pay grandly for a taste. None who have eaten it will ever admit if they enjoyed the meal, as the price is so dear in lives and gold that there is no way to judge the quality. Dendan bones are light enough, numerous enough, and large enough, to build a ship or carriage from, as strong as bone and as buoyant as any other ship. A Dendan bone vessel is terrifying to behold, but will ride the waves indefinitely, unless a second Dendan is spotted. Some also will carve the bones of Dendan into art.
Subject to Tales: There are few Dendan in the wild, and they are solitary and immortal creatures, meaning that sailors have names and tales of all of them. Any sailor worth their salt will know tales to identify a Dendan's name. Naming a Dendan is a simple Ob1 test of an appropriate wise. Every other additional success on this test will teach a sailor a fact about the Dendan. These facts will be one of, something this Dendan fears, something that can harm this Dendan despite its armour, a Belief of this Dendan, an Instinct of this Dendan, or something of value this Dendan has swallowed.
Leviathan: The Dendan is indescribably large. The largest of the whales are dwarfed by the Dendan. They are supernaturally strong and enduring, and as fast as the currents of the ocean. Accounting for their size is impossible. They are so large that living inside a Dendan is indeed possible, living inside a Leviathan is, on its own, very hard living, finding food, fire, and safety is complicated, but it's possible, and stories abound of sailors living within Dendan for months before being spat out upon the land.
Layers of Blubber: Dendan can ignore the cold of the sea, no matter where they roam. They also gain G6 Armour to their entire body due to the thick blubber around their entire body.
Terrifying Body: The Dendan's teeth are a weapon. Length Shortest, Pow+3, WS 2, VA 4. The Dendan's tail is a weapon, Length Longest, Pow+1, WS 1, VA -. The damage from the tail is grey. When engaging the Dendan, the winner of the position test picks which weapon the Dendan can bring to bear.
Hooking a Dendan is a death sentence. The crew either kill it or be killed. Everyone aboard the ship hunting a Dendan knows that few have ever returned from this voyage. It is rare for a Dendan hunting expedition to go without being turned into a song. Though most of them are dirges for those who lost their lives.
Hooking a Dendan is generally done via harpooning the beast while it breaches. The pilot of the ship must make an Ob5 Piloting check to be near enough to the beast as is breaches the waves. This test is linked with the final Artillerist test. Failure on the test causes the boat to begin taking on water (+2Ob to the disposition roll as well as the +1Ob from failing a linked test). Next, the crew must make a Rigging test, also linked to the Artillerist test. The Ob is the Agility of the Dendan. The crew can help, though the GM should be aware of too many cooks for their size of vessel. Failing the test means that the ship's sails can be damaged as it gets pulled, meaning that the Dendan's rolls when using the Thrash Wildly action are at +2D until the sails can be properly set. Finally, the gunner must make an Artillerist test, since a regular harpoon is too small to matter to a Dendan a full sized ballista must be used, so regular harpoon skill doesn't come into play unless the thrower has heroic strength, or a heroic harpoon. The Artillerist test's Ob is the speed of the Dendan. If successful the Dendan is caught and combat may ensue.
There is no option given in these rules for fleeing from the Dendan, doing so is a death sentence without mystical intervention. If lucky, the ship is destroyed and the crew swallowed. If unlucky, the crew is drowned.
At the beginning of the conflict, both sides make a Power test. The Ship may add the base Resources Obstacle to purchase their ship to this test as raw successes, since the quality and size of their ship is important. The successes on the Power test is their disposition in a conflict. Remember, if the ship's sails are not properly set, or it has taken on water.
Like the duel of wits or range and over, combating the Dendan is handled by scripting actions in advance. Each side secretly scripts three actions in a volley, and then they are resolved in order.
The Dendan has four options in combat.
Tire: The Dendan rests a moment. The creature may make a Health test to cure a superficial wound (as Clear the Cobwebs), or it may attempt to regain disposition as it takes a moment to rest.
Thrash Wildly: The line is long and the sailors too wise to let the Dendan near enough to attack them directly. But the line can be thrashed, and those holding it can be rocked.
Race: The Dendan can attempt to pull the line out and simply get away. This is the ideal for all parties if successful. But few Dendan forget.
Breach: A Dendan must successfully breach every other exchange, or else it begins to drown. A drowning Dendan may make a Health test against an Ob of its own Power since it is trying to hold its breath while also exerting itself.
The ship has more options in combat, and gets to set the pace of the conflict for the majority of it.
Launch Longboats: Launching longboats is really only safe if the line can be passed off. The ship sends several members of the crew to a longboat. The goal is to launch several longboats so that more can hold the line, and that disaster strikes a smaller again. This action is automatic if rolled while the Dendan is Tiring. If the Dendan is Racing or Breaching then the crew their captain's Command against the Dendan's Speed. If the crew is successful, then the boat is launched and able to handle the line. If the Dendan is successful, the crew are knocked into the sea and the Dendan reduces the crew's disposition by it's margin of success. On a tie, the crew gets in the longboat successfully, but the boat loses the line and needs to find a way to get it. If the Dendan Breached, they automatically successfully get a breath. If the Dendan is Thrashing, then the Dendan rolls its Power to reduce by its successes, with the crew rolling nothing, and losing the longboat. Each longboat holding the line gives the ship +1D on all power tests, without a maximum bonus.
Ride The Line: The crew attempts to trim their sails, stow their oars, and simply let the Dendan pull them. As they get swept out to sea they must hold on for dear life. If the Dendan Breaches here then nothing is rolled, but the Dendan has successfully breached. If the Dendan Tires, then the Dendan may roll Health and add the result to their disposition. If the Dendan Thrashes then the crew rolls their Rigging or Piloting vs the Power of the Dendan, the winner reducing the disposition of the other. If the Dendan Races then the crew rolls their Rigging or Piloting, but the Dendan rolls their Speed instead, again with the winner gaining disposition.
Pull Beneath the Waves: This is a much more active version of riding the line. The crew begins to try to heave the Dendan beneath the waves and drown the great beast. If the Dendan Tires then the crew rolls their Power, directly reducing the disposition of the Dendan. If the Dendan is Breaching then the crew must roll Power vs the Dendan's Power, success means that the Dendan fails to breach this action. If the Dendan Thrashes then the crew must scramble, rolling their Power vs the Dendan's Power, with the winner reducing the other's disposition. If the Dendan is Racing then the Dendan rolls their Speed without opposition from the crew to reduce the crew's disposition.
Jig: The crew attempts to pull the Dendan this way and that, tiring it out and wounding it. This is always the Crew's Power against the Dendan's, with the winner reducing the other's disposition. Breaching attempts, despite this, also always succeed.
If the crew wins the test against the Dendan, they may use their margin of success to shoot, cast spells, repair the ship, bail water, or other actions. The crew may make a single test for every margin of success as they do jobs as they hand the line off to one another.
If the Dendan wins the test it can attempt to damage the ship. The Dendan can deal its Margin of Success as damage to the ship structurally.
If the Dendan is brought low, every single sailor on the ship immediately becomes worthy of a song, and can claim the prizes and glory. If the Dendan wins the conflict, they can choose to flee, or they can destroy the ship. Up to the Dendan.
A Burning Wheel Monster Every Week