Santhid

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Santhidyn are fairly intelligent gigantic crustacean marine animals native to Roshar. They are so reclusive that some books claim they are extinct. They sometimes follow ships, although all that can be seen from the surface is the top of their shells. Sailors consider hunting them very unlucky, and when one washes up on shore it is badly decomposed. Because of this, there were no known pictures or reliable accounts of them until a santhid was drawn by Shallan Davar.

Anatomy

Santhidyn have a dome shaped brown-green shell, about the size of three rowboats tied together and at least six or eight feet in height, on their top. The shell is sometimes overgrown with seaweed, and small crystals jut up from it. Underneath the shell, they are a knotted gray-blue mass. Their skin are rippled and folded, gnarled like an ancient tree. They have an eye as big as a human head and three enormous fins on each of their flanks. They have long, drooping, and very thick blue tendrils, like those of a jellyfish that disappear down into the depths of the seas, trailing behind the santhid at a slant.

Santhidyn are likely a greatshell subspecies.

Ecology

The waters around santhidyn are teemed with life. Small fish usually follow santhidyn around, picking at the underside of their shell, perhaps indicating a symbiotic relationship. Others move between a ship and a santhid, picking at the bottom of the vessel. This may have something to do with why santhidyn follow ships around. They are also accompanied by arrow-shaped spren that may be the same type that follows skyeels and chasmfiends.

They are generally considered harmless, although the lack of reliable accounts on them makes it suspect.

Lore

Sailors consider santhidyn to be very good luck and a good omen, and even the thought of hunting one is enough to make most uncomfortable. There are stories claiming they sometimes follow a ship for days, wait out in the sea as the ship goes into port, and follow it again once it goes into open sea.

Trivia

• Mraize had a santhid skull among his collection of trophies.

Notes

This page is probably complete!

This page contains most of the knowledge we have on the subject at this time.
It has yet to be reviewed.