Sky Whales

Is it even worth setting a world in the sky if you don't have sky whales? I think not!  

What is a Sky Whale?

Sky whales are large whale-like creatures that float through the sky on multi-year migration patterns. Scholars are unsure whether they were always up in the skies or if they came through a tear from some other realm during or after the Catastrophe. 

An average adult sky whale can reach 100-150 feet long and about 30 feet wide, but it does not seem like they stop growing upon reaching adulthood; their growth just slows down. A long-lived sky whale could easily be 250-300 feet long. Their calves are born at a massive size, usually around 30 feet long.  

There are rumors of sky whales so large they can inhale a whole ship. Their wide mouths suck in entire flocks of birds and other prey. 

A sky whale’s mouth looks something like the mouth of a whale shark here in our world.

Sky whales don’t seem perturbed by inclement weather and apparently seek it out from time to time, absorbing rain into their skin as they float silently amid the turbulence. Lightning appears to dissipate into the creatures' skin, having no impact on them at all. During drier weather, sailors report seeing a fine mist emitting from their blowholes. The mist then falls and clings to their skin, attracting smaller flying creatures that land to drink the water. (Creator’s note: This may involve a symbiotic relationship with another creature, but I don’t have anything for that yet.)

So, what uses would sky whales have in this world, and how would their existence change the lives of those in the skies? Here are a few ideas.

Nomads

After some time getting accustomed to life in the skies, people would want to leave the tightly controlled major cities. What better way to explore and experience freedom than to ride upon the backs of these giant creatures? 

Entire new cultures could spring up from the folk who choose this path. These nomads could eat the same foods as the sky whale, maybe intercepting a small portion of the prey. They could collect the water emitted by the whale and store water gathered from the storms the sky whales visit. 

The whale's symbiotic relationship with another creature (or multiple creatures) could also benefit the nomads. Some nomads may try to live with all the creatures, while others eliminate some symbionts and take their places. This detail may add some differences between the groups that rely on these whales to travel through the skies. 

Nomads might eventually build structures that sit on the whales’ backs or hang below them, like the body of a dirigible. These structures would probably be minimal and used to protect against storms and the relentless sun. Otherwise, nomads spend most of their time outside.  

Duchy of Hilean

Sigh, Hilean is why we can’t have nice things. They want to turn everything they meet into undead. It's like it's the only power they had to survive the first years after the breaking of the world or something. 

Yeah, Hilean has some undead sky whales at their disposal—not many, though; I don’t think sky whales go near Hilean anymore. 

In the early years, a pod of sky whales flew near Hilean, and people managed to kill some to feed themselves. Don’t judge them too harshly—they had not yet found a way to get off their island, and people (the non-undead ones, at least) were starving. Lady Tristessa and her priests caught other sky whales and used their magics to turn these beautiful and magnificent creatures into obedient, loyal, undead minions. 

These sky whales were quickly put to work and became instrumental in towing the many smaller islands that now make up the Duchy of Hilean. Hilean used the whales to explore a bit, although they did not go far. In the end, Empyrean found Hilean. The sky whales are probably why Empyrean did not try to bring Hilean under their control as they did with Sylvialis. Sure, Empyrean had huge hippogriffs, but one sight of a city with gigantic undead sky whales under its control would make anyone think twice about attacking.

What do you think? What other cool uses for sky whales can you think of? Do you know of any media that uses sky whales that could be a good source of inspiration?