Good day fellow splinterfans, and welcome back to my splinterlands blog, where today I will be making a new post for this weeks community engagement challenge, there's been a change in the old battlemage secrets challenge in to a new one, and I have to say this week is quite of a challenge!
Challenge Theme: Explore and Expand Splinterlands Lore
Are you a fan of the rich and immersive world behind Splinterlands? This week’s challenge invites you to dive deep into the lore and share your creative take on the stories, characters, and factions that make up the Splinterlands universe!
My subject for this post is Coastal Sentry, one of my favorite cards in the game, I like using her as a secondary tank, usually protected behind Diemon Shark or Arkemis the Bear because she's too fragile to be in the first position from the get go, she would be killed within the first two rounds.
BUT.. yeah, there's a but with this awesome protector of the Praetoria watery world - she doesn't have the reach ability so she teams up nicely with Possibilus the Wise, giving her the reach ability AND the trample ability so she can strike again when she kills, her piercing ability makes this combo even more lethal, often killing again on her trample move.
Of course when the maneuvers ruleset is active, giving reach to all units we can play without Possibilus and use Kelya or Quix to save 2 mana but this all depends on so many other factors like what my opponent likes to play, the combination of rulesets to deal with and the available mana for the battle.
As you can see I like playing her and I used her 45 minutes ago from making this post 😁
I own Coastal Sentry at level 8, and I like her at level 8, because higher up the gets the extra melee attack, often facing Arkemis the Bear, Djinn Oshannus or Slipspawn as opponents, all three having the forcefield ability, reducing the attack to only 1.
The splinterlands lore
To be honest I'm not much of a lore reader myself, not because I don't like reading the stories, because I like fantasy and everything involved in it, but the splinterverse is so huge already and it soaks up most of my spare time already (with great joy I have to say!) playing ranked battles, brawls for two accounts, managing both decks and creating two or three blog posts every week so I just lack the time diving in to this part of the splinterverse....
So, this part is from the splinterlands lore site, a short story about a Coastal Sentry patrolling and protecting her area;
The coast of Praetoria is full of beauty and danger, and nothing encapsulates that better than the coastal sentry. These warriors hail from the watery settlements of the merfolk. Their role is to guard their people and the sea life around them, often swimming out for weeks on end, tracking a route around their territory.
Most of the time, coastal sentries will avoid strangers unless they pose a threat, choosing instead to slip away quietly before they are seen.
Nimue felt the presence of the kulu swimhunter before she saw it. It was feeding greedily on her settlement's stock of sea mushrooms along the Laniree Reef. A broken spear protruded from its side, leaking a twisting ribbon of blood into the water.
She would have to deal with this transgression, but the kulu were dangerous, even a wounded one. If it spotted her too soon, it would attack, and she would be hard pressed to fight it off. Stealth was the better option.
Nimue swam down into the reef and squeezed through its narrow crevices and channels. As she crept closer, the kulu's legs flailed weakly through the water, sending up a churn of bubbles as it tried to keep itself steady. Nimue gripped her trident and readied to attack.
A cold rush of water hit her, and a deeplurker flashed through an opening in the reef. It snatched the Kulu in its jaws and carried the creature out of the reef and down into the depths of the sea. A dark flood of crimson blotted the water in its wake.
Nimue swam into the open and cocked her head. Faint cries of pain echoed up from the darkness below. She smiled. “I guess there's more than one way to descale a fish.”
I actually enjoyed reading this short story, maybe I should find some time to at least read the lore from my favorite monsters in the game.
More lore!
I made a second part on the same story where Nimue is patrolling the reef;
Nimue had been patrolling the Laniree Reef for several days. The waters were usually calm this time of year, and the sea mushrooms, which her people relied on for food and medicine, grew in abundance. But lately, something had felt off. More creatures than usual were venturing into their waters, stealing from their stockpiles, or simply causing trouble. It was her duty as a Coastal Sentry to protect her home, and she took her role seriously.
After the deeplurker had taken care of the wounded Kulu, she swam further along the reef, her senses on high alert. Her trident, polished and sharpened, gleamed in the dim light filtering through the ocean’s surface. She moved silently, weaving through the twisting coral formations like a shadow.
For a while, all seemed peaceful, with schools of fish darting playfully among the coral, and the rhythm of the ocean soothing her. But as she rounded a bend, she noticed something strange: a cluster of sea mushrooms had been trampled, their stalks bent and broken, as though something heavy had moved through recently. Her heart quickened. Whatever had passed through here wasn’t part of the natural flow of the reef.
Nimue swam low to the seabed, her body tense with anticipation. She carefully examined the signs, her fingers brushing over the damaged mushrooms and disturbed sand. Suddenly, she felt a tremor in the water—a sign that something large was nearby. Peering ahead, she saw a dark figure hovering near a patch of coral, its bulk casting an eerie shadow over the sea floor.
It was a Darkfin Raider, a notorious creature known for its aggressiveness and reckless destruction. They roamed the seas in search of anything they could scavenge, often raiding settlements for resources and leaving ruin in their wake. This one seemed particularly interested in the sea mushrooms, greedily plucking them from the reef and stuffing them into its jaws. Its leathery skin was dark and scarred, evidence of countless battles. Nimue narrowed her eyes. This trespasser was far more dangerous than the wounded Kulu.
She observed the Darkfin Raider from a distance, trying to assess its movements. It was heavily armored, its back covered in thick, shell-like plates. Attacking it head-on would be foolish, but she couldn’t let it continue desecrating the reef. The sea mushrooms were vital to her people’s survival, and this creature’s carelessness would destroy them.
Nimue moved into position, gripping her trident tightly. She knew that surprise was her greatest ally. With a powerful kick, she surged forward through the water, swift and silent, her trident aimed at the soft underbelly of the Darkfin Raider. But just as she neared her target, the creature whipped around with surprising speed. Its yellow eyes locked onto her, and it let out a deep, guttural roar, shaking the surrounding waters.
The force of its roar sent a shockwave through the water, knocking Nimue back into the coral. Pain shot through her shoulder as she collided with the sharp edges, but she quickly recovered, her instincts kicking in. The Raider attacked her, its massive jaws snapping inches from her face. Nimue twisted out of the way, her agile form allowing her to dodge its attacks, but the creature was relentless.
As the battle raged on, Nimue knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. The Darkfin Raider was too strong, and its armored back made it nearly impossible to land a decisive blow. She needed a plan. As the creature attacked her once more, she noticed something on its scarred side, where old wounds had never fully healed. The weak spot she needed.
Dodging another attack, Nimue swam underneath the creature, her trident ready. With all her strength, she thrust it into the Raider’s side, right where its scars were most vulnerable. The creature let out a deafening screech, moving wildly as dark blood clouded the water around them.
The Raider struggled, trying to shake her off, but Nimue held firm, twisting her weapon deeper into the wound. After what felt like an eternity, the creature’s movements slowed, and it slumped to the seafloor, defeated. Breathing heavily, Nimue pulled her trident free, watching as the creature’s lifeless body drifted into the deep.
The water around her slowly cleared, and the silence of the ocean returned. Her heart still racing, another trespasser had been dealt with, but it was becoming clear that something was stirring in the deeper waters. These attacks were becoming too frequent to be mere coincidence.
Nimue cast a glance toward the dark, open sea beyond the reef. What was drawing these creatures to her home? She didn’t have the answer, but she knew one thing for certain: her people would need her now more than ever. If more threats were coming, she would be ready.
I think the story is exciting and fun to read, what do you think?
Kudo's on the team for making a new challenge, it was actually a lot of fun to make, also for all the bigger and small improvements to the game, the new menu structure and the ability to earn chests on league promotions is awesome!
If you're not a player, or have stopped playing you should definitely start (again)!
Thank you for reading!!!
If you haven't made an account already, please consider using my referral link to sign up, I'll happily send the amount I get for your signup back to you in DEC or SPS to help you start.
Have a great day!
