The world is full of omens, for those prepared to see. But some are easier to discern than others. Such is the case with the Bakekujira, the Ghost-Whale. Appearing as a great, skeletal whale, composed of bleached bone and an eerie aura, the Ghost-Whale haunts the world as a bringer of uncertain tidings and bad fortune. Or so the stories say.
To see the Bakekujira is to drown in hopelessness and despair. To witness its passing is to feel the cold clutch of fear on one’s heart, and to know that there are bad times ahead. Some believe that the Bakekujira is the soul of a whale slain by hunters, come back to seek revenge against those who killed it. Others believe it is a spirit of the sea, called forth as punishment for those who abuse the largesse of the ocean. Some few believe it is a servant of the cosmic balance, summoned to set right a world gone wrong.
Whether Bake Kujira is a ghost, or a devil, or something else entirely is unknown. All that is known is that where it goes, bad things follow. Accompanied by swarms of strange birds and shoals of hideous fish, the Ghost-Whale is not bound by the sea but can also swim through the sky, if that is where its course should take it.
No barrier can slow it, no witchery can divert it. Wherever it goes, it brings death and disease with it. Those who are unfortunate enough to witness its passing are marked by its curse and subject to all manner of disasters to come.
Some few mortals worship the Ghost-Whale, in hopes of propitiating it and preventing the doom it foretells. Others seek the aid of the gods in breaking the curse of the Bake Kujira. But what can even the gods do against such a being?
Only time will tell.