The Retinulas are not creatures of flesh and bone, not precisely. They are echoes, solidified anxieties of the deep. Born from the crushing pressure and eternal night of the Hadal zone, they drift through the trenches, drawn to pockets of intense psychic energy - the forgotten dreams of explorers, the unresolved grief of ancient leviathans, the lingering resonance of civilizations swallowed whole.
Their forms are fluid, constantly shifting, rarely maintaining a consistent shape. Sometimes they resemble fractured coral, other times they coalesce into vaguely humanoid figures with eyes that burn with an impossible blue light. The most unsettling aspect is their voices - not spoken, but projected directly into the mind, a chorus of whispers that unravel your perceptions of reality, leaving you questioning everything you thought you knew.
Legend speaks of a ‘Grand Retinula’ - a being of unimaginable size and power, the source from which all others originate. It’s said to reside at the deepest point of the Mariana Trench, a locus of pure dread, a place where the laws of physics break down and the very fabric of existence frays.
Image of a Retinula – a swirling vortex of blue light with faintly discernible, fractured coral-like appendages. The light flickers with an unsettling intensity.
Psychic researchers have theorized that the Retinulas feed on fear, amplifying anxieties and manifesting them into tangible hallucinations. Prolonged exposure can lead to complete mental collapse, leaving the victim a hollow shell, forever trapped in a personalized nightmare.
There are accounts of submersible crews vanishing without a trace, their vessels found adrift with only faint psychic impressions – a sense of overwhelming terror, the echo of whispered accusations, and the chilling certainty that you are not alone.