Tsunariya

Tsunariya (pronounced "Tsunaliya) is an ancient Akuparian giant monster.

History
Tsunariya is said to be as old as Akupara Island itself and, over the island's long history, has prevented outsiders from invading as well as prevented dictator like warlords from throwing the island into chaos or unhappiness. Ancient scripture and cave paintings depict the monster as an almight force of nature which puts its foot down when chaotic forces attempt to put the island in danger. Having done battle with gods and demons alike and having warded of technological superweapons from other nations, Tsunariya is the most idolised monster god on Akupara. This is unsuprising as it is the last known monster to still be alive since the dawn of Akupara. Its perfect record in battle makes it a force to be reckoned with.

Keeping an ancient guardian alive
Tsunariya is the last known ancient monster. As history has progressed and the islanders have become more civilised, the monsters on Akupara became more numerous but smaller in size. Most of the giant monsters on Akupara stand below 100 meters in height. Some exceptions to this do exist but for the most part there is no longer any need on Akupara for monsters as big as Tsunariya who stand hunched at an impressive 750 meters. The Akuparian people and nabouring nations have civilised sufficiently that the island only needs smaller monsters to deter any mainstream forces for bad.

The Akupara turtle though, in all its wisdom, knows that large supernatural forces may still need to be dealt with. For this the Akupara has several defence mechanisms such as simply taking off and flying away from the problem. In a last ditch effort however to save its ecosystem the Akupara has the capacity to revive the largest and most powerful monsters ever to have graced the planet. Amongst these is Tsunariya.

Appearance
Tsunariya is the last known monster on Akupara to be over 500 meters in height. As mentioned above, monsters on the island have since gotten much smaller. Tsunariya however maintains a healthy height of 750 meters in its hunched stance. When measured from head to tail, it is roughly a mile long. Keeping such a gigantic creature well fed is difficult under normal circumstances. Tsunariya is so big that it feeds off fat which has been excreted﻿ by the Akupara specifically with the purpose of maintaining mammoth monsters which are unsustainable by normal means. Tsunariya was once much larger it is now but thousands of years have taken its toll on the beast.

Tsunariya gets it name from its ability to summon tidal waves which are big enough to change the shape of continents and destroy all conventional threats. As such, Tsunariya is partly a sea monster. It also however has the capacity to come onto land, which is where it now dwells. On land, Tsunariya is a cumbersome and ungainly creature however it is capable of battle foes from all angles thanks to its numerous appendages.

Tsunariya is something of a pseudo bipedal creature since the bulk of its enormous mass rests on its two large legs but it is also held up most of the time by a combination of flippers and arms. It has 4 flippers that flank its torso which are strictly just flippers and two forward flippers which have arm and hand like properties to them positioned by its shoulders. Tsunariya's fingers are tipped by large talons which are only really useful when combating creatures of a similar size to itself. Anything vastly smaller than itself it kills simply by using its tremendous weight. It has a long neck on which its head is attached. This head sports 8 eyes and two ornate horns which boast an elaborate spiral pattern across their length. Tsunariya's back is heavily plated and features large dorsal spines that run from the length of its neck down to the tip of its tail. Its tail has a large flipper on it which is designed specifically for endurance swimming. Its hide is a ghostly shade of grey and its talons and eyes are a pearly white colour.

Tsunariya, being such an incredibly old monster, has aged significantly in terms of its appearance. Its once magnificent horns and armour are cracked in several spots and its hide grows ever more wrinkly. Many of its flippers, fins and webbing are torn or have huge gashes running through them. Despite these signs of age and battle damage it maintains a full set of teeth which are still more than capable of ripping through any material of virtually any thickness. Old stories tell of Tsunariya eating its way through mountains of diamond to get to its opponent.

The Monster's Dwelling
Once a proud and highly respected creature, for the last several hundred years of its life Tsunariya has gone into hiding. Once, when people strayed too close to its den in the midlands of Akupara, it would fiercely defend its territory but in more recent years it has become increasingly docile and almost slightly lazy. It once would have roamed the landscape seeking out other large monsters to combat but, since the other similarly sized monsters seemingly vanished into thin air, it has remained largely cave bound. The location of its cave has remarkably remained a secret for thousands of years since no one's been brave enough to seek it out. This is good for Tsunariya since the Akuparian people respect it for the monster it was. If they saw it as it is now they would frankly be dissapointed as it pitifully tried to shoo them away rather than chase them off. It's not that Tsunariya is not up to frightening people off, it's more﻿ that it no longer especially cares. Tsunariya has become a creature without a purpose that is kept alive by the Akupara for a purpose that it may end up waiting a millenia for to fulfil.

In a bid to make its life more interesting for itself, Tsunariya has recently allowed a dragon by the name of Ryu and a young girl called Kiki to take up residence in its cave since the dragon was exiled by its family and the girl was without a family of her own. Rather amusingly; Kiki is oblivious to Tsunariya's glorious past and, as a result, Tsunariya gets treated like a pet by Kiki who calls him Nimbus since she does not know his official name. Accomodating these two is not much of a problem to Tsunariya since its midland cave is massive beyond comprehension and spans for several miles. Kiki and Ryu take up just a few meters of it...