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Great Gray Mossy
Fictional Character
Chicxulub Asteroid Missed
POD: 66 million years ago
Appearance(s): "The Quest for the Great Gray Mossy"
Type of Appearance: Direct
Species: Mossy

The Great Gray Mossy was a mossy that had achieved a legendary status among hunters. It was abnormally large, particularly smart, and extremely aggressive. Many had tried to hunt him, but he survived, routinely taking harpoons in stride while charging and attacking his hunters.[1]

One such hunter was Captain Baja. The Great Gray Mossy attacked the ship upon which a young Baja was serving. Baja's face was scarred, and the Great Grey Mossy ate his tail. After Baja was rescued, a blacksmith seared the wound shut,[2] and Baja wore a prosthetic made of mossy bone.[3] Vowing revenge, Baja spent the remainder of his life on a quest for the Great Grey Mossy. He captained the Queepahd at the end of his life.[4]

The Great Gray Mossy was hunted by the crew of the Flowerbud, captained by Kain. Kain's eldest hatchling commanded the boat that attempted harpoon the Mossy, but the Mossy succeeded in sinking it. The Flowerbud continued to search the ocean for Kain's hatchling. Instead, it encountered the Queepahd. Kain explained what had happened to Baja. Rather than help Kain, Baja pursued the Mossy.[5]

The Queepahd found the Mossy a few days later. A harpooner named Geekgeek struck the Great Gray Mossy. While it initially pulled away, the Great Gray Mossy abruptly turned and ate both Geekgeek and a rower. The boat capsized and the survivors fell into the ocean. Baja's boat arrived, and personally threw his own harpoon into the Mossy. When the Mossy again fled, the hemp line wrapped around Baja's neck and pulled him into the ocean. The Mossy turned round again. While a harpooner named Faidal cut the line that held Baja, Baja's prosthetic tail made swimming for a long time impossible. The Great Gray Mossy then ate Faidal, sank another harpoon boat, and then flailed the people in the water with its tail until all were dead. The Great Gray Mossy charged the Queepahd itself, breaking a hole in the ship's side. Despite the sailors' efforts to pump the ship out, it sank in short order.

Only the Mossy and a novice crewman named Milvil survived the encounter.[6]

Literary comment

The Great Grey Mossy is based on the titular White Whale from Moby-Dick.

References

  1. Analog, Vol. CXXXX, Nos 1 & 2, January/February, 2020, pgs. 57.
  2. Ibid., pgs. 57.
  3. Ibid. pg. 55.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Ibid., pgs. 67-68.
  6. Ibid. pg. 70-71.
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