The Endspeaker
| NPC | Enemy | Trivia |
The Endspeaker is an NPC in Arknights. It is one of the antagonists of Stultifera Navis.
Background
The Seaborn called "The Endspeaker" is the offspring of the Seaborn that attacks the Stultifera Navis amidst the Profound Silence, who has since called the pride of the Iberian navy their home. During one of Captain Alfonso's regular Seaborn hunt, The Endspeaker's parents were killed and eaten by the Captain whilst it watches from afar; Alfonso, noting The Endspeaker to be a "pathetic little runt",[1] let it live so that it would grow well enough for him to hunt in the future.[2] In turn, The Endspeaker holds no hard feelings toward Alfonso, knowing that it's eat or be eaten.[1]
The Endspeaker has an uncanny trait of inheriting the evolutionary properties of any organisms (which so far includes other Seaborn and Terran races) it consumes, allowing it to adapt to ever-changing situations, and rapid regenerative capabilities; even after being stabbed right through the body, shot by a handcannon, and struck with a lance, sword, and buzzsaw, The Endspeaker always comes out alive and kicking, although it does need time to recover from its injuries. Similar to The First To Talk, The Endspeaker is capable of speaking coherently and are intelligent enough to understand the concept of emotions to some degree. Due to its age however, The Endspeaker's mindset is similar to that of a human child and are best characterized by its tenacity and persistence.
The Endspeaker is initially similar to an oversized tadpole but with limbs and transparent skin showing some of its innards as well as thick white carapaces around its head. After it consumes Amaia, it evolves into a humanoid Seaborn resembling a jellyfish but with avian legs and wings on its "head," a reptilian tail, and some parts of Amaia's clothes strewn into its luminescent medusa-like main body in addition to the ability to fly.
Story
The Endspeaker first appears interrupting the talk between Gladiia and Amaia in the corridors of the Stultifera Navis, summoned by the bishop of the Church of the Deep to keep her busy as she heads elsewhere.[3] Gladiia easily overpowers The Endspeaker, who tries to convince her to "return to the ocean" together but she responded by stabbing it. The Endspeaker then asks Gladiia whether she would become stronger by consuming it, then offering some of its flesh to her before running away.[1]
However, The Endspeaker runs into Garcia who fights it, offering itself to be eaten by the chief mate, only to be stabbed by Alfonso who comes to Garcia's rescue and recognized it. Alfonso fights The Endspeaker together with Garcia, but it manages to escape while the Captain is distracted after noticing that Garcia is injured from its attacks before. Before it heads out to the ocean to recover, The Endspeaker encounters Amaia, who calls it her "Herald" and offers her help in defeating Alfonso.[1]
Upon recovering, The Endspeaker shows up before Alfonso and Specter in the great hall of the Stultifera Navis whilst both are arguing, prompting the two to work together to hunt it down.[4] After a fight, The Endspeaker was forced to retreat, knowing that fighting both Alfonso and Specter is too much for it, only to run into Irene in the engine room. The Endspeaker overwhelms Irene, but Garcia protects her before it could land a fatal blow, injuring them in the process and noticed that the chief mate could speak after all, albeit incomplete, as they told Irene to run. However, the Inquisitor instead blasts The Endspeaker with her handcannon for hurting Garcia.[5]
To Irene's shock, The Endspeaker survives the handcannon blast and pursues it as the Seaborn flees to the great hall, only to run towards Amaia. It then pursues Irene, now joined by Skadi, as they escape the Nethersea Brand creeping through the corridors. During the pursuit, The Endspeaker asks Skadi about Ishar-mla's whereabouts, having sensed the Leviathan's presence inside her, who responded by attacking it, only for it to dodge Skadi's attack before letting out a screech that summons Sea Terrors to cover its retreat.[6]
After escaping from Irene and Skadi, The Endspeaker jumps into the deck of Stultifera Navis, only to encounter Alfonso who has been waiting for it and stabs it after a talk regarding their need to hunt to survive. As The Endspeaker resists while being stabbed by Alfonso, Skadi appears and slashes it as it claims that she will consume others too (referring to her possible transformation into Skadi the Corrupting Heart), but Skadi rebukes it. The Endspeaker tries to escape, only to be intercepted by Ulpianus who then sends it flying towards the ship's gun battery, yet it survives and claims that their killing won't benefit its kind as it crawls toward the Hunters, only for Alfonso to stab it. However, The Endspeaker breaks free just as Irene arrives, who blasts it with her handcannon, giving the opportunity for Alfonso to seemingly finish it off. Even so, The Endspeaker still lives and manages to run away by biting off the floor, but it has been severely injured from the ordeal.[2]
The Endspeaker crawls through the Stultifera Navis, clinging to life, and encounters Amaia in the engine room. It initially offers itself to be eaten by Amaia, but the bishop gives The Endspeaker a lecture about the situation on land and her misgivings on humanity. As The Endspeaker is seemingly close to death, Amaia asks it to consume and remember her; the Seaborn accepts, causing it to evolve and triggered a silence – similar to what happened before Iberia's Profound Silence – around the Stultifera Navis and a sea wind that moves her.[2] The Endspeaker also inherits Amaia's memories along with a bit of her consciousness following its evolution.
As Ulpianus and Specter splits up after heading into the deck, the latter noticed The Endspeaker's presence from Amaia's stench, which reveals itself before her. The Endspeaker offers to take the Hunters back into the ocean as well as forwarding Amaia's thanks to Specter for furthering the Church's research in her last moments, but Specter tells it to "stop singing" instead, which it does by lifting the silence. However, Ulpianus shows up and strikes The Endspeaker, but it blocks the attack and tosses him overboard – the evolution also grants The Endspeaker increased strength, agility, and resilience. The Endspeaker takes Ulpianus' attack as a refusal from the Hunters and decides to sink the Stultifera Navis, claiming that it is no longer "a suitable home for the kin," before attacking Specter, who struggles to land a blow on it until the others show up and fights The Endspeaker.[7]
The battle is proves to be a grueling ordeal for the Hunters, Alfonso, and Irene; Garcia is seemingly mortally injured after being struck by The Endspeaker. The Endspeaker claims that so long as the kin wishes to survive, it will survive, but the Hunters continue to attack it in an effort to wear it down as The Endspeaker continues to offer taking them with it to the ocean. Specter distracts The Endspeaker for Skadi to land a hard blow on it that sends it to the corridors. The Endspeaker told Skadi that she is the same as Ishar-mla due to His blood flowing in her veins, but she asserts that she is not Ishar-mla but Skadi, the Abyssal Hunter, as Gladiia and Specter caught The Endspeaker by surprise. Before it could escape, The Endspeaker is sent to the engine room by the collapsing floor with Irene waiting and firing her handcannon at it, only to be ineffective. The Endspeaker asks whether Irene wants to contribute to We Many, but she responds by claiming that it has no right to interrogate her as Alfonso jumped on it and stabs The Endspeaker, pinning it to the floor as explosions occur around the Stultifera Navis and the Hunters arriving. The Endspeaker desperatly tries to summon the Sea Terrors, but none of them are left in the ship, leaving it to the mercy of Alfonso and the Hunters. As Specter delivers the finishing blow to The Endspeaker, what little remains of Amaia's consciousness take control of it and utters Specter's real name Laurentina, who gives her a last goodbye before seemingly killing it once and for all.[8]
As the Stultifera Navis sinks to the bottom of the ocean, The Endspeaker reveals itself to have survived the fierce battle and asserts that it will continue to try bringing Skadi and co. back home, but Garcia, who turns out to have survived, bites it and drags it under, intending to take the tenacious Seaborn along with them. The Endspeaker tries to force Garcia to submit into We Many, which is almost successful had Ulpianus didn't interfere by hacking both The Endspeaker and Garcia with his axe, giving a fatal strike onto The Endspeaker and killing the chief mate to let them die as a human. In the end, Ulpianus does not look back as the two corpses sink into the depths.[8]