New whaling mechanic and credo idea

[Sollar]

I want to start by stating that the current whaling mechanic is unknown to me, although I have some unproven assumptions. Nevertheless I have a fully fleshed out idea that I would actually like to see it implemented (either as standalone or complementary to current mechanic). My proposal is based on current in-game existing mechanics so I strongly believe it does not require a lot of effort to implement, so hear me out:

Whaling mechanic:

Player strolling through the ocean will at one point discover a whale sign - some visual to be added on the ocean water and minimap.
In order to even spot the signs, a player has to meet a certain requirement of perc*exp like any other forageable. Optionally we can have a new skill - Whaling - that players have to learn in order to build and/or drive Knarrs and also provide a new Hearth Magic skill - Sense whale sign - that when used will tell player if a whale sign is nearby and/or the direction.
Right clicking the whale sign would show the player the option "Call me Ishmael" (I am pretty sure that Jorb can come up with a more obscure whale reference) - upon a short hourglass timer the player gets a whale scent out of the sign
The whale scent number of uses should scale with the player WILL -> Players with low WILL should get an alert that their senses are not sharp enough and get no scent. Additionally the quality of the whale to which the scent belongs should be proportional to the WILL requirement of getting a scent making it that players need to increase their WILL to get better whales.
Open to debate: whale signs can be traded - opening a new market for trading whale scents
Current existing scent tracking mechanic will apply. Tracking the scents will lead the player to another whale sign.
Every time the player uses the option "Call me Ishmael" upon a whale sign, there is an increasing chance that instead of an additional scent, the player will instead actually spawn a whale
In case a whale is spawned, it will come out of the water instantly engaging the whaling player.
Open to debate: multiple whale signs could lead to the same whale, opening the possibility that different player/factions meet at the whale spot possibly triggering conflicts/negociations
When a whale is either despawned or killed, the scent should disappear from any inventory (that is to not allow player to sell used scents)

Further expanding on the above a new Credo can be implemented:

Whaler
Tier 1 - Higher chance of finding whale signs
Tier 2 - Knarrs will be more resistant to whale attacks
Tier 3 - Whale signs will provide more accurate tracking
Tier 4 - Spawned whales do not instantly attack the player anymore
Tier 5 - Increased quality of spawned whales

Additional ideas for tier bonuses:
Tier x - Higher chance to fish a talking whale
Tier x - Knars take less damage by navigating on deep ocean tiles


Examples of whaling credo quests:
Pick x whale barnacles
Study x whale barnacle
See a drifkelp island
Pickup x driftkelp
Eat x drifkelp
See a coral reef
Pickup x corals
Pickup x ocean sponges
Fish x ocean fish


Open to discussions. Feedback or suggestions are highly appreciated. Dev cape is also highly welcome

"All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad"

[Sevenless]

That would be a re-write overtop the current mechanic. The current mechanic has server spawned whales to prevent players from forcing more spawns, which is what caused part of the faction vs normal village stat bloat. Allowing players to specialize into force spawning whales would open up that can of worms again.

I would very much appreciate if the current system worked off tracking rather than what we have though. The current system is a pain in the ass for find the whale once you know it exists.