Mariana’s Awakening adds a sixth layer beneath Mariana’s Veil in Fisch, and reaching it is a gated questline rather than a location you can simply swim to. It starts with Vaelor at Roslit Bay, sends you through all five existing layers to collect a set of gauntlets, and ends with a riddle puzzle that only opens the Abyss Gate once you bring back a very specific fish.
Quick answer: Finish Mariana’s Veil, earn all five descendant gauntlets, perfect catch a Scylla, then solve the Obsidian Pocket riddle with the matching mutated Scylla to open the gate into the Obsidian Trench.
Requirements before starting Vaelor’s Worthy of the Abyss
Vaelor will not hand over the quest unless you have already completed Mariana’s Veil. That is a hard gate, not a recommendation. If you have not been down there yet, you need the submarine first, which is assembled at Roslit Bay after Dr. Glimmerfin near the lighthouse dock gives you the drill. Each submarine part (Windows, Submarine Top, Side Fins, Metal Panels, Back Fins) has roughly a 5% chance to drop from drilling rocks along the shoreline.
With the submarine built, you dive through the crevices and kelp passages until you surface at the Volcanic Vents, which is the first layer of the Veil and the entry point for everything that follows.
Once the Veil is open, gather the gear the questline assumes you already own:
- All five layer rods: Volcanic Rod, Challenger’s Rod, Rod of the Zenith, Ethereal Prism Rod, Leviathan’s Fang Rod.
- Glimmerfin Suit Lvl 3 for survival at depth, plus Scoria Armor for the Volcanic Vents.
- A Traveler’s Whistle, since the quest bounces you between all five layers.
- Mutation and luck potions, and a companion such as Mutated Sharky, to speed up the mutation catches.
Vaelor himself is at Roslit Bay, standing on a cliffside ledge near the lighthouse. Speaking to him accepts Vaelor’s Worthy of the Abyss and unlocks the five descendant quests.
The five descendant quests and where to find each NPC
Each layer has one of Vaelor’s descendants, and each of them asks for mutated catches made with that layer’s own rod. Using a stronger rod from a different layer does not count.
| NPC | Layer | Required rod |
|---|---|---|
| Ignis | Volcanic Vents | Volcanic Rod |
| Glacius | Challenger’s Deep | Challenger’s Rod |
| Tenebris | Abyssal Zenith | Rod of the Zenith |
| Luminis | Calm Zone | Ethereal Prism Rod |
| Resonus | Veil of the Forsaken | Leviathan’s Fang Rod |
Ignis — Volcanic Vents
Ignis stands opposite the Volcanic Rod vendor at roughly (-3343, -2028, 4076). His quest, Ignite, Cinder, and Ash, asks for 2 perfect catches on Ashen-fortune Charred Coelacanth and 1 Ashen-fortune Obsidian-Plated Piranha. Return to him afterwards for the Volcanic Gauntlets.
Glacius — Challenger’s Deep
Glacius waits opposite the Challenger’s Rod at around (738, -3355, -1529). The Glacier-Froze Abyss quest wants 3 Chilled Hoarfrost Halibut and 1 perfect catch on a Chilled Glacial Gulper. Completing both parts earns the Challenger’s Gauntlets.
Tenebris — Abyssal Zenith
Tenebris sits on the third layer at approximately (-1043.4, -1043.7, 84.7), across the Anglerfish Pond. Glide over rather than swimming so the anglerfish do not hit you. His Twisted Abyss quest requires 2 Wrath Lumin-Lure Lanternfish and 1 perfect catch on a Wrath Void-Drifter Jelly.
Luminis — Calm Zone
Luminis is reached by gliding down into the Calm Zone. The Shining Abyss quest is the longest of the five, asking for 4 Prisma Geode Groupers and 2 perfect catches on Prisma Pearl-Plated Plecos with the Ethereal Prism Rod.
Resonus — Veil of the Forsaken
Resonus is at the bottom layer and is the only descendant who demands perfect catches for everything. Phantom Resonance needs 5 perfect catches on Gargoyle Gobies and 3 on Wraith-Whisper Rays, all with the Leviathan’s Fang Rod.
Bait, season, and weather for the quest fish
The mutations are random, but the base fish are not. Matching the conditions below dramatically cuts down how long each descendant quest takes.
| Fish | Bait | Season | Time & weather |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charred Coelacanth | Squid | Summer, Autumn | Night, Clear |
| Obsidian-Plated Piranha | Worm | Summer | Day, Rain |
| Hoarfrost Halibut | Fish Head | Winter | Day, Clear |
| Glacial Gulper | Shrimp | Winter | Night, Foggy |
| Lumin-Lure Lanternfish | Shrimp | Spring, Autumn | Night, Clear |
| Void-Drifter Jelly | Seaweed | Autumn, Winter | Night, Foggy |
Scylla prefers Shark Head bait, which is worth stocking up on before you reach the final two stages of the questline.
What each gauntlet does
Gauntlets are equipment slots with passive fishing effects, and one of them is genuinely useful for the puzzle later on.
| Gauntlet | Effect |
|---|---|
| Volcanic Gauntlets | Slashes every 5 seconds, burning the fish for +15% progress speed |
| Challenger’s Gauntlets | 10% chance to freeze the fish for 0.5 seconds, 2-second cooldown |
| Abyssal Gauntlets | Reveals the fish’s mutation when the minigame starts |
| Calm Gauntlets | +3% shiny chance and +3% sparkling chance |
| Veiled Gauntlets | Converts 5–10% of rod progress speed into forced progress speed for hunt fish |
| Mariana’s Gauntlets | Reward for solving the Obsidian Pocket puzzle |
The Abyssal Gauntlets are the ones to keep equipped for the rest of the questline, because the riddle stage asks for a Scylla with a specific mutation and the gauntlets tell you which mutation you hooked before you commit to the catch.
Perfect catch a Scylla and drop into the Obsidian Pocket
How the Obsidian Pocket riddle works
The riddle on the Crevice Wall is not the same for everyone. One of the five layer crystals lights up for your account, and the wall text points at the layer it belongs to. A blue crystal paired with “When its scales turn brittle and my currents sway, its chilled domain shall light the way” means Challenger’s Deep, so the answer is a Chilled Scylla caught with the Challenger’s Rod. A line such as “When its scales glisten in colorful arrays, its prism domain shall light the way” points instead at the Calm Zone and the Ethereal Prism Rod.
If the wording is unclear, travel back to Vaelor at Roslit Bay. He spells out the exact rod and mutation your riddle needs, which removes the guesswork entirely.
Trench Suppression and how to keep it from crippling your rod
The Obsidian Trench applies a stacking debuff called Suppression the moment you arrive. It begins at -10% to your rod stats and decays toward -90% if you stand still. A 30-second timer governs the decay, and it resets every time you catch a fish or interact with one of the glowing white crystals scattered around the trench. Touching crystals regularly keeps the penalty down near its -5% floor.
Suppression is not permanent. Completing the Obsidian Trench bestiary and purchasing the Casm Stalker rod removes the debuff from your account for good, which is the main reason to push for 100% bestiary rather than treating it as an optional collectible.
The trench adds 12 catches, two of them hidden. The known species are:
- Obsidian Gaveltooth, Cinder-Crust Gar, Scoria Scorpionfish
- Shatter-Tooth Shark, Shatterjaw Shark, Magma-Glass Marlin
- Tectonic Toadfish, Ash-Cloud Angelfish, Pumice Puffer, Basalt Behemoth
Ten more species were added across the existing Veil layers as well, including Charred Coelacanth, Obsidian-Plated Piranha, Glacial Gulper, Hoarfrost Halibut, Lumin-Lure Lanternfish, Void-Drifter Jelly, Geode Grouper, Pearl-Plated Pleco, Gargoyle Goby, and Wraith-Whisper Ray — all of which you will have caught during the descendant quests.
Veiled Charybdis and awakening Skolopendra
Veiled Charybdis appears as a shadow swimming through the trench water. Casting at that shadow starts a modified minigame where whirlpools open across the bar. Drifting into one shrinks your control bar, so the whole fight is about staying clear of them while keeping progress ticking up.
Catching roughly 4 to 6 Veiled Charybdis charges the trench crystals. When they shift to deep red, Skolopendra has awakened and can be hooked as the area’s exotic boss fish. Its minigame blacks out the screen and splits the bar into a red half and a black half; keeping your marker on the black side is what drives the catch forward.
Casm Stalker rod stats and abilities
The Casm Stalker is sold inside the Obsidian Trench for 5,000,000 C$, with the shop requiring 100% Obsidian Trench bestiary completion.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Lure Speed | 135% |
| Luck | 278% |
| Control | 0.3 |
| Resilience | 80% |
| Max Kg | Infinity |
| Price | 5,000,000 C$ |
Its signature ability mirrors the Charybdis fight. Every 4 seconds there is a 50% chance a whirlpool spawns inside your minigame, dragging the fish for 2 seconds and granting +15% forced progress speed. The same rule about avoiding it applies, since entering the whirlpool yourself shrinks your control bar.
On top of that, perfect catches build a streak that caps at 5 stacks. Each stack adds 8% to the Myriapodic mutation chance and 6% to fish weight, topping out at +40% mutation chance and +30% weight.
Redeem the MarianaIsGoingCrazy code
Open the settings menu, find the Codes field, and enter MarianaIsGoingCrazy. It pays out 1,000 Coins, 10 Instant Catchers, 5 Luminous Larva, a random item, and a companion. Codes in Fisch expire without warning, so redeem it before you start the questline rather than after.
The heaviest part of the run is the descendant stage, since six mutated catches spread across five layers depend on seasons and weather lining up. Everything after that moves quickly: one Scylla for Vaelor, one mutated Scylla for the pedestal, and the Abyss Gate stays open from then on.
