These whale analogs reside in the vast oceans of the water world of O'ooryu in Fantasia. They are integrated into the magical cycles of the planet in ways even the locals don't fully understand, but they've been held sacred to the indigenous culture for hundreds of years.
Within every full cycle of the planet around its double suns the wheylanni spend a lengthy time diving into some of the deepest reaches of the ocean where they can tap a source of lifespring energy richer than anything at the surface. Afterwards they visit the shallows to birth their young and care for them until they are old enough to travel with the pods.
In times long passed, when the local culture was more brutal in the cycles of survival, the wheylanni were hunted and killed for the riches of their bodies, both for magical and more basic resources. Now the people of O'ooryu use a sustainable and cooperative approach to access the magical power within these peaceful giants of the sea.
When the wheylanni come to the shallows a Great Harvest is undertaken, and the locals use magic to form a telepathic link with each wheylanni in turn to gain consent for an unusual symbiotic journey that benefits both parties.
Introduced in #35 The Harvest.