<img src="/images/creatures/amabie/amabie.jpg" alt="Amabie illustration" />
There was once a town official, who resided in Higo Province in Japan (today known as the Kumamoto Prefecture). Matters of state kept him busy, but he would make time every night for a walk along the beach. Something about the dark, steady waves washing onto shore would calm his mind, even during the most hectic times of the year. The beach where he walked afforded a clear view of the castle on one side, and the endless ocean horizon stretched on the other. In this position he could look to one side and acknowledge his earthly duties, then look to the other and acknowledge his small place in infinity. It was peaceful.
One night, he felt unusually restless. He had grown aware of a general uneasiness spreading throughout his community. Some spoke of business slowing down, others of worse things like droughts and famines approaching. Whatever the true cause, his mind was restless and sleep eluded him. That night he walked further than usual, losing himself in thoughts he could not remember moments after entertaining them. At times he felt a vague ache in his feet. The cold, damp sand had got through his sandles and it itched. He turned a corner and he felt his eyes adjust as a pale dawn seemed to break. There was a strange light beaming from the water directly ahead of him. It looked like a glowing orb, just a few feet beneath the water's surface. He stopped in his tracks for a moment, not afraid but not sure what to do. He decided to approach and what he then witnessed he would remember for the rest of his life. From beneath the water's surface, the pale orb slowly emerged. The light dimmed and there, floating in the air, was a small creature covered in scales and standing upright. It had long hair, and a bird's bill, with three legs beneath it. It looked directly at him and addressed him presently: "I am an amabie, and I have come here from the open sea to speak with you. Do not be afraid." The dull shimmer around it's scales brightened at that moment, and it's voice became profound. The official heard it as if it spoke from within his own head or from the very air surrounding them. "Good harvest will continue for six years from the current year. If disease spreads, show a picture of me to those who fall ill and they will be cured." It was a prophecy.
Afterwards, the amabie returned to the sea. The town official wrote down his story and sketched the creature from memory. The story and the portrait were printed on woodblock and shared around his town, later spreading across Japan.
Many consider the amabie to be a copy-cat creature, or perhaps even a clerical error. There are other prophetic yokai who are reported to appear and deliver promises of bountiful crops and protection from disease. Like the amabie, they recommend spreading a picture of themselves around to protect yourself. You could say that social media memes haven't changed much since the 17th century… These other yokai have many more recorded sightings and so you could argue that the amabie was unlikely to have really existed.
I prefer to believe that this mysterious little creature was, in fact, a member of a family of similar creatures. The group of creatures is called "Amabiko" and has a few variants. There is an illustrated manuscript from 1844 in Echigo depicting an amabiko with no torso, only a hairy face and three long appendages - like a strange squid. An article from 1876 reports of another variant that appears ape-like, again with only 3 legs. Finally there was the "holy Amakibo" (Amabiko-no-mikoto), recorded in a newspaper in 1875. This one appeared doll-like, with less hair and four legs. It was unusual because it was spotted in a rice paddy rather than in the sea.
If the amabie can indeed protect us from pestilence, we must consider the possibility that it has some connection to the gods. The story of Amabiko-no-mikoto makes that connection appear indesputable. However, seasoned adventurers and sages know that the ability to forsee the future is often possessed by creatures of the sea. It is for that reason, that we can be reasonably confident in classifying the amabie as a type of <a href="/siren"> mermaid </a>. Regardless of the final taxonomy, may the amabie's image protect you in these trying times.

Prophetic mermaid whose image prevents disease.

Amabie

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

Twitter Hashtag on Amabie

Wikipedia entry

SoraNews 24 article

The sailors had been at sea for 50 nights and they were starving. Standing at the prow of the ship, the captain looked towards the horizon with resignation and did not notice the salt-spray that leapt up from the dark water below. He had always prided himself on his stoic nature, but hunger chipped away at his resolve. He thought of his daughters but their faces appeared vague in his mind and he struggled to keep them in focus against the constant pain in his stomach and head. His gaze touched a slim shadow in the distance. A hallucination? The ship rolled and he saw it again, clearer this time: land. There was an island.
An hour later the crew was lying haphazardly around the landing place where their ship was moored. The island was small with mostly dunes of sand and rocky crags, but there were some trees and plants. This brief rest from the sea was as wholesome as a bowl filled with barley for the exhausted crew. Several of them waited eagerly in a circle while someone hacked at flint with steel to start a fire. Finally, the tinder caught and a merry blaze filled their eyes. The captain smiled. Life-giving warmth spread outward from the fire. Then, suddenly, his legs gave out and he was on his back looking at stars. Terror gripped him as the island trembled. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the crew from angles he could make no sense of. His stomach dropped as the island lurched again. He managed to get to his hands and knees and look up - the island was shrinking. It was an impossible sight but he could not deny the thrashing white waves seething towards him. He shouted orders, but most of the crew who still stood were already fleeing towards the ship. To his horror, he noticed that the ship had moved away from the shore, back towards the open sea. The island was moving. It was moving and it was sinking. The cold ocean clawed over his face and he sucked in salt water. The captain spent his last moments trying to understand what he had just witnessed.
There is a story told in all lands throughout all history about an island which is the back of an enormous beast. In Greek, the beast is named Aspidochelone, which translates to “asp-turtle”; “Asp” meaning shield. We have a clear description of the beast’s appearance and intentions from the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiologus">Physiologus of Alexandria</a>:
“the great sea-monster which is often unwillingly met, terrible and cruel-hearted to seafarers, yea, to everyman; this swimmer of the ocean-streams is known as the asp-turtle. His appearance is like that of a rough boulder, as if there were tossing by the shore a great ocean-reedbank begirt with sand-dunes, so that seamen imagine they are gazing upon an island…”
The description of the false island is consistent across cultures, but the physical details of the rest of its body remain unconfirmed. Most who go near an Aspidochelone die, and those who escape catch only a glimpse of what lies beneath its back. Many believe it resembles a giant turtle, though some say it is more like a whale. The truth may lie somewhere in between.
What is clear is that there are more than one of this fabled giant. There have been too many sightings across too many places and times for there to be a single being (unless that being is god-like). And it goes by many names. In Middle-Earth the beast is known as <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastitocalon_(poem)">Fastitocalon</a>. The famous adventurer-sailor Sinbad <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_the_Sailor#First_Voyage_of_Sinbad_the_Sailor">encounters the beast in his first voyage</a> and knows it by the name Zaratan. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan#The_Voyage_of_Saint_Brendan_the_Abbot">St. Brendan</a> survives an encounter with the beast and calls it Jasconius which is the same name used by <a href="https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2161">the Planeswalkers</a>.
Should you ever set sail on an ocean adventure of your own, you would do well to remember these stories and these names. Keep your wits about you and do not be tempted. Aspidochelone waits patiently.

Aspidochelone

Physiologus of Alexandria

The voyages of Sinbad

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

The Book of Imaginary Beings

Magic: The Gathering card game

The Whale - Old English Poem

<img src="/images/creatures/baba-yaga/baba-yaga.jpg" alt="Baba Yaga illustration" /> Illustration by Ivan Bilibin
We have heard the warnings as children. If we misbehave, Baba Yaga ("The Boogeyman") will take us away and devour us. Many know to avoid the bright, green lawn in the heart of the woods. Here is a tableau of translations for "Yaga" from across many cultures:
Horror, Shudder, Chill, Anger, Witch, Fury, Disease, Illness, Pain, Worry, To Abuse, To Belittle, To Exploit.
In the bathhouse, in a land of spirits, she binds workers into unescapable contracts by stealing their names. In the Tsardom across three times nine kingdoms, beyond high mountain chains, she dwells in the forest devouring children. In the Crookback Bog, in the swamps of Velen, she appears as three crones and twists the threads of the human lives in her region.
It would be easy to dismiss Baba Yaga as an evil witch. A tragedy to be avoided, summoned only by name when we desire control over our children. The truth is much more complicated. Andreas Johns, <a href="https://slavic.berkeley.edu/people/andreas-johns/">who studied her closely</a>, described Baba Yaga as "strikingly ambiguous".
Read the stories for yourself and you will discover that she is both villian and benefactor. She is bound by strict contracts. If you understand the ancient rules she abides by, you may benefit greatly from her, even as she tries to deceive you. Of course she may just eat you.
<h2 id="thebathhouse">The Bathhouse</h2>
As the ruler of the bathhouse (under the name Yubaba), she enslaves many to carry out her bidding. But her terms are made clear: remember your name and you are free. Throughout the events of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/">Spirited Away</a> she reveals that, while she can be cruel, she can also give praise where praise is due. Her ultimate drive is gold, not pure malevolence.
<h2 id="vasilisathebeautiful">Vasilisa the Beautiful</h2>
When Vasilisa the Beautiful goes to Baba Yaga's hut in the woods to trade for fire, she finds the hut made entirely of human bones. Baba Yaga returns and eats enough meat, beer, and honey for five grown men, including the bones. But instead of devouring Vasilisa, she agrees to give her fire provided she can clean Baba Yaga's house. Vasilisa prevails over a series of increasingly impossible chores with the help of her mother's blessing and remains safe. At one point near the final day, Baba Yaga warns Vasilisa of the dangers of knowledge:
<blockquote>
 "Well," said the old witch, "only remember that every questions does not lead to good. If thou knowest overmuch, thou wilt grow old too soon."
</blockquote>
She tries to trick Vasilisa into asking too many questions, but Vasilisa wisely refuses. Baba Yaga does really want to eat her, but she always makes the terms clear. In the end, the witch's fire is granted to Vasilisa who brings it home. The fire incinerates her evil mother and stepsisters, freeing Vasilisa to live her dream life.
<h2 id="thecronesofcrookbackbog">The Crones of Crookback Bog</h2>
In the swamps of Velen live three crones named by the citizens as Brewess, Weavess, and Whispess. It is common for Baba Yaga to appear as three sisters. They communicate with the world using an enchanted tapestry. Many end up in the stewing pot kept by Brewess.
They help people who request it but for a gruesome fee, often taking an ear which they can later use to spy on the woods around their home. And yet, it is known in Velen, that the people survive the harshest times because of the old magic of the Crones. They demand utter obedience in return.
<h2 id="thepowerofbabayaga">The Power of Baba Yaga</h2>
While Baba Yaga may take the form of three sisters, she is usually an old woman with unnaturally long arms and thin legs. She flies about the forest on top of an enchanted mortar and pestle, sweeping the ground behind her with an extended broom. Her hut and the gates around it jump to obey her verbal commands. You may sometimes spot the hut moving locations atop giant chicken legs. Like many witches, she may cast spells to transform herself into some sort of fowl, so that she may transport herself and remain inconspicuous. Depending on her mood, you may find her appearance comical or completely terrifying.
In the realm of myth the power of a thing is increased by our belief in it. The more stories we share about the gods and monsters, the more real they become. Our hearts are the engine of their creation. Baba Yaga has been with us for hundreds of years and thousands of stories. Her power is indisputable.
In Rossiiskaia grammatika, the first written appearance of Baba Yaga, her name appears on a list of Slavic gods. Next to every god is written their equivalent god from Roman mythology. Every god, that is, except for Baba Yaga.
Next to Baba Yaga is written nothing.

Baba Yaga

Russian Fairy Tales

Spirited Away

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Balrogs descend from the fire giants who destroyed the world at Ragnarök.

There are very few Balrogs remaining. You can only find them in the deepest and most forgotten places. Pray that you don't.

Like the flames of hell itself, a Balrog's aura burns with a supernatural fire. They are as ancient as fire and command the element in spite of its wild temperament.

"Thou shalt not pass!" the grey wizard (who would later become the white wizard) shouted defiantly. Standing over a bottomless chasm on a narrow bridge, he held his arms wide and placed himself between his retreating allies and a "Demon of Might". Darkness shrouded the man-shaped giant. Its eyes were burning coals, its nostrils breathed sulfurous flames, and a mane of fire tumbled down its muscular back. The presence of this demon was so great that the ancient ground quaked beneath its feet. It lashed out with its many-thronged whip of fire but still the wizard held his ground. None had ever faced the Balrog and lived. And so it was for the wizard. <a href="http://tolkien.cro.net/else/gdfdie.html">He made the ultimate sacrifice</a> and, in doing so, saved the lives of his companions.
The epic battle between Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog is, in fact, the echo of an older conflict between Surtr, the lord of Muspelheim, and Freyr, a god of the sun and rain. Both battles begin with the blast of a horn – the horns of Boromir and Heimdall respectively. Gandalf's battle takes place on the bridge of Khazad-dûm while Freyr's takes place on the Bifrost which was the rainbow bridge connecting Asgard to Middle-Earth. Both battles end with the bridge collapsing and the combatants falling into an abyss. In the end, Gandalf dies but is born again. In the older tale, the flames of Surtr's sword engulf the earth. But a new world is born anew from the ashes, setting the stage for the surviving gods to meet again.
It is usually assumed that the Balrogs who inhabit the same Middle-Earth as Gandalf were born in the fires of the original dark enemy Morgoth. But when we read the accounts of Gandalf, and learn of the immense power of the Balrogs and the fear they inspired, we must consider the possibility that they are direct descendents of the ancient fire giants who destroyed the world at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar%C3%B6k">Ragnarök</a>.

Balrog

An Encyclopedia of Tolkien

Wikipedia entry for Ragnarök

The Grey Havens

Multiattack

Bite

Balrog's Blade

Flame Whip

Fire Aura

Innate Spellcasting

Magic Resistance

Magic Weapons

The basilisk's gaze kills wildlife, creates deserts, and destroys all who meet it.

<img src="/images/creatures/basilisk/basilisk.png" alt="Basilisk illustration" /> Illustration by <a href="https://twitter.com/danaxbraga">@danaxbraga</a>
The Basilisk (which means "little king" when translated from Greek) is declared "king" for a reason. It is one of our most ancient and inevitable representations of evil. Its foulness and power cannot be understated. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+90%3A13&version=DRA">The Bible, in Psalms 90:13,</a> names it as one of four figures of evil a hero must be prepared to confront: "Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample underfoot the lion and the dragon". (nb. Other translations of this section of the Bible mention the dragon, another legendary king of serpents) <a href="https://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-paperback-9781408855669/">One of the most famous, modern hero myths</a> has the protagonist confront a Basilisk in a "Chamber of Secrets" underneath his school. The awesome power of the Basilisk is demonstrated by the fact that its fang is the only thing that can destroy an artifact of great power which facilitates the will of the antagonist (in fact, it is a <a href="/lich">lich's phylactery</a>), bringing them one step closer to their ultimate confrontation.
The origins of the Basilisk are contested by scholars. The commonly held belief in the Middle Ages was that a Basilisk was born from the egg of a chicken which was brooded upon by a snake or a toad. In those days, the realms of animals were well defined, and combining two realms that were polar opposites (the realms of birds and serpents) would produce an abomination of extraordinary power. This theory is supported by the most common illustrations of the beast. A basilisk has the head of rooster leading into a large body covered in feathers or scales. From its side rises two thorny wings, protruding from its disgusting yellow plumage. It has four or eight legs, and a long serpent's tail. It wears a crown upon its head to symbolize its royal standing.
But there are older legends. The Roman poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucan">Marcus Annaeus Lucanus</a> describes the origins of the Basilisk in the ninth book of his epic poem Pharsalia. Here is the translation by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Graves">Robert Graves</a>:
<blockquote>
 “Medusa is said to have lived in the far west of Africa, at the point where the Ocean laps against the hot earth, in a wide, untilled, treeless region which she had turned entirely to stone merely by gazing around her. The story is that, when her head was cut off, serpents were bred from the fallen blood and came hissing out to display their forked tongues….Perseus had planned to take the quickest route across Europe, but Athene forbade this; asking him to consider the damage he would do if he passed over cities and cultivated lands. On seeing such a large object flying aloft, everyone would look up, and be turned to stone; the corn would also be ruined. So he wheeled about and with the West Wind behind him sailed across Libya, because that was an untilled region, viewed only by the Sun and the stars….Thus, though the Libyan soil was sterile and the fields unproductive, they drank the poisonous blood, dripping from the Medusa’a head, which become more poisonous still by contact with the loose burning earth. The first snake to spring from the ground after this rain of Gorgon’s blood was the deadly asp with its puffed neck; and since the blood happened to be particularly abundant at this point, and mixed with clotted venom, it proved to be the most deadly of all the Libyan varieties….
 Among other snakes [is] the Basilisk, which scares away all lesser snakes by its terrifying hiss, and reigns alone over the empty desert–for it can kill without biting.”
</blockquote>
<a href="/gorgon">Regular readers of Novus Bestiary will be familiar with Medusa</a> and so you will know that the key feature of a gorgon is its terrible gaze. Like the Gorgon, the thing that remains constant throughout every account of the Basilisk is the power of its gaze. It is so powerful, it is hard to describe with words alone. The Basilisk does not merely live in a desert: it makes the desert. Its gaze kills all wildlife in its vicinity. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder">Pliny</a> states that it can even shatter rock and singe the grass. Its poison rots fruits and plants. When it drinks from a river, that river becomes corrupt for hundreds of years. A very stupid adventurer may locate a basilisk easily by searching for the absolute natural destitution surrounding it.
You won't find many basilisks, should you be foolish enough to seek one. Like dragons, most of them disappeared long ago. Some sources claim that a basilisk's blood can transmute stone into other materials, or cure petrification. For this reason, a few adventurers still seek them. If your quest requires it, then there are a few defenses you might employ. Remember first the story of Medusa: the most effective weapon against a Basilisk is its own gaze. Equip yourself with a sturdy mirror, preferably with an inscription of a rooster on the backside. Medieval adventurers used to carry live roosters with them into unknown areas, believing that the rooster's crow would kill a basilisk. I suspect that particular method follows from the medieval accounts of the beast's lineage, and I would not advise you rely on that alone. There is more credence to the medieval idea that basilisk's fear the weasal. Though they cannot kill them, weasals are the natural enemy of the Basilisk and so they are useful for rooting them out.
This poem from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Quevedo">Quevedo</a> perfectly illustrates the foolishness of an adventurer who seeks the Basilisk:
If alive he is, who one time saw thee,\
The story he tells of thee is lies,\
For if he died not, he never saw thee,\
And if see thee he truly did, he died.

Basilisk

Pathfinder bestiary, 2nd edition

The Grand Medieval Bestiary

The Bible, Book of Psalms

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

<blockquote>
 As with a work of art, you never completely understand a cat.
 This is true of other things, too, but their mystery is seldom haunting, and we feel no desire to possess them.
 People have rushed into a burning house, risking their lives, to save a painting or a cat.
 - Leonard Michaels
</blockquote>
Any self-respecting zoologist must be, first and foremost, an observer. In my quest to record the nature and appearance of strange creatures around the world, I have encountered many mysteries. But few have been so compelling as the riddles posed by the Cheshire Cat. What are its origins? How can you have a grin without a cat? This cat is a mystery but how exactly? What is it about it that causes one's mind to dwell on it? Observation becomes nearly impossible when the behaviour of an animal is so unpredictable.
A Cheshire Cat confounds you at every turn. It will tell you many things, in whatever language you understand. Some of its advice will be helpful. The rest will be misdirection, or perhaps subtle digs to insult you for its own amusement. These cats can make themselves invisible at will. They sometimes partially disappear, making themselves a pattern of the landscape. Their exact size seems to shift, one moment the size of a housecat, the next the size of a small car, and upwards from there. Enough of this and you begin to wonder if you are seeing them everywhere. Is that bush smiling at me? Does a soft breeze rustle the leaves of trees or does the cat follow me? I've asked the constellations: have you always had that smirk or are you, again, the cat?
<blockquote>
 A cat doesn't look at itself when you hold it up to a mirror. It acts as if nothing appeared in the glass.
 That's because a cat believes it is invisible. A cat has to believe this, because, when stalking, it has to be invisible in the eyes of its prey.
 To be a cat you must be invisible and very real at the same time. Worshippers believe this of God.
 - Leonard Michaels
</blockquote>
The Cheshire Cat's name comes from the region it has most often appeared in. Cheshire, a county in North West England, is reknowned for its production of cream and dairy products. Cheshire Cats are drawn to classic English pubs. There are unconfirmed reports that the cat can take the form of a human and enjoy a pint right under our noses, grinning all the while. One answer to the riddle: how can you have a grin without a cat?
There is a story about a Cheshire Cat who takes the form of a many-legged bus in the old forests of Japan. In the story, the cat transports a young girl who is desperately seeking her lost sister. I can not confirm if the story is true, but the presence of disappearing cats in Japan is certain. In all likelihood, Cheshire Cats exist anywhere on earth they might find comfort and amusement. It is simply left to us to observe them. Whether or not we succeed concerns them little.
The Cheshire Cat's most famous feature is its grin. There are many references to it in literature, as early as 1788.
<ul>
<li>"He grins like a Cheshire cat; said of any one who shows his teeth and gums in laughing." - A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Second, Corrected and Enlarged Edition (1788)</li>
<li>"Lo, like a Cheshire cat our court will grin." - Pair of Lyric Epistles (1792)</li>
<li>"That woman grins like a Cheshire cat." - The Newcomes (1855)</li>
<li>"this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone." - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)</li>
</ul>
The grin, the disappearing act, the impenetrable mystique of this damned cat. It carries on and on, even into our modern scientific stories. In geometry, a catenary is a curve made by a chain suspended between two points, such as one might find in a suspension bridge. A perfect, geometric grin. "The Cheshire Cat effect" is a condition which causes stationary objects seen in one eye to disappear from view when an object in motion crosses in front of the other. "The Cheshire Cat" is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics in which a particle and its property behave as if they were separated. When a sound disappears but leaves a trace behind, it is called "cheshirization" in linguistics. A merger of galaxy groups in the constellation Ursa Major is nicknamed "Cheshire Cat galaxly group" by astronomers.
Wherever our eye wanders, the cat follows. Wherever our mind wanders, it resurfaces.

Mischievous vanishing feline with a famous grin.

Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat's Grin

My Neighbour Totoro

A Cat

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The office building was slanted sideways, as if it had been frozen in the middle of falling over. The three of them could see lighting flash through the holes in its concrete frame. They climbed over rubble in the streets and entered it through a broken window. It was a huge risk, but they had to reach the capitol building as soon as possible and this was the fastest way they could get through the downtown area. Inside, plants grew across walls and doors and water from the storm flowed through cracks in the ceiling. It was pitch black so they turned on their flashlights. That's when they saw the first body. A soldier had been ripped to shreds. What was left of him lay against the wall in the hallway. The blood was still fresh. They quickened their pace. They didn't want to spend a moment longer than necessary in this terrible building.
At the top of a staircase the man found a door blocked by another corpse, though it was hard to recognize it as human. The body sat upright completely covered in some sort of fungus. He could see graceful tendrils climbing up and out of its legs, torso, and arms. Its head was completely split open, the face hidden behind thick layers of mushrooms and old blood. He could barely see the person's mouth underneath the dank skull, the lips pulled back, frozen in a painful grimace. The fungus climbed up and out of the skull and coated the door and walls beside it. "Goddammit. Clicker." he said.
The man peeled the corpse away from the door and went through. The two women followed and they progressed through a series of offices that slanted towards the ground 100 feet below. One of the women, the one in her teens, started to feel sick from the extreme angles and the memory of the fungal corpse. Water from the storm flowed past them on the ground and out the holes gaping in the side of the building. They felt as if the building had tipped even further since they entered it. Finally, they found a door heading back into the hallway but it was stuck. The adults both put their shoulders to it and managed to heave it open, the obstruction screeching along the floor as they did. The woman shouted and the man looked up just as the monster lunged on top of him knocking him to the ground. It was all he could do to prevent it from biting his face off. His vision was filled with the gruesome sight of a divided skull covered in fungus. All he could hear were the screeches and rapid clicking sounds coming from the monster's throat. It was much stronger than any human, and his strength was failing fast. At the last moment, the woman desperately kicked it off of him and put 2 bullets in its head. It stopped moving, but they knew the gunshots would attract more undead. They had to keep moving.
<a href="https://youtu.be/XuKjBIBBAL80">There is a BBC documentary that shows a clip of an ant infected by the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus.</a> The fungus controls its mind, causing erratic behaviour and compelling it to spread spores. The ant is utterly destroyed in the process. These invasive species of fungi are easy to find in the insect world. We normally don't need to worry about them spreading in humans. But the horrifying truth is that there is a rare variant of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus that has mutated to infect human beings. Its common name is the Cordyceps infection (although Cordyceps is technically a genus of fungi). The footage of the ant gives you a basic idea of its effects. The fungus infects the human brain, slowly taking over the mind of its host and compelling it to attack other people so that it may spread. Eventually, it bursts forth from the host's body so that its spores may spread and infect others.
There are four distinct stages as the infection progresses in a human. Each stage seems less and less human and is more of a threat to others as the fungus forms a sort of protective armor and reinforces the muscle fibers granting super strength. The stages of infected are known colloquially as Runner, Stalker, Clicker, and Bloater or Shambler. The initial phases still seem to retain some of their humanity. You will notice expressions of concern and even terror on their faces, suggesting they may have some awareness of what they are doing even though they can't stop themselves. They move between fits of rage and calm and you can often hear them moaning as if in pain.
After about a year of infection, the infected becomes a Clicker. This is an advanced stage of infection. At this stage, there are almost no remaining traces of humanity. The fungus has burst forth from their skull, splitting it in two. It covers their eyes completely so that they lose their sense of sight. All that remains of the human face is a mouth filled with rotted and jagged teeth. They use a primitive sort of echolocation to navigate their environment. The incessant clicking sound they make gives them their name. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/playstationblog/8449559106/in/photostream/">There are some drawings and photos</a> of these zombie-like monsters but I caution you: Do not look at them unless you have a hard stomach.
Clickers develop a more advanced predatory intelligence. If they hear a sound in their surrounding area, they will continue to search methodically for prey. They are much stronger than a normal human, and are protected by layers of thick fungus. They still feel pain but have a much higher tolerance than an uninfected human. If you encounter one, you must remember that normal attacks may not stop them immediately. You should prefer high-powered, hard-hitting attacks if you need to confront one. They are very susceptible to fire, given the flammable mycellium that has spread throughout their bodies. Your best bet is to use stealth and steer clear of them entirely. Even if you manage to survive a direct encounter, a single scratch or bite will infect you, and you will feel your own humanity painfully slip away as the fungus spreads throughout your body.

Infected humans that hunt you by clicking.

Clicker

The Last of Us

The Last of Us fandom wiki

Planet Earth video clip

<blockquote>
 The mouths was like leaves and the whole thing was like a tree in the wind, a black tree with lots of branches trailing to the ground, and a whole lot of roots ending in hoofs. And that green slime dribbling out of the mouths and down the legs was like sap!…
 It came crawling up the hillside to the alter and the sacrifice, and it was the black thing of my dreams-that black ropy, slimy, jelly tree-thing out of the woods. It crawled up and it flowed up on its hoofs and mouths and snaky arms. And the men bowed and stood back and then it got to the alter where they was something squirmin on top, squirming and screaming.
 – Willie Osborne, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notebook_Found_in_a_Deserted_House">"Notebook Found In a Deserted House"</a>
</blockquote>
Those men from the notebook of Willie Osborne were cultists. In a futile attempt to achieve a reunion with the perverse Outer Goddess that they worship, they offer sacrifices to the tree-like aberrations they find in the heart of the woods. Very little is known about the goddess. She is an evil fertility diety. Her name is Shub-Niggurath. I dare not repeat it again. More is known about her foul progeny, her "Thousand Young", for it is these monstrosities which spew forth from her vile maw to walk the worlds we inhabit.
They are commonly referred to as the Dark Young. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/YQv2V">Gruesome, writhing, tentacled monsters</a> who live in swamps and temperate forests. They resemble trees standing twenty feet tall, though there are reports of larger ones. Thirty, even fifty feet. Large enough to trample houses.
They walk upon black hooves. Covering their body and tangled tentacles are mouths that appear disturbingly human-like. The mouths are constantly chomping and salivating. Green slime oozes from them, covering the ground. You can notice their passage through an area easily. The air about them smells like a mass grave. Giant hoof-prints and green slime make a clear trail.
Though the Dark Young appear to be ungainly beasts they are intelligent. They have their own ambitions and work through proxies to achieve their goals, though their dark designs can be inscrutable to us. In some cases they are simply violent. They may desire human sacrifices to sate their dark hunger. They may desire the destruction of a village to secure their territory. Other cases are more obscure. A coordinated effort to mark every thirteenth tree with an alien sign. Routing a nonthreatening species of bird from a section of the forest. The building of a well where no water can be drawn. Their worshippers never question them. They obey.
When they attack, they may be brutish or subtle. Using their tremendous size and strength they may choose to simply trample you. They are capable of making themselves appear more like the trees of the place they inhabit. This allows them to use stealth when it suits them. In other cases, they can simply rely on their slaves to bring them ready offerings. Their preference is to wrap their victims with their tentacles and feed the always starving mouths. The strength is completely drained from the victim but they are left technically alive, a husk to be fed upon by some other passing beast. It is unimaginably cruel.
The most disturbing cases are the survivors. Something about the green slime of the Dark Young infects the mind. Those who are partially fed upon but manage to escape are psychically broken. They appear schizophrenic. They start to obsess over the Dark Young, replaying the encounter over and over again in their minds. They crave a return to the place of the attack. They must go back and feel the fulfillment of a complete devouring. They want to be consumed. In other cases, this need manifests as worship. In this way, the survivor of a Dark Young attack becomes the most devout member of the cult.

Tree-like aberrations born from Shub-Niggurath

Dark Young

Notebook Found in a Deserted House

Call of Cthulu, Horror Roleplaying, 6th Edition

Lovecraft Fandom

Pathfinder SRD

The silent hero approached the doorway standing between two damp, stone pillars.
As soon as he passed through, the door slammed shut behind him, steel bars blocking his return.
He looked around the vast, empty chamber.
The floor was covered with still water and he could barely make out a door at the far end.
Standing in the midpoint between the two doors was a small island with a single, leafless tree.
He slowly headed towards the tree with fear rising in his stomach.
A mysterious, hazy light filled the entire chamber so he could clearly see his own reflection on the surface of the water as he walked.
He passed the leafless tree, speeding up as he went.
The door was getting close.
He was almost there…
Suddenly, he felt a chill rise up his spine.
He noticed he could no longer see his reflection standing beneath him.
The fear was biting now.
The light seemed dimmer, and he felt disoriented, as if he stood at the edge of a cliff.
He turned around and saw himself standing underneath the leafless tree.
He drew his sword and approached.
The doppelgänger stood and waited.
"Doppelgänger" is German for "double walker". It is a creature that looks exactly like you.
It can share your strengths or present a completely inverted personality, and it can even sometimes foreshadow your exact movements – as if playing the part of you in the future.
They are harbingers of bad luck. It is almost always an ill omen to meet your doppelgänger.
In Ireland they are called a "fetch" because they come to fetch men to their deaths.
In 1617, in Paris, the poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donne">John Donne</a> saw his wife's doppelgänger. Later that night, their daughter was stillborn.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_(Dostoevsky_novel)">In another story</a>, a man's doppelgänger exploits his character failings in order to eventually take over his life.
And in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6857112/">an even darker tale</a>, an entire family meets their doppelgängers and are viciously attacked.
The precise details on how these creatures are created is unclear, but we have some idea. A mirror, or still water, can provide a conduit. But for the creature to manifest physically in this world requires a tremendous amount of energy. That energy is drawn directly from your own soul. What is needed is a powerful, psychic fracture to occur so that that piece of you can be separated. A traumatic event or episode can cause this, but what is far more common, and far more dangerous, is a slow, insidious build up of tension over time as you consistently fail to face your own shadow. That tension can grow to the point where the psyche fractures. It is this willful ignorance of yourself, that will most likely manifest a doppelgänger.
In spite of all the horrible tales surrounding the doppelgänger, there is one story which offers a curious solution. In the Talmud, there is a story of a man who went searching for God and found himself. For the Jewish people, meeting your doppelgänger meant that you had achieved the rank of prophet. So we might take the story of the creature's creation to the opposite extreme: what if we explored and understood ourselves instead of avoiding and ignoring? How far might that take us? Could some other type of creature be born? At worst, this is good advice for avoiding trouble. At best, this story means something much more. As Plato said: "Know Thyself".

Doppelgänger

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Double

There was once a prisoner who was destined to save the world from an ancient dragon using the power of his voice. At the moment before his execution, that very dragon appeared in the sky and brought ruin to the town. Amidst the chaos, the man escaped into the mountains. Seeking shelter from the bitter cold, he made his way up a mountain and into an ancient temple. Deeper he went, drawn by the call to adventure. The walls were shelved with rotten corpses covered in dust and still wearing their armor. The dead were wrathful and protective of their graves. To his horror, they rose and pursued him through the labyrinth with their ancient weapons. The man barely escaped with his life. These gruesome revenants were not mere zombies, slow witted and dull. They were Draugar - filled with hateful strength and magic.
A Draugr is an undead human who was especially mean or greedy during life. In other cases, a seemingly kind person may become a Draugr if something makes them restless during burial. They typically guard their graves but can escape them during the night to torment the living. They appear as a decayed, stinking corpse wearing the armor they were buried in. They maintain some semblance of intelligence and possess evil magic (called trollskap in Norwegian) they can use to grow in size and strength, or to travel through stone. A Draugr will not stupidly pursue any living flesh but may target specific people to torment and they will surely devour livestock. An especially powerful one may be immune to weapons and may drive people insane by the mere sight of them. It takes much more than just fire or a shot to the head to defeat one. When dealing with a Draugr, a true hero may be needed to wrestle it back to its grave.
In the <a href="https://sagadb.org/grettis_saga.en">Grettis saga</a>, the hero Grettir faces the risen shepherd Glam. Grettir battles an enlarged Glam and finally gets him on his back, but before Glam is beheaded he curses Grettir:
<blockquote>
 Hitherto hast thou earned fame by thy deeds, but henceforth will wrongs and man-slayings fall on thee, and the most part of thy doings will turn to thy woe and ill-hap; an outlaw shalt thou be made, and ever shall it be thy lot to dwell alone abroad; therefore this weird I lay on thee, ever in those days to see these eyes with thine eyes, and thou wilt find it hard to be alone and that shall drag thee unto death.
</blockquote>

Greedy undead who torment the living with their trollskap.

Draugr

Skyrim

The Grettis Saga

<a href="https://dullahan.com">W. J. Fitzpatrick, a storyteller from the Mourne Mountains in County Down, recounts</a>:
<blockquote>
 “I seen the dullahan myself, stopping on the brow of the hill between Bryansford and Moneyscalp late one evening, just as the sun was setting. It was completely headless but it held up its own head in its hand and I heard it call out a name. I put my hand across my ears in case the name was my own, so I couldn't hear what it said. When I looked again, it was gone. But shortly afterwards, there was a bad car accident on that very hill and a young man was killed. It had been his name that the dullahan was calling.”
</blockquote>
A dullahan is not a ghost – it is much worse. A dark fairy that is the herald of death itself, the dullahan rides relentlessly through the night to draw the souls from people's bodies by speaking their name. It may ride a black steed with flames and sparks flying from the nostrils or a black carriage drawn by 6 such beasts. The carriage is composed of human skin and bones, with other funeral objects as ornamentation. Nothing can stop its advance. Locked gates and doors open, as if in anticipation, when a dullahan rides forth.
This cursed rider carries its own head, with skin like moldy cheese, in its hands. A devilish smile which is too wide splits the face from ear to ear. It uses a human spine as a whip adding to the nightmarish vision and urgency of its advance. With supernatural sight, its severed head can be used to spot the house of the victim from any distance. Where the dullhan stops it utters a name and that name marks the person who will die in that very place.
Covering your ears won't really help you if you encounter a dullahan, though they have an irrational fear of gold which can protect you temporarily. Carrying a piece of gold with you may be a wise thing to do around midnight on feast days. Horrible things can happen to the bystander who witnesses a dullahan ride by. However, even gold is unlikely to save you if you become the dullahan's focus.
In the secluded glen of Sleepy Hollow, there was much debate over the fate of the schoolmaster called Ichabod Crane. Many believed that the area was haunted by the ghost of a soldier whose head had been taken off by a cannonball, and that this ghost had spirited Ichabod away to the realm beyond our own. But when you consider the facts of the tale, it seems clear: Ichabod's time had come. A dullahan pursued him and called his name.
<img src="/images/creatures/dullahan/sleepy-hollow.jpg" alt="Sleepy Hollow" />
<blockquote>
 “There was something in the moody and dogged silence of this pertinacious companion, that was mysterious and appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless!—but his horror was still more increased, on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of his saddle…”
</blockquote>

Dullahan

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

dullahan.com

Her bright, brown eyes opened wider. She could smell the quality of the metal under her fingers. Sizing up her machine, which was completely overtaking the back half of her workshop, she quickly determined she would have just enough of the adamantine to complete the center chassis. She had been awake and working for 16 hours. Most would second guess themselves, but her estimates were never wrong. The big race was three weeks away and she needed to show everyone just what she was capable of. Not only would her creation handle the rolling hills and forest loop, it would break the record. The secret was in how she had positioned the treads - three on each corner and side with crosshatched rubber and metal wire. And the drill. Oh how it would gleam in the sun as it spinned, its ornate silver finish flashing on top of the bronze and copper whirls! It had come to her in a dream one night, the shape of the thing barging into place after months of preoccupation with the equations. Now was the final moment of her triumph but she had to stay focused. She brushed her wild brown hair out of her face, smiled wide like a human child would, and got back to work.
In the mid-sixteenth century, an alchemist named Paracelsus described a creature measuring two span in height that could move through the solid earth just as humans could move through the air. From the latin word genomos, which means "earth-dweller", he derived a new name: Gnome. But gnomes are, in fact, much older than their name. And the name itself may contain other clues about them. Both Borges and Tolkien draw a connection to the word Gnosis which means "knowledge". Indeed, ancient gnomes knew the exact locations of hidden metals buried in the earth and could reveal them to us when properly incentivized. To this day, gnomes carry this innate knowledge, though modern gnomes are much more willing to share the information with humans. Tolkien, knowing their true power, sought to make the gnomes his second kindred of elves. In the end, he named that race Noldor instead. But in his invented, Elvish language (called Quenya) "noldo" means knowledge. In this way the reference to gnomes is hidden in plain sight.
You can think of gnomes as elves of the earth and mountains. Like elves they live for a long time, from 350-500 years. They mature at the same rate as humans and so settle into adult life by the age of 40. They are closely related to dwarves, sharing an affinity for the mountains and earth. But where dwarves are emotionally guarded and dependent on their physical prowess, gnomes are affable and lean much more heavily on their mental abilities. They take great delight in life, and invention. Gnomes have big dreams and take big risks. Their insatiable curiousity, combined with their innate intelligence, has moved them far beyond their humble beginnings to become some of the most inventive and technologically superior creatures in existence.
In the beginning, gnomes wore scraggly beards, brown tights and monastic cowls. The beards and earth tones remain today, but their style has progressed along with their technology and openness to civilization. A modern dwarf still wears a beard but in a myriad of fantastic arrangements. The earth tones remain in their clothing, but form the base layers. Over top, they wear elaborately embroidered cloaks of many colors. Their connection to the earth and unsurpassed craftsmanship is plain for all to see on the gems with which they adorn their clothes and hair.
I will close with this quote from a chronicle of the gnomes that inhabit the lands of Azeroth. In that far-off place, the gnomes built a techno-utopian city called Gnomeregan which fell to treachery and trogg invasion. Despite the scope of that tragedy, the gnomes carry on building and smiling widely:
<blockquote>
 “The clever, spunky, and oftentimes eccentric gnomes present a unique paradox among the civilized races of Azeroth. Brilliant inventors with an irrepressibly cheerful disposition, this race has suffered treachery, displacement, and near-genocide. It is their remarkable optimism in the face of such calamity that symbolizes the truly unshakable spirit of the gnomes.”
</blockquote>

Energetic tinkerers connected to the earth.

Gnome

World of Warcraft

D&D Player's Handbook

Once there were two brothers who, in their grief, resolved to break the greatest taboo of alchemy. After years of study and preparation, the brothers carefully assembled every component needed to make up a human body, and brought them together in front of an alchemist's circle. Their goal was to resurrect their dead mother. They knew this was wrong and that such a thing was simply never done, but they had to try. Near the beginning of the ritual, they glimpsed success. They could sense something beyond. Their mother's presence seemed to surround them and they almost remembered a warmth they hadn't known for years. But things turned horribly wrong. They had meddled with something no one ever should. The horrors they witnessed in the throes of that terrible alchemy are beyond description. They did not return their mother's soul to a body and they paid a terrible cost with their own. The eldest brother lost his leg and the younger brother… his body was taken altogether. It was only through raw talent and desperation that the eldest managed to offer a sacrifice to save his brother. In the final moments, he gave up his right arm and marked an inscription in a suit of armor, binding his brother's soul to the suit. He created a golem, or more than a golem, for those creatures of wizards don't usually contain any human intelligence. His brother would remain invincible provided the inscription stay intact. The two would go on to journey around the world, attempting to find a way to return their old bodies back to themselves.
A golem is a creature given life by a wizard to perform menial tasks on his behalf. Golems have no real intelligence and have great physical strength – the exact characteristics one would want in a magical slave. They are usually crafted in a rudimentary form out of the simplest possible ingredients at hand. The oldest golems on record were made out of clay and had a lumpy, ashen figure. However, there is no strict limitation on the materials used. Modern magic users may reach for sturdier or more intricate components for their golem's body. This may be desirable to suit a specialized task they have in mind, or simply because they appreciate beauty in their underlings.
To make a golem, one must perform an elaborate ritual involving a number of rare folios and a strong command of <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/yetzirah.htm">the alphabets of the two hundred thirty-one gates</a>. These ancient letters and numbers may be imagined as a the language of creation itself but in a form that a trained human mind can understand and manipulate. The inscription that animates the golem is placed on its forehead at the ritual's conclusion. The inscription reads "EMET" which means "truth". To destroy the creature, you simply remove the first character so that the inscription reads "MET" which means "death".
Do heed those final instructions. The most famous story of a golem is from the <a href="http://www.prague.net/golem">city of Prague</a>. That story teaches us that a golem can be a faithful servant but that it has a dark side. A golem left unattended will grow in power and ultimately rampage. Any being that was made by the hand of a human rather than the hand of the gods must come to despair. It is as if they can feel something is wrong with them but they cannot understand what it is or why. We cannot stop those feelings of frustration. The best we can hope to do is clean up after ourselves.

Mindless automaton in service of magicians.

Golem

Fullmetal Alchemist

Sepher Yetzirah

The Legend of Golem

<img src="/images/creatures/gorgon/medusa.jpg" alt="Medusa" />
<blockquote>
 “And they are three, the Gorgons, each with wings
 And snaky hair, most horrible to mortals.
 Whom no man shall behold and draw again
 The breath of life.”
</blockquote>
Few monsters are as old, and as dreadful as the Gorgon. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means "grim, dreadful". The monsters are mentioned by Homer, author of the oldest known work of European literature, and by many others after himi (including Ovid and Apollodorus, to name a few). The tale of Perseus, who sought out the gorgons, sets out a perfect framework for a classic adventure story. The story illustrates the important role of magic and divine intervention in these types of quests, giving it the feel of a fairy tale. Presently, I will relate a brief version of the tale, and I recommend you watch for the patterns that seem familiar to you. There are horrors when facing gorgons, but there are also great rewards.
Perseus was born into captivity. A man named Dictys found him and his mother trapped in a chest that had been cast out to sea (how they got trapped is a tale for another time). Dictys was kind and raised the two as his own, but the island they lived on was ruled by his cruel brother, Polydectus, who came to covet Danaë. One day, Polydectus took Perseus aside and told him that his greatest desire was to possess the head of a gorgon. The gorgons were greatly feared. It was known that they were invincible creatures of malice and that they possessed the power to turn any who gazed upon them to stone. Polydectus planted this seed, with the intention of removing Perseus from the picture so that he could pursue his mother. He shortly announced that he was to be married, and invited Perseus to a celebration. It was customary that the king be offerred gifts for his wedding, but Perseus had no worldly possessions. Falling into the trap, and the bravado of youth, Perseus arrived and declared he would bring Polydectus the head of Medusa, who was one of the gorgons.
Perseus set out on a quest to find out the location of the gorgons, knowing despair until finally encountering the god Hermes. Hermes warned that he needed to be properly equipped to face the gorgons, and that the nymphs of the north possessed what he needed. But to find the nymphs, he had to consult the Gray Women who lived in a land of twilight. The Gray Women were withered and strange, with bodies like birds with human heads and wings hiding human hands underneath. There were three who shared between them a single eye, which they frequently passed back and forth. At this time, Perseus devised a plan to snatch the eye from the Gray Women in order to convince them to tell him where to find the nymphs. His divine allies now included Athena, as well as Hermes. Hermes gifted him with a magic sword which could penetrate the golden scales of a gorgon. Athena gifted him with a polished bronze shield, and told him to gaze upon the gorgons only through its reflective surface in order to protect himself from their power. With newfound allies, and items of magic, Perseus felt his confidence grow. He carried out his plan successfully and coerced the Gray Women, then got Hermes to help him find the land of nymphs. The nymphs proved welcoming, for they lived in constant revelry and feasting. They gifted Perseus with three more items of great magic: winged sandals upon which he could float through the air, a magic wallet that would always become the right size for whatever was placed within it, and a cap that would make its wearer invisible. With this arsenal of magic artifacts, Perseus felt ready to face the gorgons and was led to them by Hermes.
When he came upon them, the gorgons were all asleep. Hermes and Athena pointed out Medusa which was absolutely crucial - Medusa was the only gorgon of the three who was mortal. Perseus hovered above her on his magic sandals, being careful to only look through the reflection on his shield. He raised his magic sword and struck true - decapitating her and placing her head in the magic wallet. The sisters awoke and, seeing their sister murdered, went into a frenzy. Perseus frantically made his escape using the cap of invisibility. On his return home, he found that his adopted father Dictys and his mother Danaë were in hiding in a temple. They had had to flee the wrath of the king Polydectus who had tried to marry Danaë but been refused. Perseus learned that the king was holding a banquet with all of his favoured friends and saw an opportunity. He stormed the banquet and held the decapitated head of Medusa aloft before anyone could react, turning the cruel king and all of his friends to stone. Later, Medusa’s head was given to Athena, who bore it always upon the aegis, Zeus’s shield.
Gorgons are terrifying and almost unbeatable, and yet Perseus still sought them out. There may be reasons beyond mere bravado to seek out a gorgon. Gorgon's are ancient, scaled monsters of tremendous power, much like the dragon. And, like the dragon, you will often find that they protect something of great value, perhaps the very thing you need most. In defeating Medusa, Perseus was able to become a true hero and to save his mother and adoptive father. In the story, Perseus also came across a vast wealth of magic items and allies while equipping himself for the final confrontation. There is another story of a male gorgon named Marlos Urnrayle who was the vain prophet of an evil Prince of Earth. That gorgon wielded an elemental war pick named Ironfang, which was infused with the power of elemental earth. A hero might leverage the knowledge of how Perseus defeated Medusa, or the knowledge of the gorgon's vanity, to claim that legendary weapon for themselves.
But the true power of a gorgon seems to be a power of protection. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon">"In Ancient Greece a Gorgoneion (a stone head, engraving, or drawing of a Gorgon face, often with snakes protruding wildly and the tongue sticking out between her fangs) frequently was used as an apotropaic symbol and placed on doors, walls, floors, coins, shields, breastplates, and tombstones in the hopes of warding off evil."</a>. Apotropaic magic is a type of magic that turns away harm or evil. One is reminded of the image of Medusa at the center of Athena's aegis, and of the end of the story where Perseus ultimately used the power of the gorgon to protect his family from tyranny.

Gorgon

Princes of the Apocalypse D&D adventure

Mythology

<blockquote>
 “The halcyon days are here. Let us be glad. There is nothing to fear.”
</blockquote>
There is a bird, loved by sailors, who warns of the coming storm and grants peace in times of great turbulence. These birds are granted a special grace so that, for 14 days in winter when the sea is most agitated, they can calm the elements completely. During the calm they create, the birds lay their eggs and raise them on the surface of the ocean itself. Their nest is so strong it cannot be destroyed by mortal man.
This beloved bird is known as the Halycon. Lucian describes it:
<blockquote>
 “It is a bird the size of an ordinary sparrow whose plumage is blue and green with a bit of red; its beak is small, long, and greenish. It lives along the coast of Sicily. It lays just five eggs and builds its nest with the spines and bones of fish interwoven like threads of cloth; it is so solid that man cannot destroy it. The female lays her eggs in winter; she spends seven days building her nest and another seven days incubating her young. The time of her egg-laying is sacred; it usually occurs when Pleiades is low in the sky.”
</blockquote>
The origin of the Halcyon dates back to classical antiquity. You can see the evidence in the etymology of the word: Halycon derives from Alcyon (after the goddess Alcyone). Alcyon derives from Ales Oceana, meaning "oceanic bird". The tragic but inspiring story of the goddess Alcyone is summarized perfectly in <a href="https://www.abbeville.com/books/the-grand-medieval-bestiary-488-b">The Grand Medieval Bestiary</a> so I will repeat it here in full:
<blockquote>
 “The myth of Alcyone is recounted by, among others, Homer and Ovid. She was the daughter of Aeolus, god of the wind, and married Ceyx, son of the morning star. Their union was so blissful that it provoked the jealousy of Zeus and Hera, who transformed them into birds. […] the ship on which Ceyx was traveling to consult an oracle was wrecked by a storm raised by Zeus. When informed of her husband's death in a dream, Alcyone rushed to the beach, where she discovered her beloved's lifeless body. In despair, she threw herself into the sea, where she was transformed into a halcyon, whose plaintive cry communicates the sadness of her loss. Ultimately the gods magnanimously transformed Ceyx into a halcyon as well, and Aeolus resolved to calm the winds for fourteen days every winter solstice so that the lovers could procreate without fear.”
</blockquote>
The story highlights the cruelity and carelessness of the gods. It is so, so hard to come to terms with the fact that the things you love most can be taken from you by nature in an instant. When you think of the moment that innocent Alcyone discovers her dead husband, you share her grief even if you have never been married. But halcyons remain a symbol of courage in the face of such adversity. Alcyone's transformation brings hope. The strength of their marriage grants solace to others for the rest of time. This painful, beautiful moment of transformation deserves elaboration; I will conclude with this <a href="http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/myth-stories/halcyon-birds.htm">excerpt from Emma M. Firth</a>:
<blockquote>
 “She went to the seashore, to the spot where she had bidden him farewell. "I shall see him no more," she cried, weeping bitterly. She gazed across the water; and far out, the dimpling, happy waves were bearing a gleaming object toward the shore. It came nearer and nearer, until Alcyone saw that it was the form of Ceyx, which the waves were bringing to her feet. She raised her arms and sprang toward it, no longer the beautiful Alcyone, but a graceful bird, uttering strange cries. She sought to lift him on her wings. Then two birds arose from the water, and flew away together. So Alcyone and Ceyx were united at last, and ever since then the halcyon birds have warned sailors of the coming storm. In the placid days of winter they brood on their floating nests, and skim the surface of the waves.”
 “Then the sailors say, "The halcyon days are here. Let us be glad. There is nothing to fear.”
</blockquote>

Emblem of courage in the face of adversity.

Halcyon

Stories of Old Greece

A hellhound commanded to hunt by its master will pursue its prey to the ends of the earth. There is no escaping it. You must eventually face it.

The number 3 is a noticeable motif. Many hellhounds have 3 heads. You may find other repetitions of 3 in the environment where they live.

Hellhounds are strongly connected to the underworld. It is the place they are born. They are its guardians and help prevent entry and escape.

Hellhounds are a type of supernatural dog and share some key characteristics. They are eternally faithful to their master. They can sometimes be pacified with food or music.

<img src="/images/creatures/hellhound/cerberus.png" alt="Cerberus illustration" /> Illustration by <a href="https://twitter.com/danaxbraga">@danaxbraga</a>
"I was right. He is a threat." The man rummaged through the boy's backpack with a scowl. He pulled out a knife and held it up. On the hilt was a rune, shaped like a "W". He stopped moving for a second. "It's him. He's been after us all along." The man stood up and called to his dog: "Trym!" He knelt down and put his mouth right beside the beast's ear and began whispering in a language long forgotten. The dog's snout showed its age with a splash of gray hairs near the tip. He perked up, looking towards the sky at the sound of his master's voice. "Find him." The dog's eyes started glowing and changing, turning a fiery copper colour. "Become what you once were and do what you were meant to do." The dog's hackles were raised, tension mounted across its entire body. He was shaking and staring ahead with anticipation. "Kill him." The man let go and the dog sprang forward, almost too fast for mortal eyes to track it. By now it had grown to almost double its original size. As it ran, the mountainside gave way under it's feet. Hard stone was rent like soft earth under its massive paws.
Meanwhile the boy was wandering further down the mountain, moving quickly. A vague sense of dread was coming over him. He did not know exactly why, but he knew he had to get away. He had confronted the man directly and confirmed his suspicions about him – that the man was not human and he had murdered the boy's best friend. That man was evil. Suddenly, the boy came upon a depression in the mountainside. He turned his head around, looking left and right, searching for the best path. A howl pierced the air just behind him. He was trapped – the dog was upon him. He saw the beast crest the ridge he had just descended from. It seemed to stand almost as tall as the boy did. Its ears were bent back and its lips were pulled, revealing supernaturally long fangs. Its eyes glowed red now, like burning embers. It lunged in an instant, knocking the boy flat on his back. The boy threw his arm into the dogs jaws at the last moment and felt the teeth clamp down, piercing bone. He screamed in terror and started to panic as he saw his death drew closer. The dogs teeth and burning eyes filled his vision. He closed his eyes, and turned into himself. He thought of his own death and felt sadness. Then he thought of his murdered friend and the sadness changed quickly to anger. It caught like wildfire, and the anger became rage as it swept through him. Rage at the circumstance. Rage at the injustice. The rage brought the memory flooding back – the memory of what he once was and what he was meant to do. He took the dogs jaws in his hand and opened his eyes. He screamed down the dog's throat as he felt his ancient strength return to him – a strength that could flatten the very mountain he lay upon. He ripped the dogs jaws wide apart, spilling blood everywhere. He left its corpse on top of a boulder, like a hunting trophy to mark his victory for all to see. He continued down the mountain, faster now, and free.
A hellhound is a supernatural dog with a connection to the world of the dead. They stand at least as tall as a large breed of dog like a mastiff, but there are many sightings of larger hellhounds that are closer to the size of a direwolf. The largest and most powerful hellhounds, who usually remain in the underworld, can grow even larger and may have multiple heads. The most ancient stories speak of hellhounds with many heads – in Thesiod's Theogony, the famous hellhound Cerberus has fifty. But most accounts of the underworld guardians claim the dogs have three, and three is known to be a significant number. Jorges writes the following:
<blockquote>
 “Virgil mentions the creature’s three gullets; Ovid, its triple bark; Butler compares the three crowns of the diadem worn by the Pope, who is heaven’s doorman, with the three heads of the dog who stands at the gates of Hell.”
</blockquote>
And Rowling also describes such a beast, with the number three a repetitive focus of the passage:
<blockquote>
 “They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.”
</blockquote>
A hellhound has eyes that glow red like fiery embers. These burning eyes stand out against their black fur. The shadowy black and burning red juxtaposition is a clear mark of their association with the underworld. Perhaps the most famous hellhound is Cerberus, who guarded the gates at the house of Hades in Greek mythology. Cerberus had three heads which faced towards the underworld and a draconic tail which faced away. In this configuration, any who entered the underworld would be greeted by a serpent, and any who tried to escape would be devoured. At the gates of Hel, the goddess of the underworld in Norse mythology, there stands the hellhound Garmr. Garmr is covered in blood and his howl signals Ragnarök, which is the battle at the end of the world. It is written that Garmr will attack Tyr, the One-handed, god of war and they will destroy each other. We have a similar example from Middle Earth. Consider this quote from David Day:
<blockquote>
 “In Tolkien’s world we have a comparable monster in the gigantic Carcharoth, meaning ‘red maw’, the greatest wolf of the First Age and the unsleeping guardian at the gates of Morgoth’s underworld realm of Angband. In the Quest for the Silmaril, Carcharoth bites off the hand of the hero, Beren (henceforth, like Tyr, known as the One-handed).”
</blockquote>
I do not advise you ever attempt to enter the underworld. If you go seeking great treasure you may encounter a hellhound standing guard. If you're fated to die, it is possible that one will come hunting you. In any case, you should be equipped with the basic knowledge to defeat one. A hellhound will be supernaturally fast and strong, and it will be gifted with all the hunting prowess of the greatest wolf. There are some stories that suggest you can calm the beasts with music, but I would warn you not to overestimate that strategy. The most famous story of music calming a hellhound, is the story of Orpheus who played his lyre and stopped Cerberus from standing guard. But Orpheus was a musician beyond all other mortals – his music could draw tears even from gods. A simple song alone would not suffice. Strangely enough, there have been multiple stories that suggest Cerberus had a fondness for honeycakes. It seems hard to believe but, like a common household dog, you may have better luck bribing them with food than with anything else.

Hellhound

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Ragnarok (Netflix series), S1:E4

Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6)

Call the Pack

Keen Hearing and Smell

Pack Tactics

Three-Headed

The sky was overcast. The sound of the sea spray hissed constantly in the background, a white noise underneath the fisherman's thoughts. He felt frustrated. Nothing ever seemed to go his way lately. Three times he had gone out to sea, and three times he had returned with nothing. She didn't say anything, but he could see the resentment in his wife's eyes. She had always had unreasonable expectations. Whenever he failed to fill the table with food, she would punish him in subtle ways. Their marriage had always been like that: small, hurtful competitions, invisible to outsiders.
He kicked at the wet sand, small clumps flying outwards toward the rocks. He was just now approaching the rock blinds. It was a section of the beach that transitioned suddenly to rocky outcroppings. Jagged boulders lay about, as if dropped by some giant. It was called the blinds because no one could see you when you stood behind those boulders. An attractive place for many of the local teenagers, for reasons you can well imagine.
As he passed by the narrowest stretch he felt his spine tingle. It was such a strong chill, it pulled him out of his own misery. He instinctively looked behind him but saw nothing, only the jumbled row of sand coloured boulders. He continued onwards, dwelling on that sudden sensation. He had walked here many times, what could have startled him like that? He looked back again, just to be sure, and saw a woman.
She was standing at the edge of the narrow outcropping looking out at the sea. Her matte black hair, slightly damp, flowed down the curve of her back all the way to her heels. Her clothing clung to her and appeared almost transparent from the wetness. It revealed her perfect, pale skin underneath. His eyes rudely lingered on her womanly body - he couldn't help himself. Without really thinking he had already moved towards her. He told himself he wanted to check on her, after all it looked as if she had come straight out of the water. What if she had fallen from her boat? Deep down he knew the truth. She compelled him. She was irresistible.
He stopped just behind her, almost within arms reach. "Hello?" he said. No response. "Are you okay?" he asked a little louder. She slowly turned to face him. She was smiling. Suddenly her mouth opened in a terrible shriek. It blasted through his body, causing sharp pain in his ears. He could see her face clearly now. Her mouth looked like a gaping pit he might fall into. He tried to flee but found he couldn't move at all. That terrible scream still reverberated through his body, leaving his limbs feeble and unresponsive. To his horror, her hair writhed up behind her and lashed out. Strand upon strand wrapped around his legs, his arms, his torso, his face. The strength returned to his body but it was too late. He struggled as hard as he could, panic taking over, as he felt himself being pulled off the ledge and into the sea.
They are called Iso Onna. These "coast woman" are rare yokai that wander the coast line. You are much more likely to encounter one at times of the year when the spirit world moves closer to our physical one. New Year's Even, Obon, or Halloween for example. If you encounter an Iso Onna, you are likely to meet the same fate as that fisherman.
The Iso Onna is a vampire of the sea. They live off the warm blood of their prey, blood they leech out using their hair. Like the <a href="https://www.novusbestiary.com/siren">siren</a>, they tend to attract men as their victims, using their appearance as a beautiful woman as a lure. You can identify them by focusing on their lower half. Careful observation will reveal that they are slightly transparent below the waist. Iso Onna are often confused with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakkai_Zukan#/media/File:Suuhi_Nure-onna.jpg">Nure Onna</a>, another kind of female vampire who stalks the coast. Nure Onna use a similar trick, appearing as a vulnerable woman holding a baby to lure their victims. In their true from, Nure Onna appear as serpents below the waist, or even from the neck down. These two types of vampires are not the same species, but they do form alliances as they share the same habitat. Woe to those who encounter the pair!
Iso Onna are powerful monsters. In addition to their striking beauty, they can employ other illusions while hunting. An Iso Onna can make herself appear exactly like a rock, allowing her to blend in with the coastal environment she lives in. They can also be found out in the open sea. There are stories of massive Iso Onna, monsters large enough to smash a ship with their arms. I have travelled to the Kyūshū Islands myself and spoken to many in the region, in an attempt to confirm those stories. It is not clear whether the fishermen are exaggerating, the Iso Onna are creating illusions, or the Iso Onna really do exist in giant forms on the open sea.

Iso Onna

There was once a homeless thief who made a bargain with an old man that changed his life forever. For the old man was, in fact, a sorcerer. The sorcerer coveted a magic lamp that was buried deep inside an ancient cave filled with traps and worse. The sorcerer sent the thief inside to retrieve it and betrayed him, trapping him inside the cave. The thief thought his life was over until he discovered the secret of the lamp. Contained within its tarnished exterior was a being of extraordinary power. This being was bound to the lamp and, through the lamp, could be commanded by mortals. The thief unleashed the power of the ancient being and escaped the cave, but that was only the beginning. He would go on to generate untold riches for himself, become a prince, and ultimately claim revenge on the sorcerer who had betrayed him. He had accidentally managed to do what many powerful sorcerers only dream of – he had trapped a jinnee.
The Jinn are a race created by an all-powerful god out of fire and the winds of the Saharan desert. Angels were created first (out of light), then the jinn, and finally man (out of dust). Jinn are aerial creatures and usually invisible. They can take on many physical forms but will first appear as a pillar of wind and fog before deciding on a physical appearance. They might choose to appear hideous or beautiful - a reflection of the fact that their intentions can be evil or pure. They often appear in various animal shapes, such as owls, cats, scorpions, or onagers. The most common animal form they choose is a snake or a black dog – their are many tales in the Middle East concerning snakes or dogs who turned out to be a jinnee. The most common places you might find a jinnee are ruins, empty houses, wells, rivers, and deserts.
Despite the story of the jinnee who brought great fortune to the thief, and the popular (but groundless) belief that a jinnee will grant you three wishes, the truth is that the jinn will often bring great harm to humans. They are arrogant beings that see humans as far beneath them. Jinn are capable of entering the body of a human and causing discomfort, disease, or even mental breakdown. There are many old stories of jinn throwing stones on people from the roofs of houses and even carrying people's wives away into the desert. There is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witcher_(TV_series)#Episodes">more recent story</a> that tells of a monster hunter who searches for a jinnee in a river. When he fishes it out, the jinnee enters the throat of his nearby friend, silencing and nearly killing him. Stories like these led to people developing rituals in order to guard their houses against the jinn. The rituals would often beseech the god who was their creator.
And yet, the power of the jinn is highly coveted. It is possible for a highly trained sorcerer to bend a jinnee to his will. A more ambitious one could potentially bind a jinnee to some specific object, and it is from these ancient rituals that the story of the lamp emerges. <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=CbwpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=%E2%80%9CThey+often+ascend+to+the+lowest+confines+of+heaven,+and+there,+listening+to+the+conversation+of+the+Angles+respecting+things+decreed+by+God,+obtain+knowledge+of+futurity,+which+they+sometimes+impart+to+men,+who,+by+means+of+talismans,+or+certain+invocations,+make+them+to+serve+the+purposes+of+magical+performances.&source=bl&ots=vdB023sueP&sig=ACfU3U0-XaOqkAFC8X5HIi4ZFzkTY0mTZg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM69DVk5HnAhWniOAKHWHRD6UQ6AEwAXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThey%20often%20ascend%20to%20the%20lowest%20confines%20of%20heaven%2C%20and%20there%2C%20listening%20to%20the%20conversation%20of%20the%20Angles%20respecting%20things%20decreed%20by%20God%2C%20obtain%20knowledge%20of%20futurity%2C%20which%20they%20sometimes%20impart%20to%20men%2C%20who%2C%20by%20means%20of%20talismans%2C%20or%20certain%20invocations%2C%20make%20them%20to%20serve%20the%20purposes%20of%20magical%20performances.&f=false">Edward William Lane relates the power of jinn in his analysis of the Kur-án:</a>
<blockquote>
 “They often ascend to the lowest confines of heaven, and there, listening to the conversation of the Angles respecting things decreed by God, obtain knowledge of futurity, which they sometimes impart to men, who, by means of talismans, or certain invocations, make them to serve the purposes of magical performances.”
</blockquote>
Although power, riches, and certain knowledge of the future has its attraction, I advise you stay away from this kind of magic and the jinn altogether. There is a theory that the first Jinn, the leader and sire of the race, was in fact an angel who fell from grace into hell after refusing to bow to the human race. A race born from such a proud and tortured being seems unlikely to live in harmony with our kind.

Metamorphs born from fire and saharan winds.

Jinn

Mythical Factory video #46

Selections from the Ḳur-án, Commonly Called, in England, the Koran

The Witcher Netflix series, S1E5

<img src="/images/creatures/kappa/kappa.png" alt="Kappa illustration" /> Illustration by <a href="https://twitter.com/danaxbraga">@danaxbraga</a>
There was once a farmer named Jiro, whose wife went missing near the river running behind their farm. At first, Jiro believed that his wife had been distracted, in the way she often is, by some interesting water bird. She kept a small journal by her bed that was filled with sketches of the different birds she found on her walks around the countryside. After trips to the river, where so many birds gathered, she would come home frantic with the need to journal. But as the day moved past and night fell with no sign of his wife, Jiro became seriously concerned. At the break of dawn he set out to search for her.
He smelled it before he saw anything – a foul stench like an overflowing latrine caused the bile to rise in his throat. As he pushed through the reeds, his head spun. He was looking at his wife, or rather, parts of her, strewn along the river bank. Creeping out from the water was a creature that looked like a turtle that stood on two legs, about the size of a child. It tilted its head sideways, appearing somewhat curious and not terribly concerned about Jiro. Overwhelmed with disgust, Jiro could not help but bend over and stare at the ground. The thought of the creature attacking was far from him in his moment of shock, and it was all he could do not to vomit up everything he had ever eaten. He gathered himself, looked up, and was surprised – the creature had mimicked him. It seemed to be… bowing. Not knowing what else to do, he bowed back, a little deeper this time. The creature immediately returned the gesture and Jiro saw water spill out of a strange bowl-like depression on its head. It stopped moving all together. Jiro waited what seemed like hours before approaching. The creature remained frozen in a bow. Jiro could not bear to look at the remains of his wife. Instead he stared and stared at the strange bowl in the center of the thing's head, like a cup emptied and now begging to be filled again.
Kappa are found in rivers, lakes, ponds, and man-made waterways throughout Japan. They are amphibious, but there bodies are designed to perform in water. They are about the size and shape of a human child, with four-digit, webbed hands and feet. Like a turtle, their is a large carapace on their back and a beak in the center of their face. Their scaled, reptilian skin is usually an earthy green colour but they can sometimes be blue or even red in places. Their forearms are attached to one another underneath their shells so that they can slide in either direction, making one arm short while the other grows longer. They are very strong - stronger than an adult human, and they are very gifted swimmers and wrestlers. Kappas smell terrible. Their elastic skin reeks of fish and they have 3 anuses. But their most interesting characteristic is a bowl-like depression at the center of their heads (called a sara) which is always full of water. That water is the source of all their power. If it spills out, the kappa becomes paralyzed and can even die. They can be restored if the sara is refilled water from the source where the kappa lives
Despite Jiro's encounter with the kappa, they are generally revered by humans. Kappa are very intelligent and can learn to speak our language. They have a deep knowledge of medicine, especially the art of setting bones. Legend tells us that Kappa may have been the ones to pass on this medicinal knowledge to humans in the time before written memory. Kappa are proud and honorable. They will never break a promise. It is this strict honor code that allowed Jiro to defeat the kappa by unknowlingly engaging it in a bowing competition. That strict code can provide leverage over the Kappa for clever humans. More than one has been committed to forms of servitude, living out their days fulfilling some promise to a human. These bonds of honor often evolve to deep and lasting friendships with the Kappa.
Ultimately, it is best to consider Kappa as tricksters. They adore causing mischief of all kinds. They will do things like pass gas in public and harass women. They enjoy sumo wrestling and other games of skill and sometimes those challenges can get out of hand quickly. It is when their appetites get carried away that the Kappa can become dangerous. They will sometimes kidnap and drown humans, or even worse. Their two favourite foods are cucumbers and raw innards. They believe that there is a most-delicious and sacred ball of human flesh called the shirikodama that contains the soul just inside the anus. They hate cows and horses and will kill them outright. When they attack, they prefer to drag victims under the water and bite them to death. Should you ever encounter a kappa, you will have no hope of defeating it in the water. You must find some way to draw it on to dry land where you may be able to outwit or outrun it.
Some people take additional precautions to avoid the more violent types of mischief from Kappa. There are many festivals in Japan that include offerings of cucumbers to appease them. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_(folklore)#Cucumber">In Edo (old Tokyo), there used to be a tradition where people would write the names of their family members on cucumbers and send them afloat into the streams to mollify the kappa, to prevent the family from coming to harm in the streams.</a>

Kappa

The night parade of one hundred demons

There was once an emperor of China who legitimized his reign by presenting two giraffes from Somalia to his people. Legend told of a sacred beast with a gentle demeanour that would only appear during the reign of a wise and enlightened ruler, and so the emperor claimed the giraffes were "magical creatures" leaving his subjects to make the connection for themselves.
Of course, the god-like beast of legend was not a giraffe but, in fact, a qilin. Eventually the legend made its way to Japan where the beast was sighted on a few occasions and called "kirin". It is interesting to note that the Japanese also call a common giraffe "kirin".
The Kirin is the most powerful and sacred beast in Japan. It is considered god-like in its abilities and impact on those who observe it. Its appearance is similar to a chimera in that it seems composed of several types of other beasts. It mostly resembles a deer, with antlers on its head, but its skin is covered in scales like a dragon (almost like the spots on a giraffe). It has the tail of an ox and a massive, golden mane flowing around its head and neck. The whole beast is wreathed in transparent holy fire, and it walks so delicately that it would not disturb even a single blade of grass.
Encountering a kirin in the wild would be intimidating. The sheer power and grace it emanates would stop anyone in their tracks. There would be no question of its strength. Despite that, you should celebrate if you ever encounter one. A kirin is extremely gentle in nature and its presence heralds the dawning of an age of peace and prosperity. Those who manage to provoke a kirin - only through direct physical threats or by attacking something pure in their presence - will meet a swift end as holy fire erupts from the kirin's mouth.
We must wait and hope for the Kirin to appear.

Kirin

The Qilin/Kirin - The Chinese Unicorn

<img src="/images/creatures/kobold/kobold.png" alt="Kobold illustration" /> Illustration by <a href="https://twitter.com/danaxbraga">@danaxbraga</a>
<blockquote>
 “Salamander shall kindle,
 Writhe nymph of the wave,
 In air sylph shall dwindle,
 And Kobold shall slave.”
 – <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=yNtavVTMSnUC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51#v=onepage&q&f=false">from Faust, by Geothe</a>
</blockquote>
The man nearly dropped his lantern as he stumbled over a sudden rise in the rock. It scared him a bit. By now he was deep enough into the mine shaft to start forgetting the direction he had come from. He had scrawled directions back for himself on a piece of parchment which he had shoved into his right pocket. In this part of the mine the air was stagnant, and he had to rely entirely on the lantern for light. He silently cursed Pestle. The local apothecary had sent him on an errand to gather wax, which was the reason he had entered the damned mine in the first place. There were stories about tiny creatures who lived in the mines and collected candles. He figured he would be in and out in less than an hour, and that he could handle these stupid creatures without any trouble. It sounded like easy silver. What kind of dumb animal would steal people's candles? With his mind dwelling on the coin purse he would get, he didn't notice the rope on the ground. Suddenly, he felt a tight squeeze around his ankles. He reeled forwards, trying pointlessly to catch his balance. He smashed into the ground, dropping the lantern and plunging himself into darkness. He cursed and, at the same moment, he heard a clattering sound coming from deeper in the mine that sounded like pots and pans falling down a staircase. Some sort of bell? He felt around his feet and found that they were fastened tightly together by a noose. The rope was thick and the knot seemed expertly crafted. He started to pull free his short sword with one hand, while the other absently groped for his missing lantern. Pestle was going to pay for this annoyance! Next time he could fetch his own damn candles. Candles… He could see the rope now. He slowly realized the mine shaft was lighting up. He turned around and saw it, an unmistakable glow growing fast. He could make out shadows dancing across the rough-hewn stone. He heard the sounds of dozens of distant scrapes and knocks echoing towards him. He started sawing at the rope around his feet, but the secret part of his mind, the terrified part, knew he was too late. The Kobolds were coming and they would find him just the way they wanted him – trapped and helpless.
Kobolds are ancient and their origins are obscure. In the distant past, they were creatures of the spirit realm and would only occasionally visit the physical plane. As they spent more time among humans and other creatures of the physical realm, their interest and commitment gradually increased. Over time, this lead to well established physical traits and lineages of kobolds that maintain a more permanent presence. Nowadays, you rarely hear of an incorporeal kobold causing mischief or vanishing into thin air. Those may still exist, but we only hear of the common humanoid types: kobolds bound to households, kobolds of the mines, dragonoid kobolds, and kobolds bound to ships.
All the lineages of kobolds share some common features. They are shaped like humanoids that stand about as tall as a four year old human child. The size can vary slightly depending on the breed. Kobolds of the mountain, home, and sea appear as a strange mix between grown man and child. Short and thick-set, they combine features of the young and old, such as a beard, with soft child-like hands – or they might have the wide eyes of a child set in a shriveled old face. They wear human clothes and particularly enjoy hats. The kobolds at sea dress like the sailors do. Dragonoid kobolds are physically different but have a similar height. They have lizard-like tails, clawed hands and feet, and long snouts. Their skin is covered in scales. This difference is explained by their unique heritage. All kobolds can be benevolent or adversarial. Even when you manage to have a kobold working for you, they are quick to anger. They say even the friendliest kobolds are rarely completely good and the slightest offense will set them off. They have a penchant for mischief that can sometimes get completely out of hand. The tale of Hödekin, who worked for the Bishop of Hildesheim illustrates this point. In fact, for the household kobold, there are many tales of humans trying one thing or another to expell them:
<blockquote>
 <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6dekin">Hödekin was easily angered. A kitchen servant often threw dirt and unclean water on him. Hödekin asked the head cook to chastise the boy, but the cook chided the kobold for fearing a child. The sprite replied, "Since you won't punish the boy, I will, in a few days, let you see how much afraid of him I am." When the boy went to sleep, Hödekin strangled him, cut him to pieces, and put his flesh in a pot over the fire. The cook rebuked the kobold for this behaviour, which prompted Hödekin to squeeze toads over the bishop's meat and punt the cook into the castle moat. The incident prompted the bishop to exorcise the kobold from the premises.</a>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="koboldsofthemines">Kobolds of the mines</h2>
The details of household kobolds, their binding rituals, and their roles in history are many and varied. We might elaborate in the future, but for now we must turn to the kobolds of the mountain. These types of kobolds have shunned more direct human contact in favour of their own tribal affiliations and the treasures of the mountains. They are reknowned for their skills in tunneling and in trap making. These types of kobolds are often accused of cave-ins and luring miners with false promises. Miners would encounter veins of rich gold and ore, but when smelted, the ores would reveal themselves to be a poisonous, burning gas. This particular trap became well known by humans so they named those ores cobalt after the creatures they knew were to blame. In 1735, Swedish chemist Georg Brandt isolated a substance from such ores and named it cobalt rex. In 1780, scientists showed that this was in fact a new element, which they named <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt">cobalt</a>.
<h2 id="koboldsofthesea">Kobolds of the sea</h2>
Kobolds of the sea (sometimes called Klabautermann) enter a ship via the wood used to build it. They are then bound to the ship, appearing as the ship's carpenter. Should you ever glimpse a short crew member in yellow, wearing a woolen sailor's cap, smoking a pipe, and clutching a cauking hammer, you will know you have glimpsed a sea kobold. Sometimes their likeness is carved on a mast as a symbol of good luck. Their watercraft is unparalleled, and they are generally known to help the ship. But, like all kobolds, they are prone to mischief and quick to anger. Even darker legends of these kobolds claim that they only appear to the crew of a doomed ship.
<h2 id="dragonoidkobolds">Dragonoid kobolds</h2>
The dragonoid kobolds are well known by seasoned adventurers. They are more commonly vile but, like the mining kobolds, stick to themselves unless strongly coerced to do otherwise. The obvious question is why they appear so differently than the other lineages of kobold. The ancient histories hold a clue. As mentioned before, the earliest kobolds maintained a more transient form as spirits, and a common form was a fire spirit. Those fiery kobolds were named "drakes". Benjamin Thorpe describes them as "a fiery stripe with a broad head, which he usually shakes from one side to the other…". The connection to fire is also made clear by legends of kobolds who would take the form of candles. Seasoned adventurers may have heard an angry mining kobold scream at the top of its lungs <a href="https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Kobold">"you no take candle!!"</a>. It is entirely possible that the kobold believes those adventurers are carrying away its own kin, or at least an effigy that represents them. It is my contention that, in the old times in the mountains of germany, a great dragon (probably a descendant of the cursed dragon Fafnir) encountered one of these fiery kobolds in it's flying form and mated with it. The confused drake found shelter in a cave and, against the odds, laid several eggs. These then became the progenitors of the dragonoid race of kobolds we know today.

Ambivalent sprites of hearth, mines, and sea.

Kobold

D&D Monster Manual

Faust

The path to lichdom is long and difficult. Only the most talented magic users can achieve it.

A lich is an extremely talented wizard who decides to pursue immortality at a terrible cost. The wizard seeks forbidden knowledge, breaks taboos, and commits horrible acts to perform a dark ritual that will let them live forever.

Immortality and amorality leave liches isolated from other leaving beings. They prefer this.

There once was a <a href="https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lich_King">well-loved prince who desperately sought to save his kingdom from a scourge of undead monsters</a>. His resolve lead him step by step down a path which lead to horrible acts of murder in the name of protecting his people. As the war raged on, his quest drew him closer towards a hidden evil power that was controlling the undead army. His resolve to do what was necessary, combined with the fear growing inside himself, slowly weakened his grip on his own sanity. The prince sought a magical sword he thought would give him the power he needed to win the war. In a deciding moment, he reached for it. But the sword was cursed and created a direct link between the prince and the powerful force of evil ruling from afar. Most of his soul was stripped away as he fell prey to the evil power. His people watched in disbelief as their beloved prince lead the undead scourge against his own kingdom, killing his own father and those he had sworn to protect with his life. In time his soul diminished further and further, and his obsession for power grew stronger under the influence of the cursed blade. The prince went on to merge his spirit with the force of evil that had corrupted him, becoming one of the most powerful forces of evil to ever walk the land. He became the Lich King.
A lich is an extremely talented wizard who decides to pursue immortality at a terrible cost. The wizard seeks forbidden knowledge, breaks taboos, and commits horrible acts to perform a dark ritual that will let them live forever. After the transformation, they appear as gaunt, undead humanoids with burning eyes that show not a single glimmer of human concern. They become necromancers that can summon legions of undead monsters who obey them completely.
The process to become a lich is a well-guarded secret. Through my research, I have learned some of the specifics and sources but I believe, and many would agree, that the knowledge is best kept hidden. What I can say is that the process involves the creation of a magical container called a phylactery. The soul of the wizard is trapped within the phylactery and, if anything destroys their physical form, they can regenerate themselves beside that container. The nature and appearance of a phylactery varies considerably. In some stories they have even been called by other names, such as <a href="https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Horcrux">"Horcrux"</a>. What is consistent is that the lich will defend the vessel holding their soul at all costs. The location will be a well-guarded secret and the artifact itself will be protected by powerful magic. The phylactery is always incredibly hard to destroy and you will only succeed with the help of special knowledge about the lich and a powerful magic weapon of your own.
The threat and resources a lich can bring to bear is impossible to overstate. Consider the facts that must come together to create such an evil creature. Firstly, the wizard must possess incredible magic strength to master the keys to immortality. Second, they must lack any moral scruple in order to break the taboos of undeath and commit the acts of murder required to complete their dark transformation. Finally, once they sever the connection to their soul, they become immortal allowing them to enact plans that can span centuries. As time marches on, the lich remains isolated and grows ever more meticulous in planning but ever more mentally unstable. This combination of motivations and the power that produce a lich means that their impact on peoples lives is widespread and never good. Not many would escape the wrath of a lich who had seen one of their plans come to fruition.
There are only two rays of hope when facing the threat of a lich. The first is that they are fundamentally selfish. It is likely that they have no real interest in worldly matters unless the world somehow interferes with them directly. However, over a potentially endless timespan, and considering the inevitable loss of their sanity, this hope remains slim at best. The final hope is the knowledge that they can be destroyed if you find their phylactery and have the courage to attack it. The quest will be nearly impossible but it has been done before. Thos who have done it are counted amongst our greatest heroes.

Necromancers corrupted by a relentless pursuit of immortality.

Lich

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Harry Potter wiki entry

World of Warcraft wiki entry

<img src="/images/creatures/mandrake/mandrake.png" alt="Mandrake illustration" /> Illustration by <a href="https://twitter.com/danaxbraga">@danaxbraga</a>
There is a mysterious plant, an occult thing, whose form resembles a small, shriveled human. This legendary zoophyte has awesome power – the power to destroy and to heal.
<blockquote>
 A kind of cord emerges from a root upon the ground, and to the cord is joined by the navel, as though it were a melon, an animal called the Yadu'a, but the Yadu'a is in all ways like men:
 face, body, hands, and feet. It uproots and destroys all thing all around, out to the limit of the cord.
 One must sunder the cord with an arrow, and then the animal dies.
 – <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=Fsrd_nQ-RTQC&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=Talmud+Yadu%27a&source=bl&ots=99Wh9wpJkb&sig=ACfU3U1F7u4r9FmUfP4F-QVuNtrKc45IEw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlpZqtr9bnAhVnqlkKHVMDAQ0Q6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Talmud%20Yadu'a&f=false">Rabbi Meir ben Kalonmymos of Speyer</a>
</blockquote>
The plant, known today as the Mandrake (or Mandragora), emits a piercing shriek when it is pulled from the ground. The scream of the Mandrake causes terrible misfortune, and has the power to drive those who hear it insane. Shakespeare mentions it in <a href="https://myshakespeare.com/romeo-and-juliet/act-4-scene-3">Romeo and Juliet, IV:3</a>:
<blockquote>
 Where, for these many hundred years, the bones 
 Of all my buried ancestors are packed; 
 Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, 
 Lies festering in his shroud; where, as they say, 
 At some hours in the night spirits resort — 
 Alack, alack, is it not like that I, 
 So early waking, what with loathsome smells, 
 And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth, 
 That living mortals, hearing them, run mad
</blockquote>
Here I include the stanza before the reference to mandrakes because it connects to a superstition surrounding the creature's source. "Where, for these many hundred years, the bones / Of all my buried ancestors are packed;" brings to mind the stories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne">Sir Thomas Brown</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanns_Heinz_Ewers">Hanns Heinz Ewers</a> which claim that the Mandrake grows in the ground underneath the gallows, and that its human form is a result of the blood, fat, urine, or semen dripping into the ground from the corpses above. In his novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alraune">Alraune</a> (which is the German word for 'Mandrake'), Ewers explores and extends the legend by telling the tale of a girl born from a prostitute who is artificially inseminated with the semen of a hanged murderer.
The Mandrake brings death and madness, but it also possesses healing properties and can grant certain magical abilities. This duality is expressed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder">Pliny</a> who believed that the white Mandrake was male and the black one female. It has been used as an anaesthesia for surgery, and to treat rheumatic pain, melancholy, convulsions, and mania. With the root of a Mandrake, proper alchemical prepartion could produce magical ointments of flight and psychic visions. In other cases, it was used as an amulet to grant good fortune or cure sterility. A curious reference to the generative properties of the Mandrake exists in the book of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+30%3A14-16&version=ESV">Genesis 30:14-16</a>:
<blockquote>
 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
</blockquote>

Human-like plant that destroys and heals.

Mandrake

Romeo and Juliet

Alraune

The Bible, Genesis

Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion

If you have a wish that you desperately want granted, you may find yourself drawn to <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/wQRj2Wfg6Dko7Ckp7">Saint Louis Cemetary No. 1 in New Orleans</a>. There you will seek the tomb of the infamous voodoo queen Marie Laveau. You must mark an 'X' on the tomb, turn around three times, knock clearly, and yell out your wish. When your wish is granted, you must return to the tomb, circle your 'X', and leave an offering. Be warned: Laveau's power is far reaching and terrible. You would do well to leave an offering that suits her.
Marie Laveau was well loved and many followed her. Some would call her a priestess. She had a gift for healing and a broad knowledge of plants and their properties. People would travel from miles away to seek her remedies. Some would call her an herbalist. But the truth is her power extended far beyond the realm of natural medicine. Marie Laveau could cast curses upon her enemies and she knew the secrets of everyone around her. She had a supernatural ability to enthrall other people and animals. It is known that she had a pet snake named Zombi who followed her. In this taxonomy of legendary creatures, I would classify her as a witch, although it is possible she is much more. Marie Laveau was seen walking around town after her official burial on June 15, 1881. She lives on today in memories, in songs, and possibly in a more physical form. Marie Laveau was and is the most notorious voodoo queen who ever lived.
Witches have a mastery of herbalism and conjuration spells. Laveau specialised in <a href="https://www.originalbotanica.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-hoodoo-rootwork/">Hoodoo rootwork</a> and Voodoo magic. Future entries in Novus Bestiary may explore other forms of witchcraft, but the important thing to note is that most witches cannot transcend death. That type of power is almost never granted to someone who is a born a mortal human being. Voodoo magic has great power to offer but it focuses mainly on manipulating luck in your own favour and bringing curses upon enemies. No one knows for sure what has kept Marie Laveau alive (if in fact she is alive). There is only one faint rumour which offers a clue. A journal entry from a man named Dr. Michael Morbius suggests that Laveau was hunting for the blood of a powerful vampire. Such an ingredient in the hands of the most skilled alchemist could potentially offer immortality but would be practically impossible to attain. Did Laveau somehow complete this Herculean task? We may never know the truth of things.
At this time of year, around Halloween, visitors will flood the Saint Louis Cemetary No. 1. As you walk outside in the chilly night you may feel its pull yourself. Some say the secrets of Marie Laveau are buried beneath her tomb and that dedicated subjects may yet learn them. Secrets of life and death. Secrets of Voodoo.
<blockquote>
 <a href="https://genius.com/Redbone-the-witch-queen-of-new-orleans-lyrics">Early one mornin' into mucky swamp
Dew vanished Marie with hate in her eyes
Tho' she'll never return all the Cajuns knew
A witch-queen never dies</a>
</blockquote>

Marie Laveau

The World of Witchcraft: The Most Famous Witches in History

A Beginner's Guide to Hoodoo Rootwork

The Witch Queen of New Orleans

Marvel database entry

The Neck prefers a fiddle, flute, or harp and can perform songs that overwhelm the listener's mind.

The Neck is at home in the water and will not stray far from it. Old places on rivers attract it.

Under rare circumstances, the Neck may pass on its musical gifts to a human. You must follow a specific ritual to earn such a lesson.

<img src="/images/creatures/neck/neck.jpg" alt="Neck" /> - Nøkken by Theodor Kittelsen
She stood still beside the running water. Across the river, there was an old mill, its wheel turning slowly along with the current.
It was a sight she had seen many times before. Her grandmother had taken her to that spot many times as a child. That woman seemed to always know about places like this one — places that seemed as if they had been there before people were. Her eyes fixated on a splash of colour at the calm part of the river downstream. Some red water lilies were growing there. She had never seen lilies here before. They were beautiful.
She closed her eyes and took in the sound of the water rushing along, and the sounds of the gentle, constant creaking of the water wheel. And something new… It began softly at first, like a daydream, then rising. The sound of a fiddle. She should have been curious and opened her eyes to find the player, but she found the song so enchanting that she could barely lift her lids halfway. The music swelled slowly, in perfect counterpoint to the river. Arpeggios lifted oh so gradually, shifting gracefully from major to minor, as if making space for her thoughts to provide a melody between them. She started to notice she had been walking with her eyes half closed. Those red lilies seemed so much closer than before. And wasn't there something else? A shape of some kind just behind them. A man?
The music swelled. The chords inverted. She found she didn't care at all. It was like the fiddle was weaving a story that she was a part of. She had to hear the end of it. By the time the water was at her neck, the music was so overwhelming that she was crying. Rapid variations, with swirling chords and melody seeming to spring forth from the violin, never slowing, pulling her ever onward. And such sadness. A longing so deep it could never be satisfied. Her tears merged with the water of the running river as the music merged with her. She was never seen again.
What was that shape, that appeared behind the fresh lilies of the running river? That lingered near the old mill? That played the fiddle so expertly that it could ensorcell the woman and compell her to drown herself? It was the Neck.
The Neck is a dangerous water spirit who seeks to capture people with his musical abilities and hold them in his underwater realm. He is a shapeshifter, and may take on many guises, though he will often appear as a male humanoid. He may appear young or old, wearing any sort of outfit. He will often have some strange, animal-like feature. An extra eye, webbed fingers, hooves, or a tail for example. Whatever shape he takes, he is always recognizable by his long, dark, seaweed-like hair, and his dark eyes.
The Neck's music is his greatest strength. His level of skill far surpasses the greatest human performers. It is a performance so perfect, with such a yearning, emotional pull, that it completely ensnares the mind that hears it. Few have heard it and survived to tell the tale. In some cases, he will perform a song compelling people to dance without rest until morning. In those cases, the audience survives but they only vaguely remember the feeling of the music, and not the truth of it. One story tells of a particularly dangerous song called the Alvaspelet (Fairy Tune) that even the Neck avoids performing. That song can compell people to dance so relentlessly that their feet turn to bloody stumps. It is said the audience may even wear away their entire bodies and so become bloody heads bouncing on the ground. If you suspect the Neck may be lurking nearby, you can bind him by stabbing a knife into the shore before going for a swim. In those cases you won't have any contact with him and so you won't hear his songs. For that you should be grateful.
The Neck's preferred instrument is the fiddle, though he will sometimes choose the flute or the harp. For those of you who are aspiring musicians, I will share a fact with you that must be guarded. I beseech you: do not share this information with anyone else. I only share it knowing that regular readers of Novus Bestiary will be equipped with an overall understanding of fairy creatures, and therefore equipped with a respectful fear of them.
The Neck can teach some of his musical skill to humans.
Only a brave fool would ever try to learn. Only they would go to a swift river or crossroads for three Thursday nights in a row and play their instrument. This fool would bring with them a black cat as payment on the third Thursday. The Neck would accept this and even then they would have to remain constantly on their guard as the Neck would attempt to lure them into the water throughout the lesson.
It is said that a human who becomes a student of the Neck, and manages to survive to perform the songs, will be so skillful that they will make inanimate objects dance about when they perform. I have yet to encounter such a person.

Dangerous water spirit whose music enthralls.

Neck

Vaesen

Claw

Invisible Passage

Illusory Appearance

Amphibious

Mimicry

Commanding Performance

Drowning Grapple

Onryō prefer not to kill people immediately. They target their victims with a powerful grudge curse that brings death and ruin to them and those around them. The grudge curse is powerful enough to affect a physical location and linger on after the spirit is banished.

In the case of Oiwa, a legendary Onryō, echoes of the grudge curse can be transferred by the telling of her story. It is conjectured that the curses can travel far in this way, though it is unlikely that most Onryō have that kind of power.

I must begin this story with a prayer:
Oiwa you suffered greatly. You did not deserve such brutal murder at the hands of your wicked husband. I pray for your soul.
I cannot bring myself to describe the Onryō without mention of you, the most legendary of your kind. Though the story is disturbing, I must ask your blessing to tell the tale. It is my professional obligation as the collector of great creatures.
I understand that the proper way to ask is at your gravesite in Tokyo. Right now I cannot make the trip, so hear my vow: I will travel to Japan in this life. When I arrive, I will seek out your grave and bestow upon it the greatest blessing that I can muster. This I swear I will do.
In Japan, ghosts are known as yūrei. They share much in common with the Western understanding of ghosts. They are the souls of people who died suddenly, or under acts of violence. The souls of people with an unfinished task on this earth. They appear as faint, translucent entities in the form in which they died. They will be wearing the clothes they were buried in, such as a white burial kimono. You will often see the wound that killed them. They are usually bound to a specific location.
Yūrei are usually harmless, though a very dedicated soul is capable of causing some mischief. But there is one exception. A type of ghost that is universally feared. These people died under horrible circumstances, with fiery passion coursing through their entire being. They do not pass on but dwell on earth seeking vengeance above all else. Their vengeance is wildly out of control. They curse not only those who wronged them, but any innocent who comes near.
They are called Onryō.
This deadly grudge spirit is horribly strong. They persist on their wrath alone. Though they have the strength to immediately kill any mortal, they prefer to curse them and make the destruction a prolonged ordeal. The grudge curse targets a person and everyone around them. It spreads like mold throughout a physical place, bringing death and ruin to all who enter. It is almost impossible to banish an Onryō. Even if you find a way to lay them to rest, their curse can live on in a location for years after they are gone.
There is an Onryō who is known above all others. Her name is Oiwa and her grudge curse still exists today. Oiwa was brutally tortured and murdered by her scheming husband. Her curse is so powerful, that injuries and death may befall those who even tell her story. Darkness has permeated the very fabric of the story. Even still, many have dared to retell the story of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsuya_Kaidan">Yotsuya Kaiden</a>.
I have vowed to visit the grave of Oiwa. When I do, I hope to learn more about her and about the Onryō. Any further insights, especially any defensive techniques, will be recorded on Novus Bestiary. This I swear I will do.

Onryō

The Others consume and then perfectly mimic other creatures. They retain the memories and behaviours of their victims, so they can fool even close friends and family.

The Others seek out dark places where they can easily hunt. They are sensitive to direct sunlight and will avoid exposing themselves to it when they can.

When hunting, The Others prefer to leverage the trust of others to lure them away from groups. Once they isolate someone, they will attack quickly. In this way, a group is replaced one by one.

An Other is one part of a hivemind linked to its brethren. It also emits spores to attack and defend itself in combat.

The Others have a mysterious, alien origin. They defy expectations. They resist understanding.

<img src="/images/creatures/other/other.jpg" alt="Illustration of an Other" />
She had been having nightmares. She couldn't remember the details, but when she went about her daily chores she felt restless. Rumours swirled in her head, never settling. Townsfolk had been muttering about strange things lately. Lights on at weird times of the night; some sort of odd mist in the nearby woods; unusual noises – that sort of thing. What she didn't understand was why it bothered her. She usually didn't go in for that kind of thing, but she couldn't deny that her gut was telling her something. Something just felt wrong.
"Owen can you hand me that bucket?" She and her son had been working hard together every morning on the farm. Harvest season was waning and the days were getting shorter. Darkness always seemed to come too early. The air smelled cold, like winter. Owen approached and handed her the bucket wordlessly. He seemed stressed out too. He was usually so easy going but today he had barely said a word.
"Are you feeling okay honey?", she asked. Yesterday, when they were letting out the sheep in the afternoon, she had noticed he looked a bit waxy. Maybe he was coming down with something? "I'm fine mom", Owen replied. He graced her with a little smile. It reassured her. She and her son had no one else. His smile had gotten her through many tough times.
She walked over to the pig pen and started scooping feed into the bucket. The pigs all came forward snorting and snuffing, anticipating the meal. She was scraping the bottom of the bin, yet another problem to add to her list. How were they possibly going to afford to feed them through the winter? Automatically she started thinking about which pig she would have to slaughter first.
As she started to stand and turn towards the pen, she felt a sharp impact at the back of her head. Her entire vision flashed, red star bursts filling her eyes. As she regained her vision she became vaguely aware that she was on the ground near the pig pen. The pigs were screeching loudly making the ringing in her head even worse. She tried to move but couldn't. It felt like her skull might be cracked. Above her stood her son Owen.
"Ownnn" she tried to talk. "OOooownn". He crouched over her staring blankly. To her horror, his face started to change. The flesh around his teeth seemed to lift away revealing more of the bones and gums underneath. His eyes sockets seemed to deepen as shapes rippled underneath his skin. A strange sound was coming from somewhere deep in his throat. She thought she must be hallucinating. This couldn't be real. As the deep croaking sound grew in intensity, she saw black and purple flecks start to pour from the crevices appearing all over his face and head. It stank of mold. He raised his arms, and where his hands used to be were writhing, red tendrils. They lashed out, penetrating her eyes and mouth. She tried to scream but couldn't make a sound. All she could do was lay there helplessly as she felt the tendrils traveling deep inside her body, wrapping around her stomach, her ribs, her spine, her brain. She could feel every part of her changing. The pain was excruciating. All she wanted to do was scream but the scream remained silently trapped inside her head. The pigs behind her were still squealing, bumping into each other as they fought for the grains she had spilled across the ground.
A minute later she stood up. She looked at Owen and knew everything about him and what she had to do now. Together they walked back to the barn and got brooms to clean up the mess. While they worked that morning a small part of her, a part pushed way down to the bottom of her mind, continued to scream in silence.
<h2 id="theothers">The Others</h2>
Somewhere in a remote corner of <a href="https://www.ceaselessrealms.com/">The Ceaseless Realms</a>, an alien presence from an unknown place threatens to overtake the world. No one knows the creature's true name. Those that have discovered it and not been taken simply refer to it as "The Others".
The Others appear as people you know. This foreign creature has the ability to completely take over the body of its victims. When taken, the victim is completely consumed, inside and out, by spores ejected from the Other's tendrils. All that remains is the original brain and a portion of the spinal column. A newly created Other immediately gains awareness of its brethren and is compelled to carry out the same goal: hunt other beings, isolate them, and consume them.
An Other is composed of an alien fungal material. It can rapidly change itself to look exactly like the victim it has taken over. The substance can transform into any form of clothing or armor it has studied during the process of devouring its victim. In addition, the fungus learns the patterns of behaviour and memories of its victim, allowing it to perform an almost perfect imitation. There are a few limitations to its mimicry. When attacked or agitated, an Other will be compelled to reveal its true form. An Other cannot cast magical spells of any kind, for those spells are powered by the soul's connection to sources of our own realm.
The Others seem to prefer dark places and will start to seek them out. When viewed in broad daylight, an imitation appears to have waxy skin that seems slightly translucent. It is very hard to notice by an untrained eye. The creatures also seem to be weakened by sunlight.
The Others don't usually attack outright. Despite their strength, they prefer to infiltrate communities through careful stalking. Once they have assimilated someone, they will leverage that person's relationships and seek out potential victims who will trust the replaced individual. In this way, The Others carefully divide and devour. The speed of the transformation is terrifying. When you are hunted by an Other, you can't allow your friends out of your sight for even a few minutes. They could be replaced by then.
<h2 id="unknowabledirective">Unknowable directive</h2>
All that is known of the goals of this alien mind is that it desires to hunt and spread. It would be tempting to think of it as a sort of primitive fungal growth given its use of spores and hivemind directives. The truth is, its real motivations are unknown. Unimaginable, even. They will usually remain silent hunters and yet sometimes groups of Others will simultaneously reveal themselves with no apparent provocation. Their advance across civilization could be catastrophic, and yet they weirdly stop spreading at unpredicable times. There are even some rumours which claim that victims whisper a strange word at the moment they become assimilated. These behaviours are not consistent with typical fungi.
The only way to know for sure would be to become an Other, and then somehow communicate the mission back to an unchanged being. An impossible task. There is no known method, magic, or technology to restore someone. Once you are consumed by The Others, you are lost forever.

Other

Horror-Themed D&D Monster Building

Lashing Tendrils

Acidic Spores (Recharge 5-6)

Shapechanger

Defensive Spores

Sunlight Sensitivity

Consume

It is known that the feather from a Phoenix’s tail can be mixed with a few other compounds by a skilled alchemist, to produce an elixir that will bring someone back from the brink of death. Long ago, people believed this potion (called 'Phoenix Down') could actually cheat death itself. We now know that people likely witnessed the miraculous effects of the potion on people who were not truly dead, but were simply in a deep state of unconsciousness, and their imaginations filled in the rest. Despite the lack of solid evidence, some alchemists still assert that, if you obtain a phoenix feather of ultimate beauty, you can brew a Phoenix Down that will return someone from the dead.
A phoenix is an immortal bird that resembles a large eagle but with feathers the colour of fire and burnished gold. Various other colours, like those of gemstones, add ornamentation. There is an old Latin poem 'De Ave Phoenice' (The Phoenix) which has been attributed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactantius">Lactantius</a> and was latter translated into old English by an anonymous author. <a href="https://anglosaxonpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-phoenix/">The poem</a> describes the appearance of the phoenix:
<blockquote>
 That fowl is fair of hue from the front
 flecked with various colors about his breast before.
 His head is green behind, wondrously varied
 and blended with purple. Then is his tail fairly
 colored, some brown, some red, some with black spots,
 cunningly covered. Those wings are white at the back,
 and the neck green below and above, and the beak
 shines like glass or gemstone, his jaws sparkle
 within and without. The nature of his eye is piercing
 and much like the hue of a stone, a merry gem
 when it is set into a golden vessel by the skill of smiths.
 About its neck, just like a ring of sunlight,
 is set the brightest bracelet of feathers.
 Wonderful is the belly beneath, wondrously fair,
 bright and brilliant. His crest overhead
 is fitted with ornaments over the bird’s back.
 His legs are covered with scales, the fallow feet.
 The fowl is absolutely unique in its hue,
 much like the peacock, grown up in joys,
 as the book tells us. He is not slothful
 nor wanton, heavy nor sluggish like some birds,
 which slowly flap their wings through the breeze,
 but he is nimble and quick and so light,
 lovely and delightful, marked out with glory.
</blockquote>
To gaze at a phoenix is to gaze at the rarest rising sun. They are aloof and mysterious, but can form a deep bond of friendship with those they come to trust. They are gentle, confident, and graceful, and so you should never fear them, but treasure the sight of one.
The Phoenix is a master of death. At the end of its life, a phoenix bursts into flame and its ashes start to contract into a ball. This ball forms an egg which hatches within the still-burning embers of the fire. A phoenix is always born again. In his dialogues, Tacitus believed a phoenix lived for the amount of time it took the sun, moon, and five planets to return to their original positions (12994 years). We now know the phoenix has a shorter life cycle but it is still a living representation of the cyclical nature of the universe. The Stoics believed the universe began and ends in fire and therefore has no beginning or end – much like the phoenix. We may also recall the story of two star-crossed wizards who came into possession of wands that each contained a tail feather from the same phoenix. Both of those wizards died and were reborn. The Phoenix is a master of death.

Phoenix

The Phoenix (Old English poem)

Harry Potter series

Final Fantasy series

The raven conjures thoughts of death; grim images of graveyards, battlefields, and the shadow land. Its dark silhouette invokes fear and is often considered an ill-omen. But, in fact, the raven used to be white. He belonged to the inner circle of the sun-god Apollo and was his trusted messenger. One day, Apollo asked Raven to spy on his lover Coronis. The raven witnessed Coronis breaking faith and reported this back to Apollo. In a rage, Apollo shot Coronis with one of his arrows. As she died, she revealed she was with child. Apollo managed to save the child but not Coronis. He punished the raven for the tragedy, banishing him from his protected circle and turning his plumage black forevermore.
The fact of the Raven's disgrace is <a href="https://talesofnature.com/2017/03/12/how-the-white-rave-became-black-047/">repeated elsewhere</a>. After a powerful god punished the world with a flood, a saviour named Noah shepherded the world's animals by boat across the deep water. After months, the sky began to clear and hope blossomed. To confirm whether the land was reappearing, Noah sent a raven to scout. The raven did not return for many days and so another bird was sent and a small ceremony held to honour the raven's courage. The other bird returned with joyous news: plants and trees grew on the land once more! But afterwards, the raven returned as well. Surprised, Noah asked what had happened and the raven shamefully admitted it had been feasting on the corpses it found strewn across the newly exposed earth. As a carrion-eater, it could not help itself. To punish him, Noah turned the raven's feathers black.
Reflecting on these two stories what do we learn? We can discover its physical characteristics. The raven is strong enough to fly great distances and it's plumage is a deep black, the sort that seems a curse.
The raven is intelligent, trainable, and may develop complex relationships with other species. It is a popular choice as a familiar. (As a side note, if you are thinking of trying this yourself you should know that they are <a href="http://www.longlongtimeago.com/once-upon-a-time/fables/from-aesop/the-fox-and-the-crow/">susceptible to flattery.</a>)
In addition, it must have a clear voice for communication and a keen eye for observation. In these stories it is employed as a messenger and scout. It is known that the ravens named Thought and Memory were the faithful spies and messengers of Odin the All-Father.
The raven is a carrion-eater – it consumes the dead. It always begins by devouring the eyes and brain as if it directly attacks the wisdom and prudence of men. This may be its main connection to death and the afterlife, though some have reported that the raven can actually travel to the realms of the dead and back freely.
We should also consider that the raven may be misunderstood. Is its blackness a manifestation of its nature or is it a reflection of the gods and prophets casting judgement upon it? In the story of Apollo, the raven served faithfully albeit without tact. In the story of Noah, the raven acted according to its nature as all animals must. There is a <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven">famous poem</a> that recounts a man's descent into madness as he casts his anxieties upon a raven. The raven is surely an ominous portent and its shadowy silhouette surely inspires fear. But does it really mock the man or does the man doom himself?
This image depicts the final scene in which the man succumbs to madness.
<img src="/images/creatures/raven/the-raven.jpg" alt="The Raven" />
"And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!"

Raven

The Raven

How the white rave became black

The Fox and the Crow

Sandworms can be as small as a dog or as large as a mountain range. Their growth is only limited by the size of the desert environment they live in.

Sandworms move through rock as fish move through water. They detect miniscule vibrations on the ground to hunt.

The remains of their victims, and sometimes treasures, may be found inside the bellies of the larger worm.

The man stood at the top of a large sand dune on a desert planet. It had taken almost six days to get to the survey post, and he was barely able to stand up straight. Even with careful preparation, the heat was so relentless it would wear you down until you moved like an automaton. The only thing keeping him alive was the specialized suit he wore that could recycle the moisture seeping out of his pores. Out here, water was not even a dream. He was observing the antennae nestled between the dunes that he had been tasked with repairing, when suddenly the sand shifted underneath it. At first he thought he was hallucinating. A wide hole emerged from the sand under the antennae, glistening spokes within it. The hole was three times the size of the 20 metre tall machine. Within minutes, the entire setup disappeared into the hole, with sparks flying and the grating sound of crunching metal filling the air. The man abandoned his task without a second thought. There were likey more sandworms on the way, and that worm that had devoured the antennae: that was one of the small ones.
Giant sandworms appear in all sorts of deserts. They resemble segmented worms, the type you would find in a typical garden, but their segments are composed of nearly indestructible armor. They are typically a dull, mottled brown colour, but there have been some reports of more unusually coloured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_worm">purple worms</a>. Their mouths are comprised of three-segments which peel back to expose an impressive array of razor sharp teeth that extend back into the body across in many rows. The teeth are as sharp as diamond and have evolved to efficiently rasp rocks and sand. As such, these monstrous worms can burrow through the ground extremely fast. You might sometimes see a massive sandwave, like a moving mountain, following the path of the worm when its head crests the surface. The largest possible size and age of a sandworm is unknown. Their unique diet of sand and adaptation with the desert ecology removes almost all constraints on their growth. In a smaller desert, such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobi_Desert">Gobi desert on Earth</a>, you might expect a mature sandworm to reach 40 - 50 metres in length. But in a massive, ancient desert, a desert that spans an entire planet, a sandworm could be thousands of years old and its body stretch for leagues.
A sandworm is incredibly dangerous. As dangerous as the desert itself. They can sense even the slightest vibrations on the ground. Walking through a desert with sandworms is certain death for travellers. Given their size, speed, and indestructibility, you might think the common sense adventurer would avoid their territory completely. And yet, the stories tell us that, like the dragons, sandworms are often the guardians of a valuable treasure. In one story, a sandworm swallowed an enchanted sword. Who knows what other artifacts could lurk within the bellies of these ancient devourers? In another story, the sandworms produced a powerful drug that granted those who ingested it the power to see the future and travel to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. In that story, the sandworms were seen as the eternal agents of God.

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