Vila Wolf's Dyslexic Folklorist Ranting

Dragedalen Art (@dragedalenart)

Photographs from the collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade

Selection of portraits by Polish artist Michał Maksymilian Rekucki (1884-1971),

Source: rempex.com.pl, ostoya.pl, artinfo.pl

Daily Monster 334: Jaculus

Region of origin: Medieval Europe

A creature from medieval bestiaries, the jaculus or javelin snake was a small, flying serpent which did not possess venom so would instead perch in trees and wait for its intended victim to pass underneath, at which point it would launch itself rigidly and strike the prey, knocking it out or fatally wounding it through impact.

Daily Monster 336: Marabbecca

Region of origin: Sicily

A creature said to live in the bottom of wells and drag down and eat anyone who ventured too close, parents would use stories of the marabbecca to discourage children from playing too close to edge.

Daily Monster 269: Melusine

Region of origin: Northern France

One of three daughters of a Scottish king and the faerie Pressyne, Melusine was raised on Avalon away from her father because he had broken one of the taboo of the fae folk. Learning this on her fifteenth birthday, Melusine sought out to punish her father for his behavior but learning of her daughter’s attempts at revenge, Pressyne put a stop to it and instead cursed her daughter to take on a demi-serpentine form every Saturday. Years passed and eventually Melusine was married (to whom varies with the telling, but often a nobleman from Poitou) but forbade her husband from viewing her on Saturdays, locking herself away in a bath for the day. One day the husband’s curiosity got the better of him and he spied on her in her chambers, and, either through the terms of the curse or fueled by her own rage, Melusine’s serpentine form consumed her, turning fully into a dragon and flying away. Never able to return to a human form, she is said to live on, acting as a guardian of her descendants.

Name: Alicanto

Alternate Names: Allicanto, Stymphalian Bird (related), Asipatra (related)

Mythology: Chilean (South American)

Size: Small to Medium

Environment: Savannah, Desert, Mountains, everywhere precious metals are found

In Mythika: Bizarre Caracara-like birds of prey, Alicanto absorb any material they eat into their magical feathers, so if they eat gold their feathers turn into gold and if they eat fire their appearance would match the legendary Phoenix, however Alicanto prefer eating only gold and silver and must be forced to eat other material or energy. Because of their bizarre diet the feathers become extremely sharp and their wings make for powerful slashing weapons with which they do lots of damage. Alicanto are sought out by countless greedy creatures that follow them around for their ability to sense precious metals, Dvergr even steal the golden/silver eggs of the Alicanto and train the Alicanto to be their pets. Because they are so overly hunted, Alicanto became rare creatures and also aggressive towards most other creatures, being paranoids of who wants their feathers and eggs.

The Horseman of War was impressed by these birds and he captured a lot of them and put them on a special diet of Adamantium. He bred an entire new species called Asipatra. These larger Alicanto have powerful Adamantium feathers which can pierce anything and they often dominate entire battlefields, raining down their adamantium feathers from above killing many in the act. While not on warpath, Asipatra make nest in strange trees which branches look like spears and weapons, making their precious adamantium eggs a very hard to collect treasure.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicanto

Name: Nidhogg

Alternate Names: Nidhoggr

Mythology: Norse Mythology, and also Scandinavian in general.

Size: Huge, like a true dragon.

Environment: Deep underground where it can gnaw on roots.

In Mythika: Nidhogg are said to be half dragons and half plant-roots, but this is only deception of the eye, while parts of their flesh appears to be roots and wood it is just hardened flesh. These underground dragons spend most of their time burrowing through the soil feeding on underground creatures, roots and rocks, when they do come out of hiding however they can level a small town with the soil in a matter of hours. Nidhogg are all spawn of the first legendary nidhogg who is said to still exist (and maybe is a boss in Mythika, dunno yet) but which has not moved in ages and has merged with an entire landscape. Nidhogg are dragons but more of a wingless type of ancient dragons called Lindworms or Linnorms, what they lack in breath weapons and wings they make up with age, power and hardiness. Nidhogg have some powers over the roots of plants and can animate them to create cages or whips from them, lashing at their enemies while attacking them with their claws and teeth. The worst thing of a Nidhogg however is that when you kill one they will curse you automatically much like any linnorm-species does, in the case of the Nidhoggs they curse you of slowly transforming into a tree, this process takes many months however and there is said to be a cure in Holy Magic. In Mythika the cure is rather easy to find, just visit the church or a healer and at a high cost they will remove the curse, but since Nidhoggs are enemies (and not unique) in Mythika visiting the church after killing them will become a pricy habit and gold is precious in the game. Killing a Nidhogg with fire magic or silver weapons will not cause the curse to take place, so using fire magic is a pre in battle with these ancient dragons.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%AD%C3%B0h%C3%B6ggr

Jenny Greenteeth

A native of Shropshire, Cheshire and Lancaster in the West of England, Jenny Greenteeth is a freshwater fairy who feeds on the unwary who step too close to her watery abode. Her preferred diet is children, and she is associated most closely with the town of Ellesmere (Shropshire). Her first recorded appearance has been dated somewhere in the 19th Century. 

Commonly used to frighten children away from treacherous riverbanks, Jenny has long green hair that camouflages her amongst the pondweed,  and mottled green skin. Her arms are long, with thin bony fingers and sharp talons for nails, ready to snap out and snatch her victim. Her eyes are huge and lamp-like whilst her teeth, naturally, are green and fiercely sharp. There is only one Jenny Greenteeth, but she is able to exist in dozens of bodies of water simultaneously. 

Whilst many view Jenny as a simple boogeyman in the style of Baba Yaga or the Kappa, others have theorised that she represents a folk memory of human sacrifices, which were commonly thrown into marshy bogs. Her role as a threat in the parent’s arsenal is not restricted to keeping children safe from the waters where she lives, however: Jenny has also been cited as dragging off little children who do not care for their teeth to join her in the muddy depths. Fortunately, this usage has fallen entirely out of favour. Jenny is typically found in the water, but it has been said that she will also creep up into the treetops in search of prey. 

Jenny is also known as Jinny Greenteeth, Ginny Greenteeth, Wicked Jenny, the Sea Hag or Peg O’Nell from region to region. Her name is also given to duckweeds, which can give the surface a pond the appearance of solid ground to the casual viewer. These weeds were considered somewhat mystical for their tendency to immediately swarm back to cover where anything (or anyone) had fallen in. 

Name: Popobawa

Alternate Names: Popo Bawa

Mythology: Tanzanian Mythology, African Mythology

Size: Large

Environment: Jungles and jungle towns, probably in caves too

In Mythika: Popobawa are jungle demons that come out at night to cause chaos in nearby villages as they feed on that same raw chaos. Looking into their big colorful single eye makes a victim chaotic and confused in the extreme and they randomly attack passerby so chaos will spread. A Popobawa enjoys nothing more than to start an uproar and watch from a safe distance how the village destroys itself, but they are extremely powerful themselves and join in the battle if they have too, they just love to see others destroy themselves so wait till the very last moment. They are the agents of Hundun the lord of Chaos, and they are his favorite minions as Tiamat dragons are too selfish and Dijiang are just victims of his power, but the Popobawa always are in for spreading more precious chaos into the atmosphere. Popobawa hate law and make life miserable for any creature that has a religion different from Hunduns. They are also very sexual creatures and some have been known to follow Lilith the Sinlord of Lust instead, but they still spread chaos in their sexual assaults, targeting men instead of women.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popobawa

Name: Stray Sod & Fear Gorta

Alternate Names: Faerie Grass, Fairy Grass, Man of Hunger, Man of Famine, Fear Gortach

Mythology: Irish, English & French

Size: Small

Environment: Fields, Forests, Grasslands

In Mythika: Many people in Mythika fear to walk on the grass as they may step on a Stray Sod instead which curses them with a vile curse. Stepping on any of these grass-like monsters is a horrifying sensation as the mind suddenly can’t keep the body in control anymore making it do what the curse desires from it. There are a couple of Sod monsters in Mythika all with their own curse:

The Stray Sod or Fairy Grass is the least dangerous and most common of the Sod’s, they are the color of beautiful green grass and they make a victim lost in his/her own mind so the victim just wanders around aimlessly until they wake from the curse, which can lasts for many days and even weeks, while most victims survive this curse there are some that walk from cliffs, walk until their feet bleed or walk till they die off exhaustion or hunger.

In the Abyss there are unique Sod monsters and they are known as Devil Grass or Devil Sod’s, they have bloody red grass on top of them just like all the grass that grows in that horrifying demonical place naturally. When you step on Devil’s Sod you will be cursed and become a living beacon to demons, summoning all types of demons to your side that want to kill you. In Mythika the Game if you are cursed by these monsters you will be randomly attacked by groups of lesser demons (or greater depending on your current level) until the curse is lifted, this is a very annoying curse so it is wise to visit a Holy Building soon after you are cursed to end it.

The worst of all Sod’s however is the Fear Gorta or the Hunger Sod, these take the color of dead grass, almost hay-like. When you step on these cursed patches of grass you will be overwhelmed by the thoughts of the Horseman of Famine and an insatiable feeling of hunger overwhelms your mind, turning you into a ravenous devourer that at first eats as many normal food as possible but eventually ends up attacking and eating other creatures, this curse keeps the victim extremely hungry no matter how much food they eat, they also become extremely thin, while you would think they would gain a lot of weight by eating so much, but their body releases energy faster than it gains it, that is why they turn so hungry. Victims of Fear Gorta turn into Gaki or Preta eventually.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stray_sod  + https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_gorta

Name: Draugr

Alternate Names: Draug, Aptrganga, Draugen, Haugbui (related)

Mythology: Norse Mythology, Scandinavian Mythology, Danish Mythology

Size: Medium, but they are size-shifters, so they can become larger at will

Environment: Most on ships on the ocean, but rare cases also spawn them in Swamps

In Mythika:  Brought back to the state of undead by mysterious powers and curses of the sea, the Draugr are powerful drowned pirates, sailors, barbarians and captains that once sailed the seas with pride and now do so again with bitter hate and an uncanny lust for bloodshed. Only the most powerful and strong willed sailors return as draugr to sail the seas again with their cursed and haunted ghost ships. The most powerful Draugr were created from the ranks of pirate and barbarian captains which also gained magical abilities with their new undead forms. They can summon magical mist, and their ghost ships are always shrouded in thick layers of sickening, cursed or suffocating fog, they have limited powers of the winds and waves to make their ships go even faster so no other ship can escape their wrath. The ships these Draugr sail upon are ghost ships and the curse brought the entire ship with its entire crew to life, the ship follows every command of the Draugr Captain and when the ship is destroyed the entire Draugr crew will perish with it. While most Draugr haunt oceans with their Ghost Ships, there are also solitairy Draugr’s that haunt the lonely rivers, lakes and swamps they drowned in. Draugr often work for Davy Jones, the mysterious sea deity, which is also behind their curse.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draugr

Name: Erchitu

Alternate Names: None

Mythology: Sardinian, Spanish Mythology

Size: Huge, a very big Minotaur the size of a giant.

Environment: Urban, hell and any other I think

In Mythika: Once the Erchitu were friendly giants related to the wicked Minotaurs, they worked with humans and helped them with building villages and other projects. But this all changed when some ancient Arzshenk started to corrupt the gentle creatures into weapons of war, he send little Imps out into the world to find all Erchitu and corrupt them into living batteringrams. These giant white ox-men are always covered in little wingless-imps that pinch them with magical tridents infused with hateful poison that corrupts the mind and turns it violent. Now they serve demon lords and Arzshenk in the Abyss and destroy the villages they once build together with their human allies. Their horns are on fire, forever lit by two imps, if one would put out both those fires the Erchitu will be reverted to its gentle form. While they are humanoid they mostly walk on all four, much like a gorilla. They are very big for a minotaur, having the size of a Frost Giant, and the strength of a Juggernaut.  

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erchitu

Name: Leanan Sidhe

Alternate Names: Leannan Si, Fairy Lover, Leanan Sith, Lhiannan Shee

Mythology: Celtic, Scottish & Manx

Size: Medium, the size of a female human

Environment: Anywhere beauty, inspiration and art is found.

In Mythika: Beautiful vampiric nymphs which were once Muse but they got bitten by Strigoi and turned into Leanan Sidhe. Unlike the Strigoi which feed only on blood, the Leanan Sidhe feeds on inspiration, creativity and life-energy, they often fake being a Muse and slowly drain a gifted or talented youngster until nothing remains but an empty shell devoid of creativity and inspiration, which now belongs to the Sidhe. Bards, poets and artists all seek out Muses to gain more inspiration from them so a Leanan Sidhe never has to travel far to find potential victims, they often come to them. Leanan Sidhe are extremely vain and selfish and all talent they destroy doesn’t bother them at all, as long as she herself becomes better from it. In Mythika the Leanan Sidhe can summon hopelessly devoted Bards to her side in battle, they fight for her and they also help her regenerate hitpoints, as she just drains them of life to keep herself healthy. Each encounter with a Leanan Sidhe will be a random one as there are many different types of Leanan Sidhe game-sprites, each color has its own dress, and Leanan Sidhe enjoy wearing creative and bizarre dresses, you have a yellow, red, purple, black, white, gold, silver, Light blue, teal, magenta, pink, green, dark green, orange, Brown and Indigo dressed Leanan Sidhe in Mythika, this is just a sprite-matter to make these creatures of inspiration more diverse, they have the same abilities and powers.

Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leanan_s%C3%ADdhe