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lucille-grim · 2 years

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**METAPHYSICAL BEASTS EXPLAINED**

When it comes to THE FIVE METAPHYSICAL BEASTS of Buddhism/Taoism and THE (MEDIA) TROPE that goes along with it...

I COMPARE AND CONFLATE THE MAIN FOUR WITH ACCORDING TO THE TROPE:

Yusuke with The Vermilion Bird (Phoenix) [Red Oni Type]

Hiei with The White Tiger [Red Oni Type]

Kurama with The Azure Dragon [Blue Oni Type to Hiei's Red Oni]

Kuwabara with The Black Warrior (Snake Chimera, is also known as "The Dragon Turtle") [Blue Oni to Yusuke's Red Oni]

Note: Red Oni are passionate and wild. Blue Oni are more friendly and even tempered, usually seen as the "laid-back" types.

And as a BONUS...

Koenma with The Yellow Dragon (The Emperor).

Yu Yu Hakusho features "The Four Saint Beasts", a Quirky Miniboss Squad of demons based on the Four Gods. In sequence, they were:

(Color-Coded for your convenience.)

Genbu, defeated by Kurama

Byakko, defeated by Kuwabara

Seiryū, defeated rather quickly by Hiei (17 slashes in a split second!)

Suzaku, defeated by Yusuke.

...Yusuke defeated a Phoenix as being a Phoenix himself.

Dragon defeats Snake, Snake defeats Tiger, Tiger defeats Dragon, and Phoenix defeats other Phoenix. Wood/Air vs Water, Water vs Metal, Metal vs Wood/Air, and Fire vs Fire.

Looks like they'd all get along if they had reconciled their differences. The Four Saint Beasts weren't exactly in the wrong...

You can also see why Kuwabara is considered to be and comes off as being the weakest. Metal contains Water, that is, it HOLDS and CONTROLS Water, which is probably why it was not Kuwabara who ended up killing Byakko who was instead killed by his partner, Seiryu (The Dragon)...ironically. The Dragon Character Role is by far one of the most lethal.

Water is such a flexible element. Fire does not always have to be extinguished by Water, Fire can boil Water and even turn it into STEAM. Wood absorbs water and Metal carries Water. Water can be at everyone else's mercry! However, water is fluid and water is patient and water will inevitably win in the end anyway. Think of a hurricane, a tidal wave, a flood, and endless rain. Think of how water shapes the earth and the entire planet. Along with Earth (represented by The Yellow Dragon), Water is the substance of ALL LIFE.

Water is the most Psychic of The Five Elements and Water is a HEALING Element as well.

We can see Yoshihiro Togashi well intended for Kuwabara to be of the Water Element Archetype...to be the Turtle-Snake and the Dragon Turtle of the Team.

"A dragon turtle (Lóngguī) is a legendary Chinese creature that combines two of the four celestial animals of Chinese mythology: the body of a turtle with a dragon's head is promoted as a positive ornament in Feng Shui, symbolizing courage, determination, fertility, longevity, power, success, and support."

-- Wikipedia

Moreover, The Turtle-Snake deals with the Occult and the Occult associates with Magick. Magick contains ALL EXISTING ELEMENTS. In Magick, one must learn to YIELD and CONTROL these Elements.

When it comes to The Phoenix Birds, Kuwabara is The Dark Phoenix. When it comes to Dragons, Kuwabara is The Turtle Dragon. When it comes to Big Cats, Kuwabara is The Lion to Hiei's Tiger:

Lions can defeat Tigers rather than the other way around:

Lions are very noble and are the symbol of Royalty. LIONS also represent majesty, strength, courage, justice, and military might.

* LINK: PROOF OF HAVING MENTIONED THAT KUWABARA WOULD HAVE BEEN A LION DEMON IF A CAT DEMON BACK IN JUNE OF 2021.

In YYH, Kuwabara is both Darkness and Light, mostly Darkness. He is the Sun and the Moon. He is THE ECLIPSE.

Yeah, Kuwabara is The Avatar in the story.

The Five Heavenly Beasts

January 5, 2019 Thoth Adan

Chinese, Taoist cosmology knows five elements and five cardinal directions (including center), represented by the five heavenly beasts, also called the five celestial animals. This fundamental, fivefold conceptual scheme is described as Wu Xing and used by many Asian traditions, such as Feng Shui or TCM, to explain a wide array of phenomena.

Wu Xing, Giclée Print

The Diagram of interactions: The “generative” cycle is illustrated by arrows running clockwise on the outside of the circle, while the “destructive” cycle is represented by the star shaped arrows on the inside, also running clockwise.

五行 – Wu Xing

Wu Xing litterally means moving star and describes the five types of Qi (all the vital substances) cycles through various stages of transformation. As yin and yang continuously adjust to one another and transform into one another in a never-ending dance of harmonization, they tend to do so in a predictable pattern.

It is widely translated as five elements. This translation arose by false analogy with the Western system of the four elements. The classical Greek elements are concerned with substances and qualities, whereas the Chinese elements are describing processes and changes. Other common translations talk about the five phases of transformation or the cycle of the elements.

The five elements are described as followed:

Water (水 shui) is associated with the potential of new life hidden in the dark ground beneath the snows of winter.

Wood (木 mu) is associated with the exuberance of new growth as it shoots up from the earth in the spring.

Fire (火 ho) is associated with the process of maturation that takes place under the warmth of the summer sun.

Earth (土 tu) is associated with ripening of grains in the yellow fields of late summer.

Metal (金 jin) is associated with the harvest of autumn and the storage of seed for next years planting and a new cycle.

The lists of correlations for the five elements are endless, but there are two cycles explaining the major interaction. By increasing or decreasing the qualities and functions associated with a particular phase, a practitioner may either nourish a phase that is in deficiency or drain a phase that is in excess or restrain a phase that is exerting too much influence.

The Creation Cycle:

Wood feeds Fire

Fire creates Earth (ash)

Earth bears Metal

Metal collects Water

Water nourishes Wood

The Destruction Cycle:

Wood parts Earth

Earth dams (or absorbs) Water

Water extinguishes Fire

Fire melts Metal

Metal chops Wood

五象 – Wu Xiang

Chinese astronomy knows five mythical figures, called the five heavenly beasts or the five celestial animals. They’re symbolizing the overarching principles of energy in Taoist cosmology: the five elements.

Each beast represents an element, a season and a cardinal direction – and each beast is associated with specific colors, shapes, temperaments, virtues and many other traits.

Xiang means symbol or image and some writers talk about four symbols, neglecting the yellow dragon of the center. For the sake of completeness I’m going to present all five of them here. They are: Black warrior of the North, azure dragon of the East, vermilion bird of the South, white tiger of the West and yellow dragon of the Center.

The five animals are fundamental, particularly in the form school, the environmental Feng Shui. However, from the very large to the very small: the principles of the five elements pervade every level. Some times even a carefully selected Feng Shui tool cannot work optimally, because the entire energy system of a house or an apartment is out of balance. In this case it is important to strengthen and improve the five cardinal points (or a single weakened element) and bring the Qi back into the flow. Hereby, the five celestial animals can be of great use.

Black Warrior Of The North, Giclée Print

北方玄武 – Black Warrior Of The North

The Chinese character 武 (wǔ) means warrior and turtle at the same time, no wonder the constellation of the North is also often called the black tortoise. The compound term xuan-wu (black warrior) can also translate as snake. Three meanings slumbering in one term – and in fact the warrior of the North is traditionally depicted as a turtle fighting with a snake.

The Northern constellation of the black warrior is also known in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

One of the most famous legends around this constellation is about a young prince named Xuanwu. He showed no interest in ascending the throne of his father, the Chinese Emperor. He left his parents at the age of sixteen, to study Taoism instead. As a master of this philosophy, he later attained enlightenment and was worshiped as a godlike constellation.

In Chinese thinking, the turtle is connected directly with the North, the element water, the winter and the night. The turtle was always considered as a mysterious and very symbolic creature. Its shell is compared with the celestial vault, the underside with the flat disc of the earth. It symbolizes happiness, stability, longevity, help in difficult phases of life, endurance and mental agility.

"The tortoise, as old as the other three but incorporated into the group a tad later, is a well-revered entity in China. Ancient mythology has it that all tortoises are female and to reproduce they take snakes as mates and this divine union is considered a symbol of good fortune. For this reason, the tortoise commonly gets depicted as being a two-headed tortoise/snake hybrid, a tortoise with a snake coiled around it, or straight-up a tortoise and a snake having sex. The alternative name and identity of the Occult Martial is a conceptual fusion between the tortoise and the Warrior of the North from the Four Heavenly Kings, another group of four associated with the cardinal directions. Why this happened specifically to the tortoise is unclear, but might have been influenced by the similarity of a tortoise's shell and a warrior's shield as well as the fact that there are several turtle-based insults in Chinese that you should definitely not call someone if you so much as remotely doubt you could take them in a fight. Hence why "Xuánwǔ" omits a regular word for "turtle" and uses "martial" instead. Other instances might refer to the said tortoise as a chimera of some sorts instead."

-- TV Tropes

* SOURCE LINK: GO HERE.

Azure Dragon Of The East, Giclée Print

東方青龍 – Azure Dragon of the East

In some languages one rather talks about the green dragon, in English it is known as the azure dragon. Well – both interpretations are correct. The Chinese color 青 (qīng) refers to a whole range of colors from green, turquoise to blue. The symbolism of the azure dragon is equally ‘iridescent’ and colorful.

The dragon is one of the most complex symbols in China and the most important symbol in feng shui. The oldest portrayals of dragons are about 5000 years old, 2000 years ago their importance grew significantly.

Chinese dragons were considered to be divine beings, creating order out of the chaos. As one of the five celestial beasts the azure dragon of the East symbolizes the element wood, life, sunrise, spring and health. He embodies strength, luck, fertility, vitality and power like no other being.

At the same time the dragon stands for spirituality, wisdom and the energy of transformation. He represents the forces of the yang, the positive, creative, masculine, virile principle.

Vermilion Bird Of The South, Giclée Print

南方朱雀 – Vermilion Bird of the South

The constellation of the South represents summer, the element fire and vigor – it embodies a strong yang energy.

According to the legend, the vermilion bird was born in a vermilion cave at the South pole, before he was worshiped as a constellation and as the king of the feathered.

The vermilion bird of the South is often compared with the phoenix (fènghuáng) or even equated – however their relation is more vicariously. As one of the five celestial animals the vermilion bird stands for the cosmic principle, the phoenix represents rather an earthly variant of this idea. Their symbolic meaning is nevertheless (or just therefore) very similar. Like the phoenix, the vermilion bird is full of elegance and beauty and represents the five human qualities: virtue, duty, ritually correct behavior, humanity and reliability. It is regarded as a guarantee for favorable opportunities and financial success.

Simultaneously it stands for energy, fire, zest for action and public reputation. The bird evokes the feelings of joy and confidence. Like any winged creature it embodies freedom, overview, self-confidence, ease and spontaneity.

Yellow Dragon Of The Center, Giclée Print

中心黃龍 – Yellow Dragon of the Center

Among all the different, Chinese dragons this guy plays the first fiddle in the Taoist cosmology.

The yellow dragon (sometimes referred to as yellow snake) is considered god and guardian of the element earth, the center, heaven and the sun. He’s the most powerful creature, master of all dragons and as such he is invincible – depending on his goodwill there will be a rich harvest or a poor crop, life or death.

4000 years ago, this celestial creature gave a ride to heaven to a brave emperor and donated wind and rain to the people.

Similar to that myth it is said, that the legendary emperor Huang Di attended immortality at the end of his reign and transformed into a yellow dragon, ascending to heaven. Since then, Chinese emperors are considered as the earthly representative of the Huànglóng (yellow dragon). The use of the figure was reserved to them alone.

Often the appearance of the yellow dragon is accompanied with lotus flowers: The concentric petals of the lotus symbolize perfectly the qualities of the element earth: Everything revolves around a center, expands and carries the power of transformation.

White Tiger Of The West, Giclée Print

西方白虎 – White Tiger of the West

The white tiger embodies the West, the fall, the harvest, the evening and the element metal.

Other than its powerful appearance may suggest at the first sight, the tiger represents a feminine energy (yin) and embodies the polar opposite to the male dragon in the East. The king of animals, or should we rather say, the queen of animals is worshiped since the Han dynasty.

According to the legend the tiger gets its impressive, white fur only at the proud age of 500 and she only shows up when a kind and just ruler sits on the throne and there is peace in the world.

The white Tiger is headstrong, maverick and proud and she is rather a loner. Her wild nature is difficult to control, therefore you should always make sure that his opponent, the green dragon, retains the upper hand – together they are unbeatable.

In China you often find images of tigers on doorjambs and graves – protecting the house or the resting place. It is said that the tiger repulses demons, and he is therefore considered a symbol for bravery.

In Feng Shui the symbol of the tiger is also used to promote intuition, vision, clairaudience, motherhood and unconditional love. Even so our tigress is powerful, self-willed and dangerous, everyone knows that it is gentle and caring to its babies. On the hunt she is very prudent, calm and focused. Her sixth sense may help us to recognize and take advantage of business opportunities others may easily overlook or miss.

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erifin-alt · 3 years

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Ok so I’m gonna go ahead and spit ball some Hiveswap theories despite the fact they may end up being incredibly wrong as expectations vs reality for the writing of Hiveswap is currently 6 feet under. This is going to be a long one, so to save y’all time the theories will be under the cut.

First off I’d like to state my own theory on the creature that that shot the train in the ending scene. Everyone is believing that it’s Fiamet’s lusus that did it, but why would Fiamet send her lusus to potentially hurt/kill Joey and Xefros especially knowing (or maybe she doesn’t) that Xefros is Dammek’s moirail? Honestly it wouldn’t make sense, given that she was the one that warned Joey about the world ending in 11 days. If it does end up being her lusus then she has a lot of explaining to do. Cause it kinda makes her a villain by hindering Joey’s and Xefros’ travel. Though I don’t think it’s Fiamet’s lusus. Here’s what I believe the beast could be-

1. The monsters from the first game.

We don’t really know the origin of the monsters from the first cut scene in Hiveswap act 1, and I don’t really think it’s all that much discussed. So where did they come from? Perhaps it was to do with something to do with the portal? Maybe. And we do know that the monsters can come in many varieties, including a monster with wings. (Though, more so bat wings compared to the feathered wings in HS:A2 final cut scene)

2. It’s someone else’s lusus. Okay, so I’ll actually be going into depth of how the beast looks like in the final cut scene. And with everyone theorizing that Fiamet’s lusus being an axolotl, I’ll try debunking the “Fiamet’s lusus shot the train” theory.

First off, the beast doesn’t even remotely look anything similar to an axolotl.

Let’s first look at the couple of screenshots I have (apologies for the bad quality)-

Does that tail look anything like an axolotl’s?? The answer is no, but of a course.

Here’s how an axolotl’s tail looks like btw.

Here’s some more screenshots of the beast that I managed to get-

Now, I know what you’re thinking- “But Erifin! Look at the side of the head! It obviously has external gill stalks like a true axolotl!!” That could be a red herring, though, as the things protruding from the side of it’s head could be fluff or feathers. And even it is gill stalks, and it IS an axolotl then why does it’s body look so different than that of an axolotl? Maybe because axolotl’s abilities of regeneration? It kinda seems far-fetched, to be completely honest. But who knows?

So who does the lusus belong to then? Well, maybe there’s going to be a new troll introduced in act 3 that will serve as act 3′s main antagonist Or maybe it’s just a wild lusus that itself will be the main villain.

So now it begs the question, what could this be? Well here’s some ideas I thought of:

1. It’s a weird lizard/amphibian and bird hybrid. It’s not the crazy for there to be a lusus like that, this is Alternia after all. I’m also getting some chameleon vibes from it. Though, this may be relating to the mythology of feathered serpents. Which, by the way, is a spirit deity from mesoamerica. Roughly around the same area that axolotl’s live.

2. A griffin. And yes, I’m bringing up mythological creatures into this. If the Pyropes can have dragons as a lusus then other trolls can have other mythological creatures as lusi as well. The body and proportions fit nicely to that of an griffin, even the tail! However, griffins don’t breathe fire so it’s unlikely that this is a griffin.

3. A chimera, to me this seems like the most obvious choice, sense chimeras are already hybrids to begin with, as if number 1 is true technically this theory is gonna still be true (at least somewhat). Chimeras in mythology are a mash of an lion, goat, and snake, and I’m sure if the crew wanted to make creative decisions they’d also add in some avian wings in the mix. The proportions are similar to that of a lion, the fluff can also be it’s mane. The need to be on a rock, and keep low to the ground could a be a mix of a predators stalking skills and the serpent part. The tail? Obviously the snake head. Oh, and chimeras can breathe fire as well. However the goat part has me thrown off, so who knows if I’m even right.

4. And finally, number 4, I was somehow wrong. Somehow this was Fiamet’s lusus all along, and somehow it is an axolotl. Who knows, we probably have to wait another 1000 years to find that out.

That’s it on the beast theory, now let me ramble a little longer about certain hopes I have about certain characters that may end up becoming more important in act 3. Particularly the trolls that show up in the final cut scene. That is- Martsi, Cirava, Lanque, Tyzias, Elwurd, Mallek, Ardata, Chaut, and finally, Marvus. Now why would they be important? I don’t really know either, but I can sure take a fucking guess! And given that the train fell into a river, I guess one can go ahead and guess that many of the trolls on the train did die. And given that the train was shot near the rust/bronze and gold/olive carts I think it’s safe to say that the most fatalities are going to come from the lower bloods and not so much the high bloods (high bloods are tougher to kill after all).

Hopefully all the troll call trolls end up surviving the crash, but considering hmmm y’know I don’t think it’s likely. But, one can keep their hopes up! However, I do think the certain set of trolls that did show up in the final scene will survive. But why? What will they do that will earn them the chance to live? Let’s get into that.

Martsi’s up first. She was the closest to the blast zone, so there’s a chance that she ends up dying later on. However, if she does live, and from what we have seen in her friendsim (regardless of whether or not friendsim is canon) she seemed to take interest in being a doctor. So I can see her trying to look for survivors and tending to their wounds.

Next is Cirava, I don’t really know what Cirava would do, perhaps they decide to join the rebellion after being convinced by Joey and Xefros. Especially given that Xefros is starting to gain more confidence and thinking for himself for once. Meaning Xefros may go around trying to recruit some trolls to join him and Joey. Or maybe it has to do with something with psionics? Though, that would mean all other gold bloods are dead or passed out. I hope Joey and Xefros do get a party of sorts while they travel I think that’d be fun!

Next is Lanque and Tyzias. Tyzias is a little more obvious, her want to change the system, especially the judicial system, could lead to her joining the rebellion. If Xefros and Joey are trying to recruit others she’d probably join in a heartbeat. Lanque is a little more complicated, I think he will die, but will come back as a rainbow drinker. He does have the title as a life player after all. I think he will die either because the crash killed him, or he died saving someone. I can imagine if the other jades do survive, they’d probably be very shocked. Personally I think Wanshi would take it the hardest as I believe he’d protect her, thus showing us a softer side to him. And as they mourn him he comes back! And it’s very much shocking for everybody! As a monster of sorts he may end up deciding to leave since he’d no longer fit in, since he’s technically dead. He could also take it as an opportunity to finally be free from his duties. His glow/immortality can even come in handy in certain parts of the potential game play.

Next are these two, as for what they’ll do honestly I think Elwurd is just there for fanservice and Mallek? Well, he may help with certain electronics if all the gold bloods besides Cirava do die. Like he takes apart certain parts of the train to make something? I do think they may want to join Joey and Xefros, but Mallek for rebellion moreover then Elwurd given we don’t really know what Elwurd’s loyalty lays.

And then there’s Ardata. She looks very suspicious, no? She may end up becoming a more important villain in act 3. Overall, she looks very...............shady.

And finally, the two eldest clowns. I don’t think they’ll join Joey and Xefros, rather I think they’re still going to be villains. Perhaps they decide to hunt Joey and Xefros down? Maybe they think they’re the ones who crashed the train?

That’s all I gotta say, I don’t think any of my theories will end up becoming true anyways. But hey, one can dream. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my rambling, and apologies if my writing is terrible and there’s grammatical errors everywhere. But what do you think? Let me know!

#homestuck #hiveswap #hiveswap act 2 #martsi houtek #cirava hermod #lanque bombyx #tyzias entykk #gaegrl elwurd #mallek adalov #ardata carmia #chahut maenad #marvus xoloto #long post #glub glub.txt

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the-writers-bookshelf · 3 years

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The chapter I'm writing this week is a retelling of Babylonian mythology. I challenged myself to write this list of 11 monsters and their descriptions in a way that would be entertaining, but I think I'm probably going to cut it when it comes time to publish, because as a general rule I don't think it's a great idea to introduce this many characters at once, especially given how unimportant their individual features are. With that said, I had fun writing it, so I figured I'd show it to somebody.

Tiamat harnessed the forces of chaos to create eleven monsters to fight for the cause.

First she created the three horned snakes. Bašmu was venomous, with two legs and wings. Ušumgallu, the great dragon, was part lion and part serpent, with four legs and wings. Mušmaḫḫū, the exalted serpent, was also part lion, as well as part bird.

Technically speaking, between the three horned snakes, there was quite a lot of lion, and slightly less than one complete snake, but given that standard lions and snakes had not yet been created, this was understandable.

Mušḫuššu had the hind legs of an eagle, the forelegs of a lion, and a long, scaled neck and tail, with the tongue of a snake. Tiamat also gave him a horn, for good measure. Having taken snake hybrids about as far as she felt wise, she moved on to other creations.

Laḫmu, the hairy one, was essentially just a very hairy man, though men had also yet to be invented, which made him quite the novelty at the time. Uridimmu, known as the Mad Lion, had the body of a dog and the head of a man. None of the gods present during the war of the gods can quite remember how he got the nickname “Mad Lion,” but for whatever reason, it stuck.

Ugallu was a storm demon, with the head of a wolf and the talons of an eagle. Umū dabrūtu was also a storm demon, but being one of the middle children, and rather quiet compared to his siblings, he was largely overlooked. After the war, nobody could quite remember what kind of chimera he had been.

At this point Tiamat was running low on creative energy, and it showed. Kusarikku was a bull-man, with the torso, arms, and head of a human, and the ears, horns, and hindquarters of a bull. Kulullû was a fish-man, which is what you might call a merman. Girtablullû was a scorpion-man, which is like a merman, only scorpion.

submitted by @lcrowstories

this is SO CREATIVE!!!! how does your brain even come up with something as epic as this???? incredible work, lovely!!! jawdropping!!! :D

#asks #fab friday writers #lcrowstories

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hiddendreamer67 · 4 years

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A Slippery Slope pt. 1

Summary: Logan, a graduate student studying the local ecosystem, discovers that the mystical creature populations are dwindling. He proposes a new theory, of a creature larger than life hiding out in the forest. Logan searches the forest for the beast, forgetting one important detail- in order to find a dangerous apex predator, the predator has to find you.

(Also quick credit- I’ve been brainstorming this world with the wonderful @delimeful who suggested the initial idea. :D )

Check out more of my work at @hiddendreamerwriting!

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Logan stared at his notes, running a hand through his hair distractedly as he looked over the numbers he had practically memorized. “It doesn’t make sense.” He murmured, blinking suddenly as a thought occurred to him. “Or perhaps… it makes perfect sense.”

“What are you on about, Sanders?” His mentor asked, glancing up from his own research work.

“Sir, I’ve been going over the numbers of harpy populations again.” Logan explained, looking up as he tried to work out the logistics of his new theory. “It doesn’t add up. Based on the observations of subjects in captivity, their lifespan is averaged to be fifty years. With the birth expectancy rate being what it is, and conditions being optimal the past few decades, the population should be twice its actual size, if not more.”

“So I take it the Chimeras have been busy.” His mentor shrugged, both of them sharing a brief grim look. Chimeras were awful beasts that dominated the surrounding forests, giant monsters with a lion’s head, goat’s body, and snake tail. They were known for breathing fire and decimating clearings, feasting on whatever creature was foolish enough to cross its path.

“That’s where the anomaly occurs.” Logan adjusted his glasses, pulling together his papers. “The evidence of Chimeras in the area has… decreased.”

“Migrated elsewhere?”

Logan shook his head at the suggestion. “No, evidence has not appeared in any of the surrounding areas. In fact, based on the reports from various rangers, there’s even evidence of deceased Chimeras, in the form of discarded partial remains.”

His mentor hummed, considering this new information. “So then, what, the Chimeras are growing territorial? Beating each other up?”

“The chances of such behavior being the case are infinitesimal.” Logan negated. “Chimeras are known to welcome pack tactics. Even with the decrease in harpy populations there are plenty of other sources of food in the area so as not to necessitate violence over resources, and certainly no reason to resort to cannibalism.”

“Cannibalism?” The mentor’s eyebrows raised.

“Why else would a whole corpse not be discarded?” Logan supported his statement. “These reports indicate only small portions of the Chimera’s structure being left behind. In several accounts the horns were discovered, as well as the snake tail looking as though it were severed.”

“Hmm.” His mentor slowly turned in his chair, facing Logan head on. “So you have a theory then?”

“I do.” Logan nodded, taking a moment to straighten up. He took a deep breath. “I believe there’s a larger apex predator hunting them.”

Unsurprisingly, his mentor looked at him in disbelief. “What? What do ya mean, you think there’s something bigger than a Chimera? How the hell would we miss something like that?”

“I have no idea.” Logan admitted. “Perhaps it is new to the area, or especially skilled at camouflage. It’s exceptionally possible that there have been previous fatal encounters chalked up to be caused by one of the other several dangers of the forest. But regardless, all the evidence points to-”

“To a disease.” His mentor cut him off. “The Chimera’s likely developed some virus that’s working through their system and driving ‘em all mad. It would explain their behavior and is more plausible than a giant man eating beast nobody’s seen.”

Logan pursed his lips, never a fan of being told he was wrong.

“Look, Logan, you’re a smart kid.” His mentor explained gently, hitting another one of Logan’s buttons by calling him a child. “I think this research of yours is really admirable, it’ll make a fine thesis. You’re really onto something here. But don’t go blowing it by hypothesizing outside the realm of reality.”

Logan did not deign him with a response, appearing a bit huffy as he began to pack up his papers. It almost appeared he was a pouting child, if not for his business attire indicating his seriousness.

“I don’t want to discourage you.” His mentor continued. “This is truly remarkable! If you could discover the disease that’s infecting the Chimera population, your research would be published for certain. I can help you gain the necessary resources, it may be difficult to gain access to live samples but until then I have some friends down in the lab-”

“Thank you.” Logan cut him off with a curt nod. “I… appreciate the assistance. But I want to re-investigate my own claims before I pursue this route.”

His mentor sighed knowingly. “I know, your first discovery is always difficult. Take your time, if you want to look into this ‘apex predator’ thing by all means don’t let me stop you, but remember that your thesis needs to be built on hard evidence- not just theories.”

“Yes, I understand.” Logan gave him a soft smile. He gathered up the last of his belongings, bidding his mentor farewell before heading out the door. As soon as he left the room, Logan’s smile faded. Evidence. How was he supposed to gain evidence of a creature thought to not exist?

Well, there was only one thing to it, Logan supposed- Logan would just have to find the apex predator himself.

Now Logan was no fool, he’d grown up in the town of Sireville and knew the dangers as well as any inhabitant. It was a risky business, traversing into the forest, but Logan also knew that numbers would attract unwanted attention. He knew these woods well enough to recognize signs of danger as well as any anomalies that would prove he was on the right track. Logan was also intelligent enough to wait until the following morning, not venturing out at a time when night could befall him. To be caught in the woods at night never ended well.

It would be perhaps wise to let someone know where he was going, but if something went wrong to the point where Logan couldn’t handle himself the only thing a rescued party would discover would be his remains. Logan shuddered briefly at the thought as he entered his kitchen, giving his mother a wave before gathering the necessary supplies for his trip.

“What’s got you all dressed up?” His mother asked, peering over the counter at his attire. Logan had changed from his usual business casual into something more fitting for the forest, equipping a sturdy set of boots over his hiking pants and throwing on his tactical long sleeved shirt.

“Field study.” Logan explained, purposefully being vague as he finished packing his backpack.

“Alright, be safe.” She frowned lightly at him. “Don’t wander too far, alright? And stay on the paths.”

“I’ll be alright.” Logan reassured her, purposefully avoiding making any promises as he stepped out the door. This certainly wasn’t the first time he went out to gather evidence, having done it on several occasions throughout his studies, but it would certainly be the furthest journey yet if his expedition proved successful. Logan had taken the necessary precautions, packing extra rations should the day grow long. He didn’t pack anything for camping through the night, intending on hiking back before nightfall. At the very least he wouldn’t be foolish enough to fall asleep in the middle of the woods with so many creatures patrolling.

Logan took a deep breath, stepping in amongst the trees that had grown so familiar. He made a quick pace, wanting to get as deep as possible before the light faded. The college student took note of his surroundings, waiting for any sign of the extraordinary that he had not viewed before. The further he traveled the less familiar the trees became, growing further apart- a sure sign that larger beings had pushed them aside and nature adapted to the creature’s whims. It was truly terrifying the things that some beasts could accomplish, the impact they could have on the world around them possibly without even noticing it.

What sort of beast was Logan tracking, anyhow? He began to ponder this, growing tense as the background chattering of birds became accompanied with the low shifting of some great beasts far off. Logan paused, observing his surroundings and trying to pinpoint the noise. Could that be his target? Surely not, it wouldn’t be so easy. And yet Logan hardly recognized this clearing, and the markings upon the trees were different from any left by a harpy taking flight. Instead the limbs seemed… weary, as if something of great weight had been draped across them.

Observing further, Logan grabbed his journal and began to take diligent notes of his surroundings, adding accompanying drawings when necessary for illustration purposes. Now keeping a keen eye out for details, Logan spotted a familiar slithering track upon the forest floor. A lesser field scientist might have dismissed it for that of a Chimera’s tail, but Logan noticed there were no accompanying footprints. Furthermore, the track was far too thick to belong to a Chimera snake.

No, whatever creature laid these tracks was larger than a Chimera. Logan was practically giddy with excitement, scribbling frantically into his notebook. He was right! Some disease, indeed. Curiosity overtaking him, Logan wasn’t thinking clearly as he blindly followed the tracks deeper into the forest. The trees began to twist and curl in unnatural patterns, bent out of shape to make shade or revealing clearings of sunlight in others. Logan leapt over a fallen decaying trunk, pondering what other evidence he might discover. Perhaps some of the Chimera pieces? A discarded scale or feather? Or perhaps…

Logan froze, hearing a soft whistling noise coming from further up the path. It had a familiar pattern to it, slowly Logan recognizing the sound as faint snoring. He crept closer, now incredibly mindful of where his feet were placed. Logan peeked through the underbrush, barely holding in his gasp at the sight that awaited him.

Or perhaps the creature itself.

Logan couldn’t comprehend what was before him. At first, all Logan could process was the gigantic, ever so slightly shifting wall of red scales before him, aligned in the familiar pattern of a reptile. Before he even made an initial hypothesis Logan’s head snapped up at the sound of another snore, a hand going to his mouth at the sight. It seemed that this giant reptilian beast had a homo sapien upper half, not unlike a harpy or the merfolk. A naga.

Logan had only heard tales of them, always assumed to be mere legends or perhaps having gone extinct ages ago. But looking at the sight before him the notion of going extinct seemed ridiculous. What could possibly wipe out such a gargantuan creature, clearly bred to dominate the ecosystem? Certainly nothing less than another meteor shower.

Entranced, Logan was ever cautious as he raised his pencil to his notepad, giving one practice skritch across the paper. He flinched at the noise, but the clearing remained undisturbed. Logan gave the tiniest sigh of relief, knowing that at any moment he could be in very imminent danger.

But what was the harm in staying one moment longer to observe? If the beast were to wake this moment, Logan would certainly be unable to outrun it should the naga pursue. He would be in harm’s way anywhere, so Logan took advantage of this opportunity and began to expertly sketch the creature. He had come this far after all. Best not to waste it.

Logan stuck his tongue out in concentration, not wanting to miss a detail even in his haste to finish and get out before the creature woke. His eyes glanced up every few moments, taking in the monster’s posture. It’s position was languid, relaxed back upon its own tail as if using it as a bean bag chair. It appeared to be quite pleased, likely taking pleasure from soaking in the sun that poured through. One arm lay across its forehead, the other straight back so its fingers just grazed the ground. Logan took careful note of these appendages, aware of the sharp claws on each one and how they twitched every so often in sleep.

His drawing was beginning to take form, having captured most details he could from this angle. Logan was debating the pros and cons of attempting to move to get another angle when the naga let out a large yawn, briefly displaying its fangs. Eagerly Logan flipped to a new page, jotting down a new sketch before the sight disappeared entirely. Why, by his estimations one of those fangs could easily dwarf his entire arm in length.

So enraptured in his work was he that Logan failed to notice the yawn was only the beginning of a chain of events. The creature’s claws left the ground, coming up to stretch above its head with a creaking of bones that got Logan’s attention. He froze, watching the intimidating beast stretch skyward as it lifted its torso and basked in the sun for a moment more.

Slowly it dawned on Logan what a precarious situation he was in; his research would all be for naught if he died before presenting his findings. Logan clutched his journal to his chest, heart pounding as he watched the naga sniff the air. It didn’t take a student fluent in animal behaviors to know exactly what scent the creature had picked up as it frowned, tongue stuck out to sniff the air again.

Under normal circumstances, Logan would hope estimate that, being so small in comparison, a naga would pay a human no mind. There were much larger creatures in the forest that would make more filling prey. However, half-humans always seemed to have a dangerous curiosity about their counterparts, and Logan had trespassed into this being’s territory.

Logan gulped, all color draining from his face as those piercing red eyes bore directly down onto him. Immediately Logan turned to run (a fruitless effort), but before he had even fully turned Logan felt himself yanked backwards and into the air, eliciting a cry from the startled human who frantically tried to keep a grip on both his glasses and his book as he found himself dangling painfully upside-down, only the grip of those claws on his left leg keeping him from falling to a quick demise.

Logan found himself feeling a bit dizzy as he was brought before the naga’s face. Those fangs were perhaps a bit less intriguing as they cruelly smiled at him, the naga’s eyes boring into his soul as he was turned this way and that like a curious bauble.

“Why hello there, my little morsel.” The naga’s statement rumbled with dangerous curiosity, sending a wave of warm breath over Logan that made the human shudder. If he were not so entranced with those perilous teeth (was that a venomous sac below the rearmost fangs?) Logan might have noticed the alarming glint in its eyes. “I don’t think one of you has ever wandered this far, not without my rancid brother getting a hand on them first at least.”

Oh good lord there’s two of them. Logan jolted at this newest realization. Two? No wonder the populations were dwindling so drastically.

“So what makes you so special?” The naga tilted its head, poking Logan with a single claw, eliciting a startled breath in from the human who was very surprised he hadn’t just been torn to shreds. For now the naga seemed amused enough to watch as Logan slowly began to rotate, clearly toying with him in its ‘playful’ demeanor. “Well? Go on then, does the meager human speak?”

“I-I-” Logan cringed, loathing the sound of his own voice as it had raised an octave. It didn’t help that all the blood was rushing to his head. He cleared his throat, holding on to the minuscule hope that such a beast could be reasoned with. “Yes, I can speak.”

With a flick of its wrist Logan once again found himself airborne, letting out a high pitched noise of protest before finding himself one skipped heartbeat later once again within the monster’s clutches, this time right side up.

“‘Squeak’ is more like it.” The naga chuckled, prodding Logan’s side. The human winced away from the touch, though it was difficult with how tightly the claws were curled around him. Logan could feel his journal digging into his side.

Still, Logan couldn’t help but frown, feeling that he was being mocked.

The naga hummed, seeming to debate with itself for a moment. “So what were you doing spying on me anyhow?” It asked, its expression betraying a hint of confusion. “I heard your heart racing a mile a minute in that bush.”

Logan cringed. “You… you did?”

“Why I would have expected to find a hummingbird, I could hardly have missed it!” The naga scoffed. “And yet for all your jitters you didn’t move a muscle. Did fear make you freeze? Are you simply stupid?”

“No.” Logan answered, perhaps a bit too petulantly for dealing with a gigantic predator. He coughed, checking his temper. “I mean, ah, I was perhaps too absorbed in my own jubilation, as I had been looking for you.”

“For me?” The creature seemed to almost purr, its smile returning as Logan felt the grip around him loosen ever so slightly. “Oh, how you flatter me. Then of course you must have appreciated what you found?”

“Well...yes?” Logan turned a bit red, unaccustomed to this line of socialization. T’was a true pity his life was resting on his perilous social skills. “That is to say, you’re certainly extraordinary, surpassing all my initial expectations.”

“Hmm.” Pleased with this response, the naga settled to lay stomach down on its own scales, holding Logan out before it. The claws shifted again, now forming a sort of basin so that Logan could sit freely. “How so?”

By all of Logan’s calculations, this was going well. The creature seemed entertained enough to spare his life, for now. Logan just needed to keep the conversation going until… well, Logan preferred to focus on the present even as those perilous jaws loomed so casually above him.

“I suppose, firstly, your very existence was an unexpected surprise.” Logan adjusted his glasses, the frames having become skewed in all the excitement. “Very rarely are my assumptions incorrect, so I knew there was some manner of apex predator roaming these woods, but as to your exact classification I admit that was a mystery. There is a common understanding that nagas are creatures of legend, or perhaps long extinct. Certainly…” Logan paused, realizing perhaps this wasn’t the most logical point to bring up. “Certainly if others have discovered you, none have returned to tell the tale.”

The naga gave a scoff. “That’d be my brother’s doing, no doubt. Did you know we used to be worshiped apparently? Back in the golden days we were like gods. That was before people like him started experimenting with other uses for humans. Wasteful, if you ask me, disposing of such large numbers so quickly-”

“I wholly agree.” Logan spoke up too soon.

The naga snorted, clearly amused by the human’s timing. “I, on the other hand, prefer to play with my food.”

“...ah.” Well, that was a less than ideal response. Logan cleared his throat, trying to hide his nerves as he curled a bit in on himself, readjusting the grip on his journal. “So, ah, you mentioned a brother twice now, as well as hinting at others. How many of you are there?”

The monster frowned slightly, and Logan immediately regretted his question. “...Well I hardly think it matters, we nagas keep to ourselves well enough. Lucky you for stumbling upon the best naga of them all.” This last statement was accompanied by a very cocky smile.

“Hmm.” Logan wasn’t certain he agreed, but naturally he had no subjects to compare. “I was merely curious as I conduct research on local wildlife and wanted to compare behavioral traits between your kind and the Coachwhip species, of which your scale pattern most resembles.”

The naga blinked, glancing down at its tail as if for the first time. “It does?”

“As far as I can tell, yes.” Logan turned to his journal, flipping back through the pages. He cursed, realizing his reptile notes were in a different book. “Alright, my apologies, I forgot my scale reference sketches back home, but see?” Logan pulled up the sketch of the naga himself instead, pointing at the tail pattern. “The pattern of your scales represents a braided whip-”

“Is that me?” The naga cut him off excitedly, Logan’s stomach lurching as he was raised higher.

Logan blinked, glancing between his drawing and its inspiration. “...yes?”

He watched the naga’s reaction very carefully, hoping the monster was pleased with what it observed. At first Logan worried that the beast would be enraged at the fact Logan had been spying for an extended period, or worse yet perhaps it would feel the need to destroy his notebook to remove any evidence of its existence. To his relief, the creature seemed to be almost pleased as it took in the intricacies of the drawing.

“You made this?” A careful pair of claws pinched at the journal. Logan tightened his grip, before realizing that in a strength contest either the naga would win or his book would be shredded. With this in mind he reluctantly released, watching the massive being lift the journal ever higher to view it above its head as if to shine light through counterfeit currency.

“Yes, I have always been known for my attention to detail, and illustrations have been proven to assist in comprehension of reports-”

“Can you do it again?” The naga cut him off, handing Logan back his notebook.

“I, yes, I suppose.” Logan furrowed his brow, confused. “Right now?”

“Well it hardly appears as if you’re doing much else at the moment.” The naga gave a loud, purposeful yawn, displaying its fangs. “Of course, I’m certain I can find other, tastier ways to spend our time together…”

“Understood.” Logan grimaced, the monster’s subtlety lacking. “Very well then, is there a- particular feature you want me to illustrate?”

“Don’t go cutting any of my gorgeous figure off!” The naga scoffed. “I best be seeing my beauty tip to tail, you hear me?”

“It would be impossible not to.” Logan tried to hide his growing irritation. “But to create such a piece, I’ll need to be placed on the ground so as to have an appropriate vantage point.”

His request was considered. “Very well.” The naga agreed, setting him once again down on the ground.

Logan stumbled, surprised to once again feel solid ground under his feet. It was astounding- just moments ago, Logan would have doubted his ability to experience this ever again.

“Tick tock, come now with your tiny talents.” The naga poked him with an impatient claw. Quickly regaining his composure, Logan pulled out his writing utensil and opened to a clean page.

“Is there a particular angle you’d prefer?” Logan asked.

“I am a priceless gem, I sparkle from all angles.” The creature purred, striking a pose where it was once again draped over its own tail as if lounging on a fainting couch.

Logan huffed, fighting the urge to rant about how light reflection actually works. He glanced around, taking a few steps back and debating only for a moment if he should turn tail and leave.

“I hope you’re not thinking of running off on me.” The naga seemed to read his thoughts, raising a taunting eyebrow.

Logan jumped, focusing back to the task at hand. “I’m not.” He lied, finally putting his pencil to the pad. “Just finding the best setup location.”

The naga hummed, clearly not believing a word, but seemed satisfied to watch Logan work. A bit too satisfied, as it leaned up and attempted to watch over Logan’s shoulder.

“Stop looming, you’ll cast shadows.” Logan huffed. “And if you keep moving about I’ll never finish, sit still.”

“You’ll never finish regardless.” The naga pouted, but flopped back amongst its coils. “You’re taking forever.”

“It has hardly been a minute.” Logan debated in his head how slowly he could draw without generating suspicion. He wanted to drag this event out as long as possible, having full knowledge that if the naga was satisfied with Logan’s work he might deem Logan’s task- and thus his life- as finished. Logan shuddered at the thought.

Clearly bored, the naga’s attention was once again focused solely on Logan, preventing any escape attempts. It was quite distracting, having those piercing eyes staring down at him so intently. It was especially infuriating that Logan couldn’t guess as to what it was thinking.

Why make him draw the creature again? Surely one drawing would be enough? Perhaps it merely wanted an illustration where it could be alert and poised. But what would come next? Would the naga request more illustrations, or would the monster be satisfied? What would occur if Logan’s pencil broke? Or perhaps the creature grew hungry before Logan was even finished? Would it bother to wait around long enough for Logan to complete his depiction, or would Logan be sent down its ravenous throat at the first sign of an appetite?

“What’s your name?”

Logan blinked, stumbling out of his thought process. “...pardon?” The question felt far too mundane considering the circumstances.

“Humans have names, don’t they?” The naga tilted its head. “What’s yours?”

Logan was still perplexed that it had thought to ask. “Logan. Logan Sanders.”

The naga nodded, giving him a smile that might have been intended to be encouraging.

“...and what is your name?” Logan asked finally, realizing that’s what it wanted.

“You may call me Roman.” The naga- er, Roman- introduced himself, accompanying the statement with a little wave of his hand and a half bow.

Under normal circumstances, Logan might be expected to say it was a pleasure to meet Roman. “Stop moving.” Logan reminded him instead.

“Well aren’t you a barrel of fun, Logan.” Roman paused, rolling the name around on his tongue as he tried it out. “Logan. Looooogan. Logan! You know, once you get used to it it’s not all that terrible.”

Logan paused, once again feeling utterly perplexed as he peered up at Roman. “My name differs from yours in only three letters.”

“And what difference those three letters make.” Roman breathed an imaginary sigh of relief. He teasingly grinned at Logan. “Oh come now, I jest, live a little, Lo!”

“My name is Logan, not Lo.” Logan corrected immediately, loathing when individuals shortened his name. Roman snorted. “What’s so amusing?”

“I just realized my choice of phrasing.” Roman’s grin turned sly. “‘Live a little,’ and you are also yourself little- should be quite easy then, eh?”

Logan refused to acknowledge the jab for several moments, eventually caving with the urge to defend himself. “I am above average height for a human being, actually.” Logan felt the need to inform him.

“Well good for you.” Roman teased, and all of a sudden one of his knuckles was ruffling Logan’s hair. It startled the human enough to make him take a step back, pausing his work to readjust his appearance. The naga seemed to be finished toying with him, for now, and allowed Logan to fall back into the quiet lapse of his work. Unfortunately, with the naga’s round of questioning, Logan found his thoughts drifting elsewhere until he felt compelled to ask a few questions of his own.

“Why did you inquire about my name?” Logan asked, knowing he was venturing down a dangerous topic bringing up his own future. “It seems a bit sadistic to ask if you intend to… if you have ill intentions for myself.”

It was a bold risk, but Logan was curious if perhaps this was similar to the phenomenon of humans becoming attached to animals after naming them. If Logan could market himself in just the right way, perhaps the naga would be more taken with the novelty of his artistic talents and find he was a valuable enough individual to not end his days within Roman’s stomach.

“Hmm, I like to know.” The naga’s noncommittal shrug squashed the hopes right out of Logan. “Speaking of, are you done yet?”

Logan’s blood ran cold. “Ah, no, not quite yet.”

“Hurry up, I’m growing famished.” Roman groaned, not encouraging Logan to hurry up in the slightest. “You take much longer and I’ll just have to settle for you.”

“Settle?” Logan refused to let himself perk up too much at the peculiar word choice. “So you’re...not going to….?”

Roman laughed as if Logan was a fool. “Oh please, you’d hardly be filling. I feast on Chimeras, you’re nothing.”

Logan had never felt more elated to be told he was nothing.

“A snack, perhaps.” Roman gave him a pointed look. “A tasty one at that, if you don’t get a move on. So chip-chop, Mini Muse.”

“A muse is a source of inspiration, not the craftsman.” Logan corrected, hurrying up all the same. His heart had begun to pound with a mixture of excitement and nerves. “There, it’s finished.”

“Oh do let me see.” With a great amount of slithering the massive tail began to unravel, curling around Logan as it stretched out. Before Logan could be constricted amongst the coils Roman reached down and once again scooped up the human. Logan lost his balance briefly, settling into a safe sitting position before presenting the journal to be viewed. “Why, it’s gorgeous!”

“I’m certainly grateful it’s to your liking.” Logan conceded. He never looked at his drawings with an artistic eye, focused solely on being anatomically correct for his diagrams.

“Oh indeed, it’s amazing you can make out all my tiny features.” Roman squinted down at the paper. “A shame your works are so small, I wish to appreciate them more. You’re so fortunate to be graced with the real thing.”

“Indeed.” Logan deadpanned. He glanced at the sky, noticing the sun beginning to sink lower in the horizon. “It appears to be getting late, and I’ve likely wasted enough of your precious time. I’m certain you have several tasks which you must complete, so if you’ll just set me down-”

“Set you down?” Roman raised an eyebrow. “Why Logan, I think you and I have different ideas of how this evening will go.”

This was all the warning Logan got before Roman lunged, and a sharp pain shooting up Logan’s side. Logan hissed, completely in shock as his tense form attempted to process what just happened. His mouth gaped open, stuttering as he tried to react to the situation even as his mind clogged up.

“Shh.” Roman’s rumbling voice was right in his ear, the sound all encompassing as Logan’s vision blurred. The last thing he was aware of was Roman murmuring for him to “-just give in.”

#g/t #sanders sides #roman #logan #human!logan #naga!roman #naga #giant naga #giant/tiny #me? writing fanfic again?#...maybe

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rompstompchomp · 4 years

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Rampage Origins: Leon The Lion Part 1

Legendary Leos

Nemean Lion

(Depiction from Hercules 2014 film)

In Greek mythology, Hercules’ First Labor was to slay the Nemean Lion, a creature who’s hide was impenetrable. After trapping the animal, Hercules was able to stun it with his club and eventually used his enhanced strength to strangle it to death. He then proceeded to try to skin the corpse, but had to be informed by the goddess Athena to use the creature’s own claws to successfully remove the pelt. The gods then placed the lion’s remains among the stars as the constellation Leo to commemorate Hercules’ victory over it. Hercules continued to use the pelt as armor, as it protected against the elements and most weapons. Several film adaptations have made the lion bigger and more monstrous (such as giving it the fangs of saber-toothed cats), but it was traditionally depicted as just a normal sized lion with very tough skin.

Kuroiga Griffon (Latitude Zero 1969)

When Dr. Malic’s minion Kuroiga fails too many times for his liking, the mad doctor removes his brain and places into a huge hybrid lion-eagle creature as punishment. However, this turns out to be a fatal mistake, as the Kuroiga Griffin turns against his former master and attacks the villain’s submarine, causing its laser to go out of control, leading to an avalanche that crushes the villain and his minions. The hybrid creature in this film takes its name from a mythological creature, the griffon:

In ancient Iranian, Egyptian and later Greek myth, griffons were creatures that were half eagle, half lion. Much like dragons, they were thought to guard vast treasures and their feathers were supposedly a cure for blindness. While the Kuroiga Griffon seems to have its parts reverse (a lion in front and eagle in back), it still fits the basic elements of the griffon species.

Dora Sphinx/King Sphinx (Dinosaur Squadron Beast Ranger Episode 5: Scary Riddles, March 27, 1992/Season 1 Episode 1: Day of The Dumpster, August 28,1993)

Dora Sphinx disguised himself as a gameshow host and offered children who entered his contest a chance to win a trip around the world if they could answer five riddles. However, those who couldn’t answer his riddles within the time limit were blown away by his wings and imprisoned in trees that were scheduled to be cut down. Dora Sphinx eventually encountered the Dino Squadron and imprisoned a few of them who weren’t able to correctly answer his questions. However, they were able to escape and trick Dora Sphinx into revealing his weakness (his headdress) via phrasing it as a riddle. While he tried to fight them off with blasts from his staff and his gigantic size, the Dinosaur Squadron were able to destroy him and rescue the imprisoned children. The King Sphinx incarnation was created specifically to kill the Red Ranger, leader of the Power Rangers. He was shown to have many of the same powers as Dora Sphinx, but could also fire a barrage of question shaped fire balls at the Rangers.

King Sphinx is based on two versions of a similar mythological creature from ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology:

The Egyptian Sphinx is typically depicted as a guardian of the tomb of a particular pharaoh. In fact, the statue was carved with the face of the pharaoh buried within and was also to show their close relationship with the fierce sun goddess Sekhmet, who was often depicted with the head of a lioness:

There were many breeds of sphinxes in Greek mythology: some with the heads of hawks, others with those of rams. However, the most famous sphinx of Greek myth was the Theban Sphinx:

Much like the goddess Sekhmet, the Theban Sphinx was a mix of lioness and woman, though in opposite capacity. She also had the wings of a bird (most often though to be those of an eagle). She would ask them a riddle and devour those that could not answer it. Eventually, Oedipus answered her riddle and she threw herself to her death from the high rocky area she inhabited.

Dora Chimaera/Goatan (Dinosaur Squadron Beast Ranger Season 1 Episode 44: Swordswoman! Japan’s Best, December 25, 1992/Season 1 Episode 44: Lions & Blizzards, February 10, 1994)

Dora Chimaera was able to fire beams from his lion head’s eyes and create gusts of snow and tornados from his goat head. He used his snake tail to absorb people to use their talents (such as singing and playing sports). The Goatan incarnation was mostly the same, though the explanation of where it got the sports items is missing and it has two voice actors (one for the lion head and the other for the goat head).

Dora Chimaera/Goatan was based on the Chimera from Greek mythology:

A hybrid lion/goat/snake monster that breathed fire, the Chimera was said to be female, though most depictions have been male (in some variations, she is said to be the mother of the Theban Sphinx and the Nemean Lion). The hero Bellerophon was able to fight the Chimera by riding the winged horse Pegasus out of range of her fiery breath and firing arrows at her. He finished her off by equipping his spear with a lump of lead that melted when exposed to her fiery breath and consequently killed her. The name chimera subsequently was used to describe any mythological creatures with two or more parts of various animals and/humans.

#Player 1 (OOC)#Graphics (Images and Aesthetics)#leon the lion #rampage total destruction #nemean lion #hercules 2014 #latitude zero 1969 #mighty morphin power rangers #griffin #sphinx #chimera #sekhmet

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zetalial · 5 years

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FMA 03 Month Day 14

Favourite Chimera

Hmm... I always thought this lion lizard monster was really cool.

It’s absolutely massive and Ed fights this thing, and a bird monster at the same time. It also attacks Ed’s arm, giving him an excuse to show off his arm, which is awesome. (Ed takes it as a moment to talk to Rose about how cursed he is - unaware of how a super-awesome metal arm that allows him to defeat massive chimera monsters is probably undermining his argument.)

(Why does Al just stand and watch in the background? Ed’s a good fighter but Al’s literally a suit of armour... )

...

Least favourite?

These damned snake things that were only in the title sequence and never the show proper!

They looked cool okay? The Elrics get all covered in blood and everything and I’ve never screencapped it before but wow those trees in the background look awesome in an ominous way.

#fma03month #fma #fma 2003 #edward elric #they're more monsters rather than actually villains #but what was I supposed to do #discuss a human chimera?#I kinda already discussed tucker #and eh Martel is the only other one worth discussing #screencap

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operationrainfall · 4 years

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Title Woven Developer Alterego Games Publisher Alterego Games Release Date November 15th, 2019 Genre Adventure, Puzzle Platform PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One Age Rating E for Everyone 10+ – Fantasy Violence Official Website

I really wanted to love Woven. After all, I was one of the original backers of the unsuccessful Kickstarter project, and was duly impressed by Alterego Games’ decision to self publish the project afterwards. The premise of Woven was really compelling and different, taking place in a soft world of woolen yarn and fabric that is being invaded by strange mechanical insects. Our hero is a goofy elephant named Stuffy, and he quickly comes across a new friend, a firefly-shaped robot named Glitch. Together, they set out to discover the truth and explore this world, transforming and reweaving Stuffy to scale various obstacles along the way. If only the adventure had lived up to that fantastic premise.

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Woven is the sort of game that would have made my childhood self smile. It plays out like a live action Winnie the Pooh, in a calm and mellow land where all that matters is relaxation and finding flowers. At least at first. Stuffy is a very amicable protagonist, but not the brightest bulb. A fact that is repeatedly referenced by the game’s narrator. The narrator’s tenor sounds very British, and at first I enjoyed how his paired sentences usually rhymed. It does grow old rather quickly though, especially when you realize that the narrator is not gonna help you much with direction. If you get lost at all, he’ll start reminiscing like a grandfather with dementia, talking about the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea. None of which is helpful. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that getting lost is a regular occurrence in Woven. Or at least it was for me. I managed to get stuck about 5 minutes into the game, in what would be considered the tutorial area. That’s because the game doesn’t hold your hand much, and trusts you’re clever enough to pick up on the clues in your environment. Sadly, what Woven thinks is plainly evident very rarely is. Case in point, the very first blueprint machine I came across gave no guidance how to operate it. I eventually figured it out, but it was a sign of things to come.

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There’s dozens of blueprint machines spread across Woven’s 5 regions, including meadows, deserts and jungles, and each blueprint gives Stuffy new transformation options. To unlock the blueprint, you play a little musical mini-game by operating mechanical levers to select notes. Though this was confusing initially, I grew to enjoy the mini-game. At first I assumed that each animal form would have set limbs, but you can mix and match after you acquire several, creating bizarre chimeras. Case in point, you can pair Pig legs with Lion arms and a Rhino head. You can even have two different arms or legs simultaneously. Each body part has different capabilities that allow various actions. You’ll need these to solve puzzles and make your way through the game. Though Woven is nominally a linear experience, the world is so wide open it’s easy to not immediately know where to head next. A good example was when I came across a short hilltop ringed with mountains, with a circular passage full of cranky yak creatures. I could stomp my foot to force the Yaks to move, but after moving in a complete circle, I wasn’t sure what to do. I eventually found the solution online in a very helpful playthrough, but it was frustrating being on the cusp of a solution and having no idea where to go next. This was due to the fact many of the puzzles in Woven are time based, but they don’t tell you they are. If a clock had showed up indicating I had a certain amount of time, I would have known to hurry up. And the farther I got in the game, the more complex and active the puzzles got. I much preferred the puzzles that required thinking but not fast reflexes.

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While it’s clearer why you would want to transform Stuffy to progress, it’s less clear how to use color palettes called patterns. You’ll find tons of flowers as you wander about, and by stomping your foot, they’ll open up and allow Glitch to scan them. You can also scan some animals for these, but they rarely sit still, so you’ll either need to be quick or find a way to distract or incapacitate them. Lastly, there’s patches you’ll randomly find on the map to unlock patterns. Patterns do a couple of things. On the one hand, they let you decorate Stuffy at the knitting machines, making him look as fancy or hideous as you please. You might be more surprised to realize you need some for puzzles. An example are giant snakes that block your progress unless you match their pattern. There’s another cool segment where a mechanical spider will pounce on you unless you blend in with the background. I don’t mind using patterns strategically, but it’s very easy to not scan the right one, and then be forced to backtrack until you find it. Some sort or an indicator of where key items resided would have helped, but there’s no such thing. And given the wide open format of Woven, it’s rather easy to get lost and miss the proper patterns. Oh and did I mention there’s more than 100 of them spread across the entire game? Which makes it even more daunting when you manage to pass one without realizing it.

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You may be wondering what Glitch does, and the simple answer is he operates every mechanical device you interact with. He turns on the blueprint machines and knitters, scans items and can also use his light to illuminate dark caves. The little firefly is pretty helpful, and his backstory ties directly into the plot of Woven. You’ll find lots of nodes that reveal bits and pieces of his lost memory as you go. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say there’s a reason Glitch feels so strongly pulled by the planet’s moon. I wish I could say Stuffy’s backstory was as interesting, but he’s almost an incidental character. He could literally be anything or anybody else, and it wouldn’t change the course of the game. I never knew much about the elephant, other than he was apparently simple, cowardly and loved flowers. It’s not clear how long he’s been around, what he did before Glitch or anything really. He’s just there to progress the story, and that’s a shame, especially since he’s nominally the main character.

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Not everything in the game works poorly. I did find it handy how the different Joy-Con controlled Stuffy and Glitch, respectively. And I appreciated visual prompts indicating what abilities I needed to get past obstacles, and found the camera easy to operate. The problem was primarily with the game’s physics. Woven is a wide open 3D world, but often what seems a clear path forward ends up tripping you up with invisible stage geometry. Bushes often kept me from moving forward, which was awkward. As a fan of platformers, I found this made Woven a lot harder to enjoy, since I was never clear if I could progress or not. Sometimes you do actually need different abilities tied to animal parts, such as jumping or pushing, but you never know in advance. So if I came to an area with a puzzle and had the wrong parts, I would have to backtrack all the way to the nearest knitting machine and reweave my elephant friend. I really think it would have been much easier if Stuffy could fast travel to these, since they’re spaced rather far apart and it’s not very fun walking about. Failing that, I would have loved a mini-map, since that would have cut down how often I got lost in Woven dramatically.

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Visually, Woven has a cute storybook aesthetic. There’s lots of bright colors and soft details. While I have no problem with that, I do have a problem with the graphical fidelity. I will mention I played the Switch version of the game, and from what little research I’ve done, it runs far better on other consoles. I normally don’t complain about things like framerate or the like, and usually find most games I play on Switch run great, but oftentimes the graphics here were muddy and fuzzy. Simply put, this game suffers from Bloodstained syndrome, meaning every other iteration of the game plays better than the one on Nintendo consoles. Which is truly a shame, since this is the perfect sort of all ages game that would otherwise appeal to a lot of Nintendo gamers. Musically the game is frankly dull, and quite muted musically. Sound effects lack punch, and actions often don’t have the proper impact as a result. When Stuffy punches a box out of his way, it just slides quietly out of place. Much like the rest of the game, aesthetically Woven is a very mixed bag.

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While I hate to add onto my other complaints, I have a few more. For one thing, I find it completely awkward how Stuffy always looks at Glitch as he runs forward, contorting his head to follow the firefly everywhere. That’s minor, but a more significant issue relates to the linearity of the game. If you miss any collectibles or achievements, you can’t get them until the next time you play through the game from the beginning. Once you reach a new area, there’s no backtracking, and the game auto saves. So if you’re one of those people that loves to platinum games, best of luck. And finally, while I don’t mind the general lack of combat in the game, it makes it that much more challenging when you have to contend with the final boss.

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Much as I wanted to love Woven, I left the experience quite disappointed. There was promise here, but for whatever reason it wasn’t met. If you don’t mind clumsy physics and very complex and vague puzzles, you might enjoy what’s here. Even then, it’s a hard pill to swallow at $19.99. Though you can beat the game in less than 5 hours, it took me around 9 due to getting lost repeatedly. So at least you’ll get some bang for your buck. This is one of those games I recommend you pick up on a sale. Hopefully Alterego Games has more ideas they can breathe life into in the future, cause I’d honestly like to see them succeed. In the meantime, I’ll lament this tale of an elephant and his firefly buddy.

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”1.5″]

Review Copy Provided By Publisher

REVIEW: Woven Title Woven

#Adventure #Alterego Games #Glitch #puzzle #StickyLock Games #Stuffy #Woven

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astraltwelve · 6 years

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The Zodiac Signs as Greek Monsters

Aries: The Sirens

A distant cousin of the mermaid (in folkloric terms anyway), the sirens were beautiful, alluring women who dwelled near rocky cliffs and sang to passing sailors. According to legends, the hapless seamen would become enchanted by the sirens’ song, following the mellifluous melody to their deaths as their boats crashed upon the rocky shore. It is an ancient morality tale about the evils of women, but not all sirens were so comely.

Other accounts depict sirens as half-bird, half-woman creatures who would lure travelers to their doom with harps instead of their voices. In Greek myth, Odysseus escaped the sirens by having his sailors plug their ears with beeswax, though in modern times doctors recommend soft foam earplugs for sailors who may encounter these dangerous monsters.

Taurus: Polyphemus

The most famous of the cyclops was Polyphemus. Greek hero Odysseus and his crew were trapped by the cyclops Polyphemus, who kept them in his cave for later consumption. Odysseus cunningly plied Polyphemus with wine, and when the monster fell asleep, blinded him by driving a large stake through his only eye.

As the story goes, Odysseus later escaped captivity from the now-blinded Giant’s cave by tying himself to the underside of one of the Cyclops’ sheep, which was let out by the giant for pasture. Or, that’s what Odysseus told people who found him cavorting with a sheep.

Gemini: Hydra

Hydra is an ancient Greek mythical beast that was mentioned in the tale of the twelve labors of Hercules (also called Heracles). The hydra has many heads (possibly 7, 8 or 9), the number of head varies from different versions of the legend, however, more accounts agree on nine. It was said that the middle one was immortal and it has very poisonous venom and breath.

If the heads are cut off, the heads would grow back. One head cut-off would result to two heads growing back in its place.

The Hydra was believed to have lived in the Lernean marsh which is located near Argolis, the region around Argos, Greece. Others say that the Hydra lived in Cave in the Swamp of Lerna.

The serpent-woman Echidna and the hundred headed Typhon are the Hydra’s parents. His siblings include the Nemean lion, Cerberus, Chimera and Ladon.

The Hydra guards the entrance to the Underworld and from the murky swamps of the Lake of Lerna the monstrous serpent would rise and terrorize the city. The Hydra was finally killed by Hercules during his second labor.

The Hydra was said to have the body of a dragon/snake with many heads (possibly 7, 8 or 9), two arms & legs with knife-like claws, sharp spines/spikes & a long serpent tail.

Cancer: Charybdis

Charybdis was interpreted as either a sea monster or as a large whirlpool in the Greek mythology. In the former, she was portrayed as the daughter of the sea god Poseidon and goddess of Earth, Gaia. In this interpretation, she had a mouth for a face and had to swollen huge amounts of water each day. When Charybdis belch the water back, it lead to the formation of large whirlpools.

Charybdis was featured in the story of Odysseus, who had to cross a narrow channel in the Strait of Messina. On one side of the channel lies Charybdis while the other side lays a hydra monster by the name of Scylla. To cross the channel successfully, Odysseus had to balance the ship’s navigation well. This give arise to the modern saying of “‘between Scylla and Charybdis’”, which means that choosing between 2 dangers.

Leo: Medusa

Medusa, in Greek mythology, most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made her face so hideous that all who looked at her were turned to stone. When Medusa was with child by Poseidon, Perseus killed her and presented her head to Athena. Chrysaor and Pegasus sprang from her blood when she died. Medusa’s head retained its petrifying power even after her death. Because of this power, her image frequently appeared on Greek armor.

Virgo: Lamia

Like many women in Greek mythology, Lamia is dealt a bad hand in life just by virtue of being born beautiful—and by somehow not managing to stay out of Zeus’s sight. And we all know what Zeus does to beautiful women…and who it is that gets blamed afterward.

The story goes that Lamia was once the queen of Libya, who became a beloved mistress of the god Zeus (by choice or by force, we’re never told). Naturally, Zeus’s wife Hera found out about the affair—she had a knack for that sort of thing—and instead of punishing her husband, she took out her anger on Lamia. This isn’t unusual for Hera, though the concept of blaming the woman for the man’s infidelity is a theme that runs throughout much of history and ancient myth.

To punish Lamia, Hera transformed into a monster and murdered Lamia’s children while Lamia watched, helpless to stop the goddess’s fury. There are several different accounts that explain what happened here, depending on the source:

1. As if killing her children wasn’t enough, Hera then took away Lamia’s ability to blink or close her eyes, so that she would be forever haunted by the sight of her dead children.

2. Hera didn’t actually kill the children—she only stole them—causing Lamia to go insane with grief and tear out her own eyes.

3. Rather than kill the children herself, Hera forced Lamia to kill and devour her own children.

And whether it happens out of the madness found in grief for her children’s’ death, as a part of Hera’s punishment, or as a gift from Zeus in order to exact revenge on the world for what has been done to her, Lamia is transformed into a serpentine monster that hunts and devours other people’s children.

Libra: Scylla

In Greek Mythology, Scylla was a monster that devoured Men who passed near her & Charybdis

According to Ovid, Scylla was once a beautiful nymph. The fisherman-turned-sea-god, Glaucus fell madly in love with her, but she fled from him onto the land where he could not follow. Despair filled his heart. He went to the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion to melt Scylla’s heart. As he told his tale of love about Scylla to Circe, she herself fell in love with him. She wooed him with her sweetest words and looks, but the sea-god would have none of her. Circe was furious, but with Scylla and not with Glaucus. She prepared a vial of very powerful poison and poured it in the pool where Scylla bathed. As soon as the nymph entered the water, she was transformed into a frightful monster with a body of a Water Serpent & six heads with faces of frighting women with sharp teeth. She stood inside a large cave, destroying everything that came into her reach, a peril to all sailors who passed near her. Whenever a ship passed, each of her heads would seize one of the crew

Scorpio: The Erinyes

The Erinyes were known to be entities of vengeance. They were born out of the blood of Uranus when Cronus castrated him. It is unknown how many Erinyes were there although their physical attributes were unmistakeable. They had serpents around their waist and had blood dripping from their eyes.

In the Greek mythology, they appeared to Orestes and try to hunt him when he killed his sisters on the orders of Apollo, the god of sun. Eventually, Orestes managed to escape to Athena template where he was given a trial, attended by both the Erinyes and Apollo. Orestes was later found to be not guilty and was released from pursuit by the Erinyes.

Sagittarius: The Sphinx

Sphinx has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird and might be the sister to Chimera and Cerberus. In the Greek mythology, there was one sphinx who guarded the road to the city of Thebe. To all travelers who used this road, the Sphinx would ask the following riddle “Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” Anyone who can’t answer this riddle correctly was devoured. The riddle was eventually solved by Oedipus who gave the correct answer: “man”. It was said that the Sphinx either jumped off a cliff or devoured herself when the riddle was solved.

Capricorn: Cerebus

Cerberus is the famous three headed hell dog that guarded the entrance of the underworld. Appearing in both Greek and Roman mythology, Cerberus has also been depicted numerous times in various game titles. According to the Greek legend, Cerberus was was given birth by Echidna, a hybrid half-woman and half-serpent, and Typhone. Cerberus was featured in the stories of Hercules as the last labor in which the hero must captured the monster alive with no tools.

There are currently some disagreement over the representation of the three heads. Some said that they represent past, present and future while others have argued that they represent birth, youth and old age.

Aquarius: Harpies

The Harpies were the spirits of sudden, sharp gusts of wind. They were known as the hounds of Zeus and were dispatched by the god to snatch away people and things from the earth. Sudden, mysterious disappearances were often attributed to the Harpies. The Harpies were once sent by Zeus to plague King Phineus of Thrake as punishment for revealing the secrets of the gods. Whenever a plate of food was set before him, the Harpies would swoop down and snatch it away, befouling any scraps left behind. When the Argonauts came to visit, the winged Boreades gave chase, and pursued the Harpies to the Strophades Islands, where the goddess Iris commanded them to turn back and leave the storm-spirits unharmed. The Harpies were depicted as winged women, sometimes with ugly faces, or with the lower bodies of birds.

Pisces: Graeae

Graeae are the three sisters who shared one eye and one mouth. They were birth by Phorcys and Ceto and were in fact sisters to the Gordons . The names of the three Graeae sisters are Deino Enyo and Pemphredo. Although mot stories portrayed the Graeae sisters as old hags, some poets actually described them as beautiful creatures.

The Graeae sisters appeared in many pop culture including the second book of Percy, as well as in the 2010 movie, Clash of the Titans. In the Greek legend, it was the Graeae sisters who directed Perseus on how to kill the Medusa, although the hero did steal the eye from them before they are willing to do so.

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allthekpopimagines · 6 years

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NCT Greek Gods!AU - Part 5

OOOOO! Okay so I’m really excited for you guys to read the next chapter after this. That chapter.....let’s just say I don’t want people hating me after that. I love you guys though and thank you for keeping up with this.

Hope y’all enjoy! -Admin M

Word count: 3032 (it’s a bit long oops!)

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“She was one of the rare ones, so effortlessly herself, and the world loved her for it.” -Atticus

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I glare at Yuta as he still has a tight grip on my wrist, “Leave me alone Yuta.” I say as I try to walk away again but he ends up right in front of me as if I’m allowing him to stop me. He sighs and his smirk falls and he now looks very serious, “I’m afraid I can’t do that princess.” I take my hand from his grasp and I say, “Stop calling me that.” He smiles a bit and shakes his head laughing. I look at him and I keep myself distanced from him, “You’re creepy.” He smiles and brushes off his shoulder and says, “Thank you. I get it from my father.” I think for a minute yet I can’t remember who his father is.

Next thing I know I hear footsteps rushing towards us and I see all the boys. They’re all out of breath and Jaehyun looks at me and he comes close to me and he asks, “Why did you run off? Did something happen? Did someone grab you?” I look down and away from any eye contact, except for Yuta. I guess he registered my eyes as a sign for help and he cleared his throat and all the boys turned to him to hear what had happened to me and he says, “Someone recognized her and started asking her questions about where she had been so I had to come in and help her. The person started walking towards these shops and kept talking to her. I went with her and acted like her boyfriend to pull her away from the person.” Mark looked back at me, “Are you okay though? Like they didn’t hurt you or anything right?” I shook my head.

“Good. Because nobody hurts our family.” Doyoung says smiling. The rest of the boys smile and nod their head. Taeil asks me, “Do you still want to go shopping? We could buy you some furniture for your room. You’ll have one very soon.” I smile at the thought of my own room and not having to steal Taeyong’s bed anymore....I will miss the soundproof walls though. I smile and then I nod and we continue to go shopping and I mainly walk with Jaehyun and Mark and I talk with them about how I want my room to look like and what kind of fashion style I’m going for, mainly inspired by them and Yuta walks behind us with his hands in his pockets making sure I don’t run off once again.

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We get back home and I actually bought more things than the boys did...combined. I laugh as all the boys make a groaning noise as they grab either my bags or something I bought for my room. I open the door for the boys and surprisingly, no Jeno this time. I’m assuming it’s because he knows Jaemin isn’t out of the house. I see some boys in the living room, “Hey boys. Can you come help us?” They nod and Lucas and Ten come and help us bring in some of the stuff and for now we put all of my stuff in Taeyong’s room. I open the door and I see Taeyong is inside the room, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were in here.” Taeyong had come back and he was still in his suit but his tie was untied and hanging around his neck as he was unbuckling his cuffs.

I smile as he smiles at me, “Well, I just came in here to get a change of clothes. This suit is very uncomfortable. You can let the struggling boys put your stuff in here.” I process his words and then I say, “Oh!” I then move out of the way for the boys to enter into the room and set the stuff down that I’ll have to move later on into my own room. Taeyong grabs some clothes and he exits the room and the boys come and they finish putting all of my stuff on the floor. They stop and rest for a second in the room, I laugh a bit and I say, “Thank you guys. So much. I wouldn’t have been able to do this alone.” I smile.

The boys nod and Doyoung says, “No problem. Of course we’ll do this for you.” I smile as the other boys basically fall either on the floor or on the bed from exhaustion. I decide to let the boys rest for a little while and I go out into the living room and I look out of a window into the backyard and I see Jungwoo running around from the animal that chased me a couple of days ago. I run outside and I yell, “Jungwoo run!” He continues to run but he sees me and he stops for a second and the animal picks up Jungwoo by the back of his shirt in the animals mouth, “Jungwoo!” I run to the animal and I begin to hit the side of the animal and the animal drops Jungwoo. Jungwoo sees me hitting the animal and he yells, “Persephone stop!” Next thing I know I’m getting pulled away from the animal as I’m no longer hitting a surface. I open my eyes and I see Mark has his arms wrapped around my waist and he’s out of breath, he must have ran to me. I look confused and Jungwoo pets the animal where I was hitting the animal.

“Wait, what’s going on?” I ask Mark. “You were just hitting Jungwoo’s pet.” I get confused and Mark lets go of me, “Excuse me?” Mark nods, “All of us demigods have a creature of some sort that is our companion. We don’t really name them. We call them by their creature name and they’re ours. We do have to share though...with our sibling. Here, let me show you them.” Mark takes my hand and we walk towards a big building that looks oddly like a giant barn but with a little more structure to it. Mark walks in and takes me with him and once I walk in I see 9 different animals and they all look towards the door. They start to get antsy and I hide behind Mark in fear and he says, “Don’t worry. They’re just getting excited because either Haechan or I will come and feed them every morning and night.” I nod but I still stand behind Mark in fear.

“Oh, hey guys.” I hear someone say. I look over Mark’s shoulder and standing there is Haechan, Jungwoo and Winwin. I smile and I begin to get a bit more comfortable and I say, “Hi. I didn’t know you guys had animals.” Winwin nods and he says, “Yeah. They were sent by the gods for us. We find them and we know they’re ours because they submit to us. Or some people just feel it. It all depends.” I look around at the boys and I ask, “Will I get an animal?” Haechan says, “I don’t actually know.” The boys shrug and they say, “I guess you’ll have to find it.” I laugh a bit and nod.

“Would you like to meet the animals?” Winwin asks holding out his hand. I smile and I nod, “I would love to.” I take his hand and the boys go around and feed the animals as Winwin shows me the animals.

“Okay, the first animal is Jeno and Jaemin’s animal. This is Pegasus. She’s a stallion with wings.” As if on cue the horse flaps her wings. I smile and I say, “Hi Pegasus.” She goes back to eating and I smile, “Not very talkative is she?” Winwin smile and then he shakes his head, “Not really. But the next animal is my animal that I share with Yuta and he’s very talkative.” I follow Winwin and I see a giant dog. I smile, “You have a dog?” Winwin scoffs, “I don’t have a dog. I have 3.” Winwin yells the animals name and three heads turn towards us and the animal’s tail wags and one of the heads comes down and Winwin pets the animal. “This is Cerberus.” I smile and Winwin takes my hand and I get scared at what Winwin’s intentions are as he brings my hand closer to the animal. I say, in a scared tone, “Winwin.” He puts a hand on my waist and he says, “Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you. I promise.” Winwin put my hand on the animals hand and the animal put one of his heads lower for me and I pet the animal and the animal closed his eyes and I smiled in joy but also shock at what I was actually doing.

Winwin lets go of me and he pulls a treat out of his pocket and throws it towards the ceiling for the animals to eat, “Why only one treat if there’s three of them?” He points to the body, “There’s only one body, meaning only one stomach.” I nod in understanding as we meet the next animal. As soon I see this animal I hide behind Winwin and Winwin laughs, “Yes, this is Chimera. This is Jungwoo and Lucas’ animal.” I look at Winwin, “What is it?” The Chimera growls and I squeal in fear and Jungwoo yells, “Chimera! No.” The Chimera stops growling and his ears fall.

“SHE, is a cross between a lion, snake and a goat.” I look at him with a ‘really?’ expression and Winwin nods. I smile at her and wave a bit and she just turns away from me and I put my hand down and Winwin takes me to the next animal, “This is Griffin. This is Mark and Haechan’s animal. It’s a cross between an eagle and a lion. Pretty cool.” I nod and I smile as I look at the body of the animal and it’s a lion body. “He?” Winwin nods and I say, “He’s awesome.” Haechan and Mark both yell, “Thank you!” I smile and laugh as Winwin takes me closer to the next animal, “This is Phoenix. She is Jisung and Renjun’s animal.” I nod and I say, “She just looks like a big bird.” Winwin nods and says, “Wait one second.” Winwin yells at Jungwoo, “Phoenix!” Jungwoo tosses a small box towards Winwin and Mark yells, “Don’t burn the place down again!” Winwin rolls his eyes, “It was one time!” I get confused.

Winwin opens the box and he grabs a match, “Winwin what’re you-” Winwin throws the match at the bird and I grab Winwin’s arm as the bird goes up in flames and the bird makes a loud noise and I look at Winwin, “Winwin!” He holds up a finger and then he looks at the bird and he makes a clicking noise with his mouth and then the bird is no longer in flames and the bird seems fine. I look at the bird and I say, “What the?” Winwin nods and says, “She’s a great entertainer.” The bird almost glares at Winwin and I laugh a bit as Winwin quickly takes me to the next animal.

“The next animal is Orthrus. It’s like Cerberus but not as many heads.” I look up at the animal and it’s only two heads. I smile at the dogs and their tail starts wagging and I giggle, “Hi.” One of the heads comes down and sniffs me and I laugh as the dog is very friendly towards me. Winwin smiles and says, “He is Chenle and Kun’s dog.” I nod and the dogs seem to get excited at the mention of their owners names. Winwin smiles and then he takes me to another area, “This is where we keep the aquatic animals. There’s only two of them.” He shuts the door behind him and I see a giant tank. I nod and I say, “Wow.”

Winwin whistles and one animal shows up and I see an aquatic animal with man heads and I immediately hide behind Winwin, “Oh my gods.” Winwin laughs and says, “This is Scylla and she is the animal of Jaehyun and Johnny.” I wave to them a small bit and I ask Winwin, “So how did Jaehyun and Johnny find their animal? She’s a water animal.” Winwin nods and says, “Well first off. I’m pretty sure whoever found the animal soiled their pants. I would. But I’m not too sure about the whole story. You’ll have to ask whoever found her.” I nod and mentally set a reminder for me to do that later.

“The other animal should be around here somewhere.” Winwin asks looking at the tank closely. I try to help and I get close to the tank and I look around and I see a moving figure over to the right, “Winwin is that- AH!” I scream as snake like creature with multiple heads hits the glass where my face is placed. I almost fall back but Winwin catches it and I can see he’s trying to contain his laughter. I hit his arm, “Not funny!” Winwin puts a hand on my back and he calms down and then he says, “I’m sorry. but Lernaean Hydra never really gets visitors. He gets very excited. He’s Doyoung and Taeil’s animal.” I nod and I say, “Well, he’s very scary.” Winwin nods and says, “We all kind of eventually learn to not get close to the tank.” I nod and say, “Noted.” Winwin smiles and then says, “I think I got every animal?” He counts on his fingers and then he says, “Oh, I forgot one. I think you’ll like this one.”

Winwin grabs my hand and takes me out of the room and into a separate room in the barn. This barn is bigger than expected. He stops and he turns to me and he looks at me, “Now, this animal is very special you can gain it’s trust very easily. But if you break it or come towards him with a weapon he will not hesitate to kill you easily.” My eyes go wide and I nod as I stay behind Winwin slightly scared of this animal. Winwin slowly opens the door and I hear a roar and I grab his sleeve. When we get inside the room I notice a gold glow has now taken up the room and Winwin says, “Close the door behind you please.” I do so and I see Winwin place one hand out slowly and he says, “Nemean Lion....it’s Winwin. I have a friend that now lives with us. She’s a new friend. I know you’re a very big and mighty guy but you need to calm down for her. She’s not used to you....she’s not really used to any of this yet.” The lion roars and I peak over Winwin’s shoulder and I see a giant lion and it’s glowing gold and I gasp and the lion makes eye contact with me and he then puts his head down and I smile, “He’s beautiful.” Winwin smiles and nods, “He is.” I look at Winwin and I’m smiling in shock.

“Does he have a super power of some sort. Like the Phoenix.” Winwin shrugs a bit and says, “Well, he’s immortal. He can cut through armor like we can shred paper.” My eyes go wide and Winwin smiles and says, “You can pet him. He’ll let you.” I get closer to the lion very cautiously and I put a hand out and I get to him and I say, “Hi. I’m Persephone.” The lion lays down and he looks up at me and I smile and he closes his eyes and presses his head into my hand and I smile and I look back at Winwin smiling really brightly. Winwin smiles at me and nods. I pet the lion and the lion then opens his eyes and looks up at me and I stop petting him and Winwin says, “He’s Taeyong and Ten’s animal. The animal from Zeus.” I smile and I say, “Wow. That’s amazing.”

Winwin smiles and says, “Well, those are all the animals. You’ve met them all.” I walk out of the room with Winwin and Mark sees us and asks, “Did you like all the animals?” Winwin smiles and says, “The Hydra got her.” Haechan laughs and I look hurt until Jungwoo says, “Don’t laugh Haechan. You almost peed yourself when you saw it for the first time.” I try to contain my laughs as Haechan rolls his eyes and grabs the food for the animals.

I end up leaving the barn and heading out to the house before dinner is made. I get back inside and I see Taeyong and Doyoung laughing in the kitchen with a beer in hand like any normal dads would do. I laugh and I smile and wave at them and they wave back at me and I tell them about the animals I met and how everything went and then I head to the room I’m currently occupying and I see Jaehyun still asleep in the bed. I smile and I go towards him and I tap his arm, “Jaehyun.” Nothing. I try once again, “Jae....come on. Time to get up. You don’t want to sleep too long. You won’t sleep later tonight after dinner.” He blinks a couple of times and he sits up and I smile, “Morning sunshine.” He smiles and he yawns, “How long was asleep for?” I shrug, “I have no clue. You passed out after helping me bring my stuff in and I just now woke you so.” He nods and stands up and he leaves the room so I can take a shower and I can get ready for bed after I have eaten dinner.

After I finish eating with all the boys I go inside the room and I shut the door and I clean up and I head to bed and I smile and I say, “Maybe I could actually get used to being around these demigods for a while.” I turn the light off and I fall asleep smiling.

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myth-lord · 7 years

Text

THE ELEMENTS OF MYTHIKA

Elements always have a big role in roleplaying games, or in any type of game for that matter.

In these coming weeks I’m gonna collect all the monsters from Mythika that have a link to one of the six elements, starting out with the most popular element of fire, I will continue the path with Air – Earth – Water – Shadow – Light

Fire, Smoke, Steam, Magma and Heat are all connected with the element of fire, while Steam combines water with fire, magma combines fire with earth and smoke combines air with fire. In Mythika solar rays are fire mixed with light and unholy black fire is a mixture of shadow/darkness and normal fire, and while unholy fire burns like any other fire, the pain is even more intense and can only be healed by holy spells.

Now for all the Enemies and Bosses from Mythika that have links with-and powers over fire, heat, magma, smoke and steam.

NOTE that there are probably other creatures in mythika that have powers over fire in the REAL Myth or Legend, but which I don’t think suit the creatures at all, two I can think of are Khalkotauroi and Pukwudgie, but in Mythika they don’t have any fire abilities, Khalkotauroi are much like D&D’s Gorgon’s and Pukwudgie have powers over voodoo and necromancy, and they can’t throw fireballs of any kind.

VERY STRONG EFFIGY TO FIRE ELEMENT:

Cacus – Giants of fire and smoke, these giant humanoids are immune to fire, use it to create their magical weapons in their hellish forges, they can set their armor and weapon on fire with a simple thought.

Candileja – Sometimes when a Hag or Witch is burned a Candileja is born out of pure fiery hatred, they look like a vague spectral version of their former self but made entirely from vile green flames. Candileja use their unholy fire to create painful burns in their victims, being spectral and on fire has many advantages in battles. Candileja can also curse a victim so they take more damage from any other fire attack.

Cherufe – Being magma elementals, the volcanic Cherufe have command over both fire and earth, eruptions and earthquakes are their specialty. They are naturally immune to heat, fire and magma and can shape into any object or form they desire.

Curupira – The Gnomes of Fire, these pyromaniacs are normally not very evil, until they spot a flame, then their insanity takes over and they want to spread the flames, their bright red hair turns into fire the moment they spot a flame. They can control and animate fire, but on a much lower level than the Ifrit can. Fire seems to come to life when a Curupira is near, this is called Pyrotechnics. When there is no fire around the Curupira are powerless as they can’t create fire themselves.

Enenra – Creatures of vengeance and smothering smoke the Enenra are natural half-fire and half air elementals. They can control smoke and enter their victims lungs to choke them from within. Their ash and smoke forms also burn the skin of other creatures that are trapped within them.

Gaasyendietha – The fire dragons of Mythika, these meteor alien dragons can breathe unnatural fire upon their enemies, even creatures otherwise immune to normal fire will get burned. They can summon small swarms of burning rocks from the sky as well and they are fully immune to any form of heat and fire.

Ifrit – The true lords of everything fiery, all genies are masters of their own element. Ifrit command fire with their mind, summoning giant beasts and monsters made entirely from fire. They create giant swords and hammers made from fire out of thin air and control most other creatures based on fire. Their favorite fire elementals to summon are giant bats and lions made from flames and heat.

Muscaliet – Very little chimerae with features of squirrels, badgers and the tusks of a boar. Muscaliet are small but very dangerous as their bodies are very hot, this often leads to forest fires and awe full burning wounds on any creatures they touch. Given time these small pests will burn through any metal, so trapping them inside iron cages can be tricky.

Salamander – These Dimetrodon-like salamanders of heat and cold control the temperature around them, turning the landscape around them very frigid cold by absorbing all heat or extremely hot by expelling the heat they absorbed. They are immune to most forms of fire and can even swim in lava.

Basan – These terror birds are magical offspring of the Tuyango with burning qualities. Their fire is special as it burns even spectral creatures and ghosts. They can spit out their ghostly blue flames at their enemies, burning not their flesh but their very souls.

Ziburinis – The most evil of Fire Elementals is the undead fire elemental called Ziburinis, created from the souls of burned humans these black and red flames love to enter the bodies of other creatures and possess them for as long as they can, then their own hatred burns itself out of the host and leaves behind nothing more than cursed ashes. Being burned from the inside out by these horrors is said to be the most painful death of all.

Surtr – The Titan of Fire, his abilities are pretty much advanced version of his minions the Cacus. Surtr is an unique boss creature, and he’s the boss of the fire temple, you fight him together with a Cacus giant and a Ifrit summoner.

STRONG EFFIGY TO FIRE ELEMENT:

Butatsch – These abominable and alien oozes are covered in hungry mouths and fake eyes, from these eyes they can shoot rays of superheated liquid, the creatures seem to be full with this burning liquid.

Chimera – Chimera burn with fire from within, one of their two heads can breath fire and the poison from their snake-tail head also burns their prey from within. When you kill one of these Chimeric horrors they explode into a swarm of fiery fireballs, burning everything foolish to slay one of these with melee weapons.

Delgeth – The Anaye closely related to fire, their powerful hooves will leave a trail of burning cinders and fire whenever they go.

Garm – The bites of these hellhounds are hotter than hell itself.

Cerberus – The bites of these three-headed hounds of hell are even worse than those of the smaller Garm. The burning pain won’t go away without very powerful magic.

Kasha – Kasha use their nine fiery souls/lives to animate the corpses collected in their small burning chariot, the result are burning zombies that follow every command from the Kasha that animated them with Its own soul, when destroyed the Kasha regains its soul and can animate a new fiery corpse if there is one.

Pyrausta – While these insect drakes can’t breathe fire themselves, they must feed on fire every week to stay alive. Their heart is like a small little ember.

Wanyudo – These strange demonic constructs of torture and pain look like wheels with the head of a demonic monster forged upon it, they can set their wheel on fire with a thought, so being crushed by them means both your bones and skin is harmed.

Alastor – The Sinlord of Wrath has a close effigy with fire, his weapons are always on fire and he can summon powerful fireballs from his hands, he can also create walls of fire to block the escape route of his victims. Alastor is a Boss.

Hel – This Goddess boss has both control of ice and fire, half her body controls fire and the other half controls the cold and ice. Hell is Boss.

Horseman of War – Like Famine is closely related to water, death to earth and pestilence to air so is War related to burning angry fires of war. The Horseman of War is a boss.

MINOR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ELEMENT OF FIRE:

Aatxe – Aatxe are big spiritual bulls that burn with the fire of pure vengeance, they burn their victims by running through them.

Ahkiyyini – When these ogre-sized skeletons play their infernal war-drums or violins, nature around it goes berserk, all elements (including fire and magma) seems to come alive and attack the enemies of the musical skeletal horror.

Aitvaras – The gaze of these cockatrice-like drakes not only curses the victim with despair and misfortune, but it also has a chance to combust a victim in flames. Their tail and rooster-crown are both made from fire as well.

Brobinyak – These dragon ogres look like big lizardmen with dragon wings and faces, they can breathe out fire.

Cucay – Their pumpkin faces burn with sinister flames which they can shoot at their prey in the form of a fireball.

Dragon Turtle – These oversized dragonic turtles can breathe out hot steam at their victims.

Empusa – Instead of hair these insect-ladies with the legs and arms of a mantis have green fire burning on top of their heads.

Gloson – These undead razor-pigs can breathe out fire from their nostrils.

Kurage-No-Hinotama – Some variants of these land-based hovering jellyfish monsters are on fire, their poisonous tentacles burn everything trapped within them.

Lampad – Their torches burn with purple fire which causes madness and sadness in their victims. Otherwise these underground shadow nymphs have much more in common with Shadow Elements.

Marool – These deep-sea angler-fish horrors can summon will-o-wisp like eyes from their bodies to lure ships and sailors to their doom, their back is always on fire but they cannot do anything with that in combat.

Poludnica – While more connected with the Light Element (which I post later) these harvest, fire, sun and heatstroke nymphs have a burned face and the solar rays they summons are also very hot and burn the skin of their victims.

Stella – The poison of this starfish horror burns the veins from within their prey, burning them from within.

Decarabia – Same as Stella, but a much bigger crown-of-thorns starfish and worse poison effect.

Tlanusi – These oversized leech horrors can turn the water around them very hot and shoot hot geysers at their prey.

Zmey – One of the three heads of this sin-dragon is immune to fire and can breath out fire.

Balaur – Only one of the seven sin-riddled heads of the Balaur can shoot fire, the others breath out other elements and curses. Each of Balaurs seven heads resembles its own sin.

Andras – The only thing this raven-headed, wolf-riding right hand of Alastor has in common with fire is its fire sword. Andras is Boss.

Arzshenk – This demonic minotaur Div is immune to fire and heat. Arzshenk is a Boss.

#Fire #Elemental #Mythology #Mythika #Magma #Heat #Monster #Fantasy

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tales-of-the-party · 6 years

Text

TofTP - Home

Rizu: Well I’m back again with story number 3~ Sorry for the wait!

"I think we’re going to have a problem," Coil said, eyeing the gate from the forest line.

"Why’s that?" Bry asked from beside Coil.

"Well," Coil started, hooking his thumb over his shoulder at a large mass of black fur, "I don’t think the city guard will be too happy having a Chimera running around."

Bry rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before saying "You’ve got a point there."

"Don’t worry about Fluffles," Rizu said from Fluffles back, "I’ve got that covered."

Coil and Bry both turned to the small mage sitting on top of the Chimera and raised one eyebrow each.

Rizu petted Fluffles’ head and the beast looked up at her.

"This is gonna hurt for just a sec, okay sweetie?" the mage cooed softly, "But you need to bear with it, okay? Otherwise you can’t live with mama."

Fluffles let out a rumbling noise that made Coil instinctively reach for one of the throwing knives on his belt.

"There’s some treats in it for you if you do," Rizu said as her index finger began to glow a light orange.

Fluffles looked at Coil and Bry, his expression somehow begging them for help.

They both raised their hands slightly and shook their heads.

Fluffles let out a defeated growl and lowered his head.

"Oh hush," Rizu said as she placed her finger against the skin just below the Chimera’s neck. A sizzling noise became audible and she began moving her hand, "I told you it would only be a second. See? All done."

She pat the Chimera on the head.

"Who’s mama’s brave boy?" she asked, and Fluffles let out a rumbling purr that shook the trees around them, causing leaves to fall.

Bry turned his head, opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue and make a ‘bleh’ noise.

"So what’s this plan of yours?" Coil asked.

A wicked smile crossed Rizu’s face as she looked down at him. "You’ll have to wait and see," she said.

"Let’s get going." Bry yawned and started walking toward the city, "I’ve been away from home for too long."

They approached the Crown City of the Largun kingdom. Largun, located to the far west of the continent, it made its living by trading fish, ships and lumber not only with other kingdoms, but also with countries beyond the seas.

Largun’s walls stood three hundred feet high, the towers at the gate and every two hundred feet adding an extra fifty feet. The walls were bright red, and the large wooden gates were painted black.

The four guards at the entrance, wearing blue uniforms with kettle helms and holding long spears, all jumped when the group came within fifty feet.

"Halt!" the lead guard said, muscular dwarf with a long dark brown beard and matching eyes "I’m afraid I can’t allow the beast past this point."

"We’re working on that." Rizu said slipping off Fluffles back and walking past the guards. All four looked at her uncertainly, wondering if they should stop her.

Her finger glowed again and she tapped it against the inside of the gate, the sizzling sound loud in the small tunnel.

"What are you-?" the dwarf started, but Rizu turned and repeated the motion at the other side of the tunnel in the exact same spot.

"Okay!" she called, waving, "Come to mama Fluffles!"

The Chimera let out a loud rumbling noise before running toward the gate. The guards all jumped and readied their weapons, the dwarf letting out a curse in his own language as Fluffles jumped over the group-

-and vanished.

Bry and Coil shared a look as they strode forward. Up ahead Rizu knelt down and picked something off the ground.

Instead of the massive Chimera that they’d taken in and were used to, now a small lion-like cub with small hooves in the back. Instead of the massive anaconda-like tail was now something akin to a garden snake.

The miniature Chimera let out a ‘graowr’ at the guards, now standing with their mouths open and obviously wondering what they should do.

"I put a spell on him and the gate," Rizu explained, “Whenever he enters the city he’ll end up like this, and when he leaves he’ll be big again."

The dwarf began to stutter and Bry placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let it go," he said looking down at the dwarf and shrugged. "He’s no threat to anyone like that. Besides, arguing with a mage is a pain in the ass."

"But...but." the dwarf stuttered.

"She turned a giant chimera into a little kitten," Coil mused as he walked to the other side of the dwarf. "Do you want to see what she’d do to you if you don’t let her keep her pet?"

The dwarf turned from Bry to Coil, then after a few seconds looked toward Rizu.

The mage held up a hand and wiggled her fingers, trying to appear threateningly mystical.

The dwarf stuttered a few more seconds before his shoulders slumped.

"Just...just go. Please."

Largun was, for the lack of a better word, large and decorated. Almost all of the buildings stood three stories tall and had decorations on them. From windchimes to potted plants to patios to low hanging lamps burning different colors, no building that Coil could see didn’t have at least two decorations to it. And all of them had been graffitied. Most were on the sides of the house, but Coil could see that some had been done on the front as well, and all were depicting some kind of animal. Each house’s animal graffiti was unique, he noted.

"What’s up with the-" he started

"Painted animals?" Bry interrupted. "It’s a tradition here. There’s a priestess in the king’s court that tells you what kind of animal your heart is connected to, basically a spirit animal."

"After you find out what your animal is, you paint it on your home," Rizu added. "It took Bry and I forever to get around to it."

"If you don’t have your home decorated," Bry said as the group walked into a large marketplace, "then the people give you weird looks. They’re friendly enough, but they always try to keep conversations with the ‘unpainted’ short."

If the houses were decorated, then the market was extremely flamboyant. Every kiosk had colorful sheets around it, the wares out for display and the merchants wearing bright suits. Next to the market was a blacksmith, armorer, tavern, bookshop and-

Coil stopped as he saw the Guild House. The biggest building he could see, it stood five stories with five windows that he could see on every floor, and was bland compared to the other houses, with the exception of the painting on the side of the Guild.

Instead of just one or two beasts like most houses, the Guild House had hundreds, all miniaturized. A herd of beasts of all shapes, sizes and colors marching around the Guild House’s walls.

"It’s to represent all the Guild members that live here," Rizu said, turning to Coil after noticing he’d stopped. She carried Fluffles in one arm across her torso like a baby. "The majority of the Guild are wanderers, taking jobs from Guild houses across the continent. The ones that settle down here have their animal painted on the Guild house as well as their own home."

"After we get you signed up in the Guild and you get your own place, we’ll visit the priestess," Bry said, clapping Coil on the back, "So let’s hurry and-"

"OI!" boomed a female voice, "You stay right there!"

The group turned and the tallest woman Coil had ever seen stomped her way toward them. She stopped in front of Bry and Coil felt a bead of sweat on his brow when he saw she towered over Bry.

Eight feet tall, the woman had a heart shaped face with high cheekbones, a broad nose, watery blue eyes and long wild red hair that ran down just below her back.

She wore a sleeveless red shirt that showed her muscles with long brown trousers and a long blood red apron that went to her knees.

The woman placed her fists on her hips as she stared Bry down.

"Ah, Fralda," Bry said with a casual smile, "Lovely as ever."

Fralda snorted and crossed her arms, waiting for something.

Bry shrugged his pack off his shoulders, opened the flap and started digging in it. A moment later he pulled out a bouquet of flowers tied together with a thick piece of string.

Coil raised his eyebrows in surprise. He couldn’t remember Bry stopping at a flower shop at any point in the last few days.

But he recalled the field of flowers they’d been in, when Rizu had been attacked and taken by a massive bird. That must have been where Bry had gotten the flowers.

Fralda accepted the flowers with her right hand, but kept her left on her hip and raised an eyebrow.

"That’s not all, is it?" she asked.

"Of course not." Bry hummed. Coil had never seen Bry act this coy and casual before, and he wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not.

Bry pulled out two more items. A large reptilian skull and a necklace with four claws on it.

"A Basilisk skull, and a necklace made from its claws," Bry said with a small smile.

"So that’s what you did with the Basilisk we killed a few months back," Rizu scoffed.

The right corner of Fralda’s mouth turned up as she took the skull and Bry put the necklace on her.

"I’ll be along in a little bit," Bry said with a wink.

Fralda snorted again but the smile never left her face.

"Glad you’re back safe and sound," she said, turning to walk off to a kiosk.

Coil waited a few moments before turning to the large warrior.

"Didn’t think you were the type for courting," he said.

He heard Rizu suppress a giggle as Bry looked down at Coil.

"I’m not," he said.

"Then what was-"

"That," Bry interrupted with a grin, "was my wife."

Rizu could see the smug look on Bry’s face as they entered the Guild House, Coil was still in shock at the revelation that Bry was married. She couldn’t help but smirk at the look on Coil’s face, or at least what she could see considering the mask. She could practically hear the questions in his head.

The main floor of the Guild Hall, like all others, served as a bar and restaurant with the job board on the back wall. And, like usual, the Hall was packed. Other teams were at the tables, the stairs, the board, and the upper floor.

The bartender, some would call the Guild Master since he was the one who allowed membership and paid for jobs, was standing at the bar.

"Oh," he said raising his eyebrow as a smile crossed his face when he noticed the group approach. "Rizu and Bry. You’ve been gone for eight months. We thought you were dead."

The other Adventurers laughed.

"Hello to you too Vernon," Rizu said as she set Fluffles on the floor.

Vernon was not a tall or muscular man. He was only a couple inches taller than Rizu, and might as well have had noodles for arms. He had an oval face with a beaked nose, bright brown eyes and sandy hair half pulled back in a ponytail.

"And who’s this you’ve brought with you?" Vernon asked, eyeing Coil.

"Some stray we picked up," Bry said crossing his arms and grinning. "He was just so cute we had to bring him home with us."

Coil made a ‘pftt" noise in response.

"His name is Coil," Rizu said, drawing Vernon’s attention back to her. "We picked him up a couple months ago. He wants to join the Guild, and we want to put him on our team."

"You know that membership is decided by how skilled he is Rizu," Vernon said waggling a finger. "Otherwise everyone would join the Guild for free room and board and we’d be having funerals every day."

"We can account for his skill," Rizu said, tapping the bar with her nails. Fluffles curled up into a ball by her feet.

"He managed to wound Bry, and fight him to a standstill."

"Oh ho!" Vernon said turning to the two men.

"I was going easy on him." Bry sniffed indignantly.

"Keep telling yourself that," Coil huffed.

"He’s a trained assassin," Rizu continued. "And his Inner Magic is one of the most flexible I’ve ever seen. He can blend into shadows, make it so he gives off no sound, and make his eyesight sharper so he can see farther and be more accurate."

"A three user, eh?" Vernon said rubbing his chin. "Those are quite rare indeed."

Inner Magic could be split into categories for non-mages. A warrior could use it to increase his strength or durability, like Bry. But splitting it meant they got a certain percentage compared to someone who had their Inner Magic into just a single category. Because Bry split his into two categories (strength and durability), he wouldn’t be as strong or durable as someone who put all their Inner Magic into just strength or durability.

By splitting his Inner Magic into three categories, Coil only had thirty three percent of what a rogue would have by putting his Inner Magic into solely sight, sound reduction or blending.

Even so Coil was one of, if not the, most skilled rogues Rizu had come across. In the several months the trio had been traveling together she’d come to respect his skills.

Even with thirty three percent in each category, Coil knew how to use his skills to make them as great as someone with their Inner Magic in only one category

"Well, if you and Bry can vouch for him then I’m sold," Vernon said with a grin, waving Coil forward.

"So what are you going to do?" Coil asked after sitting at the bar "Brand me?"

"In a way," Vernon said with a bob of his head. "The Guild Brand is a type of magic. I place it where you choose, and it can only be seen by members of the Adventurers Guild. Outsiders won’t be able to see it."

"That’s how we know other Adventurers," Rizu said, "in case someone outside the Guild brings in a job a member did and tries to take their money."

"Huh, you lot are full of interesting surprises," Coil mused.

"So where do you want your Brand?" Vernon asked.

Coil’s eyes went to the ceiling for several seconds as the rogue thought. Finally he nodded.

"On my wrist," he said, pulling back the black fabric around his left hand.

Vernon raised the index and middle fingers of his right hand and pressed them hard against Coil’s hand. After ten seconds he pulled his fingers back and nodded.

Coil turned toward Rizu and Bry.

"How does it look?" he asked.

The Brand was a circle with a diamond inside, two swords crossing over the diamond.

"About damn time we get to see that mark on you." Bry said with a grin.

"Where’s yours?" Coil asked, pulling his glove back, hiding the mark.

Rizu lifted her leg a bit, pointing to the back of her calf, the mark just slightly visible through her tights.

Bry tapped the left breast of his armor’s chest piece, the mark hidden underneath.

"Now that you’ve been Branded," Vernon said, "you need to put your name in the book as well."

"Book?"

Vernon ducked under the bar for a moment only to come back up with a giant book, big enough to reach Coil’s knee. He set it on the counter with a huff.

"You’ll need to sign the first page," Rizu said, "then put your name under our team. We’re on page two thousand five hundred sixteen."

Coil quickly scribbled his name on the first page, then turned to the page Rizu had said and put his name underneath her and Bry’s.

"Very good," Vernon said happily as he put the book back under the table. "Welcome to the Guild."

"It’s a pleasure," Coil said with a bow, "Though we stopped at several Guilds to get jobs, so I’m confused why we needed to wait until now to get me in."

"We know Vernon." Rizu sighed, "Since we live here he sees us often, and so he knows our capabilities. If we’d tried to sign you up at another Guild Hall, they wouldn’t just take our word for it. You would have had to take a bunch of tests."

"Oh… patience wins out in the end, eh?" Coil laughed.

"Will that be all, Rizu?" Vernon asked.

"Why Vernon," Rizu said with a tsk, "you should know better."

Bry set his bag on the counter and pulled out a stack of papers - all job notices.

"Oh my," Vernon said looking through the stack, "someone has been busy."

A moment later he let out a shrill whistle.

The Crone appeared behind Rizu without a sound.

Coil’s hand quickly dropped to his throwing knife when he noticed the Crone. Coil wasn’t used to people sneaking up on him. From the floor Rizu heard Fluffles give off a warning growl.

"Easy there, Coil," Bry said sternly, placing a hand on Coils shoulder. "It’s part of the job."

The part she hated most.

She turned to face the Crone.

The Crone of Largun stood at five feet ten inches, wearing the usual long red dress and blindfold. She had short blonde hair and a slightly upturned nose and had black gem earrings.

Rizu felt her stomach turn but knelt before the Crone.

Even with her eyes closed she could see the evil red glow from the Crone’s hand. When she placed her hand on Rizu’s head she had to resist moving back, the Crone’s hand was extremely warm.

After a few moments Rizu felt what she thought of as tentacles worm through her brain and dig out the information the Crone needed. It was a sick feeling, having something slithering through your brain while it probed your memories.

For some reason, only mages could feel the slithering in their brain. None of the non-mage team leaders she’d talked to could feel it. As an experiment she’d made Bry leader of their team for a mission to see if he could feel the tentacles in his head, but he said he hadn’t felt anything.

Whatever magic the Crones used to read minds and memories, it made Rizu sick to her stomach.

Finally the tentacles retreated and the Crone removed her hand.

"They’ve done their jobs," the Crone whispered. "They’ve earned their pay."

With that, the Crone turned and walked away.

Rizu felt her eye twitching slightly as the Crone walked away, only stopping once the woman was out of sight.

She stood and let out a disgusted huff.

"Still feel those wiggly things?" Bry asked.

She nodded in response.

"What was that all about?" Coil asked, sitting on one of the stools at the bar.

"Crones," Bry replied, the word somewhat hushed. "They use some kind of magic to read your memories, so they know you completed the job."

"And if someone tries to get paid without doing the job?"

Bry shook his head and looked sick.

"Your eyes burst into flames and the fire doesn’t go out until the only thing left of your head is the skull."

"Skin, meat, hair," he continued. "All gone, until only smooth white bone is left."

Coil looked toward Rizu and asked, "Is he just trying to get a reaction out of me, or is he serious?"

"He’s serious," Rizu whispered. "We saw it for ourselves shortly after Bry joined."

"Some rookie took a job that was too hard for him," Bry said quietly, leaning against a table. "He thought he could lie and get paid, easy money. When the Crone looked into his head…"

Bry covered his mouth, as if to keep anything from coming up.

"Okay," Coil said holding his hands up. "Got it. No need to explain further."

Rizu let the silence last until her fifth heartbeat before turning to Vernon.

"So how much do we got?" she asked, sitting next to Coil.

"Between all these jobs," Vernon said writing the amounts down and adding them together, "nine hundred thousand gold pieces."

Bry let out a whistle.

"That’s three hundred thousand to each of us," Rizu said with a smile.

"Wait," Coil said, "I only joined you guys a little while ago, you should take the majority."

"Nope," Bry and Rizu said together.

"On my team, we all get an equal share of the pay," Rizu said with a wide grin.

"Would you like the gold delivered to your homes?"

"Yes please," the small mage said.

"Sure," Bry huffed.

"Uh, I don’t have a home right now," Coil said, scratching his head.

"Oh dear," Vernon said. "Well, we have some rooms avail-"

"Just send his share to my place," Bry said, stepping forward.

He turned to Coil and smirked. "You’ll be staying with me for now."

Bry’s house was shorter than the others in the city, only two stories tall. Two windchimes were on his patio, one on either corner of the patio roof. And on the side of the house was a large grey wolf baring its fangs in a snarl, with a large red bear next to it.

Bry took the lead of the group, opening up the door and stepping through. Fluffles dashed through the doorway, excited to see this new place.

To Coil’s surprise, the inside was neat. To his right, three couches set up in a square formation around a table. On the table was a vase with the bouquet that Bry had given Fralda earlier. Next to the furthest couch from them were two bookcases, completely filled. Under the table was a bear fur rug.

In front was a staircase leading up to the second floor, decorated with paintings.

To his left was the kitchen area, a counter and four chairs along it. Inside the kitchen was Fralda. She turned as the group entered and a bright smile crossed the large woman’s face.

"Honey bear!" Bry called as she walked around the counter.

"Sugar wolf!" she shouted back and the two hugged.

Coil wasn’t even involved and he felt embarrassed.

The couple broke their embrace and Fralda walked to Rizu. She knelt down and hugged the small mage, both with a toothy grin on their face.

"How have you been, Rizu?" Fralda asked as the two released. "I trust you’ve been keeping my husband out of trouble?"

Rizu’s toothy smirk never left her face.

"I’ve tried, but he’s such a rebellious child," the mage said with an exaggerated sigh. "He just refuses to listen."

Behind Fralda, Bry stuck his tongue out.

"Oh!" Fralda said, digging into her pockets. "Before I forget, here’s your key."

Rizu stuck out her hand and Fralda gently placed the key in her hand.

"I went to your place every few days to make sure your plants and herbs were watered and taken care of."

"You’re an angel, Fralda," Rizu said.

A playful growling noise drew Fralda’s attention downward.

"And who is this ferocious beast?" she asked kneeling again and scratching Fluffles behind the ear.

"That’s Fluffles," Rizu chirped, "I decided to take him in after he beat the snot outta your husband."

Fralda turned toward Bry and raised an eyebrow.

"He’s a lot meaner than you’d think," Bry replied.

Finally the tall woman faced Coil and tilted her head.

"I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure," she said.

Coil bowed low.

"My name is Coil," he said as he stood, "I’ve been traveling with Bry and Rizu for the last few months. As of today I’m officially a part of their team."

"Oh," Fralda said, sticking out her hand. "It’s nice to meet you, then."

Coil took her hand to shake and regretted it immediately as she nearly crushed his hand. He wasn’t sure if she was aware of it or not.

She released his hand and began to circle him, rubbing her chin.

Coil looked toward Bry for an answer and the warrior just sneered.

"He’s a bit skinny ain’t he?" Fralda asked. "Poor thing looks like he hasn’t eaten in weeks."

Coil blinked a few times. He needed a slight figure for his combat style, but he didn’t think he was THAT skinny.

"It’s about dinner time anyway," Fralda said walking back to the kitchen. "So I’ll make two more plates."

"Oh, there’s no need-" Coil started but was cut off as both husband and wife sent a glare his way.

"There’s no escape once Fralda decides to make you food." Rizu giggled before she smirked. "I should know, I’ve tried. Fralda is very proud of her cooking skills."

"Well...then I’d be honored to have some," Coil said, rubbing the back of his head.

Both husband and wife relaxed slightly.

"Where are the kids?" Bry asked, removing his chest piece and setting it lightly next to the couch. Under the chest piece he wore a blood red button up silk shirt.

Kids? Did Bry just say kids?

That was the second time today Bry had shocked him into silence.

"They’re upstairs," Fralda replied, "I was just about to call them down."

She walked toward the stairs, placed her fists on her hips and took a deep breath.

"OI!" she boomed, Coil thought he saw some of the loose items around her shake, "GET YOUR RUMPS DOWN HERE OR GO TO BED WITHOUT DINNER!"

Up above, Coil heard several sets of feet rush toward the staircase. Honestly he was somewhat interested to see how Bry and Fralda’s kids looked-

Third time. Third damn time in one day that Bry had surprised him.

Four children came running down the stairs, and only one was human.

The oldest appeared to be an orc girl with light red skin, like dried blood. Her lower tusks, a human’s canine teeth, went just above her upper lip. She had dark brown eyes with black hair, shaved on the sides and tied into a ponytail. She wore a black long sleeved shirt under a brown sleeveless vest and tan trousers.

Following close behind the orc was the only human of the group. Maybe eleven or twelve years old given his height and build.

He had shaggy sand colored hair, light blue eyes and a snubbed nose. His ears were slightly larger than most children his age. He wore a ragged white shirt and black trousers.

Next was a male dwarf. Yet to grow his beard he had faint purple outlines on his upper lip and chin, hinting at the facial hair to come.

Like the orc, his mud brown hair was shaved on the sides but instead of a pony tail, the stripe down the center was shaved close to the head. He had a large broad nose and dark brown eyes and was wearing a dark brown button up shirt and blue overalls.

The last was an elf girl, the youngest of the bunch. Long braided blonde hair, bright green eyes, a rounded nose and thin lipped. She wore a long green dress and held a stuffed grey wolf close to her.

Coil looked toward Bry, the question forming on his lips.

Bry shot him a quick glare, he knew what question Coil was going to ask and the look told him that he’d tell Coil the answer later.

All four children stopped on the stairwell. When they saw Bry their faces upturned in glee.

"Da!" they shouted and all charged toward the warrior.

Bry knelt stood from his seat, knelt down and opened his arms wide. He laughed as all four ran into his arms and he hugged them.

"Good to see you too, you little sprats," he said after a long hug.

The elf girl turned toward Coil and her eyes widened in surprise. Not sure what else to do, Coil waved at her and she shyly waved back.

Then she saw Rizu and tugged on her siblings sleeves and all turned toward the mage.

Coil saw Rizu narrow her eyes and raise her staff defensively.

"Don’t you dare," he heard the white mage hiss.

"Auntie Rizu!" the children shouted and tackled Rizu to the ground.

"Off!" Rizu shouted between the children’s hugging and laughing, Fluffles was giving off warning growls, not sure if he should defend his owner or not, "Off of me you little hellions!"

"You’re one to talk about little, Auntie," the human said, "You’re barely bigger than me an’ Rela."

"A curse!" Rizu shouted, playfully shaking off the children and standing. "I’ll curse you all to shortness for the rest of your lives!"

The children squealed and giggled.

Rizu gave each a quick kiss on the forehead and grinned.

"There! Now you’re all cursed!"

"No!" the elf girl shouted and hugged the wolf tighter.

"That is," Rizu said with a wicked grin, "unless you finished the homework I gave you before we left. Now, who finished theirs?"

All four children raised their hands.

"I’ll collect the papers after dinner." Rizu said smugly.

"Yes, auntie!" the children said in unison.

Coil had no idea what in the hell he was seeing, he wasn’t sure if he should leave or not.

Again the elf girl looked at Coil.

"Mister," she said walking up to him, "who are you?"

"I’m a friend of your daddy." Coil said crouching down as the other children walked up to him. "My name is Coil."

The kids tilted their heads, not sure what to say.

"Introduce yourselves." Fralda commanded.

"I’m Rela." the orc said.

"Douran." said the human.

"I’m Garshun," the dwarf chimed in, "but you can call me Gar."

"My name is Eranna," the elf girl said shyly, "but everyone calls me Anna for short."

Coil looked between each one, trying to find some physical feature to match with their names until he could remember their names.

"It’s a pleasure to meet all of you." he said with a smile.

The children all nodded and grinned, except for Eranna who still seemed shy and unsure of him. The other three went off to tackle Rizu again, much to the mages fake displeasure. Only Eranna stayed behind.

Wary little thing, Coil thought.

"It takes her awhile to get used to people." Bry said walking up and placing a hand on Eranna’s head, "But I’m sure she’ll be calling you Uncle before too long."

Uncle Coil. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought kinda made him happy.

A small ‘grawr’ from below drew Eranna’s attention downward and her mouth dropped when she saw Fluffles.

"He’s so cute!" she squealed. She held out her hand to the chimera.

Fluffles sniffed her hand and, after a moment’s consideration, rubbed the side of his face against her hand. The elf’s face brightened and she smiled.

"Da," she asked, looking up at Bry, "are we keeping him?"

Bry shook his head "He’s Rizu’s, dear." he said rubbing the top of her head. "Sorry."

Eranna frowned as she nodded sadly.

"I’ll bring him every time I visit." Rizu said. She had Rela in a headlock as Gar had a hold on her leg and Douran had her left arm. Coil had only looked away for twenty seconds. "Just for you sweetie."

That seemed to make Eranna feel better, proven by the small smile that crossed her face.

"Thank you auntie." she said.

"Alright kids," Fralda said, clapping to get their attention, "don’t think we didn’t hear you run straight down here. You know to wash your hands first. So get up there and scrub ‘em clean."

"Yes ma!" the kinds groaned all at once and rushed up the stairs.

The room was silent, save for Rizu plopping down on a couch.

"Go ahead and ask." Bry sighed, walking over and sitting at the counter.

Coil thought out how best to ask his question. He finally decided on the blunt way. Bry was a straightforward man, he’d respect Coil asking that way.

"They’re all different races." Coil finally said.

"Aye," Bry nodded, "Fralda and I adopted each of them."

"All of them?" Coil asked, tilting his head slightly, "None of them are by blood? Even Douran?"

"None." Fralda said with a sad shake of her head, "Bry and I are both infertile."

Coil’s eyes widened in shock and he looked at the warrior. Bry just shrugged in response.

"I’m…" Coil started, trying to figure out what to say.

"Sorry?" Bry chuckled. "Don’t be. It doesn’t bother us too much"

"Didn’t you have Rizu try to help?

"It’s not my area of expertise," Rizu said leaning on the arm of the couch, "my speciality is healing physical wounds. Besides," she tapped her index finger on her cheek in annoyance, "Fralda has a giants anatomy. I’ve never worked on a giant."

"Giant?" Coil asked, turning to the tall woman. She chuckled and grinned.

"Aye, my great grandma was a pureblood giant that fell in love with a human. My grandma was half, my mum was a fourth, and I’m an eighth." Fralda said thumping her chest with a proud smile. "Only the women in my family get the giant blood."

"What’s so different about giant anatomy that Rizu can’t help?"

"Giants have multiple hearts, for a start." Fralda said, holding up a finger. "It depends on the size of the giant though. Because I’m the runt of the litter between four sisters, I only have two."

"And their organs are in different places from humans. Sometimes they have entirely different organs from us." Rizu added. "So I wouldn’t know what to do once I got in there. I could try using magic on what I think is her womb, and accidentally shut down something important."

"And in Bry’s case?" Coil asked.

Rizu shrugged "Again, not my area of expertise. Maybe if I could use my Inner Magic to boost my power it could fix the issue. But magic that powerful can’t be wasted on something so trivial."

"Like I said," Bry said waving a hand, "it doesn’t bother us that much. We’re fine with it."

Coil felt sick of standing in the doorway, and moved to the middle couch.

"But that means you’re line won’t continue," Coil said, crossing his arms, "you won’t have anyone to carry on your name."

"Yes I do," Bry said, his tone taking on some steel, "you just met them."

Coil opened his mouth to reply but Bry cut him off.

"Fralda and I took those kids in years ago, and we’ve raised them as if they were our own flesh and blood." the warrior said. "See, I don’t think a family has to be connected just by blood. Just because society says it, doesn’t make it true. Their blood parents abandoned them, thought it was too much trouble to raise them."

"Would you call someone who did that to you your mother and father?" Fralda asked. "Or would you call the people who took you into a warm home, gave you food, a place to sleep, an education and loved you like you were their entire world your parents?"

Coil couldn’t argue with that. His parents had sold him to a crime boss when he was a child for some extra gold. He honestly couldn’t even remember their faces.

"Fair point," he said as the kids ran back down the stairs.

"All clean, ma." Rela said, and all four held up their hands and turned them to show both sides.

Fralda nodded and shooed Bry off the stool so Eranna could sit there. Bry picked up the small elf girl and set her on the stool, ruffling her hair as he did.

"Oh and dear?" Bry hummed.

"Yes?"

"Coil doesn’t have a place to stay, so he’ll be staying with us."

Fralda let out a sigh and looked over her shoulder at Coil. He squirmed slightly.

"Aye, he can have the spare room next to ours," she finally said.

"I don’t plan on being here long," Coil said, "if we go on a few more high paying jobs I should have enough gold to buy my own house."

"I’ll hold you to that," Fralda said with a grin.

"Hey mister," Gar asked, waving at Coil. "How come you wear that mask?"

"Oi!" Fralda shouted as she set four steaming bowls in front of the kids. "Don’t be rude"

Coil just smiled and waved his hand.

"I used to work for some very bad people," he said and the kids eyes widened, "and I had to wear the mask so no one would be able to identify me easily."

"If you’re a bad guy," Rela growled, "how come da and auntie didn’t kill you?"

"Good question." Fralda said, her eyes narrowing and arms tensing. A mother sensing a threat to her young was not someone to be trifled with. He could tell from the look she was giving him that she was suddenly reconsidering allowing him to stay.

It was Rizu that came to his rescue.

"Even when he was working for the bad men, Coil only killed the person that he was supposed to, not everyone else like some assassins would. And he thought he was killing corrupt people who made others lives horrible for profit. When your father and I showed him the truth, he helped us save some people that were being enslaved and worked to death. He even killed the big boss of the bad men himself."

"We trust him, honey bear." Bry said walking over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her. "He’s saved both of our rears more times than I can count."

"It’d help if you could count higher than ten." Rizu said with a sneer, causing Fralda and the children to giggle.

"Do you ever take the mask off?" Douran asked.

"Good question." Bry and Rizu said together.

Coil raised an eyebrow. The moments he had taken off his mask were rare, only for eating and drinking.

"Now that I think about it," Rizu said, "I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with it off."

"Why not show us?" Bry said. "You’re amongst friends."

"Because, I wasn’t planning on seducing your wife with my devilish good looks this early." Coil said with a casual shrug.

The room fell silent for several long seconds, Coil wondered if he’d said something wrong.

"HAR!" Fralda barked out with a laugh and clapped Bry on the back. "I like him already."

Bry pointed at his eyes, then to Coil. Coil just smirked in response.

"What are we having tonight, Fralda?" Rizu asked as Fluffles jumped up on her lap.

"Some vegetable soup with my special herbs and spices, and a bit of meat in it," the large woman replied with a wink.

"Rabbit?"

"Boar. Got it myself." Fralda said proudly as she thumped her chest with her fist.

She carried four more bowls of soup over to the table between the couches. She set them down and sat next to Bry, her husband leaned against her shoulder and both smiled.

"Are you an Adventurer as well?" Coil asked, blowing on the soup.

"No," Fralda said with a shake of her head, "with both of us being Adventurers we’d have to leave the children alone too long. I’m a hunter. I stick to the forests around the city though."

"Oh? What do you use?"

Fralda grinned proudly and pointed toward the doorway. Sitting on a stand above it was a large bow, four or five feet high and half as thick as Coil’s arm. Next to it was a quiver with arrows just as long as his arm.

"Impressive." Coil said.

"Quit stalling." Bry said leaning toward Coil. "You can’t eat without taking that mask off, and I’m not missing seeing that face of yours."

All three adults leaned in, and Coil could see the children watching out of the corners of their eyes.

He smiled and snaked his tongue just under his lip, where he kept long needles with razor tips, a last resort in case his other weapons were taken or he ran out. He quickly used the tip of the needle to cut a slit in the mask. He took the spoon in his bowl and brought it up to his face. He shoved it through the slit and downed the soup. He found it surprisingly tasty.

Everyone’s jaw dropped and he sneered.

"Cheater!" Bry shouted, standing and pointing at Coil. And everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey." Coil said. "A guy’s gotta have some air of mystery about him."

"I’ll walk Rizu to her house." Coil said as Bry and Fralda were washing the dishes. They’d sent the children to bed just a little before.

"You don’t have to, Coil." Rizu said, stretching. She picked Fluffles off the couch and held him in one hand.

The rogue shrugged. "I need to get to know the city a little better anyway."

"He’s got a point." Bry said, setting the stack of bowls into a cupboard. "Can’t have him lazing around in the house all day. He’d also need to know in case we need to send him to get you or pick something up."

"Bah!" Rizu said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Fine, fine. Let’s go."

Coil followed close behind as Rizu walked out the door. The sun was just beginning to set, Coil noticed.

"This way." Rizu said taking a left, toward the marketplace. "It’s only about a ten minute walk, to and from."

Coil made sure to memorize every turn they took and every building they passed. They walked in silence until the scenery changed.

It was Rizu’s turn to surprise him.

"You live in the slums?" he asked as they passed by some shacks made of rotted wood.

"Of course." Rizu said matter of factly, as if there was any other answer. "I’m a White Mage, Coil. We’re supposed to help people. And the people who live here, poor and sick, need it more than any other."

As they walked along he saw people notice Rizu and their faces brightened, waving at her and calling out.

Rizu smiled and returned the waves, sometimes stopping and asking individuals if ailments they’d had were doing well or medicine she’d given them had helped.

"You know," the rogue said, "given how you act out in the field it surprises me that you’re so…" he paused, looking for a word.

"Nice?" Rizu said with a wicked grin in the corner of her mouth.

Coil shrugged.

"I’m the team leader, Coil." Rizu huffed. "Out there, on jobs, I’m supposed to be in command. I need to make sure you and Bry listen to me and respect my authority. So I can’t afford to be nice all the time."

Coil considered that for a moment. He and Bry both snapped to attention when Rizu needed them to, and took her orders as close to the letter as they could. She had his full respect, without a doubt. And despite how often she and Bry bickered, Coil knew Bry respected her just as much, if not more due to how long they’d been a team.

"But here," she continued as they made another turn, "I’m just auntie Rizu, a White Mage that babysits when needed and takes care of the sick and wounded. Here, I don’t need you two to take orders because there’s no life or death situation that I need to worry about."

"Ah," Coil said with a nod, "that makes sense in a way."

Rizu snorted before pointing down the street.

"This is me." she said.

The house was the largest in the district, about three stories and the only one not made out of old or rotting wood.

Coil paused when they reached the front of the house. The distance from the door to the window was about fifteen feet, and the wall was over ten.

Taking up the entire space, was a snow white cat with golden eyes.

"Wait here." Rizu hummed as she opened the door, "I’ll be back in a moment."

She set Fluffles down on the floor and the Chimera ran off to investigate his new surroundings. Coil crossed his arm and leaned against the porch railing while he waited.

After counting to two hundred, Rizu finally returned and held out her left hand, now clenched into a fist.

Coil held out his hand just below hers and she dropped two wedges of foam.

"What’s this?" Coil asked, inspecting the wedges.

"Ear plugs." Rizu said flatly.

"And I need them because?"

"I stayed with Bry and Fralda for a couple weeks, when I was having some work done on my house." Rizu replied with a grimace. "Those two don’t realize how thin the wall between the guest room and their room is."

Oh, Coil thought dryly, joy.

#tales of the party #ToftP #original story #fantasy #bry #rizu #coil #fluffles #new characters show up in this one~

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nessietessimalnua · 6 years

Text

BESTIARY - Monsters

22/11/17

THE GREEKS

“Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines and mythological creatures. These accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homer’s epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War and its aftermath. Two poems by Homer’s near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians and comedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age, and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.” - Wikipedia

CHILDREN OF TYPHON

Typhon was the last son of Gaia and Tartarus, and known as “The Father of All Monsters”. There are several different versions of what he looked like, but most of them depict him with either his head and/or arms and legs replaced by 100s of snake and dragon heads, with 100s of different wings, with red eyes that terrified anyone who looked into them and a “savage jaw” that could breathe fire. Typhon married Echidna, who was described as having the top half of a beautiful woman but the bottom half of a huge and terrible snake - she became known as “The Mother of All Monsters”. The couple went on to raise some of the most famous monsters from Greek mythology;

SPHINX

With the body of a lion, the head of a woman and occasionally the wings of a bird, the Ancient Greek Sphinx was a treacherous beast that killed and devoured anyone who couldn’t answer her riddles. She was defeated by Oedipus when he answered correctly, the monster throwing herself into the ocean in a fit of rage/despair and drowning.

NEMEAN LION

A giant lion with impenetrable skin and claws that could shred any armour, this beast was slain by Hercules as part of his Twelve Labours, as a result freeing the city of Nemea in the Peloponnesus. The Lion was said to have become the constellation Leo after being slain.

CERBERUS

Cerberus was the giant three-headed hellhound that guarded the gates of Hades, fawning over those who entered Hades’ House and ensuring no-one left - eating those who attempted to. He was sometimes depicted as having a serpent for a tail and snakes protruding from his body. Hercules managed to capture Cerberus, shooting Hades in the process, and presented him to Eurystheus, completing his twelfth Labour. Cerberus was then either returned to Hades by Hercules, or was said to have escaped and returned by himself.

LADON

The serpentine dragon that guarded the Golden Apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, curling around the roots of the Apple Tree. The dragon was sometimes depicted with a hundred heads, each speaking a different language. Ladon was defeated by Hercules as another of his Labours, but whether the dragon was killed or not varies on the author.

LERNAEN HYDRA

A water-dwelling serpent-like monster with many heads, the Lernaen Hydra’s lair was in the lake Lerna at Argolid, said to be the entrance to the Underworld and the same location of the myth of the Danaids. The hydra’s breath was poisonous, and its blood was so vitreous that even the scent of it was deadly. It was was also said to regenerate its heads - when cut, two more grow back, until the neck stumps were burned with fire. Hercules managed to slay the Hydra for his second Labour.

CHIMERA

A monstrous beast with the head and half-body of a lion, the head (and back-legs) of a goat and the tail and head of a snake, the Chimera was a bad omen, and said to be seen before shipwrecks, storms and other natural disasters - such as volcanoes. It was a “she”, and the goat head could breathe fire, with the snake head having venomous fangs. She was slain by Bellerophon and Pegasus.

OTHER MONSTERS

ARACHNE

A human woman skilled at weaving, Arachne boasted so much about her skill that she (depending on the author) either challenged the Goddess Athena to a weaving contest, or Athena became so annoyed at her boasting that she challenged the mortal herself. Athena wove four stories depicting mortals striving for godhood and facing the consequences, whilst Arachne wove four stories of the Gods punishing mortals for no reason; Arachne’s stories painted the Gods in a bad light, and her weaving was a much better quality than Athena’s, causing the Goddess to become both enraged and embarrassed. There are a few different endings - some where Athena curses Arachne, turning her into a spider; others where the curse means that Arachne can’t weave with any loom or tool ever again, the woman becoming so distraught that Athena eventually takes pity on her and turns her into a spider so that she can continue with what she loves without breaking the curse; and a few versions where - after seeing the error of her ways and how arrogant she was for mocking the Goddess to give her the skill of weaving in the first place - Arachne takes her own life, Athena then bringing her back as a spider so that she can continue doing what she loves. Regardless of which ending is used, Arachne’s fate remains the same, and stands as the origin of the words “arachnid” and “arachnophobia” - it was also a story the Ancient Greeks used to explain why spiders create the webs to hunt and live on.

CENTAURS

As followers of Dionysus: god of wine, insanity and parties, the half-horse-half-man Centaurs are typically boisterous, barbarian beasts that represent chaos and the unruly effects of consuming alcohol. One centaur, however, was much wiser and more civilised than his kinsmen: Chiron, son of Philyra and Cronus, was the tutor to the likes of Achilles, Hercules and Jason, and resided in the forests of Mt. Pelion with his wife Chariklo, a nymph.

CYCLOPES

One-eyed giants that are said to be the sons of Poseidon and Gaia or nymphs, the often savage beasts are workmen of Hephaestus’s forge due to their resistance to heat and their ability to smith. A famous Cyclops is Polyphemus, born by the nymph Thoosa and the god Poseidon, described in Homer’s Odyssey as the giant that was blinded by Odysseus, who tricked him into believing he was attacked by “nobody” after he and his crew were taken and some eaten by the cyclops.

HARPIES

Harpies, with the bodies of birds and the faces of women, are often regarded as the hounds of Zeus due to them being dispatched to snatch people and objects from Earth, or to deliver punishment, for the god - being used to explain sudden or mysterious disappearances.

MEDUSA

Medusa was the mortal of the three Gorgons - sisters with hair of snakes and grotesque faces. She was a beautiful woman before she cursed by Athena after falling in love with Poseidon and breaking her priestess vows, or after fleeing to her temple to hide from the god (depending on the author); turning her eyes red, her skin green and her hair into a mass of venomous snakes - anyone who looked at her directly turned into stone. Legend has it that Medusa travelled Africa for a time, baby snakes dropping from her head as she walked - explaining why there are so many snakes on the continent. She was slain by Perseus, the man using a polished shield from Athena to watch the Gorgon’s reflection so as not to be turned to stone.

MINOTAUR

Born to the wicked King Minos as a mutated, half-bull looking creature, the Minotaur was sealed in a Labyrinth under Crete, built by the inventor Daedalus, after Minos killed the mother and couldn’t stand to see it as his son. Anyone with qualms against the King were sent there to be eaten by the beast - Theseus being one of them. However, the man had plotted with Minos’s beautiful daughter, Ariadne, and took with him a ball of yarn and a sword she had given him, the first so that he would be able to find his way out of the ever shifting and confusing maze, and the latter to kill the Minotaur.

SIRENS

Another monster that was part woman, part bird, Sirens would draw sailors to their deaths with their beautiful singing. Two heroes were able to survive encountering them: Perseus and Odysseus. Odysseus has his crew tie him to the mast and plug their ears with bees wax, so that he could listen to the Sirens without jumping overboard. Perseus had the musician Orpheus, who played music so beautiful it overwhelmed the Sirens’ singing. It was said that if someone were to escape them, the Sirens would throw themselves into the water and die.

PEGASUS

The son of Poseidon, Pegasus - a brilliant white winged stallion - leapt from the neck of Medusa when she was beheaded by Perseus.

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