MegSyv
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BESTIARY MILESTONE: UNLOCKED
🕑 Added 2017-05-19 22:44:49 +0000 UTC yyyYYYYEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! YOU GUYS DID IT!!!!Okay, THIS has been a Milestone I've been SO PUMPED to get for AGES! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS DID THIS AW MAN HOLY CRAAAAAAP
I have a thousand things to do right at this very second, but AT THE VERY LEAST WE CAN START TALKING ABOUT THIS AND COMING UP WITH SOME IDEAS, DUDES.
So, man, I have so many ideas for this tier, not the least of which is eventually printing all of these within a design of a book printed and distributed within the DotL universe, a la Harry Potters A History of Quidditch and Extraordinary Beasts and Where to Find them. I have no page count goal at this point, but I want to at least hit MAYBE 100 pages (pretty ambitious!).
The Bestiary itself will be in the relative style of ~1800s Scientific Illustrations , with handwritten notes in the margins and maybe a paragraph of text to elaborate upon Life Cycles, Preferred Diets, and Native Regions.
(The idea is that... Thistle is the author of this book...? Or maybe it's just required literature distributed by the Mercenary Guild? Who knows...!)
I originally came up with the concept for this tier after creating this Leviathan Notes Sheet while Livestreaming and bouncing ideas around with everyone there, which was an absolute blast, and that's something I'd like to revive. It will make research much easier and make me way more accountable to finish them when I can, or at least make myself more accessible to y'all.
ALSO, HEY, LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME MONSTER IDEAS.
So far, here are the creatures I know for a fact I want to include:
- Unicorns
- Dragons
- Griffins
- Harpies
- Glow Trolls
- Leviathans
- Mermaids?
- Cave Elves
- Phoenixes
- and others I cannot recall off of the top of my head.
Here are my questions for you:
WHAT MONSTERS COULD WE ADD TO THE WORLD AND COVER IN THIS BESTIARY? Any creature from any culture or folklore is fair game. Heck, the more obscure, the better!
DO YOU GUYS WANT TO CHOOSE WHAT CREATURE I COVER VIA A MONTLY POLL? Obviously, there are a couple I definitely for sure need to hit given the lore and storypoints of DotL, but everything else could be your decision. Do you want that responsibility??
WHEN'S A GOOD TIME FOR Y'ALL? I am most likely available Monday Evenings or Weekends, and slotting this into my schedule will be a little bit of a struggle, but I would like to know when the most of you could make it to figure that part out.
I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS YYYEEEAAAASSSS
Comments
Meg Syv
THESE ARE ALL EXCELLENT
Meg Syv
Yes absolutely! Polls will span across at least 2 days to make sure everyone has a chance to respond.
Barbara Stone
Oh yes. Nixies, pixies, wyverns, hippogriffs, griffins, ki-rin, unicorns, thunderbirds, rocs, egad, I could just recite the old D&D monster manual, but I will spare you. :D
Barbara Stone
I love the idea of the patrons voting for new critters, but could it be a poll with a day or so to respond? I work third shift and have adulting to do most of the time.
Kathryn JWB
First up: a Tarasque. They are crazy awesome scary lion turtle things with a lot of teeth and a lot of legs. Kind of like a nightmare version of Bowser... <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque</a>#/media/File:TarasqueStatue.jpg I would also love to see your depiction of an Ahklut! It's a creature from Inuit mythology; sorta half orca and half wolf, and always hungry. I think voting on a beast each month is a fun idea, but I'd hope you'd still draw the "losers" at some point. :)
Bugbears! Owlbears! Chupacabra! Aswang!
So, that flashlight could've been...a pet?
+1 for including non magical, mundane-but-still -wonderful critters in the Bestiary.
Yokoboo
*cough* Dryads and Naiads. Is there going to be an entry on Drath? One of those, "do not approach or summon" warnings on the page with redacted information? Are any of the gods associated with animals/are believed to have animal messengers/servants/etc? I think it'd be a fun thing, so the animals themselves aren't necessarily fantastical, but they're still revered and recorded in the bestiary.
This is what I was going to recommend. The Wendigo's seem to fit in very well with the Drackthmal.
Zim
If we go with some local mythology Witte Wieven, spirits of "wise women" (or else elven/fae beings. Also since the Ophiotaurus was mentioned how about Girtablilu also known as scorpion men. Basically scorpion centaurs. Mære, an evil spirit which rides on people's chests while they sleep, making you feel heavy in the chest and gives you nightmares. Moss folk, small grey creatures that look really old and are very hairy. All clad in moss. Often seen as a kind of fae and basically trade small things for gifts though also known to be of great temper and not always nice.
One of my favorites is the Ophiotaurus, half serpent, half bull, all crazy. And driders are awesome as well. You could have a section for mortal aberrations, once normal people who have been twisted by dark forces or their own desires. Erinyes, Gorgons, Thunderbirds, sphinx, horned serpents, rocs, elementals, all of humanities deep seated fears brought to life through our own twisted imaginations.
Genevieve Hammang
No creatures are coming to mind, but I'd definitely recommend checking out Maria Sibylla Merian and Ernst Haeckel for style inspiration. Merian did supremely gorgeous entomological and botanical illustrations in the 1600s. Haeckel was an 1800s naturalist and biologist who did some really wild (borderline surreal) illustrations of marine life. Maybe the subjects will give you some ideas for weirder creatures, too?
What about including Kirin? They fit in nicely with eastern dragons and unicorns!
can I suggest the insanity of mankind? I mean come on, as a race we are pretty out there. The fae, and my personal favorite The Headless Horseman
Thirding/fourthing Kelpies! And, for something unusual, you could try something from Aussie mythology like a bunyip? Although stories about that one are a bit variable.
mike stone
In Japanese mythology, objects that have been kept for 100 years come alive. Their personality depends on how they were treated during that time. That's why you'll see things like umbrellas and sandals hopping around in Miyazaki's _Spirited Away_
Naziha Zahed
Selkies and Harpies. That's my only contribution. I'm so proud of you, girl!!! *fist-pump!*
Meg Syv
Oh yeah: Dragons, Unicorns, Phoenixes, and specific others will be in a very special section all about SUPER magical sentient creatures. It'll be RAD.
Meg Syv
WHOA WHAT THAT SOUNDS RAD. What's the title of the book? I would love to look it up for reference!
Omg, I would love to see Kelpies, Squonks, manticoe?, hippocampus, Boggart, ... let's be honest I have hundreds.. and I have a book that is a scholarly encyclopedia of mythical creatures... :3 I'd love to share it with you so if you want me to look up certain creatures for research I would love to help <3 hell if you want I will even mail it to you :3
Allison Shaw
Basilisk, Centaur, Chimera, Kelpie, Manticore, and Selkie. And dragons should have a whole section for different types based on appendages, origins, and associated beliefs.
Meg Syv
Thank you very very very much!! I've been so burned out the past couple of months and have been behind on Wallpapers as it is (which I've been beating myself up about) so I really appreciate what you wrote, Robert!
peter allen
Congrats meg! I'm glad you met your goal. Don't just go for the big things, the small things can be interesting/dangerous as well. A horde of ankle biting creatures that you disturbed the rest of is every bit as dangerous as an awakened Dragon.
1) I absolutely love the idea of Thistle being the book's author. 2) Have you considered using something along the lines of a hydra or a wendigo?
All of the dragons and orcs please. And maybe include Thistle's race, but don't tell us which one it is so we can take guesses and maybe start narrowing down the Thistle Theories. Or make more theories. Either works.
Katie
I always liked cockatirce and chimeras for lore monsters! Just saying... Anyways I'm super pumped for this stretch goooooaaall!!π
Robert
This all sounds awesome, but pace yourself! Don't suffer a burn out!
