It's fun seeing people do what they can to adapt entities from all over our world's mythologies. One of the more obscure creatures of mythology, on the world stage, I became aware of sometime last year is the Aralez. The Aralez is a creature from Armenian mythology that is described as a winged dog that descends from the heavens to revive fallen heroes by licking their wounds. There are two things I can think of from this description. An Aralez could make for a great Patron for your Celestial Warlock, they basically already have all the mission statement stuff built in, and you can even have it in the character's backstory that the Warlock got the Aralez as their patron as a result of being revived by it; the other way my mind went is that the Saliva of an Aralez can be used as magical substance to revive people or as a substitute for Diamonds in Resurrection spells with a greater chance of success on revival, the diamonds are just far easier procure.
Another creature from another culture I became aware of a few years ago is the Imoogi, a great celestial serpent from Korean mythology. From what I've managed to gather, every 5 to 7 centuries, a great celestial Dragon's Treasure emerges, and one Imoogi is chosen to have the honor of receiving this treasure to become a Dragon. Once again, this could make for an interesting Celestial Patron, and can even make for a nice Segway into a Draconic pact if a dragon as the patron is made available to the players in some capacity; you can even make a character's personal journey tied to the Imoogi by having them being tasked with finding out where the treasure has emerged or gone because it not in the place it was meant to be and their patron was among the candidates for dragonhood.
Eh, you've got to be careful with East Asian lore; can easily cross into cultural appropriation there. There's a reason the vast majority of monsters come from European folklore.
Part of the cultural “appropriation “ problem is simply - when is it cultural appropriation, and when is it cultural inclusion or crossover? If you think about rock music Elvis’s hound dog and pat bone’s tutti-frutti were appropriation, little Richard’s tutti fruitti was crossover and and his and chuck berry’s stuff after that were inclusion. Making space to include not just the creature but the culture is inclusion, having say the iMovie become a patron and the warlock be his means of searching for the treasure when it’s placed in a different land so the patron is learning about the new land while the warlock has to learn about the patron’s culture and etiquette would be crossover not appropriation.
Diving back into Irish mythology, there is also the Dobhar-chú. In Irish mythology, the Dobhar-chú is described as a hybrid monster that is a mix of otter and dog and is described as a man-eating creature that lives equally in the water as on land. Sounds like a monstrosity candidate to me.
Another fun one I became aware of earlier this year is actually found in Spanish lore, the Ramiderju.
In Spanish lore, the Ramidreju is described as a weasel-like creature with Green Fur and Boar-like tusks on its snout; the description would already most likely put it into the Monstrosity category, but there's more. The Ramidreju is said to have the power to detect and Seek out Gold and Treasures. Gold is even said to have a calming effect on it when it can hold the stuff but makes them far more volatile if you try to steal it from them, and their fur is said to be a sort of magical cure-all. And on top of all that, they're said to only make an appearance every hundred years or so.
Part of the cultural “appropriation “ problem is simply - when is it cultural appropriation, and when is it cultural inclusion or crossover? If you think about rock music Elvis’s hound dog and pat bone’s tutti-frutti were appropriation, little Richard’s tutti fruitti was crossover and and his and chuck berry’s stuff after that were inclusion. Making space to include not just the creature but the culture is inclusion, having say the iMovie become a patron and the warlock be his means of searching for the treasure when it’s placed in a different land so the patron is learning about the new land while the warlock has to learn about the patron’s culture and etiquette would be crossover not appropriation.
I vry much want to know more about this "iMovie" patron... XD
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It's fun seeing people do what they can to adapt entities from all over our world's mythologies. One of the more obscure creatures of mythology, on the world stage, I became aware of sometime last year is the Aralez. The Aralez is a creature from Armenian mythology that is described as a winged dog that descends from the heavens to revive fallen heroes by licking their wounds. There are two things I can think of from this description. An Aralez could make for a great Patron for your Celestial Warlock, they basically already have all the mission statement stuff built in, and you can even have it in the character's backstory that the Warlock got the Aralez as their patron as a result of being revived by it; the other way my mind went is that the Saliva of an Aralez can be used as magical substance to revive people or as a substitute for Diamonds in Resurrection spells with a greater chance of success on revival, the diamonds are just far easier procure.
Another creature from another culture I became aware of a few years ago is the Imoogi, a great celestial serpent from Korean mythology. From what I've managed to gather, every 5 to 7 centuries, a great celestial Dragon's Treasure emerges, and one Imoogi is chosen to have the honor of receiving this treasure to become a Dragon. Once again, this could make for an interesting Celestial Patron, and can even make for a nice Segway into a Draconic pact if a dragon as the patron is made available to the players in some capacity; you can even make a character's personal journey tied to the Imoogi by having them being tasked with finding out where the treasure has emerged or gone because it not in the place it was meant to be and their patron was among the candidates for dragonhood.
Eh, you've got to be careful with East Asian lore; can easily cross into cultural appropriation there. There's a reason the vast majority of monsters come from European folklore.
I’m not sure I would rate an Aralez up high enough to be a patron. More like a celestial counterpart to the hellhound.
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Part of the cultural “appropriation “ problem is simply - when is it cultural appropriation, and when is it cultural inclusion or crossover? If you think about rock music Elvis’s hound dog and pat bone’s tutti-frutti were appropriation, little Richard’s tutti fruitti was crossover and and his and chuck berry’s stuff after that were inclusion. Making space to include not just the creature but the culture is inclusion, having say the iMovie become a patron and the warlock be his means of searching for the treasure when it’s placed in a different land so the patron is learning about the new land while the warlock has to learn about the patron’s culture and etiquette would be crossover not appropriation.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Diving back into Irish mythology, there is also the Dobhar-chú. In Irish mythology, the Dobhar-chú is described as a hybrid monster that is a mix of otter and dog and is described as a man-eating creature that lives equally in the water as on land. Sounds like a monstrosity candidate to me.
Another fun one I became aware of earlier this year is actually found in Spanish lore, the Ramiderju.
In Spanish lore, the Ramidreju is described as a weasel-like creature with Green Fur and Boar-like tusks on its snout; the description would already most likely put it into the Monstrosity category, but there's more. The Ramidreju is said to have the power to detect and Seek out Gold and Treasures. Gold is even said to have a calming effect on it when it can hold the stuff but makes them far more volatile if you try to steal it from them, and their fur is said to be a sort of magical cure-all. And on top of all that, they're said to only make an appearance every hundred years or so.
I vry much want to know more about this "iMovie" patron... XD