Quote from The_Summoning_Dark >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Today I am going to describe a creature based on a different kind of folklore -- popular folklore from the 20th century. See if you can figure it out from the way I describe them in D&D...

Mites are a race of violet or purple skinned, two foot tall, bipedal, pigeon toed, winged, flight capable beings with one eye in the center of their wide heads, one brightly colored horn that juts up from it, no visible nose, and a gaping maw that stretches nearly the width of the head and can open to almost a foot wide. They are primarily arboreal, preferring to ambush prey from the trees, and seem to be able to tell if the prey is going to be tough or not. They have an intense love of music, and will often pause to gyrate strangely when they hear a tune they like. They can also be bargained with , having a value on very short shorts, something they occasionally wear.

When attacking, they will drop to the ground and begin to gyrate and speak their strange tongue, including such words as wop, bam, boom, bop, a-boppa, lopa, and lum. This is a ritual chant to prepare the sacrifice for their deity, which appears to just be a ten foot tall representation of one of them. The horn on their head can be useful to gore their opponents, but also can be used as a sort of musical instrument, with them exhaling through it while closing off holes they have drilled into it in some strange ritual.

Victims are sacrificed and their corpses dragged t the mouth of a cave within a large, circular rock that is thick in the middle and thin on on top, like two inverted teacup saucers. There, a shaman keeps careful count, and those who have reached an unknown number of acceptable sacrifices are allowed into the cave. After a period of time, they will emerge, nearly eight feet tall and commensurate in size. this massive increase in size leaves them in an aggravated state, which can only be calmed by music and ritual prayer.

These very large ones have a deep fondness for eating their prey, usually people, whole.

 The purple people eater right? Nice.

 Lol

Ding ding!

it was, after all, a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater!

I would just like to quickly share two monsters from Celtic mythology.

The first, is the barghest. Though its name can be used to describe any ghost or wraith, I will be describing a certain version of this spirit. It takes the form of a large, black dog with eyes that burn like red hot coals, and unlike many spirits who are bound to certain domains, the barghest roamed freely across Northern England, appearing in cities and in the country side. It preyed upon lone travelers at night, and there are reports of their attacks in farms as well as dark alleys. The sight of the barghest was an omen of death and anyone who sees it is said to be fated to die shortly after. The barghest is also said to be able to change its form, appearing as a headless person, or a rabbit, cat or other animal. Most attacks against the barghest would go straight through it, but it could inflict wounds that would never heal and it is said that they can vanish and appear at will, sometimes in a burst of flames. There is one story about a man who tried to summon a barghest through a dark ritual, and the man's mauled corpse was later found with slash marks across his chest. The barghest also appears at the funerals of noble men, leading their funeral procession and is joined by all the other dogs in the area. If the barghest is interrupted during the procession, it will attack the intruder. Like many other spirits, the barghest is unable to cross rivers. I thought it would be interesting to include this here because there is a dnd version of the barghest that is also a shape shifting hound, but it is a fiend whose mission is to eat goblins.

The other Celtic monster I wish to write about comes from the Orkney Islands and is known as the nuckelavee. It is a horrible horseman sea spirit that seems to be a skinless man's torso that is bound to the back of a one-eyed, skinless horse which has fin-like appendages on its legs. It has long claws that can scrape the ground from their positions on the horse's back, and its muscles, bones, and blood are all in plain sight. It was a being of pure evil, and its breath could spread rot and decay. It comes from the sea, and so it cannot tolerate fresh water and will not be seen while it is raining. During the summer months, this beast is imprisoned by a spirit known as Mither o' the Sea who is an ancient Orcadian sea spirit that is the only being that holds any control over the nuckelavee. This spirit terrified islanders and they used it as a way to explain unexplainable events. They were so afraid of this creature that they couldn't say its name without immediately offering a prayer. The nuckelavee would grow enraged if it smelled seaweed burning and would fly into a furious rampage if it ever caught the scent. It had some control over the weather, cursing the land with drought in its rage. 

I hope someone found this interesting because I sure did.

Sounds like a pleasant playfellow. 

Quote from The_Summoning_Dark >>

I would just like to quickly share two monsters from Celtic mythology.

The first, is the barghest. Though its name can be used to describe any ghost or wraith, I will be describing a certain version of this spirit. It takes the form of a large, black dog with eyes that burn like red hot coals, and unlike many spirits who are bound to certain domains, the barghest roamed freely across Northern England, appearing in cities and in the country side. It preyed upon lone travelers at night, and there are reports of their attacks in farms as well as dark alleys. The sight of the barghest was an omen of death and anyone who sees it is said to be fated to die shortly after. The barghest is also said to be able to change its form, appearing as a headless person, or a rabbit, cat or other animal. Most attacks against the barghest would go straight through it, but it could inflict wounds that would never heal and it is said that they can vanish and appear at will, sometimes in a burst of flames. There is one story about a man who tried to summon a barghest through a dark ritual, and the man's mauled corpse was later found with slash marks across his chest. The barghest also appears at the funerals of noble men, leading their funeral procession and is joined by all the other dogs in the area. If the barghest is interrupted during the procession, it will attack the intruder. Like many other spirits, the barghest is unable to cross rivers. I thought it would be interesting to include this here because there is a dnd version of the barghest that is also a shape shifting hound, but it is a fiend whose mission is to eat goblins.

The other Celtic monster I wish to write about comes from the Orkney Islands and is known as the nuckelavee. It is a horrible horseman sea spirit that seems to be a skinless man's torso that is bound to the back of a one-eyed, skinless horse which has fin-like appendages on its legs. It has long claws that can scrape the ground from their positions on the horse's back, and its muscles, bones, and blood are all in plain sight. It was a being of pure evil, and its breath could spread rot and decay. It comes from the sea, and so it cannot tolerate fresh water and will not be seen while it is raining. During the summer months, this beast is imprisoned by a spirit known as Mither o' the Sea who is an ancient Orcadian sea spirit that is the only being that holds any control over the nuckelavee. This spirit terrified islanders and they used it as a way to explain unexplainable events. They were so afraid of this creature that they couldn't say its name without immediately offering a prayer. The nuckelavee would grow enraged if it smelled seaweed burning and would fly into a furious rampage if it ever caught the scent. It had some control over the weather, cursing the land with drought in its rage. 

I hope someone found this interesting because I sure did.

 This was cool to read

indubitably

Here is a link to a homebrew monster I made a while ago based on a mythical creature called the codrille. The description of it is in the monster description. It is a dragon-like creature from France that is said to go through a weird sort of metamorphosis. The little bit I put in about them congregating at a tower was because in the legend, codrille are said to fly towards the Tower of Babylon once they become adults. Let me know if the link works because I am really bad using them, and if you have any feedback I would be happy to hear it.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/homebrew/monsters?filter-type=0&filter-search=Codrille&filter-cr-min=&filter-cr-max=&filter-armor-class-min=&filter-armor-class-max=&filter-average-hp-min=&filter-average-hp-max=&filter-is-legendary=&filter-is-mythic=&filter-has-lair=&filter-author=&filter-author-previous=&filter-author-symbol=&filter-rating=-11

Today, let me tell you about something innocuos becoming a bit of a terror.

Clams. Ever thought about them? They aren't oysters, with their pearls. They are simple bivalves, the most famous of which is in the background of a painting and a statue of a nekkid woman for most of us.

Even in the game lore, a giant clam doesn't seem all that big a deal. I mean, it's a clam.

Among the many tales of Rata in polynesian cultures, there is one where he encounters a giant clam named Pua Tu Tahi. It is not what we call a great story, because it starts off with how Pua Tu Tahi ate both his father and his uncle. It was hungry.

This led him to become King. he wasn't really fond of that, and swore an oath of vengeance on the clam. A clam, I remind you. 

That eats people.

Now, many people have taken the legend and created some fanciful versions of Pua Tu Tahi -- reimagining it as a reef or a crab and I just want you to reflect ont he fact they did this because, well...

A clam ain't exactly a scary thing. Even if it does eat people. Grown men, Whole. but in Rata's Tale, Pua Tu Tahi was a clam.

So, Rata gathered an entire crew of the bravest, most fiercest warrior, and the entire band went down into the deep seas off Tahiti, and there they battled the Giant Clam, and every last one of them was eaten.

Indeed, that would have been the end of all the many tales of Rata, except that he and a few others had held on to their spears. And even swallowed whole, they fought on from inside the clam, and finally succeeded in killing it.

This is one reason why you should always be careful about giant clams.

Rata had many more adventures.

AEDorsay, I grant you the title of THE ORACLE.

(Please put it in your signature for now.)

So let it be written, so shall it be done.

maybe you could make the part saying Cult of Mythology Nerds a link?

Sort of relating to AEDorsay's clam story, Japan had a horned turban shell yokai called a Sazae-oni. It was first described in a writer's philosophical musings where they reasoned that if sparrows can become clams, and moles become quail, surely a sazae, a horned turban shell, can become an oni. As you can see, this logic is flawless and this man is a paragon of reasoning. The sparrow/clam bit was based off the old wife's tale about sparrows becoming clams to hibernate through the winter and the mole/quail was probably a poetic saying about hibernation.

An illustration of this creature showed a sinuous, slug-like creature with arms crawling out of a horned turban shell and its head was another spiky shell with protruding eyeballs. It wore a mantle of seaweed around its neck, and had the ability to shape shift into a human. While in human form, the sazae-oni would walk along beaches looking for seaside inns and they would walk in and eat the tavern keeper before returning to their home beneath the waves. If you ever want to start a seaside hotel in Japan, watch out, because there is a shellfish monster that preys on innkeepers there. Consider this your warning, don't be among the many seaside innkeepers that fall prey to the sazae-oni.

Quote from KoboldNerd >>

maybe you could make the part saying Cult of Mythology Nerds a link?

Oh, now you are just being demanding...

(this is where I usually put my crazy face emoji, but I am on the laptop and it doesn't work here, lol)

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from KoboldNerd >>

maybe you could make the part saying Cult of Mythology Nerds a link?

 

Oh, now you are just being demanding...

(this is where I usually put my crazy face emoji, but I am on the laptop and it doesn't work here, lol)

 Sorry!

Needless to say, it is a link and it works (and I was joking -- no need to apologize)

Sorry, I always apologize way to much... Wait a minute...

I had this idea that for when I figure out how to make homebrew magic items. When we reach are 100th page I will make some mythology themed magic items!

E.g. Mjolnir, Gungnir, Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, the helm of Hades.

Quote from KoboldNerd >>

I had this idea that for when I figure out how to make homebrew magic items. When we reach are 100th page I will make some mythology themed magic items!

E.g. Mjolnir, Gungnir, Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, the helm of Hades.

 Oooooooooh nice

Quote from DaOtterPrince >>

Quote from KoboldNerd >>

I had this idea that for when I figure out how to make homebrew magic items. When we reach are 100th page I will make some mythology themed magic items!

E.g. Mjolnir, Gungnir, Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, the helm of Hades.

 Oooooooooh nice

 That’s a great idea!

Quote from WoodsGirl0402 >>

Quote from DaOtterPrince >>

Quote from KoboldNerd >>

I had this idea that for when I figure out how to make homebrew magic items. When we reach are 100th page I will make some mythology themed magic items!

E.g. Mjolnir, Gungnir, Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, the helm of Hades.

 Oooooooooh nice

 That’s a great idea!

 but first I need to find out how to make magic item right!