This was the finale, which I wracked my brain on for a while. Mostly, I wanted to make sure all loose ends were tied up. This included things from the first book, so I had to go back a bunch. I went for a post-apocalyptic action horror here, which might have been inspired by how the ‘Resident Evil’ movies went off the rails. I still tried to have there be suspense and mystery. Still, it was nice to give a real ending for Dawn Addison even though she never got officially published.
Raven’s Wrath
The world has been twisted. Destruction has washed across the globe and left madness in its wake. Yet, there are specks of civilization and sanity out there. A young girl named Kara is determined to get there after losing everyone. Journeying through the chaotic wilderness is a death trap for a child, especially with rumors of psychotic reality-benders roaming the area. She is fortunate to find help from a woman who may attract more danger than she wards off. Will Kara regret making friends with the mysterious traveler named Dawn?
Let’s get the obvious out the way. Yale the college is named after this heraldic beast and they have a few around the campus. Most notably, it shows up on the banner for the University President and above the gateway to the Davenport Campus. Yet, the college has a bulldog as it’s mascot, but I guess it’s easier to get a costume made of that. I mean, the bulldog is such a common mascot that it’d be hard not to find one when needed. We’re going to use Centicore for the rest of the post though just to avoid confusion.
I found two name origins though:
It comes from the Hebrew word ‘yael’, which means ibex.
It comes from the ancient Greek words of ‘ealen’ (^ over second e) and eilo (^ over the o), which mean roll back. This is in connection to the horns.
The description of the Centicore is rather straight-forward. It is a goat or antelope with the tusks of a boar and tail of an elephant. They are either black or tawny colored. The biggest identifier is that they have horns, which can be swiveled. So, they can aim their horns in any direction including each one going in a different direction. Some stories say that these horns can furl when not in use. As far as size goes, they are as big as a ‘water-horse’. That caught me off-guard since it had been a while since I’d seen the term. For those who don’t know, that’s another name for the hippopotamus, which is odd. The pictures I found showed a slender and lean antelope while the description makes it sound like it should be large and hefty.
Of course, I found some variations from the more common depiction. Some versions gave the Centicore the body of a bull. Another gave it the body of a lion with the snout and tusks of a boar. Yet, the rotating horned antelope is the version you’re going to see the most because of its popularity.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher, first mentioned the Centicore in his Natural History series. He claimed it was from Ethiopia. From there, it moved into Eastern European mythology and heraldry of the British Royal Family. It was seen as a symbol of defense. Anyone who has looked at British heraldry symbols in passing has probably seen it and thought ‘goat’. I know I did, so I was surprised to see that this figure was something more.
The Centicore began being used as a heraldic symbol with Henry VII because his mother, Lady Margaret, was from the Beaufort family. They inherited a heraldic legacy that included the Centicore. So, this beast ended up getting used more often. For example, they are found on the roof of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. It was also used as one of the Queen’s Beasts, which were 10 heraldic statues used during the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II. They represented her genealogy and that included the Centicore.
And there you have it. A fairly simple creature that has an interesting past and continues to appear from time to time.
I was trying to decide on what to write about this weekend. Then, I remembered mentioning one of my favorite animals last week. The jaguar loves eating these guys, which isn’t the reason I love them. They’re just so cute and, to a kid, they look like they can be ridden. I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride a capybara?
A capybara is the world’s largest rodent. They live in South America and are not endangered. There is no threat to their population, so I don’t have any ‘doom and gloom’ to share this time. Instead, I’ll just post some fun facts and then get to the cuteness:
An adult capybara can weigh as much as an adult human.
There is a smaller ‘species’ called the lesser capybara, but people still debate if it’s a species or subspecies.
Capybara have webbed feet because they are semi-aquatic.
They can stay underwater for up to 5 minutes.
Sometimes, they will sleep underwater with their noses above the surface.
On land, a capybara can run as fast as a horse. They need that for a fighting chance against jaguars, crocodiles, anacondas, and other predators.
Capybara have a very large and complex vocalization system. They can purr, bark, cackle, whistle, squeal, whine, grunt, and even chatter their teeth.
Other animals will perch on top of a capybara, who doesn’t care. Birds, monkeys, rabbits, and other capybara have been seen using ‘nature’s ottoman’.
They live in herds that can be 10-20 individuals, but sometimes gather in groups of around 100.
They are closely related to guinea pigs and rock cavies.
Capybara can be picky eaters and will stick to one type of grass while ignoring all others.
Similar to humans, they cannot produce Vitamin C, so they need to eat foods with it. This also means they can get scurvy.
Capybara will eat their own poop because it contains bacteria that helps them digest cellulose in plants.
Capybara are hunted for meat and hide, but there are also some capybara farms.
My head is still spinning from everything that happened this week. Well, it could also be the flu shot and covid vaccine I got last night. This is the main reason I’m resting this weekend because I’m already feeling a little wiped out. Could be the exhaustion from the week, but it could be the doses. Either way, Netflix and my 64 ounce water jug are my best friends today.
Last Saturday was busy and that tone kind of kept throughout the week. Had a feeling that would happen too. We should do a weekday break down.
Saturday
Day one of helping my son study for 3 tests. Had a lot of people over too. So, it was a challenge to get everything done. We still pulled it off and even got to watch the first ‘Batman’ movie. The one with Keaton and Nicholson. After that, my son and I stuck to video games and schoolwork.
Sunday
Back to studying until my sister and niece arrived. It was time to take the munchkin to Build-A-Bear for the first time. For those who don’t know, this is a store where you came make your own plushie. You pick the body and bring it to the person at the stuffing machine. They have you pick a plush heart to wish on and put it in the plushie before it is sealed. Then, you can choose accessories and name it. My niece had no idea what was going on, but she picked a rainbow bear. My son got lucky because they had a limited edition Pokemon that he really likes. So, he got one too. It was McDonald’s and then video games after that.
Monday
Health test for my son and . . . This was the only normal day of the week. I ended it by finishing 1 of 3 online courses. These are things that take 2-3 hours, but count towards my Professional Development hours.
Tuesday
Social studies test for my son . . . So many tests were going on and things were getting prepared for the next day. There was some tension in the air at home. Guess this one was close to normal.
Wednesday
My school does something called a ‘Day of Service and Learning’. It’s a cool event where students and teachers do a community service project. Many to choose from. I went with one of our life skills students and others to work on a garden. Nice weather for the outing and everyone had fun. Exhausting, but successful event. Then, I got home and waited until I had to pick my son up from his first Lego Robotics meeting. It was a rush through homework before his mom came to get him. After that, it was finishing the second of the online courses.
Thursday
Aftermath day! Just trying to get back on track after the previous day, so a lot of people were out or unfocused. Can’t go into details, but I had to juggle a lot from the start of the day. Somehow, I aggravated my sciatic nerve too. Had to go limping alone until I could get home and ice the area. Even then, I needed two ibuprofen to get it under control. At least my son and I got to have some pizza and watch cartoons. Did as much studying for his science test as we could before we lost focus.
Friday
Science test for my son . . . It was a half day at school. This is great, but I’m not allowed to leave until regular time. The shorter periods also made it a challenge to run tests because some students didn’t accept that they had less time. It happens. My sciatica was hurting as well, so I was exhausted and limping. At least I was able to finish that third course and have time to relax before my flu and covid shot appointment. Unfortunately, my son sprung a ‘by the way’ situation on me. Now, we have to scramble to get a big project done in 3 weeks. It’s doable, but requires certain alliances to be maintained and not fall apart at the seams. We’re talking Batman teaming up with Joker here.
Back to today, people will notice that there was nothing about writing. I wasn’t able to even get to my blog preparations. My priorities shifted after I made the vaccine appointment. Figured it was better to get those classes done and then I could do some writing when I was recovering. The blog posts and notebook work are easy to do when I’m not napping. Feel like I have more time to tackle the as well.
I was considering trying to format a few other books for paperback versions. I already did Beginning of a Hero, which I published this week. Weird that I lost 2 reviews right after I did that. Anyway, I might hold off until the next weekend my son is with his mom because I don’t want to screw things up. I wrote down all of the steps after John Howell showed me what to do. It’s just that I’m already feeling a little woozy, so I’d rather not take any risks with this undertaking. I mean, I have to format and publish 26 books right now. I’m not going to bother with Hopeteller, Catalysts, and Blatherhorn Vale since those are so small and pointless. It’ll just be Legends, Nytefall, Ichabod Brooks, and Bedlam that get this treatment.
There is one decision I’ve made though. I’m going to try and get the next Darwin outline fleshed out with the intention of starting to write it during the holiday break. It isn’t easy writing during the school year, but I can’t always wait for the summer. This really rings true if I’m working during that time. It’s not easy because I’m so used to submerging into a book and not coming out until it’s done. The latest one gave me a test of patience and how to write with forced breaks, so we’ll see if I can complete the evolution into a less . . . I forgot the word for someone who churns out work. Think I’m hitting the end of this round of energy.
Take for goals before I doze off entirely.
Watch ‘Black Adam’ with my son on Monday.
Work on December blog posts.
Work on the ‘Phi Beta Files’ notebook.
Work on the outline for ‘Darwin & the Demon Game’.
Rest this weekend.
Get ready for Halloween!
Find a new station to listen to since ALT 92.3 is going way. It was alternative rock, which I don’t hear on other stations.
Work on my puzzle.
Oh yeah. TV stuff that nobody cares about. I’m just watching an anime called ‘The Devil is a Part-Timer’. Going to finish that and watch some stand up comedy while I rest. New Gabriel Iglesias and Iliza Shlesinger specials on there. That’s a good 3 hours of laughing my butt off. No idea what to watch after I finish those. I’ll figure it out at some point or just find M.A.S.H. reruns.
So . . . The Hadhayosh is from ancient Persian mythology. I thought it was really cool from the small bit I read. Then, I realized there wasn’t as much out there as I had hoped. Still, it looks interesting and I’m going to give it a shot.
The Hadhayosh is a land creature created by a god of the forge. Supposedly, their bodies can grant eternal life and the divine right to rule. These are giant ox made from brass and sporting manes of fire. Each one is 52 feet tall and weigh 57 tons. They have six horns with one pair curving to the sides and the other two to the front. These horns are powerful enough to hurt even those who normally can’t be injured. Hadhayosh can produce enough heat to hurt to burn anyone who touches it to ashes and gives off a foul stench. Many freeze in place if it charges at them.
Behavior-wise, the Hadhayosh acts like a normal ox. They wander around and eat peacefully until they are provoked. Even with them being so huge, they don’t need a lot of food. Just a little grass or leaves can keep them going for weeks. The strangest habit is that they never visit the same place twice in the same year. So, they will be in an area, leave, and then make sure to stay away until at least a year has passed.
One legend talks about how this is a primordial cow and it carried early humans across an ocean. Combining the fat of the Hadhayosh with white haoma herbs of sacrifice are supposed to create a wave of immortality. This may also resurrect all those who have only done good in their lives. Note that this is all kind of vague and there aren’t a lot of details here. It is assumed that the Hadhayosh is rare/extinct because it’s fat can be turned into an immortality elixir.
It is called the Sarsaok in Avesta and it’s commonly compared to the Behemoth from Biblical mythology. The latter is land creature with bones that are tubes of bronze and limbs like iron. Both tend to be described as oxen-like too. Only other piece of info I could find is that the Hadhayosh raided Iran in the 14th century.
The information was really scattered and difficult to sift through. A big reason is that the Hadhayosh is a popular creature to add into fantasy games. Kept running into Final Fantasy and Pathfinder sites that talked about stats. Even found a few versions that people made for their favorite systems. So, there’s a lot of iffy data out there. Just goes to show that not all mythological beasts are flushed out too.
