Tag Archives: beasts

Various Cardinal Symbol Systems

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Charles Yallowitz

I mentioned that there have been plenty of uses of the cardinal directions to create fantasy and mythological systems.  Sometimes, you even have a 5th direction of ‘center’, which is important when we get to Wu Xing.  I wanted to … Continue reading →

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Revisiting Origins: Ichabod Brooks

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Would you believe he first appeared on this blog in April of 2013?  Well he did and here’s the post. Originally Ichabod Jones, he started as a name that I couldn’t get out of my head.  I decided to peek down … Continue reading →

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Monster Month: Tiddalik

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

The Tiddalik comes from Australian mythology and is connected to a popular creation myth.  Specifically, this creature comes from the Australian Indigenous Dreaming Stories, which some people call ‘Dreamtime’.  To be honest, I couldn’t figure out if some of these … Continue reading →

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Monster Month: Kurage-No-Hinotama

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

I debated giving a day to this monster, but I really liked the concept.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much in the way of lore.  It definitely stems from Japanese mythology and seems to be a yokai.  Yet, I found more … Continue reading →

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Monster Month: Kawuso

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

This creature comes from Japan and it is what they call river otters.  These fall into the category of yokai, which are Japanese demons.  Known to be tricksters, they are similar in habits to kitsune (foxes) and tanuki (coming on … Continue reading →

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Monster Month: The Hodag

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

This one comes straight out of Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  I was surprised about how big and popular this monster was after I starting looking around.  So, what is a Hodag? First, let’s talk about the Hodag’s origin.  It is considered a … Continue reading →

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Monster Month: Skolopendra

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

This was a headache to research because ‘Scolopendra’ is the family of large tropical centipedes.  Considering this creature is a sea monster, you can imagine how tough it was to find a semi-decent picture.  Everything was centipedes until I added … Continue reading →

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‘Do I Need to Use a Dragon?’ Mascot: Fizzle

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

For those who have read or looked into my Legends of Windemere series, you probably recognize the little guy in the pictures.  You also know that there was no other character who could be the mascot for this project.  For those … Continue reading →

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Poetry Day: Beauties and Beasts

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

(Think I was trying to write about the Windemere orcs here.  This one is definitely a big mystery.) Opposites in nature Attracted to their cores The genders Like night and day Differences dueling In an endless dance Where one is … Continue reading →

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Taming the Void Monsters: A Few Tips from Mab

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi . . . I’m Mab and I’ve been asked to explain why the monsters of the darkness don’t make a meal out of me.  They tried at first, but now most of them leave me alone.  Those that approach … Continue reading →

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