In Greek mythology, the Hydra, a monstrous serpent-like creature with multiple heads and a poisonous breath, originates from the underworld and primordial beings. Descriptions often highlight tough or impenetrable skin. Some versions consider the central head immortal, intensifying the challenge of defeating the creature.
The creature’s regenerative ability is a central aspect of its mythology. When one is severed, two or more may grow in its place. Various artistic interpretations may depict the Hydra with additional embellishments, capturing the imagination of different cultures and time periods.
The most famous story surrounding the Hydra is Heracules battle against it during his trials. Eurystheus tasked Heracles with defeating the Hydra, a monstrous serpent in the marshes of Lerna. Heracles, accompanied by his nephew Iolaus, approached the Hydra’s lair. As Heracles attacked, he discovered the challenge of the Hydra’s regeneration. Realizing he couldn’t defeat it with conventional methods, he enlisted Iolaus’ help. As Heracles cut off each head, Iolaus used a torch to cauterize the neck stumps, preventing the regeneration.
So what inspired this monster?
While the origins of the Hydra are unclear, most historians agree that the creature symbolized the timeless struggle between man and insurmountable challenges. The story is used to illustrate the virtues of persistence, strategy, and collaboration in the face of daunting adversity.
The legacy of the Hydra is enduring. In fact, science has even found a group of cnidarians (which also include corals and jellyfish) that have become its namesake.
These animals are native to temperate and tropical regions discovered in the mid-1700’s. Much like the mythical beast, when the animal has part of it severed, it will regenerate. They do not die of old age or appear to age at all.
The hydra is very similare to anemones and are generally sedentary. They attach themselves to substrate, using their “arms” to pull in prey. They reproduce mostly by asexual “budding”. A new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. These buds develop into tiny individuals and, when fully mature, detach from the parent body and become new independent individuals.
Scientists have been particularly interested in the regenerative aspects of Hydra morphology. This regeneration occurs without cell division. If the Hydra is sliced into many segments, the middle slices form both a “head” and a “foot”. Hydras are capable of regenerating from pieces of tissue from the body and additionally from dissociated single cells. The regenerative ability is surprising and still being studied.
In Greek mythology the Hydra was a poisonous, many-headed serpent with frustratingly effective powers of regeneration. A monster of myth, right? Hydras do exist. You can find them in your local pond and they’re as fascinating as the mythological one, just a bit smaller.
Sources:
Brusca, R. C, and Brusca, G. J., 2003. Invertebrates, 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers, Massachusetts. Page 220 and 256.
The Tarasque is a creature from French mythology, described as a beast with a lion’s head, a turtle-like carapace, bear claws, and a serpent tail. This legend arose in Provence, France in the early 12th century. The most influential legend comes from the Legenda aurea, along with St. Martha.
The monster allegedly inhabited the forested banks of the Rhône, around the town of Tarascon. It lurked in the river, attacking men and sinking boats. The creature was said to have come from what is now Turkey.
People sought Saint Martha (described in the Gospels of Luke and John) for help. She found the creature devouring a man. By sprinkling holy water and holding up a cross, she caused the creature to become submissive and obedient. She tied her girdle to its neck and led the beast to the villagers to speared it until it died.
So what inspired this strange creature?
Glyptodon is an extinct group of large, herbivorous armadillos that lived around 3.2 million years ago until around 11,000 years ago. Fossils of Glyptodon have been recorded from as early as 1814 and were originally thought to be giant ground sloths.
Glyptodon were large, quadrupedal armadillos with armored carapaces made of hundreds of osteoderms. Other pieces of armor covered the tail and skull. These animals reached up to 2 m long and weighed 400 kg.
These animals lived in dense forests and open grasslands in the southern United States and South America. They most likely went extinct due to climate change as well as predation by humans.
It is likely that this story was inspired by a creature similar to Glyptodon found along the banks of the Rhône. The villagers did not recognize the fossil for what it was and sent people to fight the beast. The villagers destroyed the bones, defeating the beast.
I read 138 books in 2023 and 24 of those books were five stars. I would consider these books to be the ones that have stuck with me and had exceptional characteristics that made them stand out from the pack.
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Feathers of Snow by Alice Ivinya
In this Goose Girl Retelling, Brianna bears a deadly secret. She is not the princess she is pretending to be. If the prince finds out, her life will be forfeit and her country will plunge into war. But there is more to the icy prince than meets the eye.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Robin Swift is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?
Windfall by Erika Bolstad
At first, Erika Bolstad knew only one thing about her great-grandmother, Anna: she was a homesteader on the North Dakota prairies in the early 1900s before her husband committed her to an asylum under mysterious circumstances. As Erika’s mother was dying, she revealed more. Their family still owned the mineral rights to Anna’s land―and oil companies were interested in the black gold beneath the prairies. Their family, Erika learned, could get rich thanks to the legacy of a woman nearly lost to history.
Gleanings by Neal Shusterman
There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years, humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.
Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down.
Fugitive Telementary by Martha Wells
When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid–a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.
Morning Star by Pierce Brown (Book 3 of Red Rising Trilogy)
Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come.
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
Shiori’anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother. A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die. Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to forswear–no matter what the cost.
The Toll by Neal Shusterman
It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver. In this conclusion to Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.
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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.
She Who Rides the Storm by Caitlin Sangster
Long ago, shapeshifting monsters ruled the Commonwealth using blasphemous magic that fed on the souls of their subjects. Now, hundreds of years later, a new tomb has been uncovered, and despite the legends that disturbing a shapeshifter’s final resting place will wake them once again, the Warlord is determined to dig it up.
But it isn’t just the Warlord who means to brave the traps and pitfalls guarding the crypt. A healer obsessed with tracking down the man who murdered her twin brother. A runaway member of the Warlord’s Devoted order, haunted by his sister’s ghost. A snotty archaeologist bent on finding the cure to his magical wasting disease. A girl desperate to escape the cloistered life she didn’t choose. All four are out to steal the same cursed sword rumored to be at the very bottom of the tomb. But of course, some treasures should never see the light of day, and some secrets are best left buried…
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
We Carry Their Bones by Erin Kimmerle
Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates the notorious Dozier Boys School–the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys–and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness (Book 3 of the All Souls Trilogy)
Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Today’s feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?
Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.
A Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Chambers
Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend. Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers’ series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
The Demon Cat (also referred to as D.C.) is a giant ghostly cat purported to haunt the government buildings in Washington, D.C. It primarily haunts two national landmarks: the White House and the United States Capitol.
While this mythical creature is more unknown, its story dates back to the mid-1800’s when cats were brought into the US Capitol building to control the rat and mouse population. Legend states that the Demon Cat is one of these cats who never left, even after it died. Reports state it has made its home in the basement crypt of the building, which was originally intended as a burial chamber for George Washington.
While this cat never does much in way of physical damage, the Demon Cat has caused quite a scare among witnesses. According to legend, the cat is seen before elections or tragedies in Washington, D.C.
Security guards report seeing the creature before the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. It was also purportedly seen before the stock market crash in 1929. It is typically described as a black cat or dark tabby and the size of an average house cat. However, witnesses have reported the cat swelling to size of a tiger when alerted. The cat would then pound at the witness, disappearing before catching its victim.
In the 1890’s, the cat was said to have vanished after security fired at it and another guard supposedly died of a heart attack after seeing it.
So what inspired this monstrous creature?
Like many ghost stories, this has been an interesting tale to track back to the beginning. The presence of cats in the Capitol Building was common as they were brought in to be mousers. However, according to the head of the US Capitol Historical Society, the Capitol Police force was notorious for hiring unqualified relatives and friends of Congressmen. These men would see this job as easy and would frequently come to work intoxicated.
The idea of the Demon Cat may have started from one of these drunken security guards seeing the shadow of one of these building cats or was lying down and licked by one of the cats and mistook it as a giant cat. Upon reporting the incident, the man was sent home to recover. Later the other guards found out they could get the day off if reporting this cat, perpetuating the story.
An explanation for why the Demon Cat eventually made its way to Pennsylvania Avenue is the influence of Tige, a wandering cat owned by President Calvin Coolidge. Tige lived at the White House, but liked to visit the other federal buildings and disappeared for days at a time. During these disappearances, it was reported widely in the news. This wanderlust may have contributed to the belief that the Demon Cat occasionally switched locations.
The legend of the Demon Cat has benefited from the oral tradition of ghost stories, which date back to Shakespearean Renaissance England. Even as the robust oral tradition of the ghost story waned in the early 1800s, due to increased human mobility and urbanization, the practice of sharing ghost stories by word of mouth persists today, leading to the continued tales of Demon Cat.
The Minotaur is a mythical creature in Greek Mythology with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man. He is said to have lived at the center of the Labyrinth in Crete.
Legends state that the Minotaur came into being when the Queen of Crete fell in love with a white bull and conceived a monstrous half-man, half-bull child. The Minotaur took its name from King Minos of Crete who banished him to the Labyrinth.
So what inspired this monstrous creature?
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. In 1899, Sir Arthur Evans – a British Archeologist – discovered the palace of Knossos on the island of Crete. He determined based on what he found that this place had belonged to King Minos from the legends.
The most revealing things he found in the palace were frescos depicting taurokathapsia or the act of jumping over a bull by holding its horns. This act was done most likely as a ceremonial rite. There is evidence both men and women participated in the rite. Some researchers believe it was a way of worshipping the bull.
Also found in the Knossos palace was a series of rooms and buildings constructed with a maze-like floorplan.
Evans went on to name the people who lived in this place the Minoans – solidifying the connection between the legend of the Minotaur to the discoveries in this palace.
Some scholars debate whether Minos refers to the ruler or is the same King Minos from the Minotaur legend. No one is certain King Minos even existed and there is no concrete evidence that he resided in Knossos. However, there is possibility that there was a king named Minos where taurokathapsia was popular.
Whatever the case, the ruins hold many mysteries. Almost as many as the legend of the Minotaur.
The Aqrabuamelu are creatures with the torso of a man and body, legs, and stinger of a scorpion. These hybrid monsters had huge arching tails ending in stingers filled with deadly venom. Legends tell of their proficiency for archery, stating every arrow shot was fatal. The Mesopotamians believed these creatures to be guardians to the gates of heavens.
These creatures are said to have first been created by Tiamat in order to wage war on the other gods for the murder of her mate Apsu. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they stand entrance to the mountains of Mashu and the land of darkness.
So what inspired this strange creature?
The origin of this chimeric creature has been debated greatly over time. There are several theories as to what the “Scorpion Men” mean.
Some historians see the combination of the human man with the creature represents the duality of human nature. The creature has the body of a human, representing the rational and civilized aspect of humanity. The tail represents the wild and untamed aspect of humanity.
Others believe that Aqrabuamelu may have been based on a real creature that was found in the region. One animal that could have inspired this creature could be a giant eurypterid.
Eurypterids- often informally called sea scorpions – are an extinct groups of arthropods that lived over 460 million years ago. There are around 250 species of Eurypterids with the largest reaching up to 2.5 meters in length.
Eurypterids have segmented bodies and jointed appendages covered in chitin. The creatures have six pairs of appendages around the face as well as a large telson. While the telson looks like scorpion’s stinger, the telson is the last segment of an arthropod’s body and is often modified for swimming.
These creatures often lived in brackish water and are not true scorpions. They could go out onto land for short periods of time, but would need to return to the water to survive.
Eurypterid fossils are mostly found in North America and Europe but have been found on every continent, including Western Asia and Northern Africa, where the myths originate.
However these strange creatures originated, the stories of Scorpion Men have endured and are now seen in popular movies and played by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.
Braddy, Simon J.; Dunlop, Jason A. (1997). “The functional morphology of mating in the Silurian eurypterid, Baltoeurypterus tetragonophthalmus (Fischer, 1839)”. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 120 (4): 435–461.
Mesibov, Robert. “Tail”. External Anatomy of Polydesmida. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
O. Erik Tetlie (2007). “Distribution and dispersal history of Eurypterida (Chelicerata)” (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 252 (3–4): 557–574.
Gargoyles have a varied look and history. The creature is typically depicted as grotesque figures, faces, or creatures perching along buildings’ roofs or gutters. They are often shown as chimera creatures with features of bats, humans, and lions.
The Medieval superstition stated that these creatures would stand guard and ward off evil spirits. The winged gargoyles would fly around the entire village to scare off dark creatures. As the sun rose, the creatures would resume their place to frighten off those who looked upon their faces.
Gargoyles can be seen across ancient buildings and are thought to ward off evil spirits. “Gargoyle” is derived from the French word “gargouille” meaning throat. This references the fact water tends to spill from the mouth of the features. The carvings were added in the Middle Ages to filter rainwater away from the edge of the building and prevent eroding of the mortar on the stone.
While gargoyles are most commonly associated with medieval architecture, they have a much earlier origin. They have been on structures in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Etruscan buildings. The oldest known gargoyle is 13,000 years old in modern-day Turkey.
So what inspired these frightening creatures?
Some historians believe the reason gargoyles are carved across churches was to combine the “pagan” with Christianity. The creature may have been a creature brought to life by non-Christian beliefs. To make converts feel comfortable with the new religion, these beings were carved into the sides of the building as a way to “ward off demons and the workings of the devil.”
But where did this strange bat-like creature come from?
Hammer-headed bats are the largest megabat in continental Africa, with wingspans approaching 1 m. They can be found widely distributed in West and Central Africa. Males of this species have large vocal cords and resonating chambers on their faces, giving them an otherworldly appearance.
The hammer-headed bat is frugivorous, consuming a variety of fruits. It forages at night and sleeps during the day in roosts either alone or in small groups. The bat roosts in trees at least 20 m above the ground.
Today they are considered pests in places like Nigeria for their fruit diet and extremely loud “honking” noises at night. Some places are also studying the animal for its natural defense against the Ebola virus.
The hammer-headed bat was officially described and named in 1861 after French-American zoologist collected a specimen in Gabon. However, this creature has been around for much longer than that.
Gargoyles first appeared in Europe in the 13th century. When they first appeared, they were depictions of known creatures – most commonly lions. It was around the 15th century when the winged creature began appearing on buildings.
In the 15th century, Portugal became the first European country to officially begin direct trade with Africa. This opened the door for Europeans to travel into the unknown continent and come face to face with some of their more unusual creatures. These stories filtered back to the European citizens and they were forever immortalized as Gargoyles.
The gargoyle has become much more popular since the Victorian Era. In fact, many of the well-known gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre Dame were not added until the 1800’s. New gargoyles have also been added to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Children were asked to design the new face and the face of Darth Vader was added to the side of the building.
There have also been several depictions of gargoyles in pop culture. They famously were added to Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame” and the Disney animated version. There was also the 1990’s Disney TV series called “Gargoyles.”
I recently celebrated my 30th birthday (on July 13th). In honor of this milestone, I decided to release the first (unedited) 30 pages of Legends of Ethota Book 2: Keepers of Knowledge.
Synopsis:
Five years have passed since Sammaria was named the Dragon Queen. Peace fell over the land for a time, but now new threats have emerged. Jennica has gone missing on a routine mission to Mythral. A group of people calling themselves the Nejmagii have begun attacking outlying villages. Time is running short to stabilize the portals before they destroy both worlds. Can Sammaria save her sister and bring peace to Dragonia once more? Will the portals be opened before it is too late?
The carbuncle is considered a small rodent or feline-like creature with fluffy ears from South American legend. These creatures are heavily associated with precious metals and gemstones. In fact, legend states that they have gems embedded in their foreheads.
The creature’s name is derived from an archaic word for red garnets – which was derived from the Latin carbunculus, meaning “little coal.”
A similar creature by the same name was described as living in the mountains of the Philippines, depicted as a large, venomous snake with a glowing gem on its forehead. However, most of the reports were from the Spanish conquistadors exploring South America in the 16th century.
While descriptions of these creatures can vary widely, stories agree the animals are small with a reflective gem set in the foreheads. Most often the gems are described ad red and flow like fire. Carbuncles also commonly have a hood that can be used to cover the gems when necessary.
Generally, these animals are considered nocturnal and herbivorous making their homes in Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile. At night they come out of hiding to search for food and water. It is here that they can be observed due to the bright glow of their gems.
So what inspired these creatures?
One candidate for the carbuncle creature is the pink fairy armadillo. It isn’t too much of a leap to imagine how the pink epidermal plates on the body could have been mistaken for gems. These animals are solitary and live in the desert of central Argentina.
Pink fairy armadillos have small eyes, yellowish-white fur, and a flexible dorsal shell with 24 bands. In addition, it has a spatula-shaped tale. These animals are very small, only reaching 5 inches and weighing 4 oz. This is the smallest living species of armadillo known.
Pink fairy armadillos are nocturnal and primarily eating insects, worms, and plants. These animals have no external ears available and are adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They are quick burrowers and are sometimes nicknamed ‘sand-swimmers.’
The carbuncle was given its name b the Spanish who used a term for red gemstones to describe the species. These reddish armadillos would fall under the description of a red gem for those unfamiliar with these strange creatures, especially if they were found partially rolled.
Today, the Pink fairy armadillo is endangered. It is currently threatened by habitat destruction and predation by domesticated dogs. Researchers have found this creature is highly subject to stress, making attempts to apply conservation policies – including taking it out of its natural environment – extremely difficult and unsuccessful. For this reason, you won’t find any in zoos as they only survive for a few days in captivity. Conservation of this species has been relegated to several protected areas including Lihué Calel National Park.
Delsuc, F., Superina, M., Tilak, M.-K., Douzery, E. J. P., & Hassanin, A. (2012). Molecular phylogenetics unveils the ancient evolutionary origins of the enigmatic fairy armadillos. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 62(2), 673–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.11.008
Superina, M. (2011). Husbandry of a pink fairy armadillo (chlamyphorus truncatus): Case study of a cryptic and little known species in captivity. Zoo Biology, 30(2), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.20334
The roc is an enormous legendary bird of prey from Middle Eastern mythology. It appears in stories such as One Thousand and One Nights and Sinbad. Many stories describe the creature as taking the form of an eagle or condor of stupefying size. They are much larger than typical flying monsters and can take on dragons or carry off elephants.
Stories of the creatures may be able to trace their origins to a fight between the Indian solar bird Garuda and the chthonic serpent Naga. Garuda carried off an elephant at the end of the Sanskrit epics.
Other stories can trace back to the 13 century to the merchant Marco Polo. He described a creature that:
“…was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure.“
Marco Polo claimed the roc was from Madagascar and made distinctions from a griffin.
So what inspired these gargantuan creatures?
Many historians believe that the origins of the roc are due to sitings of the enormous Aepyornis or the Elephant Bird. These birds once lived in Madagascar, but went extinct, probably as a result of human activity.
These birds could be up to 3 m tall and weigh over 700 kg. Due to their large size, these creatures were flightless and looked much like ostriches or emus. Its eggs are the largest bird eggs to have ever existed, weighing 10 kg – over 150 times the size of a chicken’s egg.
Although these birds went extinct relatively recently, the fossil record for them is patchy, causing much debate about their family tree. Madagascar’s environment is not conducive to fossil preservation and causes skeletons to be fragmented.
Modern technology has helped settle these disputes. Researchers started to examine the abundant eggshells preserved. Compared to other birds, elephant bird eggshell is very thick, trapping DNA inside the layers. The eggshell preserves stable isotope signatures that can be matched to plants and animals of the environment to show how these animals lived.
For example, we know switch grasses are rich in the carbon- 4 isotope. Animals such as gazelles and wildebeest come back with carbon-4 stable isotopes as they primarily eat plants that photosynthesize C4.
Physical characteristics of the eggshell can also reveal information about egg size, bird size, nesting behavior, and can sometimes even distinguish bird groups.
Due to its flightlessness and unusual appearance, this creature was most often mistaken as a chick of a much larger species. This led observers to believe these creatures grew into large birds of prey – later known as the Roc.
Tyson, Peter (2000). The Eighth Continent. New York. pp. 138–139.
Ubierna, N., Holloway-Phillips, M.-M., & Farquhar, G. D. (2018). Using stable carbon isotopes to study C3 and C4 photosynthesis: Models and calculations. Methods in Molecular Biology, 155–196. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7786-4_10
Uno, K. T., Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., Kunimatsu, Y., Leakey, M. G., Nakatsukasa, M., & Nakaya, H. (2011). Late miocene to pliocene carbon isotope record of differential diet change among East African herbivores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(16), 6509–6514. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018435108
Darrah Steffen 