This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
Agdistis was born with both male and female traits which frightened the Olympian gods. They cut off the male traits and cast them away- from which grew an almond tree. The nymph Nana took one of the ripe almonds and laid it on her bosom. The almond vanished and she became pregnant. After the baby was born she abandoned it where a goat took care of the child. He grew to be a youth of supernatural beauty and Agdistis now called Cybele fell in love with him. Here the trouble started. Attis was to marry the daughter of a king. Cybele showed up at the wedding party leading to Attis emasculating himself and bleeding to death under a pine tree. Attis became the eunuch love of Cybele and her chariot driver. Every spring he is reborn as a pine tree and a pine tree is taken into the temple and decorated in his honor. Members of the cult of Attis are primarily eunuchs’s who have castrated themselves. They had a reputation for frenzy much as the followers of Dionysus. They would also travel through the streets dressed in women’s clothing.


Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attis
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Attis.html


Game and Story Use

• This could be used to add flavor to a campaign.
• They could be used as an alien other for any kind of campaign. Maybe they are fine, maybe they are trouble. No one will know until the PCs finish their investigation.
• As always there is also the possibility that the Gods are interfearing with the lives of mortals again.
• Perhaps it is happening again and they characters want to attempt to stop it.

Alexondria

This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
These creatures can be found throughout the mythology of many different regions. Then tend to be poor looking animals; the ones that appear to be old and decrepit or underfed. The hero taking a chance on them learns that they can travel faster than the wind and their advice which is seldom followed is always sage. Generally at the end of the story once the hero has learned their lesson the animal will shift into a beautiful man or woman as appropriate for the hero in question, or else offer their sister as a reward.


Sources
Various Fairy tales including:
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-1.html



Game and Story Use

• Perhaps the PCs have been gifted with an old broken down mare as their reward for a particularly hard quest.
  • Here they could have to learn that not everything is what it appears to be.
  • Perhaps they've been hired to retrieve the beloved animal of some sultan- only to discover that the animal has a mind of its own about where it will be going.
• In a more modern game they could be taking the shape of battered old cars or old out of date laptops.

Alexondria

This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
This creature is one of the many different types of fairy from myth and legend, and bears very little resemblance to Harvey. It can take many different forms, but almost always has dark fur. The most common form for this creature to take is that of a large black horse with a sleek black coat and glowing yellow eyes. If the creature can get someone onto its back it will take them on a wild ride that they will return from changed, though the creature is not known to inflict any physical harm on its victims.


Sources
http://petcaretips.net/pookas.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%BAca



Game and Story Use

• In a fantasy game perhaps the characters need to be taught a lesson. This creature could be used much as the ghosts in A Christmas Carol were used to show the error of the characters ways. Or it could show them the consequences if they don't do something about big bad guy number 3.
• In a more modern game it could be a way to introduce the characters to the supernatural. Yes it is scary. Yes it is terrifying, but it isn't likely to really harm them.
  • Or perhaps the modern world has twisted our trickster; perhaps where once it did no harm to its riders that is no longer the case. Now it could leave them in dangerous parts of town, or out in the middle of nowhere to try and hitchhike their way back home.
  • It could appear as a sleek black sports car sitting with the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition of a less than appealing part of town- just waiting to take thieves and joy riders on the ride of their lives.
  • Or perhaps modern cinema has affected it and now it does bear a resemblance to Harvey. Perhaps its particular brand of fun now involves being a creature that only one person can see and watching the mayhem as everyone else becomes convinced that they are mad.

Alexondria

This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
There are many different versions of this story. All of them agree that La Llorona was a beautiful woman who married the man she desired. Here is where they begin to vary though. In some of the stories the man was wealthy forcing them to keep their marriage secret- until he is forced to marry another by his status, in others he was fickle leaving her for another woman, and in yet others he was merely a poor man that she had fallen for. All the stories involved the drowning of La Llorona's children in one of several ways.

• She drowns them because her husband has been paying more attention to them than her- placing the final nail in the coffin with his announcement that he will marry another woman.
• She drowns them because she has fallen for a man that seems to want her but not her children. After drowning them she comes to him in her bloodstained nightgown to show him what she has done for him. Horrified he turns her away.
• She drowns them in a fit of grief after their father is forced to marry another woman.
• She is a prostitute that aborts her children into the river.
• Her husband insists that he doesn't have the money for children and drowns her babies as soon as they are born- while she is too weak to do anything about it. This version has the shared trait of the husband being cursed as well.

After the error has been realized La Llorona drowns herself in grief. The exception being the last version mentioned where even though she was weak she followed and tried to stop him from drowing her child. She jumped into the water after it even though she couldn't swim, then several days later her husband jumped in after her driven mad by her wailing her despite the fact that he also couldn't swim. Once she has been drowned as well she becomes one of the restless dead. She wonders the world looking for her children. Looking for replacements. The new children invariably being drowned as well.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona
http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/nm3.html




Game and Story Use

• Perhaps children have been disappearing and the PCs are paid to find them.
• Perhaps they are paid to put the ghost to rest.
• Perhaps they are paid by someone that sees proof of her existence as a wonderful tourist draw to get that proof.
• Maybe someone is using her legend to keep people away from whatever they are up to.

Alexondria

This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
These creatures are similar to the pooka, but significantly more malevolent. These creatures tend to appear as either sleek black or white ponies. They appear to be gentle lost creatures allowing you to saddle them and ride them if you so choose. They can be identified by the fact that their skin is much like that of a seal's and very cold to the touch. In addition they always drip water. In some versions you have to allow them near a body of water for trouble to start and in some once you are on their backs they will take you to a body of water giving you no choice. They excrete a sticky substance from their flesh keeping you on their back once they have you. Once at a body of water they will dive under ripping you to pieces- devouring all but your heart and liver.

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelpie


Game and Story Use

• In a fantasy setting this could just be a chance encounter in the woods.
  • There could also be disappearing children, with nothing but their hearts and livers found by the river. Perhaps this is a new type of creature that the townsfolk haven't encountered before. Perhaps they were created by a wizard twisting a gentle pooka.
• In a more modern setting this could be one of the ridiculous folk superstitions that the investigators know better than to believe- at least until they start seeing proof.
• In more of a sci-fi setting these could be a genetically engineered creature designed to keep the local populace in check.

Alexondria

This is an entry for Jürgen's Mythological Creatures Contest.


Basic Information
These small creatures are quite industrious. They will come into homes at night to help those they find deserving. They will do the work for the owners with flawless craftsmanship. Once they are rewarded properly they leave allowing the deserving person to continue prosperously. They have the power to bless and it could be assumed from that that they have the power to curse as well.

Sources
The Brother's Grim
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-39.html


Game and Story Use

• In a fantasy game it could be that the elves have been helping the PCs and they need to figure out what to do.
  • Perhaps the elves helped someone that was not sufficiently grateful and as a result that person is now cursed. This could be a PC or just someone that has hired the PC to figure out what they must do to break the curse.
  • Perhaps someone has captured one of the elves and is forcing them to work constantly.
  • Perhaps someone has hired the PCs to capture some of the elves to build a work force.
• In a more modern game they could be helping people make their way out of the gutters- almost like guardian angels, until they are crossed and must be dealt with.
• In a more modern setting where magic and technology meet they could be the new denizens of sweat houses- forced to work with no reward in sight.

Alexondria