#snake folklore

[alanaartdream]

Still think the folklore legend of the white snake would fit great in the lego monkie kid series just saying; I mean lego needs to do some nice snakes that help to heal people you know and well legend of the white snake does have that

[thecreaturecodex]

Ekuneil

Image © Alex Perx, accessed at their page here

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord. The ekuneil changed dramatically from its original in development, in order to make it more playable at the table. In the original story, the ekuneil inserts its tail into the noses of sleeping women in order to nurse from them without them knowing, and a family visited by an ekuneil will see both the mother and baby slowly waste away. I switched the tail thing to a sting partially due to this artwork, and partially to avoid having to deal with called shots. I also broadened the ekuneil’s diet to include blood, so it could attack PCs and livestock, and so that adventures with it wouldn’t have to enter magical realm territory.

The name ekuneil is used in the modern era to refer to the black kingsnake in Mexico. Snake lore of the American Southwest has some similarities, with the coachwhip being said to use its tail to check the nose for breath after it bites someone. Needless to say, both kingsnakes and coachwhips are perfectly harmless--the worst they can do to a person is poop on them.]

Ekuneil CR 2 N Magical Beast This gray snake is longer than a man is tall. Its tail is black and forked, each fork tipped with a wicked looking stinger.

Ekuneils are also known as “vampire snakes” or “fork-tail snakes”, both of which are accurate descriptions of their anatomy and behavior. An ekuneil is a blood feeder which incapacitates foes with the venom in their stingers and then takes its fill as their victim sleeps. They are also fond of milk, and may steal it from storage or attack nursing mammals. An ekuneil has a very keen sense of smell, allowing them to track prey over long distances. They dislike strong odors such as onions and garlic, and wise folk hang garlic braids by their windows or doors where an ekuneil is on the prowl.

Most communities that live in regions habited by ekuneils hate and fear the creatures, and they are frequently seen as evil. In truth, the creatures are not intelligent enough to make moral decisions, and rarely result in the deaths of the targets of their feeding. Only after repeated attacks will most creatures succumb to an ekuneil’s attention, and ekuneils usually roam widely in search of food. They can be domesticated (albeit with difficulty), and alchemists and healers may use them as a source for soporifics and painkillers.

An ekuneil grows to about eight feet long, but weighs little more than 50 pounds.

Ekuneil                                CR 2 XP 600 N Medium magical beast Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +5, scent Defense AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural) hp 19 (3d10+3) Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +2 Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft. Melee bite +5 (1d4), sting +5 (1d6 plus poison plus attach) Special Attacks blood drain (1d2 Con), soporific sting Statistics Str 10, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 2 Base Atk +3; CMB +5 (+13 grappling); CMD 15 (cannot be tripped) Feats Agile Maneuvers, Weapon Finesse Skills Climb +8, Perception +5, Stealth +6, Survival +2 (+6 tracking by scent), Swim +8; Racial Modifiers +4 Survival when tracking by scent Ecology Environment warm hills and plains Organization solitary or pair Treasure none Special Abilities Attach (Ex) When an ekuneil hits with a sting attack, it latches on with its stinger, effectively grappling its target. The ekuneil is treated as flat-footed, but gains a +8 racial bonus on all CMB checks to maintain the grapple. An attached ekuneil can be removed with a successful grapple check or Escape Artist check. Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 14; frequency 1.minute for 10 minutes; effect sleep for 1 minute; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution based and includes a +2 racial bonus. Soporific Sting (Su) An ekuneil that attaches to an opponent pumps it full of powerful sedatives—a creature that succumbs to an ekuneil’s poison when the ekuneil is attached cannot be awoken with normal means, only through a delay poison or neutralize poison spell, or similar effect. Once the ekuneil is detached, the creature can be awoken as normal.

[natasailincic]

Yesterday I received in the mail my copy of La Regina dei Serpenti by Pettirosso Edizioni, and it's such a jewel! I couldn't be happier with how the cover turned out! It's a short read, filled with folklore and old wisdom - a more than worthy addition to my library. If you're interested in snake folklore (and if you can read Italian) I highly recommend it!

[alanaartdream]

Attempting to draw a pretty white snake to go for the Chinese folklore tale the legend of the white snake ✏️✍️🌸

[slavicafire]

The cult of snakes protecting the house is a more or less specific feature of the Balkans, although some traces of it can be found in other Slavic lands as well. In Western Polesia grass-snakes living in a house are called domovik. It dwells under the stove, it must not be killed and it brings happiness to the house and household members. In Carpathian Ukraine this snake is called gazdovnik (from gazda ‘master’), and lives under the stove, under the threshold or in the foundations of the house. While rich people have large gray snakes, the poor have only small ones. In Czech and Slovak folk beliefs this snake is white, and its name is also related to the word ‘master, owner’: (Slovak domací had, starý dedo, gazda, etc.). Thus, unlike the other patron demons examined here, traces of the cult of home snake appear outside the Balkans as well, although it is certainly the most developed in the Southern Slavic regions.

Balkan Demons Protecting Places by Anna Plotnikova.   [Demons, Spirits, Witches Vol. 2 :Christian Demonology And Popular Mythology - Gábor Klaniczay, Éva Pócs (Eds.)]

[slavicafire]

As for snakes protecting houses, their names are very ofen semantically linked to verbs meaning ‘to protect, to guard,’ (Serbian zmija-chuvarkucha, Bulgarian chuvarka, vardachka), or to words with the meaning of ‘master, owner’ (Southern Serbian sajbika, Bulgarian domosharka, etc.). In Western Macedonian regions the name of the snake protecting houses sometimes coincides with the name of the demons protecting all kinds of buildings; thus, as my field notes show, in Ohrid the name tolosum is also used for such a snake. The best known belief about snakes protecting houses is connected with the prohibition of killing them. If such a thing happens, an inevitable punishment awaits the whole family: diseases and accidents occur, all members of the household die and the clan becomes extinct. 

According to a Bulgarian belief, if a snake protecting a house is killed by accident, it has to be burned and candles must be burnt on its grave for forty days. Pictures of this snake are necessary elements on the top of Serbian calendar breads dedicated to the family and house. On major calendar holidays, some meal is put aside for the snake protecting the house. A slice of bread, cooked corn and a glass of wine are put on the garret, into the corner of the house, or, what is more common, near the hearth, which is regarded as the center of a house. The favorite dwelling places of these snakes are the hearth or the threshold, which is also a sacred place of a house as it symbolizes the borderline between the cultured space of the inside and the strange wild world of the outside.

Balkan Demons Protecting Places by Anna Plotnikova.   [Demons, Spirits, Witches Vol. 2 :Christian Demonology And Popular Mythology - Gábor Klaniczay, Éva Pócs (Eds.)]