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Passages from the book Supernatural Creatures, by DK, that I find particularly interesting
DJERRKNGU YUNUPINGU: I AM A MERMAID
VIEW EXHIBITION CATALOGUE ALCASTON GALLERY EXHIBITION SPACE IS LOCATED AT 84 WILLIAM STREET MELBOURNE VIC 3000.
Australian fakemon: regional variants
Another post in my series of fakemon for the Goorda region based on Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand (but mostly the former). This time I'm showcasing three regional variant lines. Previous posts: birds, early game standards, misc, misc, starter variants, starters.
First off is Goordan Tangela, the Seaweed Pokemon, grass/water type. The Tangela in Goorda moved into the water and replaced their vines with seaweed. They are predators that use their feet to cling to rocks at the bottom of rivers and extend several strands of seaweed upward. Anything that touches the seaweed will be wrapped up and dragged down. Children in the Goorda region are warned to avoid patches of seaweed while swimming.
Goordan Tangela evolves to Muldrowk, the Seaweed Pokemon, grass/water type. Now capable of swimming and having adapted its feet into hands, Muldrowk has become the apex predator of Goorda's rivers, enough to even force Sarviyip (see starter variants post) out of their territory. Boaters in Goorda are taught to avoid seaweed patches as a Muldrowk can easily drag a small boat to its doom. Nobody knows what is beneath its seaweed pelt, but anything pulled in is never seen again.
Goordan Tangela and (especially) Muldrowk are based on two mythical creatures of Australian aboriginal folklore: the muldjewangk of the Ngarrindjeri people and the yawkyawk of the Kunwinjku people. These are creatures said to lurk in the river and are sometimes described as mermaids or mermen with seaweed for hair. The muldjewangk is viewed as a more malevolent creature that attacks boats and lure children into the water while the yawkyawk has various magical powers and can be benevolent or malevolent depending on its mood. Muldrowk has a mermaid-like shape and both members of the line are seaweed-covered dangerous creatures that live in the river. Muldrowk's name combines "muldjewangk", "yawkyawk", and "drown".
Next is Goordan Ekans, the Snake Pokemon, ice/poison type. The Ekans in Goorda live high in the mountains where they had to adapt to the cold conditions. In order to move between peaks and over crags, they coil their bodies up and bounce like springs. They are actually faster when bouncing then slithering. The venom of a Goordan Ekans inflicts frostbite.
Goordan Ekans evolves to Soroboruo, the Snake Pokemon, ice/poison type. Soroboruo chases prey in the mountains by biting its tail and rolling downhill like a wheel at extremely high speeds. Sometimes they roll all the way down into the lowlands and have to make their way back up the mountain. The scales on its back have grown extremely thick for protection when rolling, which also increases their defense. A Soroboruo biting its tail has been used as a symbol of cycles or infinity.
Goordan Ekans and Soroboruo are based on taipans, venomous snakes found in Australia and New Guinea. The zig-zag patterns on them come from patters found on some species of taipan. Soroboruo is based on the hoop snake, a folklore creature first invented in North America, but which has spread to other places, Australia included. hoop snakes are snakes that bite their tails and roll around like wheels to chase prey. The symbol of a snake biting its tail is called an ouroboros and is used to symbolize cycles, infinity, and some other stuff. In keeping with the Ekans line's naming scheme, Soroboruo is "ouroboros" spelled backwards.
The last line for today starts with Goordan Carvanha, the Sand Fish Pokemon, steel/ground type. Millions of years ago, the desert of Goorda was covered with a shallow sea. When the land rose and the water receded, the local Carvanha adapted to swim through sand and soil like water and became powerful desert predators that attack from below in swarms. They incorporate iron from the sand into their teeth and fins to better move through the sand and attack prey.
Goordan Carvanha evolves to Goordan Sharpedo. Its snout has adapted into a giant drill that lets it rocket through the earth at incredibly high speeds. It is a powerful lone predator that will attack anything that crosses the desert and can sense vibrations from far away. Pokemon attacked by Goordan Carvanha can hide on rocks for safety, but Sharpedo's drill can crush through rocks with ease. Short of flying, there is no escape from a hunting Sharpedo.
There's nothing deep in the inspiration for these two. It's just "what if piranha/shark, but on land?" The idea of sand sharks is certainly not unique to me. The idea of a piece of land having once been covered by a shallow sea came from the fact that a large portion of North America, much of which is now desert, was once covered by a shallow sea called the western interior seaway.
Mermay Day 9: Indigenous Merfolk, And Colonization
There are several indigenous peoples who have merfolk legends. Many tribes of indigenous Americans in Canada, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean had stories of merpeople or water spirits. Notably the Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Shoshone, Obijwe, inuit and Taino. who have the Lumpeguin, Sabawaelnu, nibiinnabe, Ne Hwas, Water Babies, Qallupilluit, Sedna and Aycayia.
Lumpeguin were sometimes humanoid, other times fish tailed and even able to become weasels. Similar to selkies of European mermaids who had red caps, Lumpeguin had magic garments that if stolen bound them to the human who took them. They were anle to make large quantities of food like Finfolk could. They could make a moursel a feast, snow into bread, or had a pot of infinite food.
Sabawaelnu were said to be able to control the weather, or had songs that could predict it.
Nibiiinabe were said to be freightened by loud noises and were the totem symbol of the Obijwe tribe for a time.
Ne Hwas were sisters who swam to often in the river by their home that they turned into mermaids.
Water babies were known to be aquatic infants that in some variations had fish tails. They were also mostly maleavolent but again some tribes recounted that the spirits could be reasoned with or sought after for advice and help. A spiritual leader or Shaman would go to the spirits on behalf of the tribe.
Qallupilluit were monstrous child snatchers, who had amautik for carrying off children. Used like bogeymen to warn children away from cracks or thin ice where the creature could grab them. They are mentioned as far back as 1888 by Franz Boasin “The Central E*kimo”. Also called Qallupilluk. Descriptions very but it is usually humanoid, sometimes finned, or has slimy green skin.
Sedna who I’ve mentioned as one of the few merdeities was a goddess in Inuit culture. Through some tragedy involving marriage, an axe, and a boat she loses her fingers which become sea mammals and she comes to live in the sea, sometimes with a tail instead of legs. She’s been related to the underworld and thought to be partially responsible for lack of seals. A spiritual leader or shaman would have to call on her and help comb sea life out of her long hair.
Aycayia was the mermaid of the indigenous Caribbean peoples. Said to be and outcast, rejected from society and seductive. The first was cursed by jealous wives and later traditions say that Aycayia are made by other Aycayia. They seek out those cast out from society and take them to live in the waves.
There is also the yawkyawk of Australian Aboriginal origin who i have slso mentioned. Related to the rainbow serpent Ngalyod and had seaweed hair and often could shapeshift into several animals like a dragonfly, crocodile, snake, or swordfish. They like most merfolk could also manipulate the weather.
It is important to note that most sources for these stories come from outsiders and colonizers. It is unclear how much these stories were influenced, altered, or downright changed by outsiders who recorded the stories. It’s difficult to say when these stories came about and how since again the majority of sources come second hand. Nevertheless they are interesting and beautiful stories, and i rarely see indigenous merfolk talked about.
Yawkyawk
“It’s mermay again!” © deviantArt user bruncikara, accessed at her gallery here
[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord, another creature from Arnhem Land. The yawkyawk or yawk yawk is one of the seemingly universal trope of mer-people in world mythology and folklore, as well as (now) in Pathfinder. There’s a lot of mechanical takes on them, but I figured that ambush predator was sufficiently unusual to warrant exploration.]
Yawkyawk CR 5 CN Monstrous Humanoid This creature is humanoid from the waist up, and has a long eely body from the waist down. Their hair is the color and texture of filamentous algae, and their skin is a mottled green. Their hands are clawed and their teeth a shark-like grin. Several long fins trail down its body.
Yawkyawks are freshwater kin to merfolk with shapeshifting powers and a hunger for flesh. They are not inherently evil, but are mercurial and temperamental. Many of them have no compunctions about preying on humanoids, and use cunning and deceit to lure prey into their clutches. Yawkyawks can take the form of a mundane humanoid, and often use this power to cajole and seduce a traveler into leaving the safety of a group before striking swiftly and lethally. They are most comfortable in the water, but can leave it. Indeed, yawkyawks may turn into birds and fly long distances if their ponds dry up or they feel likely to be attacked by their neighbors.
Yawkyawks enjoy creature comforts and the pleasures of the flesh. Much of their treasure is decorative, and they enjoy sweet talking or browbeating locals into making sacrifices to them to keep them in their preferred level of living. They often are seen as symbols of fertility due to their lascivious natures. Yawkyawks are reproductively compatible with humans—if the yawkyawk births the child, they are born as a yawkyawk. A yawkyawk’s child borne of a human is treated as a changeling—changelings of all natures are possible yawkyawk offspring, and may be male or female.
In their natural form, a yawkyawk is about twelve to fifteen feet long. Their heads and torsos are the size of the corresponding human anatomy—in the rare instances where they wield weapons, they use those suited for Medium humanoids.
The Yawkyawk is a mermaid from the mythology of Australia's Bininj people. She is described as a beatiful woman with the tail of a fish and seaweed for hair. Some Aboriginal people believe that seaweed that floats to the surface of the sea is actually the hair of a Yawkyawk.
The Yawkyawk can change its shape, often taking on the form of animals such as snakes, swordfish and crocodiles. They are also said to be able to control the weather, bringing much needed rain to those in their favour, and storms to those who displease them.
Image source.
Monster master list.
Suggest a spook.
Many people around the world tell of water creatures that are half-fish and half-human. These creatures are all different. But sometimes, they have odd details in common.
Many people around the world tell of water creatures that are half-fish and half-human. These creatures are all different. But sometimes, they have odd details in common. Why do mermaids in Europe, Africa and the Americas all carry combs and mirrors? These details were passed from Europe to Africa to the Americas as merchants and slaves spread mermaid stories and art around the world. And in many cases, water spirits that weren't originally mermaids took on that form only after images of mermaids were introduced by outsiders.
Mermay day 3: Bizarre And Cool Variations
If you’ve ever thought to yourself “is there more than just fish mermaids? Are there different kinds of fish mermaids?” Well theb congratulations. You prove that people have always been people, because we’ve been coming up with different varieties of merpeople since at least 400 BCE.
From what I can tell, Greece was the first to make more interesting variations. They created the Telchines and Ichthyocentaurs. Telchines have several descriptions but among them are dog like and mermaid like hybrids. It was said they had the heads of dogs and tails like a fish. Sometimes both and sometimes only one. They were said to know magic and were eventually cursed by the gods for using foul and evil magic. Ichthyocentaurs are so interesting to me because they are centars with a fish tail instead of hindlegs or tritons with two horse legs on their tail.
Ichthyocentaurs spawned several other similar looking mermen designs including tritons with clawed forefins on their tails, wings, and in roman times lobster and crab claws on their tails. This then spawned a crayfish triton and sonewhere in between we get two tailed tritons and tritonesses.
Inuit cultures in the far north of Canada and Greenland had a sea goddess named Sedna. Who by some accounts had a seal, orca, or whale tail. It’s hard to pinpoint when belief in Sedna began and exactly when Sedna developed mermaid iconography but she has always been closely linked with sea mammals and sea life.
In Chilé tales of the Millalobo and his merchildren who had sea lion tails were prevalent. Said to be gods and had golden hair. Pincoy was Millalobos son and his sister wife Sirena Chilota who had golden scales not too dissimilar from Suvanamaccha who was a golden tailed mermaid.
The yawkyawk of Aboriginal myth was said to have seaweed for hair. A similar aesthetic to tritons who were often described with blue skin and green hair.
One of my personal favorites is the Sazae Oni who could shapeshift into a human form. And in its demon form it had the lower half of a mollusk. Making it a very rare mermaid like creature with a shelled lower half. It has a rather wellknown story of stealing pirates balls in exchange for gold. It was also known to travel to inns and devour the innkeeper at night.
Avatea from cook islands myth was half fish on the left side as opposed to from the waist down.
Interestingly enough there doesn’t seem to be any octopus hybrids in mythology. You could maybe argue Scylla was the first tentacled hybrid but she wasn’t really depicted as half octopus and was more similar to the hydra or a dragon. Cecaelian creatures seem to be a unique creation of Disney’s little mermaid.
