Nightmare (Liberoscuro)

Cryptologic Name: Zoneiro (family)
Planar Origin: Liberoscuro
Habitat: n/a
Diet: Manavorous

Nightmare: Disambiguation
The term “nightmare” is used for a variety of magical concepts and creatures, as is common in the greater magic community, particularly with words that have a variety of nuances and connotations associated with them. In this particular entry I am referring to the family Zoneiro, consisting of creatures of pure magical origin native to Liberoscuro, a pocket dimension adjacent to our material plane.
In the cryptozoological field, “nightmare” can also refer to a black equine creature with a flaming mane, a small demonic creature which causes bad dreams, or a dark elemental shapeshifting creature native to the Hylaean plane. Because “nightmare” is a term having broad significance across peoples and cultures, there are likely other species I am yet unfamiliar with also referred to as nightmares or some similar variant. It would perhaps have been helpful to use the Japanese name for these creatures, as the mage responsible for their existence is Japanese, and that would have been a fairly easy distinction… however they are referred to in that language as ナイトメア which is just a phenetic translation of nightmare (pronounced “naitomea”).

Origin
A powerful terran mage named Yoshiko Tadaro was a known collector of stories. Some time during the late 20th century he disappeared from the magical community and the world at large. It turns out he created a door to a pocket dimension and established a magical workshop there which has since become known as Liberoscuro, “the shadow library.” Liberoscuro is a very literal library, containing a vast collection of books transcribed and enchanted by Tadaro, almost all of which are storybooks containing folklore and fairy tales from across many worlds, including our own. Liberoscuro also seems to be an empathic nexus, where emotion-tuned mana flows much more strongly than on our own material plane. It is a result of this mana flow, as well as the magic imbued within the transcribed tomes that gave rise to these creatures we refer to as nightmares. The nightmares are spiritual creatures given physical form by the confluence of mana interacting with the enchantments cast on the books. We still don’t know how this came to be, as access to the library is very limited and much of Tadaro’s research has yet to be safely discovered or deciphered, but these nightmares appear to manifest directly from the emotional energy imbued within individual stories and as such take on physical forms which relate to the story of their origin. For those of you familiar with terran folklore, these stories are often filled with tragedy, grief, and violence and as such many nightmares are quite dangerous. This has been the primary reason as to why so little is yet understood about the library and these creatures, as the library is now rampant with them.

Biology
Nightmares have a wide array of different forms and appearances, as the circumstances of their conception differs for each individual. However, there are a variety of more common forms that mimic, to a certain extent, creatures commonly seen in folklore. Birds, hounds, wisps, plants, and orcs appear to be the most common varieties, and are some of the weaker subsets of these creatures. Cryptozoologists believe that these are most common because they are born from minor parts of the stories they spring from, and as such have less emotional energy forming their core. There are many larger and more powerful creatures with odd and unique forms in the library as well; the one thing we have determined about this family of creatures as a whole is that they are primarily manavores. They will feed on one another for sustenance, but it seems that they primarily require the magical energy stored within their fellow nightmares rather than their physical components to sustain themselves.

Field Notes

• Because of the uncertain nature of the library, as well as the strength and aggression of its inhabitants, there are powerful magical barriers in place to prevent the nastier of these beings from ending up in our world. That said, some of the smaller, more docile species have been known to slip through the barrier unnoticed and as such I have actually encountered a few types of nightmare, and my research partner has collected them for further research. Purification wisps (as pictured above) are quite small and seem rather harmless. Because of their size and relative lack of power, they seem to mostly survive by absorbing ambient mana; we’ve noticed the wisp in our care tends to move along the same routes as our caravan snails, who we know follow natural leylines on their meanderings.

• The only other species of nightmare we’ve collected is a curious individual who takes on the appearance of a clam and calls himself “Lammy.” While also a rather small individual compared to the monstrous forms we’ve heard of but not yet encountered personally, Lammy seems to be a reasonably powerful nightmare. He can speak a variety of human languages and seems to consume a great deal more mana than the wisp. While he loves talking to Tsu’mat and I, his stories can be a little hard to follow, and as such we haven’t gleaned as much information about the library and the other nightmares as we would have hoped.

Occamy

Cryptologic Name: Poulicephalos badhatana
Planar Origin: Materia
Habitat: Jungle
Diet: Carnivorous

Appearance & Morphology
Occamys are long, serpentine creatures with a mix of traits from both snakes and birds. The occamy’s head mostly bird, with a strong beak and bluish-purple feathers and it has golden eyes with slitted pupils, resembling a snake’s. The feather’s transition to scales down the creature’s neck, and back to feathers at the tip of its tail which ends in a colorful tuft. They also possess powerful wings which allow them to soar quite adeptly.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
The occamy’s most notable magical ability is choranaptyxis, meaning it can grow or shrink in size in order to fit its available space. It is unclear if this ability has a strict limit; we rarely see occamies grow larger than 5m in length or shrink to smaller than 15cm, but because we don’t entirely understand the mechanism of this magic we can only speculate as to whether there are limits to the creature’s range of sizes.

Occamies are carnivorous and quite dangerous; while they eat mostly insects, rodents, and small birds, their ability to grow in size means that they can easily injure or kill an unprepared mage if one happens upon them. What’s more, they are fiercely territorial and protective of their nests, as well as having a strong sense of smell, so nesting sites should be avoided.

Field Notes

• Cryptozoologists have observed that occamies never expand past the boundaries of their immediate environment when in an enclosed space; for example, if an occamy slithered into a shoebox, it wouldn’t expand in size to break/be free of the shoebox. There are two possibly explanations for this, one being behavioral and one being magical. It is possible, since we still don’t fully understand how these creatures’ magic functions, that this is a limit on the magic itself, meaning they are incapable of growing beyond the boundaries of an enclosed space. Alternatively, the behavioral possibility (i.e. they simply don’t do this, even though they are able to) may be explained in terms of preventing injury to themselves. For example, if an occamy was contained in a metal box and expanded, it may cause serious injury to the occamy before the box broke (assuming it did ultimately break).

• Occamy eggs are widely sought-after because their shells have an outer layer of pure silver.

Hollowfolk

Cryptologic Name: Koiloforma oplomistis
Planar Origin: Hallownest
Habitat: Subterranean
Diet: Manavore

Appearance & Morphology
Hollowfolk, also referred to as "husks,” “husk warriors,” or “hollow knights” are a small, semi-corporeal race of creatures. Their bodies consist of shadowy energy which usually takes on a vaguely humanoid shape, though the forms their bodies take on are widely varied. Their heads are made from a bone-like material and also vary widely in shape, though all seem to have a single pair of blank eye holes.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
Hollowfolk form vast subterranean kingdoms, excavating elaborate tunnels and caverns in which they build cities beneath the surface of the soil. These beings can excrete a substance which can be mixed with soil to harden the interior of their caverns and provide structural stability within their underground homes.
Hollowfolk possess some rather unique magic for sustaining themselves; as semi-corporeal creatures comprised primarily of energy, they do not eat in the way we would normally think of the word. Instead, they forge tools and weapons imbued with a special type of magic which allows them to absorb mana from other living things (primarily animals, though they can do so with any living macroorganism including plants and fungi) and transfer it to themselves or other hollowfolk (as such we can essentially conceptualize them as omnivores, though… well the distinction is technical enough you can think about it however makes most sense for you). The details are a closely guarded secret among these elusive beings and while we, as humans, can communicate with them, they have not shared any of the specifics about how these tools function. We do know, however, that it requires special skills to forge them and hollowfolk with the necessary talent to become smiths are highly revered within their society.

Field Notes

• A fascinating aspect of hollowfolk culture is their utilization of a variety of arthropod species (insects, crustaceans, arachnids, etc.) for a wide array of purposes within their society, many of which mirror human society’s utilization of mammalian species. For example, stag beetles and other larger coleopterans often used for pulling vehicles and agricultural jobs in a manner similar to horses or oxen. Hollowfolk seem to have the ability to establish some sort of telepathic link to insect species through a bonding ritual, allowing them to train these animals in a way that is not generally believed possible otherwise. Unsurprisingly, this ritual is also a closely-guarded secret that we know little about.

• From my discussions with the few members of their species I’ve had the pleasure of meeting I’ve learned that on their home plane they have even greater variety of arthropod species than we do here on Earth (a surprising statistic as arthropod species account for more than half of all extant animal species), many of which are independently sentient without the use of the hollowfolk’s magic.

Augurey

Cryptologic Name: Kairouli liveros
Planar Origin: Veneficus
Habitat: Temperate marshlands
Diet: Carnivorous, feeding primarily on insects and faeries

Appearance & Morphology
The augurey, sometimes referred to as the “Irish phoenix,” is a moderately large bird resembling a vulture. Its long neck and head are mostly bare save for a ruff of plumage around the base of the skull and a bright crest stemming from the same area atop its head. Mostly grey-brown in color, these birds have shocks of bright green feathers in their crest, tail, and wings.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
Augureys are known to sing a melancholic song, and for a long period of time many believed this call to be prophetic of one’s death. In the mid 1700’s Rumors spread of people suffering heart attacks walking the marshlands in which these birds can be found, and these deaths became attributed to the birds’ dreary ballads. It wasn’t until many decades later, when cryptozoology became more widely studied in the magical community, that we discovered the true nature of these birds’ magical abilities. It is true that they have minor prophetic powers, however they do not predict death, but rather the coming onset of precipitation. As such, these birds became wildly popular among mage families as weather predictors, however during the rainier months their unpleasant dirges can be rather taxing to hear with such frequency.

These birds are rather reclusive, building teardrop-shaped nests out of thorns and bramble and remaining hidden within them for the bulk of the day, only emerging in the twilight hours to hunt for meals.

Aside from their predictive abilities, they also have another unusual property in their plumage. Augurey feathers contain a chemical compound that resists ink, and thus are useless as writing quills.

Field Notes

• It’s nickname, “Irish phoenix,” is not particularly meaningful from a cryptozoological standpoint. These creatures are not native to Ireland (like most magical creatures, they are extraplanar beings, though to be fair there is a sizable population there) and primarily are associated with Ireland because of their green coloration. Similarly, they are not closely related to phoenixes, but are simply magical birds of a comparable size. Informal names are often thus, much as how “jellyfish” are not actually fish. This is probably unimportant to most of you but I’m a scientist and this is my field guide so you signed up to hear my inane complaints about mage society’s unscientific way of talking about things.

• Uric the Oddball [a wildly eccentric collector of magical species] is known to have slept in a room containing no fewer than fifty pet augureys. During one particularly wet winter, Uric became convinced by the moaning of his augureys that he had died and was now a ghost. His subsequent attempts to walk through the walls of his house resulted in what his biographer Radolphus Pittiman describes as a “concussion of ten days’ duration.’
  (Scamander, Newton. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Obscurus Books, 1927.)

Vigorwasp

Cryptologic Name: R. renovespa
Planar Origin: Repens
Habitat: Jungle
Diet: Herbivorous

Appearance & Morphology
The vigorwasp is a large, fuzzy wasp species with bright gold and black coloring on its legs and abdomen. Like other hymenopterid species, there are morphological differences between wasps with different roles within their hive, which are divided into three categories, known as castes. The queen is the only egg-laying individual of the hive, and is significantly larger than the rest, sporting a long abdomen with several openings out of which her eggs are laid. Worker drones are much smaller and are the only individuals which possess stingers for protecting the hive. Lastly, the nurses are larger in size than the drones and can often be seen carrying a large sac of bright green liquid.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
Of the three categories, the vigorwasp nurses are the most sought-after and arguably most important individuals in their social structure, as they provide food for the entire hive. They produce a bright green liquid commonly referred to as “vitality nectar,” which is secreted into a bubble on the underside of the wasp. Aside from being the sole food source for the rest of the hive (the maids feed primarily on nectar and tree sap for their own nourishment), this liquid has potent healing properties. On its own it can be applied to wounds to heal damaged muscle and skin, or brewed into more potent healing potions and salves with a variety of effects.

Field Notes

• Vigorwasps are the only species known to have three distinct casts, all other eusocial species of bees and wasps only have two: queens and drones. The “nurse” caste specific to this species was named thus because of the healing properties of their vitality nectar.

• Because of the importance of the vitality nectar in sustaining the hive, it can only be gathered in small amounts without risking the health of the hive. This is not dissimilar from beekeepers leaving a portion of the honey for their bees’ consumption.

Thunderbird

Cryptologic Name: Fulgaquila wakinyan
Planar Origin: Materia
Habitat: Arid regions
Diet: Carnivorous

Appearance & Morphology
Thunderbirds are giant raptors resembling golden-feathered eagles. These birds have three pairs of wings and two long, bare tails that end in feathery tufts. Thunderbirds’ sharp, hooked beaks; powerful talons; and powerful wings make them incredibly fierce hunters. These enormous creatures can pick up fully grown bison to take back to their nests to feed at their leisure.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
Thunderbirds are rather aptly named, as they create thunderclaps when they beat all 3 pairs of wings in tandem. They don’t always use all three sets when they fly, as it’s rather difficult to take prey by surprise when they’re constantly making loud noises as they fly. When these magnificent birds beat their wings repeatedly, they will summon severe thunderstorms, particularly when multiple individuals are flying together. They can direct lightning generated in the clouds, though it takes a good deal of concentration for them to control it with any kind of accuracy.

Thunderbirds are generally solitary creatures, and are fiercely territorial. When territory disputes occur, the birds can call up dangerously powerful storms as they vie for territory. Aside from territorial disputes, these birds usually only come together to mate and care for their young; usually only having broods of 1-2 at a time. Both parents share responsibility of caring for the eggs and hatchings, usually alternating between guarding the nest and hunting. Thunderbird chicks usually fledge about 14-16 weeks after hatching, and are taught to fly and hunt by their mother, at which time the father generally leaves to reclaim his former territory.

Field Notes

• While thunderbirds do cause storms, this is not meant to suggest that all thunderstorms are a result of thunderbirds’ magic; like any weather phenomenon, most instances occur completely naturally as a result of atmospheric conditions.

• Thunderbird quills are potent magical materials, often used in magical rituals or as wand cores, though wands with thunderbird feather cores tend to be temperamental unless used by a highly skilled mage.

Sky Bison

Cryptologic Name: Exipodia petovonasos
Planar Origin: Ava
Habitat: Mountainous regions
Diet: Herbivorous

Appearance & Morphology
Sky bison are large bovine creatures somewhat resembling their nonmagical namesakes, the most similar morphological feature being their broad heads and curved horns. Sky bison have six strong legs, each with three toes, broad tails, and thick fur covering their bodies. Most sky bison are primarily white in color, with brown accents to their fur, though some variations have been observed. As with most herbivores, their wide jaws have flat teeth for grinding vegetation.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
Sky bison get their name from their ability to fly. These creatures can manipulate their own body mass, as well as control air currents around them with a significant degree of precision, making them quite agile in the air despite their physical bulk.
Sky bison are generally quite docile and content to ignore and be ignored by most other animals. These normally gentle giants are, however, fiercely protective of their young and their sheer size and mass make them quite dangerous when they have young calves to take care of. They will often use their ability to control air currents as a defensive weapon when confronted with predators.

Field Notes

• These fascinating creatures do possess a high level of intelligence and can be domesticated given proper time and training. On their home plane, a nation of people with a similar ability to control air raise these creatures as lifelong companions.

• This is one of many examples of large, entirely non-aerodynamic animals being able to soar the skies magically. I would be fascinated to look into how so many such creatures developed this ability,

Blupee

Cryptologic Name: Blagos chrimouneli
Planar Origin: Hylaea
Habitat: Forested areas, often at high elevation
Diet: Herbivorous

Appearance & Morphology
Blupees are small, furry creatures somewhat resembling rabbits. They have glowing blue fur across most of their bodies, with white paws and bobtail. Their faces are a lighter blue and have large, yellow-orange eyes and unusual branched ears.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
These odd creatures have a few unique powers to speak of, and are primarily centered around their own survival. First, these creatures can generate a powerful barrier around their body which shields them from physical harm. Additionally, they can teleport moderate distances, however this ability seems to have a delayed activation, as often when these creatures are attacked they will run a short distance before teleporting away.

Blupees are known to collect and horde gemstones, most commonly collecting a variety of stones known as rupees which are used as a form of currency on the creature’s native plane. It is ill-understood how or where these creatures keep these gemstones as they’re collecting them, as blupees don’t possess pouches like nifflers. However stashes of these gems have been found in blupee burrows, and when frightened they will often drop a scattering of gems on the ground as they begin to run from whatever spooked them. It is believed that they may have access to some sort of pocket dimension where they can stash these gems before delivering them to their burrows but nothing conclusive has yet been found.

Field Notes

• Blupees are believed to have gotten their name from the rupees which they collect and their blue coloration. It seems people on other planes are often as straightforward as Terran humans with their naming conventions.

• There are many theories about the origins of these unusual creatures and their powers. Given their similarities in appearance to rabbits which are known to exist in the history of their native realm but no longer in the present, Blupees may have been evolved from Hylaean rabbits prior to their extinction. Their flighty nature, magical barrier, and ability to disappear may also be a result of evolution which allowed them to avoid being hunted to extinction like their predecessors. Their habit of dropping Rupees may also be a defense mechanism to distract hunters. Furthermore, given their otherworldly appearance Blupees may be a spiritual manifestation of the wild rabbits that once inhabited Hyrule which would explain their glowing bodies and abilities. [Information from Zeldapedia, a collection of information on the Hylaean plane]

Chocobo

Cryptologic Name: Chocobo chocobo
Planar Origin: Crystalis
Habitat: Primarily meadowlands
Diet: Herbivorous

Appearance & Morphology
The chocobo is a large, flightless, brightly-plumed bird with long, powerful legs, a large head, and a broad, hooked beak. Unlike most birds, chocobos only have 3 toes on each foot, with two facing forward and one facing back. Their tail feathers stick up from their rear, similar to a chicken’s, and they develop a feathered crest on their heads in their adolescence. Chocobo chicks resemble baby chickens in shape and color, but their necks elongate as they age. Chocobos come in a variety of colors including yellow, red, blue, green, black, white, pink, and gold.

Magical Abilities
Chocobos have a variety of magical abilities that seem to be tied directly to their plumage color. Despite this, they are still recognized as a single species because the color morphs are not biologically separate, and can interbreed freely.

• Yellow chocobos are the most common breed, and in so far as we are aware, do not posess any outward magical abilities.

• Red chocobos are known to breath fire, but only after eating a particular vegetable known as krakka greens (native to Crystalis). Cryptozoologists have come to discover that red chocobos have glands in their throats which release an alchemical solution that, when combined with stomach gasses produced from digesting krakka greens, will ignite when exposed to the air. So I suppose it is more appropriate to say that red chocobos can belch fire after eating their favorite meal. Regardless, it makes for an effective defense mechanism.

• Green chocobos are most at home in the mountains, as they are expert climbers, even outpacing the Ibex due to the magic in their talons that allows them to walk on any surface as though it were flat ground. This incredible magic even allows them to traverse overhangs or walk on flat ceilings. However, the extent of their magic only applies to their own body, meaning that you’ll still likely fall off a green chocobo you’re riding if it decides to take a stroll onto the ceiling, unless you’re holding on very tightly.

• Blue chocobos, much like the green morphs, have a special magic in their talons which allows them to traverse special surfaces. In the case of blue chocobos, they can walk on the surface of water.

• Black chocobos are known to move at incredible speeds, far beyond what any creature could achieve by nonmagical means. We believe that black chocobos can actually manipulate time within themselves, which is the root of this ability. Much like their green counterparts, this magic applies only to themselves, and riding a black chocobo when it’s using its abilities can be dangerous if not properly prepared.

• White chocobos are known to have healing powers associated with their cries. When a white chocobo sings, it greatly speeds up the natural regeneration process in living creatures around it, meaning wounds will quickly heal.

• Pink chocobos are similar to their white kin in that they possess restorative powers, however their magic is centered more around expelling toxins. This can be quite useful when dealing with highly venomous creatures, both magical and otherwise.

• Gold chocobos are the rarest and most powerful variety of chocobo, possessing all of the natural magical abilities of the spectrum of their kin. As such, they are highly sought-after in their native realm.

Behavior
Wild chocobos form roaming flocks, much like herds of wild horses. There is some social structure to these flocks but no strict hierarchy. Chicks are raised primarily by their mothers, though flocks are generally very protective of any young, regardless of parentage.

Chocobos are highly intelligent animals and take well to training. Given their physical prowess and capacity to learn, chocobos are often used in a similar capacity to horses on their native plane as a mode of transportation, either being ridden or used to draw carts and other vehicles.

Field Notes

• C. chocobo, referred to as the “common chocobo,” is not the only species of chocobo, but it is the most commonly seen amongst the disparate worlds on the plane of Crystalis. There are two other known species in the chocobo genus: C. rotunda is often called the “chubby chocobo” as it is much heftier than the common chocobo and C. voluns, the “sky chocobo,” which is the only species capable of light.

Korok

Cryptologic Name: Silva facifolium
Planar Origin: Hylia
Habitat: A variety of natural areas
Diet: Primarily photosynthetic, secondarily herbivorous

Appearance & Morphology
Koroks are small creatures with skin colored and textured much like tree bark. Their most distinctive feature is the leaf mask which they wear over their faces. Koroks cut small shapes and patterns into their masks so each one is unique, and often reveals something about the personality of the individual.

Magical Abilities
Koroks, like many creatures of advanced intelligence, have the capacity to learn magic, much like human mages do. Their preferred area of study tends to be illusion and nature-based magic, as they fit well with their own lifestyle and inherent magical abilities, but many also enjoy learning conjuring and elemental magic.

As far as their natural abilities, they can become invisible when touching any living plant. Secondly, they are able to sense the thoughts and feelings of trees. We generally have to take this ability at the koroks’ word, as humans have yet to develop any sort of magic which allows them to communicate with non-sentient plant life. Lastly, they have a special magical ritual that, when performed with a group of koroks, can cause a tree to produce seeds.

Behavior

While they have a range of personalities as diverse as humanity, many koroks tend to have a playful and inquisitive nature. They tend to enjoy finding patterns in the mundane and will often use their magic to create such patterns for others to find.

Koroks are born from the buds of deku trees, a unique and powerful type of tree. native to the plane of Hylia. They have a strong magical bond with their parent tree, though the nature of that bond is not entirely understood. It seems to be, at least in part, the source of their magic. Koroks are also known for their desire to explore, and many koroks go on journeys at some point in their lives to find unique places in their world and beyond. Often koroks will take some of the seeds from their parent tree on their journey and find special places to plant them. They are often drawn to places in nature with unique patterns, which often correspond to natural leylines of energy, and as such are both magically potent and aesthetically interesting. When others find these special places, if the korok is still hiding nearby, he might reveal himself and offer one of his tree’s seeds to the lucky person.

Field Notes

• Koroks originated on the plane of Hylia, and the first koroks were born from the Great Deku Tree, a unique and powerful being venerated on that plane. Koroks now live on countless planes thanks in no small part to their wanderlust. It is somewhat unclear why most deku trees planted.

• The ritual to cause trees to magically seed appears to be the only way that deku trees can reproduce, as they never produce flowers to reproduce sexually. It is also unclear why deku trees take on different characteristics when planted on planes outside of hylia. On their native plane, deku trees are sentient and can speak, but deku trees grown on our own plane are not.

Phoenix

Cryptologic Name: Polifotia foinix
Planar Origin: Olympia
Habitat: Mountainous regions
Diet: Carnivorous; eating small rodents and fish

Appearance & Morphology
The most well-known member of the polifotia genus (the firebirds), the phoenix is a large, crane-like bird with plumage in bright red, orange, and yellow. They have long, curved beaks that are golden in color and elaborate plumage cresting their heads.

Magical Abilities
The phoenix is venerated among the most magical creatures know to us, and has a number of magical abilities. Primary among them is their ability to self-combust; this skill is most well-known to be used by elderly phoenixes who have reached the end of their lifetimes and will immolate themselves to be reborn from the ashes of their previous body. This is a very limited scope of this power, however, as mature phoenixes can cause their wing and tail feathers to ignite at will. This does not scorch their feathers, but simply creates a wreath of flame that burns on their surface.

Beyond their iconic flames, these amazing birds have other magical properties. Their unique songs can be used to communicate, not only with other phoenixes, but with people and other sentient beings. They do not speak, in the conventional sense of the word, but they can communicate feelings and ideas through their songs. We believe there is some telepathic component but as yet cannot confirm this.

Phoenixes also have unique magic centered around their flight. When grasping an object with its talons, the weight of that object is significantly reduced, allowing them to fly carrying great burdens with ease.

Phoenix blood and phoenix feathers are both known to have incredible magical properties on their own. Their blood has incredible restorative properties and is often used in healing and cleansing potions, and their feathers are powerful magical catalysts, used in enhancing a wide variety of spells.

Behavior
The phoenix is an incredibly intelligent, curious, and long-lived bird, and as such is held as a very wise animal. Phoenixes are known to live in a single body for hundreds of years before being reborn, and it is believed that memories of their previous incarnations are regained over time in their new bodies.

Most phoenixes live solitary lives, only coming together to mate, which is a very infrequent occurrence. Given phoenixes’ long lifespans, they don’t reach sexual maturity until they are approximately 90-100 years old, and global populations are fairly small, so phoenix chicks are very few and far between.

Field Notes

• While phoenixes are known to be highly intelligent, they are also generally rather distrusting of humanity, and with good reason given the uses of their feathers and blood as magical ingredients. On rare occasion, however, their curiosity aligns with our own and a phoenix will befriend a unique individual in whom it has taken an interest. This is the primary way in which we’ve been able to study these amazing creatures, as they tend to avoid us otherwise.

Nevermore

Cryptologic Name: Grimm corvus
Planar Origin: Remnant
Habitat: Temperate forests, urban/suburban/rural areas
Diet: Omnivorous; subsist primarily through scavenging carrion as well as eating small seeds, nuts, and berries

Appearance & Morphology
The nevermore is the only known avian of the grimm genus. These creatures are similar in size and coloration to the common raven, with a distinctive mask of bone covering their face (a feature common amongst grimm) and two pairs of fiery red eyes. Each nevermore has markings on its mask which are unique to the individual and range in color from orange to violet but are most commonly red in hue.

Magical Abilities
The nevermore has minor prophetic powers, which appear to be limited to the foretelling of misfortune to those living beings around them. It is believed that their two sets of eyes are the source of their prophetic powers; the front pair of eyes seeing things as they are, and the rear pair seeing into the future. As with most prophetic arts, it’s unknown whether a person’s knowledge of impending misfortune can alter that person’s fate, or whether that knowledge ultimately leads them to the very predicament they have been warned about.

Behavior
Nevermores are highly intelligent, and as such will often try to warn those beings for whom they have forecast disaster by singing to them. They are most vigilant in their warnings when they have been domesticated and sense impending danger centered around their owners and others who they have developed an affection for. Unfortunately, nevermores have thus far not shown any capacity for human speech or other methods of precise communication, and therefore cannot be specific in their warnings; there’s no way to know whether the bird has foreseen a paper cut or your untimely demise. There is, however, a great deal of speculation as to the specific patterns in their songs corresponding to the nature and/or severity of events, but there is no conclusive evidence as yet to support that theory.

Field Notes

• Despite the relative ease of training these birds, they are not a very popular creature to be kept as pets. This is most likely because people tend to be rather unnerved by both their appearance as well as their powers. Mages have been known to go mad from hearing the songs of the nevermore and becoming overly paranoid about the nature of the misfortunes they are fated to endure. They are also often blamed for such calamity purely by association, though it is widely accepted in the cryptozoological community that these birds are not the source of the bad luck, but simply harbingers of it. Nevertheless, most are more comfortable living in ignorant bliss of their future misfortune.

  • There have been some, on the other hand, who are on the opposite side of the fence, adoring their relationship with their nevermores, and actually training them to respond in the event of an emergency. According to Chairon Merivell, a respected collector of a variety of magical birds, he taught his nevermore to hit a “life alert” button (a muggle device used to aid those in danger/having a medical emergency) when the creature sensed mortal peril in his future. This training has yet to be proven as Merivell has yet to be involved in anything particularly life threatening.

Squirt

Cryptologic Name: Caelinens fucus
Planar Origin: Ggias
Habitat: Varied
Diet: Herbivore

Appearance/Morphology
Squirts are the smallest member of the caelinens genus, often referred to as “windbags.” These creatures have teardrop-shaped bodies with strong, flexible tails. Their skin is black and transitions to blue toward the tail tip. They generally have large blue eyes, bright orange markings on their heads, and two small appendages that resemble stubby arms.

Magical Abilities
Squirts have limited magical abilities on their own, beyond their ability to float effortlessly through the air. They do, however, produce a liquid secretion from ducts at the end of their tails that is a potent restorative liquid, often used in advanced healing potions, or diluted and ingested on its own to induce stimulate the healing of damaged tissues.

Behavior
Squirts are one of three species collectively referred to as “windbags,” and all three species live together in colonies and function as a unit. Squirts function as food gatherers and scouts, similar to drones n a beehive. They will use their flexible tails to gather fruits, flowers, and vegetation, eat it, and then produce their special liquid secretion (often referred to as “squirt extract”) to feed the other members of their colony. The second species, C. artifex, known as “gasfellas,” are the workers of the colony. They are larger and stronger, with developed appendages allowing them to build structures to support their colony, as well as defending it from harm. The final species, C. regno, also known as “scumbags,” are equivalent to queens in the hive analogy. Most colonies only have 2-3 scumbags and they will generally direct the other species in their daily tasks, as well as consuming any waste material to keep the colony tidy (hence where they earned their common name). This does seem to provide some sustenance for them but they also ingest the squirt’s extract along with the gasfellas. Scumbags are the only creatures that can reproduce, and will spawn members of all three species to suit the colony’s needs. While this suggests, from a biological standpoint, that they are all a single species, because they are magical in nature the rules are a touch fuzzier.

Field Notes

• These strange creatures are a relatively recent discovery and as such I don’t have much experience with them yet, however I did discover a local colony and am working to develop a relationship with them. They are fairly intelligent creatures and while they cannot speak we’re starting to develop a rapport and I’m hoping to develop a way of communicating with them. There is a particular squirt who seems to have taken a liking to me when I bring offerings of food and will often follow me around whenever I go exploring in their forest.

Paolumu

Cryptologic Name: Sufflo album
Planar Origin: Terranova
Habitat: Mountainous regions and tundra
Diet: Carnivore; eats mostly deer and other ungulates

Appearance
The paolumu is a large creature somewhat resembling a cross between a sheep, a bat, and a beaver. These creatures have long necks with pink, hairless faces; large, round ears; and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Their wings are batlike in nature, a membrane stretched between the arm and finger bones, and having thick pads at the end of each finger. Their flat, wide tails and bellies are covered in hard scales much like a beaver’s, and their powerful hind legs have four clawed toes, two longer toes oriented forwards and two shorter toes facing back. These creatures have air sacs in their necks which can inflate like balloons, creating a large, round ruff around the creature’s head.

Magical Abilities
Paolumus have a limited amount of magical power, mostly centered around the air sacs in their necks. While normally they fill these sacs with normal air, they have glands in each hollow that can secrete a variety of substances which can either change the nature of the air or have some other effect on it. Two secretions are most widely studied, the first is an alchemical solution which transforms the air in its internal sacs into pure hydrogen. The second known secretion is a powerful sedative that will quickly knock out even larger animals. The paolumu itself is immune to its effects.

Behavior
In its native habtat, the paolumu is a middle predator on the food chain, eating mostly larger ungulates such as wild pigs, deer, and even horses. On Earth, however, they have few natural predators other than the mid-to-large members of the dragon family, though dragon populations are low enough that they don’t often occupy the same territories.

The paolumu’s biggest advantages both offensively and defensively are its broad, armored tail, and the air in its air sacs. Paolumus can release the gas in their air sacs quickly, and as such will often use their sedative gas to knock out both prey and would-be predators. Very few creatures other than the paolumu itself have any natural resistance to the gas.

Besides the sleeping gas, paolumus will use their alchemical solution to allow themselves to float effortlessly high in the air while looking for a meal. When they locate their prey, they will expel the gas quickly from their air sacs, allowing them to dive at their prey. The one downside of this is that the concentration of hydrogen in the air can be quite dangerous until it dissipates completely, being highly flammable and likely to explode if exposed to a heat source.

Field Notes

• Given the unique properties of the paolumu’s excretions, both its hydrogen-producing alchemical secretion, as well as its gaseous sedative are highly sought-after products by alchemists and potion masters.

Poshepocket

Cryptologic Name: Imito perus
Planar Origin: Crystallis
Habitat: Poshepockets don’t seem to have a preferred habitat, they seem to appear almost anywhere
Diet: Pseudo-carnivorous/parasitic; will engulf any animal that stumbles across it, however it doesn’t “eat” them in the traditional sense

Appearance & Morphology
The poshepocket, sometimes referred to as a “pouch mimic,” is an unusual creature, even by cryptozoological standards. This nickname is purely from their appearance, as they are entirely unrelated to the true mimic. The poshepocket resembles a furry bag or pouch; they have no limbs or other outward appendages but have a pair of eyes and a gaping mouth filled with rows of teeth that are pointed and rough but not particularly sharp.

The poshepocket’s mouth is quite remarkable, as it has the ability to expand an incredible amount given the usual size of the creature (most only grow to be about a foot long, and roughly 8-10” wide). Expanding their jaws seems to take the creatures a while to accomplish, however, so they most commonly attach themselves to an extremity of their prey and slowly expand and devour them, much like a snake.

Magical Abilities
The poshepocket’s maw serves as an entrance to its own pocket dimension, which seems to slowly siphon life energy from any living creatures inside it. This appears to be the reason that their teeth are blunt rather than sharp; they are meant to grip rather than pierce. The poshepocket doesn’t wish to kill or mortally wound its prey, or it would lose most of the potential nourishment that it could harvest

The pocket dimension within these creatures is not exactly a void; while not having much in the way of physical features, it does have breathable atmosphere inside it, which is likely to prolong the life of their prey such that they can continue to siphon energy for as long as possible. In addition, objects in the void will rest as though on a surface with gravity, though no surfaces seem to physically exist, nor does gravity pull in any particular direction. What is perhaps most unusual is that creatures and objects with the ability to move can travel as though they were moving across a flat surface, but movement is not restricted to two dimensions. It appears that you can orient yourself in any direction and just walk, the physics of which no one yet understands. This does mean, however, that it is possible to get back out of a phoshepocket once completely devoured if you don’t wander too far from the opening; while the pocket dimension cannot be truly infinite as it has a fixed beginning/entrance, cryptozoologists have yet to come to any sort of conclusion on how large the pocket dimension actually is. This is also contingent on the creature being willing to cooperate and open its jaw wide enough to regurgitate you.

Behavior
Much like the true mimics from which they get their nickname, pouch mimics are sit-and-wait predators, remaining hidden and still until something comes close enough for them to pounce. And yes, despite being limbless creatures normally moving by ineptly squirming across the ground, they are in fact capable of launching themselves at their prey when the opportunity arises.

Field Notes

• Poshepockets can make for useful storage vessels when properly trained, as they can store a near-infinite number of items while occupying only a very small amount of space on the physical plane. We see similar concepts used in the magical community, but this sort of spatial magic is highly advanced and requires a great deal of study and practice to properly employ.

Griffin

Cryptologic Name: Felidaves s.
Planar Origin: Materia
Habitat: Highly varied
Diet: Carnivorous, they are voracious hunters (most of them anyway)

Appearance & Morphology
Griffins (alt. griffon or gryphon) are a widely varied genus if chimeric creatures that posess the body, hindquarters, and tail of a a feline and the head and wings of a bird. The forelegs are often bird talons as well, but in some variants they are also feline in morphology. Coloration, size, and shape are all dependent upon the core species of the creature, and as such an extensive variety of species exist within this genus.

Magical Abilities
As stated above, griffins are chimeric creatures; this means that they were created using alchemy to fuse different animals together. While the process of their creation is purely magical in origin, they don’t possess any particular magical powers of their own, unless their component creatures are magical in nature, and then the crafted griffin with generally possess similar abilities.

Griffins are rather unique amongst chimeric creatures as they can breed with others of their species. It is unclear how this is possible when most chimeric creatures cannot breed. This does mean, however, that there are now wild populations of griffin species in the world.

While they may not possess any magical abilities in their own right, some of their components have use in potion-making in a way that their predecessors do not. It is unclear why this is, but the theory is that it has something to do with the alchemical process of their creation. Griffin claws (from the feline hind legs) are used in many curative potions and the feathers are used in a special potion that allows blind people to see for a limited duration.

Behavior
Griffins, being such a disparate and varied group, have similarly varied behavior patterns. Most of these creature’s behaviors are reasonably linked to their base species, thus a traditional griffin crafted from a lion and eagle is likely to be a voracious predator, whereas a griffin crafted from a house cat and a songbird is more likely to be fairly docile. The general trend is that the avian half of the pair tends to influence the expected behavior more than the feline half, likely because the head, and thus brain, are avian.

There are a few traits seen across species that are worth noting. First, is that griffins mate for life, and will care for their young through adolescence. Courtship among griffins is rather unique in that they seem to have inherited their avian ancestor’s flair for courtship rituals. Many griffins will display their plumage, sing, or perform elaborate dances in an attempt to attract a mate. This does suppose, however, that other individuals of their particular species exist, which is not always the case.

Field Notes

• The first and most important note I feel should be made is related to the welfare of the species used to create griffins. While early alchemists did use a living lion and eagle to create the first griffins, modern alchemists no longer use living animals in their work. It does require DNA from the species and a collection of other organic matter, but the lives of two living animals are no longer combined into a single being to create these creatures.

• The first griffins, created by alchemists millenia ago, were all crafted from the same set of creatures: a lion and an eagle. This had great cultural significance at the time as the lion was considered the “king of beasts” and the eagle the “king of birds,” thus the union of the two was an especially powerful symbol, not to mention an exceptionally fierce creature. It wasn’t until more recently in history that alchemists began to branch out and experiment on their own, combining any odd combination of bird and cat they were so inspired to. This makes for rather odd ecology for these creatures, as some species only have single individuals existing at any given time, and thus will never form wild populations. This is somewhat vexing for cryptozoologists like myself, as a great deal of information can only be gleaned by observing creatures in the wild. Admittedly it has tempted me to learn alchemical techniques such that I could create my own griffins, but there are enough wild species of cryptids in our world that my work is cut out for me without needing to create more for myself.

• Presently there are six species known to have wild populations on earth:

  • F. aquileo: “True griffin,” created from a lion and eagle, living in mountainous regions around the world. These are the most prolific species.

  • F. corvatus: “Black griffin,” created from a common raven and domestic cat. Much smaller than true griffin, they generally live in temperate forests and human-inhabited areas, and are scavengers much like their avian ancestors.

  • F. tytocal: “Owl griffin,” while there are a number of owl griffin species, only one has a wild population, and it is a species consisting of a barn owl and a caracal. These creatures are found throughout Africa and Europe.

  • F. domesticus: “Sparrow griffin,” the smallest wild griffin species, these consist of a house sparrow and domestic cat. This species can be found across the northern hemisphere.

  • F. pardarauna: “Parrot griffin,” consisting of a blue-and-yellow macaw and a leaopard, these are the most colorful wild griffin species, as well as the only species found in South America.

  • F. jugrinus: “Swift Griffin,” crafted using two of the quickest of their respective species, the peregrine falcon and the cheetah. This species is found primarily in northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

• The griffin pictured here is under my personal care, and is not a wild owl griffin, but a related species, F. nebucola, created from a great grey owl and a domestic cat. He was given to me by an alchemist friend of mine, who was experimenting with different griffin breeds. He is quite playful and loves hunting squirrels in our back yard. He is a recent addition to the menagerie and as yet doesn’t have a name, so I welcome any suggestions.

Drive Imp

Cryptologic Name: Deminium ageto
Planar Origin: Gigas
Habitat: They live in a variety of habitats and build villages with others of their kind
Diet: Omnivorous; like humanoid cultures, they cook and eat a great a great variety of foods

Appearance & Morphology
Drive imps are small creatures with somewhat unusual morphology. Their bodies are generally egg-shaped, without a distinct separation between their head and torso. To most, they would appear to be all head, as their large faces do take up a good portion of the front of their bodies, however their vital organs are simply arranged in such a way to accommodate this body shape. Drive imps have red fur covering most of their bodies, with the exception of their faces which show their black skin, large eyes, and blue, triangular noses. They have very short, but strong legs, similar to a bird’s, with three clawed toes, two extending forward and one extending back. They also possess blue, leathery wings similar to a bat’s, and a pair of blue curved horns protruding from their heads. Drive imps are not particularly aerodynamic, nor are their wings very large in comparison to their bodies; as such, while they are able to lift off and hover for periods of time, they are not exactly built for sustained flight, and more often use their magical abilities for travel.

Magical Abilities
Drive imps are much like humanoid races in their capacity for magic. While they do have some intrinsic magical abilities, they also have a talent for magecraft (learned magic).

Among their innate talents is a unique teleportation ability that they refer to as “implosion,” or at least that is the closest translation. When a drive imp implodes, he leaves behind a bright explosion of light in their wake, resembling a firework. We have come to understand that the variety of hues seen in an imp’s implosion is unique to the individual, much like a human fingerprint.

In addition to their teleportation abilities, they also all possess some manner of telepathic abilities, that seem to be related to their eyes. We’ll talk more about this when we discuss drive imp language.

Culture
While drive imp history, society and culture is far more vast than I can easily address here, there are a few points I want to touch on.

As previously stated, drive imps have a talent for magecraft, and while each individual develops this differently, they do generally have a particular knack for enchanting (imbuing objects with magical powers). It may in part be due to their unusual morphology, but most drive imps tend to sport enchanted accessories that are imbued with spells that they might need, most activated by particular power words, such that they can cast certain spells with relative ease, and without having to expend much of their own internal mana. Because of this widespread tradition among them, drive imps tend to be a bit magpie-ish in that they tend to collect jewelry, baubles, and other trinkets for the purpose of decorating themselves with the items after enchanting them as they so desire.

Secondly, I believe it is worth discussing drive imp communication. Their language is rather unique in that it can, generally speaking, be interpreted by anyone without needing and training in the subject. Drive imp speech has two components to it, an audible component, which consists of a variety of both staccato and lyrica sounds of different pitches (rather reiniscent of birdsong), and a telepathic component. The telepathic component is still not entirely understood from a functional standpoint, but the best way the drive imps have been able to explain it to us is that the telepathic relay translates the sounds for you as the imp is speaking.

If you are interested in learning more about drive imp history, I would recommend the writings of Ki’arok, a well-respected historian, who has written a number of books on the development of their history and society.

Field Notes

• First of all allow me to qualify my use of the word “creature” in the above descriptions, as drive imps are a race of people by all standards and I do not with to disparage them in any sense. In the magical community there is a great deal of debate and discussion surrounding the use of the terms “beast” and “being.” According to the magical community at large, “beast” is a word used to describe creatures with animalistic traits, behavior patterns, and intelligence where as “being” is a term used for those of higher intelligence, generally using humans as a reference point. Frankly I find this whole argument tiresome for a variety of reasons, not only because it limits us in our understanding of magical life on the whole by putting creatures into unnecessary (and frankly, unhelpful) boxes, but also greatly polarizes people and stigmatizes a category of living creatures as innately “lesser than” based on a set of criteria that can’t even be widely agreed upon in the magical community. As such, you will rarely hear me use either of these words in such a context, and should generally assume that when I do use them, I am doing so not based on the communities current definition of such things, but to convey meaning through more useful context of language. And generally speaking, I default to “creature” as the qualifying term for all magical and non-magical life (and occasionally non-life, in the case of things such as spirits and their ilk), to include the myriad peoples of our world and others.

• On a personal note, my cryptozoological research partner is a drive imp named Tsu’mat, who has a similar interest in the myriad of unique creatures that inhabit our multiverse. He has been an absolute joy to work with and always brings fresh ideas and a great deal of enthusiasm to our collective research.

Mimic

Cryptologic Name: Arca incubo
Planar Origin: Materia
Habitat: Anywhere inhabited by humans
Diet: Carnivorous; they will eat almost any living creature, but seem to have a particular taste for humans

Appearance & Morphology
Mimics are fairly easy to describe in appearance, but it is a good deal harder to explain their morphology. The easy explanation is that a mimic is a container with a lid of some sort, which opens to reveal a maw with sharp teeth and a long, muscular tongue. The mimic’s true body is still not entirely understood, because we know that they do not produce the container, rather they inhabit it, much like a hermit crab inhabits shells left behind by other animals. It is accurate to say, however, that when a mimic inhabits a container, that the container becomes a part of the mimics body; they are completely inseparable by any means we yet possess.

Mimics are indistinguishable from normal containers as the vessel it inhabits remains entirely unchanged by its inhabitant. As such it can be extremely difficult to identify a mimic until you’re close enough for it to attack you. This adds to the dangerous nature of these creatures, however, mimics have been known to shudder in anticipation of a meal, so if you’re lucky you can catch the subtle movement or sound before you get close enough for it to grab you.

Magical Abilities
While they don’t possess a great deal of active magical abilities, they are still rather dangerous as mimics are virtually indestructible from the outside, being essentially immune to both physical and magical assault.. As such, the only way to kill a mimic is to target the fleshy insides while its mouth is open, which consequently is the most dangerous time to be near one of these creatures.

In addition, Mimic saliva also has some unique properties. It is an incredibly potent solvent, able to dissolve most organic matter, however inorganic materials such as glass, stone or metal remain entirely unharmed by the substance. Additionally, when exposed to oxygen it becomes incredibly viscous and sticky. This saliva is used as an ingredient for several potions, but because of the way it reacts to oxygen and its potency as a solvent, it needs to be stored under very particular conditions.

Behavior
Mimics are the epitome of camouflaged sit-and-wait predators. They will remain motionless for weeks at a time, waiting for a meal to come by. While mimics do not have eyes or other visible sense organs on the outside of their body, they can sense subtle vibrations around them, primarily through their contact with the floor. This allows them to strike with surprising precision with their long, flexible tongues. when prey comes into range. This also means that flying creatures such as birds and bats are generally ignored by mimics.

Despite having no outward appendages, mimics can and do move around. They achieve locomotion by using their tongues to drag themselves around in a similar fashion to bivalves

Mimic reproduction is a subject about which we still know very little. My best guess is that they reproduce asexually, as I’ve never observed two mimics interact in such a way that would suggest procreation, nor have I found any evidence that mimics have distinct sexes. What we do know (or presume, at least) is that some act of spawning is required, as juvenile mimics only seem to appear when an adult mimic is in the vicinity. We also know that a suitable vessel is required, as the container itself is not generated by the mimic upon its birth.

What is most puzzling is the actual mechanism involved in reproduction; thus far there has been no observable interaction between the adult mimic and the spawn. Perhaps some sort of spores are released that are too small to be seen or are entirely invisible. Alternatively, as a magical creature it is entirely possible that a mimic simply wills a nearby container into becoming another mimic. An alternative theory has also been proposed, whereby the container itself is responsible for its transformation into a mimic, rather than the mimic creating an offspring of its own will, though this theory seems the most unlikely to me.

Field Notes

• The natural properties of the mimic have led some to attempt to tame these creatures for the purpose of protecting their valuables. This is a rather effective strategy in theory but a difficult one to put into practice as mimics are not known to be overly intelligent creatures and generally attempt to eat any living creature they come into contact with. This is not to suggest that it can’t be done, only that it requires a great amount of both patience and skill to train one, and even once tamed you could still lose an appendage if you’re not careful.

• If you’re concerned you may have stumbled across one and don’t want to get too close for the mimic to reveal itself, a good strategy is to toss something at the container to see if it elicits a reaction; most mimics are voracious enough to react even if the item they’ve been struck with is inedible.

• While we don’t know how mimics reproduce, we do know that they can inhabit new vessels if they so choose. This is often achieved by climbing into a larger container, transferring to the new container (though how exactly that occurs we don’t know) and then spitting out the old container once the transfer is complete. In this way they further resemble hermit crabs.

• It is unclear why mimics most often end up inhabiting treasure chests and similar boxes, though the hinged opening and sturdy construction do seem to lend themselves rather well to a mimic’s anatomy. Despite this trend, mimics have been known to inhabit a wide variety of containers of different shapes and sizes. I’ve seen mimics inhabit anything from a jewelry box to a trash dumpster (the latter was, as I’m sure you can imagine, quite terrifying, simply given its size). In an attempt to better understand mimic anatomy, I have kept a mimic in close proximity to a variety of transparent containers, hoping that it would spawn a baby mimic in one such that I could observe the anatomy from the outside, but thus far I have been unsuccessful in this endeavor.

Minima Identification: Gjøltrolds, Gnomes & Smurfs, Oh My!

I was recently sent an inquiry into the genealogical relationships and identification of gjøltrolds, gnomes, and smurfs. While I haven’t done a great deal of personal study on any of these species, I’m always one to encourage cryptozoological intreset and exploration, so I compiled some information to help answer these questions! Eventually I’d love to do a little more personal research on these three distinct creatures and put together field guide entries for them.

Before we get started I do want to make a note on gjøltrolds. While commonly referred to as “trolls,” I’m using their proper name so as not to confuse them with jöthurs (the large, grotesque, humanoid creatures that are closely related to orcs, jötunn, ogres, and goblins), which are also commonly referred to as trolls.

Taxonomy

There are a wide variety of small humanoid creatures, and not all of them are particularly closely related from a genealogical/taxonomic perspective. In the case of these three particular species, two of them are much more closely related than the third. Gnomes are actually members of the faerie phylum, meaning they are native to the fae realm along with faeries, sprites, leprechauns, and many other magical species (including many small humanoids much like themselves). Smurfs and gjøltrolds are both native to the material plane, and are very closely related, being two species within the same genus, Minima.

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Identification

While at first the task of differentiating between these three species of small humanoid creatures may seem fairly straightforward, there are quite a few similarities and given the variation between individuals, particularly among gjøltrolds, it can sometimes cause some confusion.

• Gjøltrold: The most distinctive feature of a gjøltrold is the magical gem that grows in their belly button; these gems contain magical energy specific to the individual and that energy can be accessed by the troll. This feature is only seen on this species, so if you see a belly-button gem, you definitely have a troll. Most trolls wear clothes, though, so you may not be able to see their gem if their midriff is covered. Gjøltrolds’ hair is another hint at their identity. Many of these creatures have brightly-colored hair in fairly wild styles. These creatures can actually control their hair as though it was an appendage, so that is another surefire indication that you’re dealing with a gjøltrold.

• Smurfs: Their blue skin is a good starting point but many trolls have blue skin as well, so it’s not a surefire method of identification. Smurfs one main morphological feature that makes them distinct from the other species in question, their stubby tails (similar to a rabbit’s).

• Gnomes: Gnomes are most easily identifiable by their beards. Neither trolls nor smurfs are known to grow facial hair (with the exception of the progenitor smurf, aka “Papa Smurf,” but because gnomes do not have blue skin, that should be an easy distinction.) In gnomish culture, beards are as symbol of age and status and as such are almost never cut, so the length of a gnome’s beard can give you an indication as to their age. And yes, female gnomes also grow facial hair as well, though culturally they tend to be a bit freer in their trimming and styling than the men. In addition, of the three species we’re discussing, they are the only ones to have a full set of 5 digits on each hand (assuming they haven’t had any unfortunate accidents), whereas gjøltrolds and smurfs only have 4.

While these notes do outline the morphological differences between these three species, I feel like I would be remiss not to mention the fact that all three of them are highly intelligent and can communicate. They do have their own languages but many who live on earth also know local human dialects, so when in doubt, you can always try asking them.

Ursa

Cryptologic Name: Grimm ursus
Planar Origin: Remnant
Habitat: Forest/Tundra
Diet: Omnivorous

Appearance
Ursai are large, bear-shaped creatures of the grimm genus. These large animals have a similar appearance to their fellow grimm with thick black fur, fiery red eyes, and white bone masks with distinctive red markings on them (though in rare cases grimm have markings in other hues). Adults can reach a size of up to 10ft. from snout to tail, and a shoulder height of about 6ft. Like nonmagical bears, they can stand on their hind legs, which means the larger individuals can reach a height of about 16ft. when standing upright. Despite their size, they are much lighter in weight than their nonmagical counterparts, generally weighing between 250-300 lbs. This is quite a stark difference when compared to the brown bear, which are of a similar size, but can weigh up to 1200lbs.

Magical Abilities
Ursai’s most well known magical trait is that their hides have anti-magical properties. This takes shape in several ways, but most significantly means that they are highly resistant to magical assault. In addition this means that magical barriers also have little effect on these creatures, as their coats allow them to pass through force fields, or otherwise nullify ambient effects of spells that would influence them in other ways (e.g. concealing charms would not render an object invisible to the ursa).

In addition to their natural magical resistance, ursai also have the ability to consciously travel into the dreams of sleeping/unconscious creatures in their vicinity.. While this might sound like a rather terrifying prospect, they are actually far less dangerous to encounter in dreams than they are in the physical world. In dreams, ursai manifest as bear-shaped beings of golden light and can communicate with those who are dreaming, though this communication is difficult to classify. They do not speak, per se, but they can convey and understand ideas and concepts through other methods. While travelling into dreams their bodies in the physical world become incorporeal; they do not disappear entirely but the physical form becomes translucent and mist-like, and the markings on their masks will glow brightly on their ethereal form.

Behavior
Ursai generally travel in groups, known as “sleuths,” of about 4-8 individuals. These sleuths are most commonly comprised of a single mating pair and their offspring, but sometimes ursai will “adopt” others into their sleuths when they encounter loners. While these creatures are usually rather docile towards other animals, they are fiercely protective of other members of their sleuths. Ursai have sharp claws, strong jaws, and are incredibly agile despite their size, making them exceedingly dangerous animals to approach unprepared, particularly given their natural resistance to magic. These creatures are generally very distrustful of humans and will often attack a conscious human even if unprovoked.

Field Notes

• Given the natural anti-magical properties of the ursa’s hide, it is a widely sought-after material in the magical community. The hide retains its magical resistance even after being removed from the animal, so its fur is often fashioned into expensive protective garments for mages. The hunting of ursai took a great toll on these creatures and their Terran populations dwindled considerably, but now it is illegal to hunt these incredible creatures and their populations are starting to recover. That of course doesn’t mean that there is not considerable profit to be made on the black market by poaching them, but at least protections are in place and the animals are doing better as a result.

• The fact that ursai are seemingly so intelligent gives rise to the question of why they tend to be so aggressive toward humans when encountered in the wild. It is generally believed that this stems from the above point that they were hunted nearly to extinction, and this intelligence would likely allow them to communicate this mistrust in humanity to future generations of their species in an effort to protect them from the threat.

• It does seem that by interacting with people first in dreams, ursai can safely gauge people’s intentions, and will react on the physical plane accordingly when the human in question returns to consciousness. Most people have little control over their dreams and ursai, being dreamwalkers, are likely knowledgeable in how to interpret different aspects of a person’s dreams in order to gain a true understanding of their character and intentions as they explore and interact with the dreamer, even when said dreamer is attempting to hide something.

• In my own fascination and desire to learn more about these creatures, I devised a plan to befriend a sleuth that is known to live in Yellowstone National Park. I brewed a special potion which causes the drinker to immediately lose consciousness with the intention of finding the ursai and drinking the potion in their presence such that they could meet me, and hopefully understand my intentions well enough to allow me to interact with them in the waking world (preferably without mauling me to death). While this plan overall was fairly solid, I did not anticipate the creatures’ degree of wariness, and so it took more than one try to get the creatures to trust me. Fortunately they seemed to understand that I was not a threat to them, so they didn’t kill me outright, but apparently my desire to study them was something they were tenuous about. Ultimately I ran out of potion after my third attempt, and before I had the opportunity to brew more, the sleuth found their way to my campsite. I was forced to rely on somewhat more drastic measures, recognizing the opportunity and potential that my life may be in danger if I remained conscious, and so I ended up knocking myself out by slamming my head into a picnic table. Somehow despite my possible concussion, that interaction was the final breakthrough with the ursai and upon waking I finally was granted the privilege of spending time with these amazing creatures in the waking world.

  • One new discovery I made is that they can use their abilities to half-shift into a dream state when they wish to communicate with each other. When this happens, the markings on their masks glow, but their bodies do not fade away like when they enter someone’s dreams. I was very curious about this and wanted to find a way to communicate with the creatures more easily without having to lose consciousness to do so. While I am still doing research on how I might achieve this, the time I spent with the sleuth has earned me their trust. When I’m ready I will certainly be visiting them again, and they made it clear that I will always be welcome among them.