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.

Capriccio

Cryptologic Name: Minmalum capricus
Planar Origin: Baator
Habitat: Varied
Diet:: Hemovore

Appearance/Morphology
Capriccios are small goats-like creatures, only standing about 8-12” tall at the shoulder, with curved horns, sharp canines, and a small flame that floats above their heads, centered between the horns.They are a member of the Daemonia family, which includes all species of demon.

Magical Abilities
These small demons are known to be able to temporarily hypnotize people by making eye contact with them. This hypnosis lulls them into somewhat of a trance, but does not give any sort of controlling abilities over them, likely because they cannot use language to direct their victims.

Their only other magical aspect is the ever-burning flame that floats above their heads. The flame itself has the qualities of hellfire, meaning that it cannot be extinguished through nonmagical means (such as dumping water on them), and in the case of these creatures, if their flame is extinguished it results in their death.

Behavior
Despite being a member of the demon family, the capriccio is fairly harmless. They tend toward playfulness and mischief and they are not overly aggressive. The capriccio most often uses its hypnotic gaze to pacify people and other animals when it’s hungry. Given its small size and minimal strength, it cannot physically overpower its prey, so instead it lulls them into passiveness and drinks at its leisure. Capriccios generally only drink about 300-400mL of blood at a time, which not enough to put the average adult at risk (this is around what they would take if you were donating blood), however young children and smaller animals could come to serious harm if drained to that extent. They lack the frenzy and literal bloodlust that most other hemovores, such as vampires and chupacabras have, and as such, they can fairly safely be kept as pets if properly trained and fed.

Field Notes

• The capriccio has a variety of nicknames, such as “infenral goat,” “demon goat,” and “Baphito.” The last name, often used in Latin American countries, means “little Baphomet,” referring to the demonic lord Baphomet, who is known to have the head of a goat and a crown of flames.

• In keeping my own capriccio, I’ve discovered that while they don’t have conscious control over the their flames, the fire is directly connected to the creature’s psyche. While the flame usually glows blue (an indication that it is quite hot), the flame flickers to yellow-orange when he is hungry or tired, and will often diminish to something akin to a flickering candle when he is asleep. Alternatively, the firelight flares when he is agitated or excited.

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.

Conduit Hare

Cryptologic Name: Silvilagus transveho
Planar Origin: Mithyrea
Habitat: Temperate fields and forests
Diet: Herbivorous

Appearance/Morphology
Conduit rabbits, better known as “portal bunnies,” are nearly identical in size, shape, and morphology to cottontail rabbits with white, black, brown, or multicolored fur. The way to visually distinguish this magical creature from its nonmagical counterparts is to look at the rabbit’s nose. Conduit rabbits will have brightly colored noses, most often either blue or orange, and they will glow faintly. These glowing noses are the source of their magical abilities. Conduit rabbits are always born in pairs; the twins are not always identical in fur coloration, but they will always have noses of different colors.

Magical Abilities
When a conduit rabbit touches something with its nose, this activates its magical powers and causes the object to vanish and reappear in the vicinity of its twin. Both rabbits’ noses flash brightly when this power activates, which leads researchers to believe that the constant faint glow from these rabbits’ noses may be due to a steady transmission of dust and other particles that come into contact with them.

When a conduit hare’s power activates, transmission is not altogether instantaneous, generally taking anywhere from 1-3 seconds for the vanished object to reappear. Unfortunately, we don’t have a clear understanding of why this is, or what’s happening to the object/living thing during teleportation. Many studies have been done to attempt to understand this phenomenon, but tracking spells are ineffective at establishing a location during transmission, and when people have allowed themselves to be teleported, their perception always seems to be that the travel was instantaneous. This suggests that the subject of the teleportation “loses” those few seconds as part of the process.

These rabbits are immune to their own powers, so scratching their noses doesn’t cause them to teleport to their twin, nor will they teleport when touching the nose of another rabbit.

Behavior
Just as with their appearance, their behavior mimics that of nonmagical rabbits as well. They are prey animals so they tend to be cautious but will become curious and playful when they are in comfortable surroundings.

In the wild, these rabbits will often use their powers as a defense mechanism against predators, as sudden teleportation is generally quite disorienting for any would-be attacker. This strategy does potentially put the rabbit’s twin in some danger, however we believe that they can sense, in some manner, what sort of thing is being teleported to them, and as such can take measures to escape if it is something dangerous. This is similarly relevant when the set of twins is close to one another, in a spatial sense.

Field Notes

• The practical use of conduit rabbits by mages is fairly straightforward, offering an easy, near-instantaneous transportation system between two fixed points. However, despite this seemingly ubiquitous method of transportation, they are very infrequently used in such a manner by any who are not well-versed in cryptozoology. The imprecision of the teleportation is the first major concern, as the exit point of the teleportation is seemingly random. Objects appear in the vicinity of the sender’s twin, but this “vicinity” encompasses approximately 1.5-2m radius around the rabbit, meaning you could end up appearing reasonably high in the air. Thankfully an object has never been known to reappear in the ground or in another nearby object upon arrival. The biggest concern is the potential for a hard fall upon arrival, which makes the transport of people and fragile goods somewhat precarious.

  There does seem to be a correlation between the size of the object/living thing being teleported and how close it ends up to the receiving rabbit, though not enough research has yet been done to develop any sort of mathematical prediction model based on size or mass. There also seems to be an upper limit on the size of thing being teleported. As such, large objects such as cars, buildings, etc. would never be at risk of suddenly appearing and crushing anyone nearby.

• If it is in fact the case that this time is lost during transmission via a conduit hare, theoretically this could offer a route to immortality via constant teleportation. Obviously, this is not a practical option given the necessity to continuously teleport between rabbits and inability to do anything else productive during the process, but the possibility does at least exist in a theoretical context. Perhaps it would be better stated that this offers a route more akin to time travel than immortality.

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.

Polycerus

Cryptologic Name: Canis multicerus
Planar Origin: Olympia
Habitat: Highly varied, depending primarily on their progenitors
Diet: Omnivorous; primarily eat meat but will also consume grains and vegetables

Appearance & Morphology
Polyceri are a diverse group of canines possessing multiple heads. Three-headed individuals are the most common morphs, with two-headed dogs being somewhat rarer. Other multiples are possible but exceedingly rare; to date the highest known head-count on a single individual is thirteen. Because the two and three-headed variants are more common, they are commonly called “orthrus” and “cerberus,” respectively. These names come from the first known records of polyceri in myths of ancient Greece.

These creatures’ origins are purely magical, meaning that they are generally born from single-headed dogs under specific conditions. Those conditions, however, are not entirely clear to us at present and may, in fact, simply be a random “mutation.” From a biological standpoint, polyceri are not a distinct species from its canine progenitors (nor from other polyceri with different numbers of heads) as they can procreate with other dogs with any number of heads. We do know that multi-headed parents will more often produce multi-headed offspring but are not guaranteed to do so; breeding a pair of cerberi has yielded single-headed puppies on many occasions.

Aside from the extra head(s), polyceri physically resemble their single-headed counterparts in all other respects; they inherit coloration, size, and shape based on their genetics. Thus, an orthrus born from a pair of golden retrievers will simply look like a golden retriever with an extra head.

Magical Abilities
Polyceri only have a singular known magical ability: they can see things that are invisible. This includes creatures that are intrinsically or can become invisible, as well as magic spells and objects which turn things invisible or conceal objects or living things though other methods. This even includes beings that are entirely incorporeal, such as phantoms. Thus far, no method has yet been devised to “fool” a polycerus’s eyes. This ability, combined with their naturally keen senses of smell and hearing, mean that polyceri make very effective guard dogs.

It should be noted that magical hounds (such as coin-sithe, hell hounds, etc.) are also capable of producing polyceri and these multi-headed hounds retain any magical abilities of their parents.

Behavior
Much like their appearance, these creatures are dogs through-and-through in terms of behavior as well. They are social creatures, moderately intelligent (though much of this is based on breed), easily trainable, and generally form strong bonds with their companions.

Temperaments in polyceri can vary widely, with trends following those of their breed fairly closely, but quirks tend to be more pronounced compared to their single-headed relatives on account of having multiple dog brains at work. Thus, multi-headed chihuahuas will likely be even yappier and more excitable, border collies will have greater herding tendencies, etc. Each head also seems to have a distinct personality, though they tend to align fairly closely. Furthermore, all the heads work in tandem to control the creature’s body collectively, which tends to make them a little more derpy when the heads don’t coordinate properly; you tend to see this the most in puppies, as they generally learn how to coordinate better as they age.

Field Notes

• It’s worth noting that “dog” is used as a fairly wide classification when describing the species that can become polyceri. Any creature in the biological family Canidae can produce a polycerus, which includes domestic dogs, wild dogs, jackals, raccoon dogs, all species of wolf, and all species of fox. It addition, as stated above, magical canines can also produce polyceri, so it would appear that either the overall morphology of canines, or perhaps simply the idea of canines as a group of animals is what gives rise to these creatures.

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.

Cù-Sìth

Cryptologic Name: Sylva Canis
Planar Origin: Fae
Habitat: Prefer temperate fields and forests
Diet: Decomposer; only consumes dead material

Appearance
Coin-Sìth, also known as “mossdogs” or “faerie dogs,” are large canines who resemble either wolves or foxes in overall body shape, and have mottled green and brown fur and long, braided tails. The vulpine (fox-shaped) coin-sìth are more commonly seen in the Americas, while the lupine (wolf-shaped) variant are more commonly seen in Europe and western Asia), A variety of mosses, wildflowers, mushrooms, other plants grow in the canine’s fur.

Magical Abilities
The cù-sìth is strongly associated with death, given that they consume only dead plants and animals. These creatures are known to predict when living things in their vicinity are close to death, and will howl to indicate this, similar to the wail of the banshee. Their pelts also have the ability to grow all manner of plant and fungal life. These creatures secrete a magical substance from their skin that acts as a fertilizer, causing plants and fungi to germinate and grow much more rapidly than usual. This substance is also particularly good at growing magical flora.

Behavior
While widely feared (particularly in the British Isles) as harbingers of death, these creatures are actually quite docile, inquisitive and playful creatures. While it is true that they tend to bark or howl in anticipation of a living being’s death (similar to the wail of a banshee), they are never responsible for the death itself. They simply feed off decomposing meat and plants, and howl when they sense death approaching. They howl far more often for dying trees, plants, and wild animals than they do for people, but like many magical creatures associated with death, misfortune, and other unpleasant occurrences, they often get a bad reputation through no fault of their own. In truth they are just as much harbingers of life as death; the energy absorbed from the dead plants and animals which they eat fosters the life growing on their coats.

Field Notes

• As might be expected, these creatures are popular companions for herbologists, as magical fauna seems to grow particularly well in their fur. In fact, many magical plants and fungi would be nearly impossible to cultivate otherwise. Beyond serving herbologists as a growing medium, they also consume dead plant matter, meaning they will happily dead-head flowers and remove dead vegetation without damaging the living plants around them. While not commonly kept as pets, those who do agree that they make for a nice alternative to composting since coin-sìth will faithfully dispose of food waste, even the parts we don’t generally eat like fruit peels and meat trimmings. They do seem less fond of overly processed foods though, so don’t expect them to clean up your leftover Velveeta dip.

• Because of their knack for growing magical plants and fungi, coin-sith often glow in the dark as a result of the bio-luminescence that is often seen in magical species of flora

Amustelid

Cryptologic Name: Lutra Gaudium
Planar Origin: Mithyrea
Habitat: Semi-aquatic; prefer streams, lakes, and ponds in forested areas
Diet: Carnivorous; primarily eat fish, but will also consume insects and small rodents

Appearance
The amustelid, also commonly referred to as the “bliss otter,” morphologically resembles the North American River Otter in both shape and size with two-toned purple fur (darker violet on the dorsal side and a lighter lavender color on the ventral).

Magical Abilities
Amustelid has strong empathic powers that allow them to sense the emotions of living beings around them. In addition, these creatures emanate an aura of joy in their immediate vicinity, which is how they earned the nickname “bliss otter.” These empathic abilities are both passive and active in nature.

While the amustelid naturally emits its aura, giving a faint cheerfulness to any living beings within a relatively small radius, it can also consciously control and focus this power to create a more intense feeling of euphoria in an individual.

Behavior
Bliss otters, much like their nonmagical cousins, are perfectly at home in the water, being strong swimmers and feeding almost exclusively on fish. These creatures are curious and playful but can be fiercely protective of their companions if they sense a threat. Their empathic feedback serves as a good survival mechanism for them, as they are acutely aware when any of the animals around them become frightened.

Amustelids are social animals by nature and appear to need external emotional energy to sustain them. They will often form bonds with a variety of different species in their habitats, particularly if their population is low. Additionally, we know that solitary amustelids are more prone to illness and injury when they don’t have other creatures around to bond with. Forming these bonds with other creatures also augments their empathic abilities; amustelids normally only receive and transmit emotional energy to animals in their vicinity, however when this creature forms a bond with another individual it creates an emotional “tether” which allows the transmission of emotional energy over a much larger distance, possibly an unlimited distance (though further research is required on that front).

Amustelids are also known to be compassionate creatures; they will often use their powers to ease the pain of sick or injured animals in the wild. In addition, they will often focus their power on prey, such that they do not experience fear or pain as they’re being hunted and killed. This may also simply be to make their prey easier to catch but I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that it is not an entirely selfish action. This power is also commonly used as a defense mechanism to lull would-be attackers into lethargy and/or disorientation.

Field Notes

• Amustelids’ name is derived from the word “amuse” and “Mustela” or “Mustelidae,” which is the taxonomic family containing weasels, badgers, otters, and other related species.

• These amazing creatures are highly sought-after in a number of fields for the use of their powers. Cryptozoologists will often use them (besides to simply study them) to help with the collection and study of a myriad of creatures that might otherwise be too dangerous or skittish to easily interact with. Amustelids are also often found in hospitals and other healing establishments because of their ability to ease pain when they focus their powers. This can be a trying job however, as they can exhaust themselves when they actively focus their powers for extended periods of time. But even without focusing their powers, their elated aura can provide some relief to those suffering.

• I have my own amustelid companion who I found while hiking near Brandywine Falls in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. While he was initially skittish I believe he sensed my curiosity and excitement in finding him and eventually came closer to investigate. We spent a good bit of time playing in the river that afternoon and when I eventually started my trek home he followed me. Knowing that solitary amustelids do not fare as well in the wild, and that they require companions in order to thrive, I gladly brought him with me and he has been a member of the family ever since; we call him Anders.

• Thanks to my strong bond with Anders, I seem to have made an intriguing new discovery about amustelids. Due to the nature of their empathic tethers with people/animals with whom they’ve established a strong bond and the emotional feedback they get from those companions, it would appear that they can establish a bond with someone without ever meeting them in person.
  A few months back I met someone at a convention and we quickly developed a strong connection. While it is certainly a long-distance relationship with us being in two different states we do communicate quite regularly and have become very close. Recently he came to visit and Anders immediately greeted him in a manner quite similar to how he does when Jordan or I are away for a time and come home. It’s as though he’s developed this empathic connection through me. While I cannot say for certain whether he established an actual tether to this person prior to their meeting, the fact that he felt immediately comfortable with this new person when he is generally quite wary of strangers seems telling enough on its own.