#creature lore

[paperbagedhead]

What if we hyperfixated together? 😗 JK JK... unless- 😏

[filurig]

i rarely ever get the Anatomy Worldbuilding Brainworm but suddenly i was struck by it bcs i had been thinking about the weirdness of basilisks and in particular how the whole Ability to change sex through shapeshifting works so. Yippe

[something-wild-calls]

What is Pari in this universe?

Pari is an imp.

A creature of legend said to be dangerous pests, often with kill-on-sight orders.

Legends say that they are capable of injecting a venom that allows them to control people's minds, and it's said that they use this to cause mayhem or even steal away people as their prey or playthings. Because of the fear this brings to people, they are to be killed as soon as possible, making them an incredibly rare species to see in present day...

There's more to them, but I'll stop it here for now. :>

[azurewildflight]

Completed

Draconic Orcs

A species effected by an alteration of the naturally occurring phenomena known as the crossing.

Orcs and Dragons were spliced in a creature with the ability to shift between forms.

There is great variety to this species with the type of dragon one shifts to being different for each one.

Many are known to be pirates, usually inhabiting locations where low numbers of Spellcasters reside for an easy mark.

[lordsovorn]

The Merciless Hand

One of the Three False Gods, the last guardians of humanity.

Lore under the cut:

...

At this distance, the only thing you can do is stay still, hold your breath, and pray.

Often it doesn't help anyway.

...

The Hand is the epitome of an Under predator. Unlike the terrifying singing Wall or the seemingly everpresent, yet non-personified Flesh, the Hand is a breathing, walking Being. It is massive and it is fast - and therefore, it is hungry.

The Hand is always on the move, always searching for its next victims. Its hunting grounds stretch as far as its prey might wander, as far as the Under itself. Its mark - bloody prints of monstrously large human hands - taints the walls in rusty red reminders of its nearly undisputed reign over the tunnels.

It is cruel and cunning and resourceful to the extreme. Its blindness isn't even a limitation - it knows when you see it. It senses fear from the tiniest squeak, from the faintest rustle of clothes against tensing muscle.

It is blindingly fast on the hunt, patient and persistent in the search. It dances along the walls with uncanny grace, diving in and out of shadows. Poking. Testing. And then snapping.

The Hand displays a surprising amount of restraint for a creature that can obliterate its prey by sheer mass alone. Which is why it is so often underestimated by those who see it for their first and their last time.

An object of dread and fascination, the Hand is both the boogieman and the guide. Where it treads, we may pass. Where it hunts, we may find sustenance. If we follow its example and never cross paths with it ourselves, we might yet have a chance of surviving this hell.

Many fanciful epithets are used to denote the qualities of the God of the Underworld - not least of which is "The Merciless". Much like the monsters of the deep sea, the Hand rarely feasts, and so never passes an opportunity and never lets go of its prey. It will pursue for as long as it senses movement, and it will kill with no regard for pity or satisfaction. It drags off corpses and impales them on rocks to eat later. It tears and twists them in grotesque displays because it understands the fear of the little hairless monkeys that seem so paradoxically familiar.

And it uses it.

...

Be quiet.

Lie down slowly. In a tight space, if possible. Stay still.

Away from the fire - it will search around it.

Hold your breath. Listen to its footsteps - it will try to wait you out multiple times.

Pray the earth swallows you and then lets you out alive.

Timelapse on Patreon

[ssleeping-in-a-coffin]

Can vampires in Hotel Transylvania erase memories?

Let’s recall the first movie where Dracula attempted to erase Jonathan’s memory but failed. Later, Mavis outright asked her father to erase her memories. At first glance, this seems canonical and not worth questioning. However, the movie never actually shows how this process works. We only see failed attempts or verbal mentions of memory-erasure, but never its successful execution. This leaves room for interpretation, and I decided to explore this topic while sharing my perspective.

Let me state this upfront: in my canon, vampires cannot erase memories. There is no spell, skill, or level of experience that grants this ability. Now, let’s delve into why.

Take Dracula’s attempt to erase Jonathan’s memory, for instance. He looked into Jonathan’s eyes, his own glowed red, and he said, “Forget about the hotel.” To me, this feels more like hypnosis than true memory-erasure. This raises an important question: what exactly was Jonathan supposed to forget? Just the moment he entered the hotel? The road leading to it? Or the entire trip, including why he even came near the castle in the first place?

If we assume Dracula really could erase memories, how would it work technically? Does he sift through Jonathan’s mind like a slideshow, selecting which parts to remove? Or does he just “rip out” chunks of memory, regardless of consequences? This aspect is left unexplained in the movie.

Now, let’s draw a parallel with Harry Potter.

For those unfamiliar: in this series, wizards can manipulate memories using spells. They can extract memories with a wand and place them in a “Pensieve” — a magical basin where memories can be explored in vivid detail. They can also enter someone’s mind via spells to see events from the memory-owner’s perspective.

But there’s a crucial difference: memories in Harry Potter are far more detailed than real-life recollections. Wizards see everything — faces, furniture, surroundings — almost like a full movie. In reality, however, our memories function quite differently.

When we recall an event, such as a lesson at school, we don’t remember a full picture. Instead, we recall emotions, key interactions, and perhaps the faces of those we directly engaged with. Anything happening behind us or outside our focus doesn’t exist in our memory. It is limited by our field of vision and subjective perception.

This makes memories inherently fragmented. They are subjective, incomplete, and shaped by what we considered important at the time. If we apply this logic to the Hotel Transylvania universe, even if someone could manipulate memories, the result would likely be far from precise erasure.

Of course, we could imagine a character with a unique ability to perceive memories fully, down to the smallest details. A “memory master” who lives within recollections, much like in the Harry Potter depiction. Yet, even then, the process raises many questions: How accurate are memories? How do you decide what to erase and what to leave intact?

For these two reasons — the complexity of working with memories and their subjective nature — I believe that memory-erasure in the world of Hotel Transylvania is illogical and likely impossible.

[just-a-we1rd0]

Mayahmult

The Mayahmult is an intelligent pack creature, known as E-750’s most intelligent pack hunter. These creatures live in large packs consisting of multiple families, there is no true leader and whenever an individual poses an idea, the rest of the pack will take it into mind. When hunting, these creatures will surround a chose prey and snap their mouths and tail mouths at it to cause intimidation and if need be, scare away any other creatures. When the right time comes, the largest and strongest of the pack will come from behind and bite the neck and stomach of the prey, (using both mouth and tail mouth) and rip their insides and spines out. These creatures do not have a digestive track, and will consume food via the large trap on their backs. They process food in a similar way to a carnivorous plant. These creatures rarely fight for mates, (only in scarcity) and some couples will choose to mate in the early-onset spring. Gestation lasts till late winter/ early spring, where a litter of 8-12 “puppies” will be born. Unfortunately, these creatures admit a strong and sweet smell from the trap, which is easily recognizable for predators. (Especially flying ones) Parents are very protective of their young, however due to the sheer number they usually will not be able to keep any more than 4 pups alive per litter. Once the offspring have grown, they will have the choice to leave or stay in the pack.

[chaioverdose]

Update on the goth chickies and their adopted mother

They grow up so fast 🥺

[henrysglock]

I have a feeling these UD eggs and the Dimension X vine-spawning eggs in the VR are the same thing

[ellorypurebloodculture]

hi ellory! i bring a question and a title tale. how are werewolves treated in your pureblood world? would it still be as devastating if Remus' condition were to be made public, or could lycanthropy be treated as a family gift (like the Black blood curse)? and for a title tale: the stars shine bright (but in the moonlight, i only see your face)

Hi Lady!

So, in my verse, Lycaons are Pureblood Werewolves. That is, they're born wolf-shifters. The "Turned" are those attacked by/cursed by a Lycaon, which results in a traditional type of werewolf who painfully changes on nights of the full moon, etc. Turned are generally criminals and would be looked down upon. Lycaon would not be looked down upon.

For the title tales, I think I'd go with Remus Lupin/Andromeda Black.

When Mister Remus Lupin masters his Animagus form and discovers he's a wolf, he attracts the attention of Lady Andromeda Black, who values loyalty above all else.

[filurig]

i decided to change a little bit about the bäckahäst humanoid form, and realised that they have some superficial similarities to skogsrå, so heres a thing ironing out their differences a little

[something-wild-calls]

What does Imp venom do? Does it just have numbing and sedating effects? Can Imps even control those who they have stung? Has Cody ever been stung by an Imp before?

I guess on a physical level it would sedate somewhat--Specifically the brain, if that's possible. XD But the effects are mostly magical in nature, so most of what it does is magically allow the imp's will to take precedence over those they've stung.

And yes, Cody has been stung by Pari! The fact that he can understand her is thanks to regular injections of a little bit of venom. It basically allows her to will to he heard by him, but isn't strong enough to make hers more important.

I drew that a while ago, but it's relevant, so have an art. XD

But I imagine that it wears off after some time, so it needs to be a regular thing. (Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know how that stuff works IRL, lol)

[azurewildflight]

Creature Design: SuperHybrids

On the left is Owl, a modern version

And on the right is Gamma, an ancient version

[lordsovorn]

Raptors

Cruel beasts. Demons, some call them. Scourge.

Lore under the cut:

The simplicity of these things only highlights the contradictions. There is nothing inherently unnatural about them. Nothing supernatural even more so. Understandable why a prouder person might feel indignant that these mere beasts, just a bunch of pack-hunting "bug dogs", are one of the main reasons for the final collapse of human civilization. And yet, it is the fearful who survive, not the proud ones.

The Raptors are the only things in the Under, other than humans, distinctly adapted to light and open spaces. Their keen eyesight is nearly unmatched in an environment with almost no lines of sight, and they are remarkably fast runners for a world of crags and tunnels. At the same time, their strong claws and limbs make them capable climbers, while the tail provides balance in a variety of positions. Bones provide strength, segments of chitinous armor they regularly shed provides renewable protection. Smart and coordinated, deadly and durable. Excellent predators. Entirely unsuited to the environment of the Under.

Just like humans.

It is in this way that Raptors proved to be such a persistent menace. Occupying much the same unstable niche in the world of darkness, they are both a competitor for food and a predator, forced into a rather narrow diet. Nothing about an individual Raptor is extraordinary - perhaps knowledgable Elders might have compared them to wolfs. Dangerous, worthy of fear, but killable. But there is no end to this tangled forest, and no prey except for stranded men. They are hungry and desperate, and fearful too, and so they retreat and come back in bigger numbers, with more complicated strategies. Raptors have ravaged the lines of communications and patrol, starved out of the outposts, raided the Farms to the point they are now completely unmanned. Nothing intimidating about one of them. Nothing unnatural about a pack. But as an endless onslaught of pack after pack of resorceful and adaptive hunters, they are a demonic unstoppable scourge, whose source humans were never able to track down.

They fill the caves with their screeching, grinding vocalizations, and follow the echoes and the sounds of panicked feet. Raptors are careful and vicious in their natural pragmatism, prefering to ambush and wound prey, overwhelm it with a coordinated pack attack, and turn its fear against itself. Like their namesake implies, they need not kill to start eating - grasping an injured creature with their massive talons, Raptors cut through flesh with their sharp mandibles and peel chunks of meat right off the bone.

[ssleeping-in-a-coffin]

If so, why?

I believe that vampires can indeed have defects, despite their supernatural nature. For example, their health and physical abilities directly depend on the blood they drink. If the blood is of poor quality, contains toxins, or is contaminated, it can lead to progressive problems with their vision or hearing. A vampire’s cells might regenerate incorrectly due to such effects, and over time, they may develop chronic issues.

As for illnesses, vampires can get sick if they encounter magical curses or consume contaminated blood. Curses can undermine their magical structure, drain their strength, or weaken their regeneration. Contaminated blood is also dangerous, as it can alter a vampire's nature or lead to an "infection" that spreads throughout their body, causing weakness and other symptoms.

I can give examples of diseases in the next post