2 traps filled
[Ray's in the library, with a portable tape deck. he's got music on to keep his focus on the task at hand, and away from the mounting panic coming over the journal. he'll glance over at the transcriptions once in a while, but for the most part, he's scribbling notes from the massive pile of books surrounding him. once he's done, he'll compile it all into the journal, neatly. the following is written in pencil, in the thin, somewhat messy, but legible hand of a scientist used to keeping up with his own mind]
I've decided to mark this as "year one" since it's my first year in Paradisa, and I haven't heard any concrete dating system used, so far. It's incredibly subjective, but it's as good as I'm going to get until I find a better solution. Now then. To work!
[FILTERED SO VERY FAR AWAY FROM CHILDREN]
First off, Doctor? I tried developing those photos, but some of them dissolved as soon as they touched the solution, and others just came out as black, shapeless messes. I tried it about five times, with the same result. Any theories as to what might be causing that?
Moving on:
Child-Stealing Creatures of Myth and Various Similar Supernatural Phenomena
Lilith:
Also Known As: Lamia
Source(s): The Jewish Talmud, Assyrian mythology
Origins: Created from the same earth as Adam, not a rib, like Eve was
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: The Assyrian "lilitû" have talons for feet, and bird wings. They prey on both women and children, and are equated more or less with succubi. They live in desolate, deserted wastelands.
Possible Weaknesses: It is noted that their enemies were their male, wind-demon counterparts. Maybe someone with some sort of wind magic?
The Beldam:
Also Known As: The Other Mother
Source(s): The journal
Origins: Unknown
Classification: Unknown
Notes: I only saw this creature mentioned once or twice, but she was mentioned by children, each time, as a being who takes the souls of children and keeps them for her own. There's also something about buttons replacing the eyes ... anyone heard anything more about this?
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
Erklings:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): Fantastic Beasts (And Where To Find Them)
Origins: Unknown
Classification: Creature
Notes: Uses the sound of its high-pitched cackle to lure children away and eat them. Also can shoot darts at their unsuspecting victims. Can speak in human languages.
Possible Weaknesses: Probably some kind of magic, given the nature of the book I found them in?
Will-O-The-Wisps:
Also Known As: Corpse Candle, Jack-o'-lantern, Friar's Lantern, The Gunderslislik
Source(s): The Ignius Erraticus
Origins: Varied, across hundreds of cultures
Classification: Class I Free-Roaming Vapor
Notes: I've got a feeling this isn't what we're dealing with. They're classically used as lures for larger creatures, though, so we should still keep an eye out.
Possible Weaknesses: I've caught these a few times with a proton stream and a simple standard trap - there's not much to them.
The Bogeyman:
Also Known As: Sack Man, Cuco, Old Red Eyes, The Nikker, Xoxan, Small Man, Talasam, Dongola Miso, The Busman, Morko, The Hand-cruncher, Bua, The Black Man, Baboulas, Goggayya, Kokkayi, Buva, Lulu, Babau, Namahage, Dokebi, Jin Baba, Pugot, The 7 O'Clock Man
Source(s): Earth; multicultural
Origins: SEVERAL.
Classification: Varies.
Notes: There are literally dozens of incarnations of the bogeyman on Earth.
Possible Weaknesses: Also variable. Clearly, this is a pretty high possibility on our list...
The Kindestod:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Watcher's Guide
Origins: German
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: This one preys on children by sitting on their chests, when they're sick, and suffocating them. Probably not our culprit.
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
Changelings:
Also Known As: Fairy, troll, or elf children
Source(s): The Changelings - book from the library
Origins: Worldwide, but commonly Irish, Welsh, or Scandinavian
Classification: Class V / Creature
Notes: The changelings are usually left in place of other children, but that doesn't mean that their "parents" couldn't be behind this. We might want to keep an eye on anyone if they come back, just in case...
Possible Weaknesses: Fire and foxgloves.
Gello:
Also Known As: Morrha, Byzo, Marmaro, Petasia, Pelagia, Bordona, Apleto, Chomodracaena, Anabardalaea, Psychoanaspastria, Paedopniktria, and Strigla
Source(s): Greco-Byzantine mythology
Origins: Aramaic
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: Vaguely related to Lilith. Appears as either half-fish or half-serpent. Can disguise herself as other animals, there's a record of her turning herself into a fly to sneak into a castle on the back of a knight's horse.
Possible Weaknesses: Standard Catholic exorcism, any protections against the evil eye
La Llorona:
Also Known As: The Weeping Woman
Source(s): Encounters With The Weeping Woman by J. Beatty (Library)
Origins: Spanish
Classification: Class IV Free Repeater
Notes: The spirit of a woman who drowned her children so that she could be with her lover. La Llorona was denied access to heaven until she could find her children ... so since she can't find them, she's been blamed on a few occasions for taking others to fill the void.
Possible Weaknesses: She's a Class IV - pretty easily captured by a proton stream and a standard trap. A standard Catholic exorcism might do the trick in a pinch, too.
Kuchisake-onna:
Also Known As: Slit-Mouth Woman
Source(s): Coroner's notes from Tokyo, found tucked into a book on Feudal Japan here in the library.
Origins: Japanese
Classification: Class IV Free Repeater
Notes: The vain wife of a samurai. He caught her cheating on him and slit her mouth from ear to ear. She's been sighted chasing children, though there's not much concrete evidence as to why that might be. The last recorded sighting was from the 1970s. She'll ask children if she's pretty. If they say yes, she slits their mouths like hers ... if they say no, she decapitates them.
Possible Weaknesses: Same as La Llorona - she could probably be handled.
The Strigoi:
Also Known As: Striga, Strega
Source(s): Spirits of Romania by K. Hoffen (Library)
Origins: Romania
Classification: Creature
Notes: Basically, these are variations on vampires or witches. They mostly take children so that they can raise them as fellow strigoi.
Possible Weaknesses: Standard anti-vampire methods: stakes, garlic, crucifixes, holy water
Ogresses:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Collected Works of Chretien de Troyes
Origins: Worldwide, mainly French or Inuit
Classification: Creatures
Notes: Large, ugly, smelly, hairy, child-eating hags, more or less.
Possible Weaknesses: I'd say brute force would work.
Baba Yaga:
Also Known As: Baba Roga, Baba Cloanța, Ježibaba, Iron-Nosed Baba, and Bobbe Yakhne
Source(s): B. Marshall's The Snow Maiden & Other Russian Tales
Origins: Slavic
Classification: I wouldn't quite put her at Class VII, but she's higher than a Class IV, power-wise, and substantial.
Notes: Kidnaps and kills children, usually to eat them. Lives on a hut on chicken legs - but "chicken legs" is probably a disambiguation, since some Slavic tombs and storehouses are built elevated off the ground on the trunks of trees. She possesses various magic powers, and has been known to fly around on a large pestle - the forerunner of the more common witch's broom. She's occasionally considered a guardian at the gates between the land of the living and the land of the dead.
Possible Weaknesses: Folklore states that you have to draw her silhouette on a black willow tree with charcoal, mark her heart with red crayon, then drive a nail into the heart.
Bloody Bones:
Also Known As: Rawhead, Tommy Rawhead
Source(s): R. Tongue, Somerset Folklore
Origins: Irish
Classification: Unknown
Notes: Not much is known. Is said to either live near ponds, in dark cupboards, or under stairs, and sleep on a pile of the bones of his victims. Takes away misbehaved or foul-mouthed children.
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
The Jersey Devil:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Jersey Devil Made Me Do It, by Drs. Kreig, & Altbacker
Origins: New Jersey
Classification: Class V Free Repeater
Notes: Originated in the Pine Barrens. A flying biped with hooves, it usually takes infants above older children. Probably not a suspect, but worth noting for the sake of thoroughness, especially since it's also been consistently connected with the death of livestock.
Possible Weaknesses: Fire seems like a nice safe bet.
There are also many various birds throughout Earth mythology: The Thunderbird in Native American mythology, condors in South America, and the Gusi-Lebidi in Russian mythology. All three of these have been said to steal children.
Also, on rivers of blood: aside from the Indian mythology mentioned, and the correlation to Dante's Inferno, there are mentions of these in ancient Egyptian mythology, and also in the Bible. Exodus, chapter 7, verses 20-24:
20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
In Egyptian mythology, the Nile river was turned to blood in the aftermath of the wrath of Sekhmet:
So at the terrible glance from the Eye of Re his daughter came into being, the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood. At the bidding of Re she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among the mountains which lie on either side of the Nile, and down beside the river, and in the burning deserts. All whom she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of blood. (From The Story of Re.)
I've decided to mark this as "year one" since it's my first year in Paradisa, and I haven't heard any concrete dating system used, so far. It's incredibly subjective, but it's as good as I'm going to get until I find a better solution. Now then. To work!
[FILTERED SO VERY FAR AWAY FROM CHILDREN]
First off, Doctor? I tried developing those photos, but some of them dissolved as soon as they touched the solution, and others just came out as black, shapeless messes. I tried it about five times, with the same result. Any theories as to what might be causing that?
Moving on:
Child-Stealing Creatures of Myth and Various Similar Supernatural Phenomena
Lilith:
Also Known As: Lamia
Source(s): The Jewish Talmud, Assyrian mythology
Origins: Created from the same earth as Adam, not a rib, like Eve was
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: The Assyrian "lilitû" have talons for feet, and bird wings. They prey on both women and children, and are equated more or less with succubi. They live in desolate, deserted wastelands.
Possible Weaknesses: It is noted that their enemies were their male, wind-demon counterparts. Maybe someone with some sort of wind magic?
The Beldam:
Also Known As: The Other Mother
Source(s): The journal
Origins: Unknown
Classification: Unknown
Notes: I only saw this creature mentioned once or twice, but she was mentioned by children, each time, as a being who takes the souls of children and keeps them for her own. There's also something about buttons replacing the eyes ... anyone heard anything more about this?
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
Erklings:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): Fantastic Beasts (And Where To Find Them)
Origins: Unknown
Classification: Creature
Notes: Uses the sound of its high-pitched cackle to lure children away and eat them. Also can shoot darts at their unsuspecting victims. Can speak in human languages.
Possible Weaknesses: Probably some kind of magic, given the nature of the book I found them in?
Will-O-The-Wisps:
Also Known As: Corpse Candle, Jack-o'-lantern, Friar's Lantern, The Gunderslislik
Source(s): The Ignius Erraticus
Origins: Varied, across hundreds of cultures
Classification: Class I Free-Roaming Vapor
Notes: I've got a feeling this isn't what we're dealing with. They're classically used as lures for larger creatures, though, so we should still keep an eye out.
Possible Weaknesses: I've caught these a few times with a proton stream and a simple standard trap - there's not much to them.
The Bogeyman:
Also Known As: Sack Man, Cuco, Old Red Eyes, The Nikker, Xoxan, Small Man, Talasam, Dongola Miso, The Busman, Morko, The Hand-cruncher, Bua, The Black Man, Baboulas, Goggayya, Kokkayi, Buva, Lulu, Babau, Namahage, Dokebi, Jin Baba, Pugot, The 7 O'Clock Man
Source(s): Earth; multicultural
Origins: SEVERAL.
Classification: Varies.
Notes: There are literally dozens of incarnations of the bogeyman on Earth.
Possible Weaknesses: Also variable. Clearly, this is a pretty high possibility on our list...
The Kindestod:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Watcher's Guide
Origins: German
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: This one preys on children by sitting on their chests, when they're sick, and suffocating them. Probably not our culprit.
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
Changelings:
Also Known As: Fairy, troll, or elf children
Source(s): The Changelings - book from the library
Origins: Worldwide, but commonly Irish, Welsh, or Scandinavian
Classification: Class V / Creature
Notes: The changelings are usually left in place of other children, but that doesn't mean that their "parents" couldn't be behind this. We might want to keep an eye on anyone if they come back, just in case...
Possible Weaknesses: Fire and foxgloves.
Gello:
Also Known As: Morrha, Byzo, Marmaro, Petasia, Pelagia, Bordona, Apleto, Chomodracaena, Anabardalaea, Psychoanaspastria, Paedopniktria, and Strigla
Source(s): Greco-Byzantine mythology
Origins: Aramaic
Classification: Class VII Metaspectre
Notes: Vaguely related to Lilith. Appears as either half-fish or half-serpent. Can disguise herself as other animals, there's a record of her turning herself into a fly to sneak into a castle on the back of a knight's horse.
Possible Weaknesses: Standard Catholic exorcism, any protections against the evil eye
La Llorona:
Also Known As: The Weeping Woman
Source(s): Encounters With The Weeping Woman by J. Beatty (Library)
Origins: Spanish
Classification: Class IV Free Repeater
Notes: The spirit of a woman who drowned her children so that she could be with her lover. La Llorona was denied access to heaven until she could find her children ... so since she can't find them, she's been blamed on a few occasions for taking others to fill the void.
Possible Weaknesses: She's a Class IV - pretty easily captured by a proton stream and a standard trap. A standard Catholic exorcism might do the trick in a pinch, too.
Kuchisake-onna:
Also Known As: Slit-Mouth Woman
Source(s): Coroner's notes from Tokyo, found tucked into a book on Feudal Japan here in the library.
Origins: Japanese
Classification: Class IV Free Repeater
Notes: The vain wife of a samurai. He caught her cheating on him and slit her mouth from ear to ear. She's been sighted chasing children, though there's not much concrete evidence as to why that might be. The last recorded sighting was from the 1970s. She'll ask children if she's pretty. If they say yes, she slits their mouths like hers ... if they say no, she decapitates them.
Possible Weaknesses: Same as La Llorona - she could probably be handled.
The Strigoi:
Also Known As: Striga, Strega
Source(s): Spirits of Romania by K. Hoffen (Library)
Origins: Romania
Classification: Creature
Notes: Basically, these are variations on vampires or witches. They mostly take children so that they can raise them as fellow strigoi.
Possible Weaknesses: Standard anti-vampire methods: stakes, garlic, crucifixes, holy water
Ogresses:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Collected Works of Chretien de Troyes
Origins: Worldwide, mainly French or Inuit
Classification: Creatures
Notes: Large, ugly, smelly, hairy, child-eating hags, more or less.
Possible Weaknesses: I'd say brute force would work.
Baba Yaga:
Also Known As: Baba Roga, Baba Cloanța, Ježibaba, Iron-Nosed Baba, and Bobbe Yakhne
Source(s): B. Marshall's The Snow Maiden & Other Russian Tales
Origins: Slavic
Classification: I wouldn't quite put her at Class VII, but she's higher than a Class IV, power-wise, and substantial.
Notes: Kidnaps and kills children, usually to eat them. Lives on a hut on chicken legs - but "chicken legs" is probably a disambiguation, since some Slavic tombs and storehouses are built elevated off the ground on the trunks of trees. She possesses various magic powers, and has been known to fly around on a large pestle - the forerunner of the more common witch's broom. She's occasionally considered a guardian at the gates between the land of the living and the land of the dead.
Possible Weaknesses: Folklore states that you have to draw her silhouette on a black willow tree with charcoal, mark her heart with red crayon, then drive a nail into the heart.
Bloody Bones:
Also Known As: Rawhead, Tommy Rawhead
Source(s): R. Tongue, Somerset Folklore
Origins: Irish
Classification: Unknown
Notes: Not much is known. Is said to either live near ponds, in dark cupboards, or under stairs, and sleep on a pile of the bones of his victims. Takes away misbehaved or foul-mouthed children.
Possible Weaknesses: Unknown
The Jersey Devil:
Also Known As: N/A
Source(s): The Jersey Devil Made Me Do It, by Drs. Kreig, & Altbacker
Origins: New Jersey
Classification: Class V Free Repeater
Notes: Originated in the Pine Barrens. A flying biped with hooves, it usually takes infants above older children. Probably not a suspect, but worth noting for the sake of thoroughness, especially since it's also been consistently connected with the death of livestock.
Possible Weaknesses: Fire seems like a nice safe bet.
There are also many various birds throughout Earth mythology: The Thunderbird in Native American mythology, condors in South America, and the Gusi-Lebidi in Russian mythology. All three of these have been said to steal children.
Also, on rivers of blood: aside from the Indian mythology mentioned, and the correlation to Dante's Inferno, there are mentions of these in ancient Egyptian mythology, and also in the Bible. Exodus, chapter 7, verses 20-24:
20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
In Egyptian mythology, the Nile river was turned to blood in the aftermath of the wrath of Sekhmet:
So at the terrible glance from the Eye of Re his daughter came into being, the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood. At the bidding of Re she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among the mountains which lie on either side of the Nile, and down beside the river, and in the burning deserts. All whom she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of blood. (From The Story of Re.)