Rare Monsters

  The Telchines were primordial daemons from Greek mythology. They were associated with the sea, smithing and the Island of Rhodes. They created Cronos’s scythe and Poseidon’s trident. They also raised the infant Poseidon. However, even though they initially aided the Olympian gods, the Telchinese eventually turned to evil and defiled the soils of Rhodes, causing Zeus to punish them. Every detail in the Telchine’s story beyond these broad strokes is variable, making them hard to pin down.  Telchines have multiple origins that contradict each other. They were either the children of Pontus and Gaia, or Tartaros and Nemesis, or of the goddess Thalassa alone. Sometimes they’re said to be created from the blood that was spilled when Uranus was castrated, however this contradicts the Telchines creating Cronos’s scythe, which he used to perform this act. Regardless of their origins the Telchinese are always regarded as primordial beings, created by the primal forces of the universe T...

  The ushi oni is a monstrous yokai found in western Japan, usually along the coast or near rivers and waterfalls. The name mean ox demon. The most common depiction of the ushi oni is one with a bull's head and a spider's body. Although the spider part is just supposed to represent 'a form of demonic evil' and isn't inherently connected to spiders. However the name ushi oni refers to many local monsters with varying appearances. Ushi onis are cruel and violent monsters. They almost exclusively eat people. Occasionally they are said to attack live stock, but this is usually to lure people out. Ushi onis also breath out toxic gas and spread a variety of diseases. Ushi onis have a variety of behaviors and ways of hunting people. Some lay in wait in their layers and pounce upon unaware victims. These layers are usually along the coast in sea caves, as well as inland in dangerous river features such as whirlpools and waterfalls. Some rare ushi oni live far inland,...

  Skeljaskrimsli is a monster or cryptid that was reportedly seen on Icelandic beaches from between the 1780's to the 1910's. Its name means shell monster. Alternately known as fjorulalli (beach walker) or Saeulfur (sea wolf). The skeljaskrimsli is a large bear shaped creature. Individuals vary in size from wolf sized to horse sized. The creature has long fangs or tusks, long claws, an arched back and long tail that ends in a club. It's most notable feature is its coat of shells or pangolin like scales completely covering its body except the belly and lower limbs. These shells would rub together and create a lot of noise, warning of its presence. The creature was dark in color, like mussel shells, with red eyes and sometimes a bioluminescent mouth. People could hear the skeljaskrimsli approaching long before it was seen. As it came closer it also gave off a powerful stench. It's fortunate that this creature gave such warnings of its approach, as it was quite violent. ...

  Nuckelavee is a prominent figure in the folklore of the Orkney Islse, Scotland. He is the most evil and malevolent of all the unseelie fae folk, more comparable to a demon than anything else. Nuckelavee would spend most of his time resting in the sea, only occasionally venturing onto land to torment people. Nuckelavee had the appearance of a horse with a human torso emerging out of its back, like a mutated rider who had merge with their horse. The whole monster was skinless, every muscle and sinew showing. Nuckelavee's body was covered in yellow pulsing veins which carried black blood. The human torso was quite misshapen too. The head was massive, too big for the neck and would roll side to side as Nuckelavee walked. Nuckelavee's arms were so long that even positioned on horse back would reach all the way to the ground. The most terrifying detail was that Nuckelavee had one singular eye that would glow like a lantern through even the thickest night and fog. Although it's ...

  The codrille was a medieval dragon from France. Its overall appearances was a mix of cockatrice and wyvern, and was between them in size as well. The codrille also had the notable addition of a glowing crystal horn jutting out from its forehead like a demented unicorn horn. While it would be easy to write off the codrille as just a hybrid of two other monsters, there's far more to its legend than just that. First off, it's name is derived from crocodile. Travellers brought back tales of crocodiles from Egypt, with their name and description being mangled and combined with cockatrice into the codrille, which is also sometimes known as the cocodrille. The codrille has an interesting life cycle for a dragon. It starts out born from a yolk-less egg. The legend varies on whether this egg is laid by a chicken or another codrille, but there are specific nesting sites where the eggs can be found. The egg is left out to incubate in the heat of the sun. The codrille then hatches out ...

  Valravn, meaning raven of the slain, is a sort of boogieman from Denmark. Valravns were created when a raven ate the flesh of the fallen in battle who had not been given a proper burial. The valravn was a thoroughly evil creature that sought to bring harm to the surrounding communities. After being transformed the valravn gained human intelligence and various magical abilities that allowed it to spread pestilence and misfortune. It also gained the ability to shape shift into wolves or a half wolf – half raven form. Even with these abilities valravns still sought out more power. The one thing they desired the most was the ability to take on the form of a black knight, which they could only gain by devouring the heart of a child. How they accomplished this was usually left to the imagination. However in one traditional Danish song a valravn offered to protect a maiden on her way to her marriage in return for her first born child, echoing similar trickster deals made with fairies an...