Friday, August 24, 2012

The Karkan Clan 1 of 2

Karkan Clan or "Flaming Heads", as they are known in the criminal world, are the biggest and most dangerous of all criminal organizations.
 They are said to be one of the most corrupt clans, and, even though they are a criminal organization, they are still in the favor of the king, probably because of their rich purses. They are related to the king, and always look to eliminate the heirs, so that one of their own can seise the throne. Murder and thievery is their usual conduct, but piracy, blackmailing, and even slavery aren't rare.
The history of the emblem is not very controversial, as most scientists understand the meaning of this symbol: " Meddle with us and that's what's going to happen to you!". As you understand, that would be a very good reason for them lasting for all those years. It doesn't happen very often, but when someone REALLY annoys the Karkans, they are fed a poison which goes around their brain, and well, pretty much the whole head/body has poison, which journeys around with the blood(the difference of how fast the poison will spread depends on the race). When with contact with the sun, a chemical reaction triggers a fire...at that time I would not like to be that person(neither would you, reader). If you know that you've got the poison in you, hide under your bed and when night comes, run like crazy(which you have to be to meddle with the Karkans) to the nearest hospital or you're dead meat. If that's not an option, use my grandmother's elixir for the "flaming sickness", as she would call it:

Ye old recipe for the cure of ye flaming sickness:

Ingredients: Toad legs, dried blueberries, horse waste( ye yellow liquid), olive oil, pig fat, baby teeth, garlic, ash from a couple-day cigar, 50 cockroach eggs and dog spit
  1. Pour olive oil and pig fat into a frying pan on which you fry the toad legs
  2.  Pour the horse waste and dog spit into the cup, then pour in the garlic and ashes. Mix it up.
  3. Grind everything else in a bowl
  4. Chop up toad legs into tiny pieces and add to the gridded things
  5. Add the gridded things to the liquid, and mix heavily
  6. Leave for it to solidify
  7. When it smells so bad it can knock you out, it's ready!
Okay, maybe grandmother didn't use the "nice-taste-and-smell" things, but it sure works!
Now, if you don't have all of those ingredients near you, you're on your own!
Returning to the history of the emblem, a few historians believe that the emblem comes from how their agents are deadly when in action(choose which one to believe).
The only authority to ever try to destroy the Karkans was Inspector Birlan(from the city of Skarsha in Le-par), who is still leading his eight men on the investigation.
I'll tell you a story of an un-succesful attempt on his life:
T'was a peaceful night, and the Lady Birlana welcomed the guests of her husband's birthday-feast with great grace. Here be a list of them(excluding the inspector and his wife):

  • Hermin The Chopper-the inspector's dwarf second-in-command, Hermin is known by the nickname "chopper" because of his ability when hand-to-hand fighting with criminals, using his twin axes, cutting off their limbs at points where they won't die of nothing but blood loss.
  • Thurk Redtooth-one of the last orks who have not joined the evil spirit that cursed their land, Thurk specializes in penetrating criminal organizations, due to his ability to rip out throats using his teeth.
  • Arnann Welson- an excellent follower, he follows suspects back to their bases. When uncovered, he uses his knives to cut his way out.
  • Suptinir Kallagul- a master of explosives, Suptinir is always ready to blow something up. He is also the brother of Hermin.
  • Kusmik Irrkhikh- one of the last members of the K'ikhs race, he has the ability to manipulate the elements. He has four hands and an octopus-like head.
  • Oinen Sapan- an elf, excellent at using unorthodox techniques to interrogate criminals. Not a good thing to be caught by him.
  • Celsin Sux- half-brother to Oinen, Celsin is excellent at using his bow to catch criminals. He invented the hook arrowhead and the rope-catcher arrowhead. Right now he is working on many more.
  • Das Arwen- one of the vampires, he usually stays at home to research. Although, when provoked, his whip and fangs taste blood.
  • Rhick Daslelick- the city governor. Without him, Birlan's squad wouldn't exist. Not a fighting man, but can still use a sword.
  • Mainus- representative of the Wizard Order, Mainus is set to protect Birlan at all costs. His speciality are water and air magic.
The guests all sat round a long, gold and red table. Suddenly, a servant clad in a red and golden dress ran into the room:
"M'lady! The lord is here!"
"Quick, Marx! Blow all the candles!"
The room went dark. The door opened. A tall, muscular elf(you could tell by the way he walked), slowly went into the room. Suddenly, the room grew bright and all the guests shouted:
"Happy Birthday Birlan!"
Birlan sat down next to his wife. Food was brought in. Boar, deer, birds of numerous sizes, and cow which were served in numerous different ways, different soups and bread were all on the table. It was a great feast. 
After the guests had eaten, a giant honey and fruit cake was brought in. The servants cut the cake into many pieces. The desert was served. Suddenly there was a tap on the door. One of the servants came over to answer the knock. The Lady Birlana leaned over and asked her husband:
" Did you invite anyone else, Birlan? Everyone I invited is here."
" No, I didn't. You always make the invitations."
Birlan then turned toward the servant opening the door:
" Who is it, Krin?"
The servant didn't say anything. He turned around slowly. There was a crossbow bolt sticking out of his neck. The door flew open and a volley of arrows came flying into the room.

                                         To be Continued in Karkan Clan 2 of 2!






      

    Monday, April 16, 2012

    Giant Kalamaru

         The Giant Kalamaru is a giant octopus. As a celaphod, its anatomy is similar to our squids, although fairly larger than the Great Squid of ours( in our world, they would be REAL Krakens). The axon(for people who are not biologists: the shell at the back of the head) serves the same purpose as in other celaphods, still innervates (controls nerves) the mantle (top part) and controls part of the jet propulsion system (like sucking in water and then suddenly releasing it for a speed boost).
         They are found in the deep seas that you must pass through to get to the Unknown Continent ( it isn't on my map because I'm still thinking about it (east of my map). The only way to get through the Deep Seas is on a submarine( too much storms on the surface).
          Now you're probably thinking how, in semi-Medieval world of mine, are there submarines?!
    Answer: of course big, big Magic and some mechanical engineering.
         The submarine is controlled by a magician. I'll think about a post in which will explain what it looks like and works (leavers, ropes, fins, etc.). As you see on the picture, the Kalamaru seems to change color- in the back, its color is dark green, in the front- white.  Modern research ( done by myself) suggests that Kalamarus don't have a  stable color at all. Its predatory nature explains that. Many miles under the sea, there evolved a group of omnivorous fish called "Noctons", for their ability to see in the dark. Our friend here needed to evolve a shifting color as to not to be spotted.
         Not much is known about their mating rituals, and the mating process is quite hard to spot, but our magicians know the females have ink pouches which are hidden from view, and that the males have external sexual organs. The most interesting thing about our friends here, is that many millions of years ago, they were as smart as humans nowadays are. Then something happened. Now we have giant, rather dumb monsters.
    If somebody wants to know how they eat, let them check here.

    Length(plus tentacles): 100 meters
                                                                 
    Weight: 5,000 kilograms
                                                               
     Eggs: 35-60
                                                               
      Pregnancy: 3 months
                                                               
     Longevity: 10 years
                                                               
     Environment: Deep seas
                                                               
    Color: Blending in with surrounding at will
                                                             
      Diet: Fish and nutritious plants
                                                               
     Social: Single


    PS: Color by Dario T. W.

    Friday, March 30, 2012

    Desert Swooper

    The Desert Swooper is a large dragon found primarily on flat or semi-flat planes. It has long spikes protruding from its back (which are vertebrae extended over millennia), most probably used for attracting mates(male), or keeping either warm or cool(male and female). In domesticated specimens, a hole in the middle of the back forms, where no spikes can be found. It has colorful scales on the head and neck. Its strong wings are like those of a bat. Recent research suggests that a special chemical that forms in the swooper's saliva may, when in contact with a hot gush of air(such as a long breath), rouse a fire which the dragon can control with its breath.Accidents can occur. A report says that "when I went with the dragon into me forge, I tried to heat up the forge, but when the dragon caught the rush of hot air, it burned me forge to timbers! "- said Mr. Yarkin, a blacksmith from a village near the capital of Seta. Still, I don't think it was wise to put a dragon in a forge. Swoopers usually hunt solo, meeting in herds every autumn to fight for mates. Females care for young alone. When a swooper hunts, it tries to pick out the oldest, youngest or sickest of the prey. The swooper then will swoop down(hence the name), and grab the prey with its arms and legs. Swoopers are also scavengers.
                                                                    Length: 10-15 meters(gender does not matter)wings 20 meters
                                                                    Weight: 2,000 kilograms
                                                                    Eggs: 3-7
                                                                    Pregnancy: 1 year
                                                                    Longevity: 40-100 years
                                                                    Environment: deserts, steppes, prairies, and other flat surfaces
                                                                    Color: face and neck: a couple of colors, mostly from pale                yellow to dark green, rest of body some tone of green                                                                                                                                              
                                                                     Diet: large herbivores from sheep to rhinoceros
                                                                     Social: Single or Pair
    Ps: Sorry for the delay.

    Sunday, February 19, 2012

    A Magical World


    Hello,
    I've been inspired by Lord of The Rings lately. You see, I have this nice map of Middle Earth, which looks really nice and old. That map gave me an idea to do my own map which you see here. Let me explain. So first, in the north we have the Orcs (Mer) who, after an evil spirit corrupted their very minds(he vowed revenge on Men, Elves and Dwarfs), decided to conquer the world. That's why the wall's there. Their capital is Beren-Dar, but the evil spirit prefers the Fire Fortress. Kishil- Kran is the farthest city north, and it looks like it's made of ice. Karkana Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world, and there all the "failed" mutations lurk. Moving out of Mer, we proceed to the Northern Isles. We have Death Island, which is surrounded by toxic green mist. Next is Magician Island where the best magic academies are.  Now, we sail to the west, to the Monster Isles. There, there are many different kinds of beasts, so it is best if we stay in the port. The only race which is not present here is the orcs. We now sail to Okista, the Kingdom of Men. Their only port is Mina. The Misty Marshes is a dangerous place where those who have died there lurk. The capital is Seta which is located near a forest. Twin rivers flow out of the mountains, Xsen and Orma, flowing into different seas.  Now we ride to the Iron Mountains of the Dwarfs(Irok)passing Lake Shuru and Lake Arman. The Dwarfs keep to themselves, although we owe them much. They invented fireworks and cannons which proved useful against the Orcs. They are now working on a new invention called the"pistol". Their capital is Roto. Let us now sail to the Island of Birds, but remember not to stray off from the group for they eat bigger  things than us. As we sail on, we shall see the southerners' (Ostara) cities. Their capital is Istabula. We see the the Black Desert which is named because of many desert grasshoppers that come here every year. The Barren Isles are the islands where pirates maroon their victims. We now sail to the Elves (Le-par). We shall see the Island of the Wild Men who mysteriously hold off any invasion. At last we arrive at Skarsha. The Le-par capital is Miksana which is surrounded by Bekar Forest. A river called Karer flows from the Albas Mountains. We have been everywhere, and seen everything and now it is time that you created your own world!(by the way, a nice variation that Father did:)

    Sunday, January 29, 2012

    Death Cobra

    The Death Cobra is simply a gigantic carnivorous snake. It is the deadliest of the Death Snakes, its venom so powerful that it can kill a man within a couple of seconds after the bite. They have large hoods over their heads, probably for display. The females do not have hoods. They have long fangs in front of their jaws. After the fangs come the shark-like teeth, which they use to rip the meat of large herbivores. They have one, big eye in the middle of their head, which prevents them from being half-blinded(if the prey kicks at the side of the head). They live in small groups, resting in big rocks that are made of a very soft kind of rock. They dig tunnels in the rocks, making many entrances and exits. Every year, during the fall, all the groups gather for the duels between the males that try to win as many duels as they can. The winner takes the loser's  females as his own. The contestants  fight only using their body, and do not use their fangs. They are ambush predators, hiding in the grass until prey arrives. Then, they leap out and gobble up their prey.
                                                         Length: 12-15 meters
                                                         Weight: 200 kilograms
                                                         Eggs: 20-25
                                                          Pregnancy: 4 months
                                                         Longevity: 6 -10 years
                                                         Environment: grasslands, forests, any place suited for ambush
                                                         Color: Light green to dark red, any color that blends in with surroundings
                                                         Diet: large herbivores like ox, deer, bison, buffalo and moose
                                                         Social: Groups

    Sunday, January 22, 2012

    Introduction

    Hello,
    now that I have the first creature down, I can finally talk about what this blog is about. You can probably read that sentence that is under the big "Enciclopedia Monstrosica". OK,"My own Complete Guide to Fantastic Creatures, with my own drawings and text ". That basically means that these creatures(or monsters if you like), though they might look like a lot of monsters or dinosaurs, these are of my own design, and not intended to look like dinosaurs(though there will be dragons). I hope that you will like my little "creatures", although not all of them are "little". Maybe even this blog will inspire you to draw more(anything, not just monsters). Some of these creatures may not be possible, such as multiple heads or vertebrae sticking out of the back, but hey, use your imagination. The Crested Argol(that big chicken with scales) is actually based on nothing, I just sat down and began drawing with something else in mind entirely, (actually I wanted to draw a lizard with blue-green wings) but in the end it looked like a dragon or a Pterodactyl-sort-of-thing. I can't compare this drawing with what my father did with a copy of my drawing. He drew one(the one closest to the dragonfly) another pair of wings, long tail feathers, he blackened their beaks and eyes, and even got one a rhinoceros horn and the other antennas. As you see, even a bird can be changed to look like a monster. In the future there will be many more strange creatures, including one-eyed snakes, bison with two pairs of horns, desert dragons and many more.



                                                                                                                            Enjoy,
                                                                                                                            Jasio L.W.
                                                                                                                         January 22, 2012




      My Own Complete Guide to Fantastic Creatures, with my own drawings and text. Own Complete Guide to Fantastic Creatures

    Crested Argol

    The Crested Argol is a big, insect-eating bird. It is a distant cousin of the Death Snakes (a family that I  will get onto in the near future), a family of snakes that use their venom to take down prey at least ten times their own size. Argols were smaller then their relatives, and their venom was many times weaker. They started hunting insects, but as a snake's jaws are not well adapted to hunting insects, their jaws turned into beaks. After the beaks, as anyone could expect, they immediately evolved wings to chase the insects. As there is no need for warmth so close to the equator, their snake scales did not need to be replaced by warm, soft, feathers(from which they would probably overheat just by sitting in the sun). Crested Argols have two, large, colorful feathers at the end of their skull, probably for displaying in front of the females (that is why we call them "crested"). They are group animals, and the largest groups can come up to even a hundred individuals. There is one strange thing about Argols (especially Crested) that no one has ever explained. In the group, only 1 out of all the chicks that hatched are males, and that only in 2 or 3 females. That is why the male(s) breed with all the females in the group. There are no battles between the males in the same group, but it sometimes happens that two males of different groups fight, and the winner of the of the duel takes all the females of the other group as his own.
    Height(at shoulder):1 meter(females and males are the same size)
    Weight: 30 kilograms(females)40 kilograms(males) 
    Eggs : 10-15
    Pregnancy(until eggs are laid): 3 months
    Longevity : 9- 12 years
    Environment: Places where insects can be found (such as swamps, forests, bogs)
    Color: Head feathers range from light purple to dark green, scales mostly light green,sometimes aqua green, wings almost always white, occasionally grey.
    Diet: insects, mostly flying insects, such as dragonflies, flies, mosquitoes, bees, yellow jackets, hornets, beetles, butterflies(occasionally); when flying insects not available, grasshoppers, crickets and worms will do.
    Social: Very big herds, up to a hundred individuals 





    Remember, new animal every sunday!