Mystical Creatures

Mystical Creatures

Angels
Winged messengers from heaven

Represent loving, guiding forces who assist God. Angels are often depicted as healing, resucing, comforting, or otherwise helping human beings who are in need. These supernatural beings are believed widely in many religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and even Hinduism. Angels are mystical beings that serve as a link or an intermediary between man and his Supreme Creator.

Brownies
Invisible elves who live with families in houses and assist those who live there.

Brownies are invisible brown elves or household goblins who live in farmhouses and other country buildings within Scotland. While the members of the household are asleep they go about doing labours for the house owners. Brownies are protective creatures and become attached to the families if the family move the Brownie will move with them. If a brownie is treated badly by the family or is offered payment the brownie vanishes without trace. Children because of their innocent nature can only seeBrownies, though this does not prevent the brownies from helping adults.

Centaurs
Half man, half horse.

Creatures who are half-man and half-horse who appear in many mythological stories. They have the body of a horse from the waist down & are best known for their lust. Chiron was a Centaur who was famous for his great wisdom and then later became the constellation Sagitarius.

Cerberus
The three-headed dog of Hades and guardian of the underworld

He was the protector of the underworld and could be very violent to those who tried to enter or exit without authority. However, it has been noted that he could be lulled by different forms of music.

Cherubim
A spirit of heaven.

Cherubims are usually childlike and human but sometimes depicted as a winged animal. They are benevolent beings who assist humans in many ways, including finding love.

Cockatrice

Very similar to a wyvern, cockatrice are the size of a giant chicken.  When they stand up, they are only 3 or 4 feet tall, but head to tale are up to 9 feet long.  They have a magical power to turn people to stone wither by breathing on them, or touching them with the point of their tale.  They can fly, although not very gracefully, and are scaled.  They have two teeth that carry a poison in them.  To living flesh, it will kill the skin and anything it contacts.  When it has turned something into stone though, the poison will return the prey into its original state so that it may be eaten.  Even after death, the tale of a cockatrice will still turn one into stone.  Cockatrice, unlike dragons, are evil creatures and there is no record of any that side with the good.

Doppleganger
A duplicate of a person or creature.

Sometimes, a Doppleganger can appear as flesh and blood, other times it can be an astral projection or a ghost.

Dragons
A mythical creature that is charmed by music.

May be evil or good. Some are seen as protector-guardians, either of people or places. Others are fierce and cruel and one must slay them.

Dryads
Feminine spirits of nature that reside in the forest.

Different ones protect and nurture various species of plant life and/or trees. Often, it is said, they seek revenge upon those who have damaged the forest.Dryads are female tree spirits.  There are no male dryads and so their reproduction is different from many other creatures.  They are tree nymphs that live in the forest.  They are born with a certain tree and if the tree dies, then so does the dryad.  Dryads watch over the forests in which they live and guard it from invaders.  They make sure that other creatures do not cut down trees in the forest.  In later years, dryad numbers have begun to wane and they cannot protect the forest as they use to.  This problem is only added to by their love of song and dance.  They spend much of the time that they should be protecting in festivals.  One cannot say if dryads are good or evil.  They are almost always on the side of good on the whole, but they can sometimes attack or turn against those who are not evil.

Dwarves

A dwarf is a stout humanoid, usually a head shorter than their human counterparts, but much broader. They have thick, heavy bones, tightly packed muscular sinew, and stability unmatched by other races. This bulk also causes dwarves to weigh as much, if not more than human men. Their coloration varies, with the dwarves of Garund being deeply tanned and weather beaten, while the dwarves of Avistan tend to be paler, especially those who dwell in the far north of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings.Dwarves have wide range of eye color, with brown and grey being the most common, though some possess shocking blue irises.Their hair usually ranges from dark, near-black brown, to a light ash brown; some are born with a shock of red hair, which is considered beautiful in dwarven circles.

Elves
Mischievous Creatures

Are human-like in characteristic, but are not little people. Mischievous in nature.

Ents

Ents are like great, moving trees.  They are not actually trees, which are stationary and mindless, and will take great offence at being called so.  They have the ability to walk, talk, and carry out functions as humans would.  They have no need to make homes or tools, they live out in the forest and use what they have as tools.  The forests that they live in, they are also responsible for protecting.  They generally stay in the same area and form councils consisting of several ents.  In their councils they usually discuss such things are rain fall, forest growth, and occasionally what is happening in the outside world.  There does not seem to be a life span on ents.  They seem to grow just as a normal tree would, collecting light and water.  Even if their was a life span on ents, it is far to long for anyone to know of because no one has lived that long.

Gargoyles
Winged creatures that sit atop tall buidings and keep watch.

Their purpose is to ward off evil spirits. They can sit so still, they appear to be made of stone but at any moment they can dive down upon their prey below.

Giants 
Huge & often violent human-like creatures.

Cause fear in the people who encounter them. In ancient Greece, giants were defeated in battle and were imprisoned under the earth. It is said whenever a volcano erupts, it is a giant trying to get out.

Gnomes
Very small human-like folks

Who stand just one or two feet tall. They like to live in gardens and are protectors of nature. Most of them are friendly enough to humans, but some of them can be tricky as well.

Griffin
The largest of all birds

The Griffin was a creature that had the wings of an Eagle and the legs of a Lion. Can be a great asset to humans if fighting on their side because they are very fierce. Huge creatures, they can easily carry a human being through the air. The Griffin was very sacred to Apollo and was the suns guardian. When the Griffin spread its wings it blocked out the sun.

Hypogrif

There are many different spellings of the name for this creature.  Hypogrif, Hypsography, Hypogrif, Hipogriph, Hippogriff, or Haplography are the main spellings.  No matter how it is spelled, the creature is the same.  A hypogrif (this is the spelling I will use) is a cross between a griffin and a horse.  Yet griffins and horses are mortal enemies, which makes a hypogrif an extremely rare creature.  There have been attempts to bread griffins and horses, but almost all of these have failed.  It shares many traits with the Pegasus, the main anatomical difference being the head.  Hypogrifs are also faster than the Pegasus.  They are described as being as fast as lightening.  This fact makes hypogrifs the best aerial mount by far.  They are also much easier to train then griffins and other flying creatures.  Hypogrifs are almost always good, but they can could be trained for evil. 

Leprechaun
Merry little human-like creatures

They live close to humans but do not like to be seen by them very often. They can be very helpful, like Brownies, and will exchange good luck and other treasures for goods they can use.

Merfolk
People with fish tails

Mermaids are sometimes reportedly seen sitting on rocks in the sea and singing to the sailors. When in trouble, Merfolk can call all the creatures of the sea to come to their aid.

Ogres
Human-like folks who stand twice as tall.

They are built very strong and heavy. They are not very smart, but they are not cruel or evil, although they do enjoy a good fight.

Pegasus
A white winged horse that flies

Highly intelligent, they can assist humans in many adventures by carrying them across land and sea.

Phoenix
A bird who sings a beautiful song and carries human prayers on its wings to heaven

When the Phoenix dies, it dies in fire and from this fire, a new Phoenix rises from the ashes.
In Arabian legend the Phoenix sits in a nest that is ignited by solar rays. In China the Phoenix was regarded as an envoy from the heavens.
In medieval Europe it featured as a symbol of resurrection and the triumph of life over death. In Alchemy it represented the Philosophers Stone.

Pixie
Tiny folks living in the countryside

They are hard workers and can help crops and flowers to grow, but they also like to play tricks on humans. They have been known to even come inside houses in order to hide things so they cannot be found, or to make a mess.

Sphinx
A winged creature with a lion's body and a human head

 They can be very dangerous and will sometimes kill those who cannot answer their riddles.

Unicorn
A horse-like creature with healing powers

Healing powders are held within a horn growing out of its forehead & which can prevent poison from harming people. Unicorns are very magical and powerful, and keep themselves hidden from humans so that their powers are not misused. The Unicorn was considered both masculine and feminine. & as a symbol of purity and spiritual unity.
It was believed that only a virgin holding a mirror could tame a Unicorn.

Werewolves
A human/animal creature

They are basically human, but have the ability to shape-shift into an animal form, being that of a type of wolf. The werewolf can change of its own accord, or may be forced by such things as cycles of the moon. People become werewolves through birth, being bitten by a werewolf, or being cursed. The werewolf has a constant regeneration of tissue, so it does not grow old. Werewolves are however, not immortal. Destroying the brain or heart will kill a werewolf.

Big Foot/ Yeti

These hairy apemen are probably the most consistently witnessed unknown creatures in the world. Whether they are called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Skunk Ape or Yowie, they have been seen in isolated woodlands and mountain areas in virtually every corner of the globe.And the descriptions - from the North American northwest to Florida to Australia - are remarkably consistent:

* taller than an average man (seven to eight feet)
* covered with long brown or auburn hair (or white hair in the case of the Yeti)
* a strong, repugnant odor
* large feet, as evidenced by castings of footprints
* an aversion to man
* a piercing, eerie howl

The vast number of sightings, many by highly reliable witnesses, gives Bigfoot, in my estimation, the best likelihood of being a real creature as yet unknown to science. But what is it? A missing link? Some ancient relative of humans that somehow has survived in the wilderness? An unknown species of ape?

We may find out someday soon. Sightings seem to be on the increase as mankind encroaches deeper and deeper on the wilderness. And technology may aid in the search. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization recently announced its intention to place motion-triggered digital webcams in various areas of US forest where the hairy beast has been seen. This 24-hour surveillance with potentially thousands of computer-based witnesses looking on will dramatically increase the chances of obtaining credible evidence.

For the diehard skeptic, nothing less than a captured specimen will do - or at least some other tangible evidence. And one that could qualify has recently emerged: an impression of Bigfoot's butt. No kidding. Researchers in the American northwest have found what appears to be the impression in the ground of where a large hairy primate has sat. Hey, he's got to rest those big feet sometime.

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness monster, or Nessie, is undoubtedly the most well-known of these aquatic mysteries. But other deep, cold lakes around the world have their own legendary beasts: Chessie in Chesapeake Bay, Storsie in Sweden's Lake Storsjön, Selma in Norway's Lake Seljordsvatnet and "Champ" in New York's Lake Champlain among others.

Descriptions of this creature, too, are amazingly similar:

* a large creature with a long neck
* a horse-like head
* a humped back

Most sightings report the humps protruding from the surface of the water (which skeptics dismiss as being almost anything, from schools of fish to floating logs), but occasionally a lucky witness will see the creature stretch its neck high above the water and look around a bit before submerging.

Photo and video evidence is rare. And although some of the photos are tantalizing (most notably the famous "flipper" photo taken by the Rines expedition in 1975), most such "proof" is fuzzy or inconclusive at best.

If the creature does exist, many researchers suspect that it could be a kind of plesiosaur - an animal from the age of the dinosaurs that is thought to have become extinct more than 66 million years ago. Could a lineage of these incredible creatures possibly have survived?