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Valkyrie Bestiary

Doing Our Best to Care for the Fae

So, I met a puckwudgie

June 30, 2084

Wow! Two posts in one week. You’d think I had nothing better to do. In truth, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed, and this is the first chance I’ve had to get these ideas down. 

I want to ask about puckwudgies.

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Conies, bunnies with spunk

June 28, 2084 

If you read Watership Down as a child, raise your hand. Probably not a lot of you. It was an old book when I was a kid. I never really understood why it was considered a children’s book. It scared the pants off me.

Maybe that’s why when I encountered a colony of conies recently, I felt the cold hand of dread squeeze my guts. 

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Unicorns: The Stuff of Legend

April 26, 2084

Let’s address the many myths about unicorns. 

  • They do not appear only to virgins. 
  • They do not lure virgins to their death.
  • They do not eat virgins. 

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THE OPJI INCURSION. WHAT WE KNOW. WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW.

March 20, 2084

Hold onto your lug nuts, folks. This is a long post. Long but important, and I value any feedback you might have in the comments. It’s a well known fact that the original Triumvirate of Montreal created the Apex stones and the ward to safeguard the city against constant opji attacks in the last days of the Flood Wars. 

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THE WINGED DEVIL

March 16, 2084

Three blog posts in one week! You’d think I have nothing else to do. To be honest, I’m laid up at the moment, recovering from that peyochip sting. So I thought I’d catch up on some critter research. 

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PEYOCHIPS AND THE MANY WORLDS THEORY

March 15, 2084

So, funny story. I got stung by a peyochip. Okay, not ha-ha funny, but certainly bizarre. If you’re not familiar with this little critter, it looks very much like a platypus, but with a smaller beak and a more golden hue to its fur.

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MAMmOTH RAT-EATER—SPIDERS ARE PEOPLE TOO

March 14, 2084

I have nothing against spiders. Actually, I think they’re kind of cute with their fuzzy faces and multiple eyes. And they eat a lot of other pests, so if I find one at home, I try to gently relocate it. 

 

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ICE SPRITES—AS CUTE AS THE YETI IS FIERCE

January 3, 2083 

One more post this week before I get back to work and my life is turned upside down again. This one is along the same theme as the last post about Yetis—ice-sprites, the yeti’s smaller, cuter cousins.

 

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A SNOWMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME…

January 1, 2083 

Happy New Year! As everyone in my family is still sleeping off the festivities of the last week, I find myself awake and in possession of something really rare: spare time. So, I thought I’d update the blog. It’s been a while, I know, and I’m sorry for that. Being a new mom is as life-changing as they say it is. But today I have a few moments to tell you about an amazing creature I encountered recently—a yeti.

 

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RATATOSK—MESSENGER OF THE GODS

November 5, 2081

I’ve been away visiting family in Asgard, so please forgive the interruption of the blog. I won’t go into details of my trip, only to say that it was more successful than I could have hoped and also more devastating. One good thing that came out of it was that I met a new friend. His name is Raol, and he’s a ratatosk, the only one on Terra as far as I know.

Ratatosks are descendants of the creature known as Ratatoskr. 

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BLUECAPS AROUND THE WORLD?

September 22, 2081

Unlike the bloodthirsty redcaps, who get their name from dipping their hats in the blood of their enemies, bluecaps are mostly a peaceful race. Peaceful, as compared to the other dwarven races, that is. They still like to carry a good axe and know how to use it. 

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IS THAT A HIDEBEHIND BEHIND THAT TREE?

July 7, 2081

This is one for the entomology and cryptozoology enthusiasts. Has anyone come into contact with a hidebehind? We might have one lurking near the house. Our property manager seems concerned. 

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HARPIES: WINGED GODS OR DEMONS?

June 30, 2081

Harpies have been called everything from evil child snatchers to seductive maidens. So what’s the real deal with harpies? Do they even exist?

Yes, they do.

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Don't Say Boo to a Goose

June 15, 2081

The name Canada goose is misleading. Even in the days when international borders meant something, these geese could be found as far south as Texas. In the same way that pigeons dominated cities, Canada geese found their niche in suburbs. At one time, you could barely walk along sections of the Lake Ontario shoreline without tripping over a goose (or slipping in its droppings). 

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A Glory of Will O’Wisps

May 5, 2081

Will o’wisps have gone by many names over the centuries: ghost light, feu follet, jack o’lantern, hobby lantern, hinkypunk, and my favorite, Ignis fatuus (Latin for “foolish flame”).

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Rodent + Lizard = A Curiosity

April 10, 2081

Today on the continuing saga of my life with critters, I bring a truly unique creature. I’m calling it a squamus—squamata (a genus of reptiles which includes snakes and lizards) + mus (a genus of rodents including mice).

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A Hell Hound Tale

January 1, 2081

Happy New Year! I have been thinking a lot about hell hounds lately, and I thought I’d tell you a story about these amazing and often misunderstood beasts.

Once upon a time, a young woman left the only home she’d ever known to live in Asgard, the land of her ancestors. 

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Golem vs. Gargoyle

(November 25, 2080)

No, we aren’t doing some kind of gladiator show where we pit golems against gargoyles. But I want to have a serious discussion about the distinction between the two. This is a topic close to my heart for many reasons, and something we should all be aware of. So here goes.

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BODACHS: LOOKING AT THE BEING BEHIND THE CURTAIN

(November 17, 2080)

As usual, the information I can find about bodachs is antiquated and fairly useless to dealing with these beings in the modern, post-war world. 

The origin of the term “bodach” may be derived from the old Irish word for peasant or from an old Norse term for cottage. In Gaelic, bodach is used as a familiar term of affection and simply means “old man.”

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Riddle Me a Brownie

November 10, 2080

If you came here looking for the “best chewy brownie recipe,” you’re in the wrong spot. Actually, I was amazed at the number of brownie recipes on the ley-web, especially considering my ward hasn’t had real chocolate in over a decade. But that’s a topic for a different blog. This is a discussion on the fae subspecies known as a brownie. 

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Bijou

(August 1, 2080)

Someone gave me a present. Isn’t she beautiful. We named her Bijou. As far as I can tell she’s just a normal snail except for her brilliant colors. But she does make an odd whistling noise sometimes.

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Dragons

(June 8, 2080)

Okay, folks. Let’s talk dragons. There’s so much information and disinformation out there, it’s hard to know what is true and what is myth. Not only that, but how do we know if there are different breeds of dragons? I have very limited experience with these amazing creatures so I’d like to pool our knowledge and create a database of sightings and info.

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Chimera

(May 4, 2080 - Posted May 18, 2080)

The fun continues. I came face-to-face with an actual chimera recently. Now before you all start sending me irate messages that the term chimera is generic and misleading, I agree with you, but bear with me.

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Shushers

(May 3, 2080 - Posted May 16, 2080)

I'm on an adventure outside our ward where I encountered some really interesting creatures. The first one is a shusher. I have never heard of this creature before. They may be a hybrid, created in the magic flares during the war. 

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Take the Quiz

Do you know what to feed a basilisk? Or how to stop a dervish from spinning into overload? What would you do if you found an abandoned baby dragon? These are just some of the quandaries that Kyra Greene faces in Dragons Don’t Eat Meat. Test your fae knowledge to see if you could be a fae caretaker too! 

Click HERE to take the quiz.

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