A Guide to Made Up Creatures and Magical Beings By Hannah Coleman
Prologue: You’ve heard the myths, the legends, the stories. The fairy tales and fiction. But you don’t believe in them. You might have just thought that you actually do believe them. Well stop there. I know that you don’t. In the back of your mind you have a nagging little voice that tells you that every fictional tale you’ve heard is fake. That they’re all lies. Now this is much different than wholeheartedly believing in fairies and werewolves. There are few of those people left in the world. What if I told you everything you might have believed wasn’t real, actually was. That the ghost you thought couldn’t possibly be in the attic was actually there. That the last time you were swimming in the ocean it couldn’t have been the tail of a mermaid you saw in the water, but it really was. Would you think I’m telling the truth? Most likely you’re doubting me right now. But what if I’m actually telling you the truth? Then what? What if everything I’m about to tell you actually exists in our world? Because here’s the secret, it is. How do I know? I haven’t always believed in any of this either. That will come later though, for now just try to believe me. Let yourself believe in something you probably think is fictional for just this one time. At least for the time while you read this book. When you’re done, you can make up your mind whether or not you choose to believe me. At first, believing me is going to be hard. You’re going to have to just let your mind completely embrace the things I’m going to tell you. You’re probably wondering again how I would know any of this. Well like I said before, I haven’t always believed either. I used to live a normal life with no magical creatures. In a whirlwind, I was brought into this life very recently. It was hard for me to initially adjust to the thought that all the stories I thought were fictional, were actually real. On top of being flung into a new reality, I had to try and learn everything I could about each creature because of an apprenticeship I was forced into. From this apprenticeship, I learned most of what I’m going to be telling you. It was overwhelming at first, being that my world had turned upside down. Well you’ll probably understand by the end of this book. Hopefully my explorations as an apprentice will help you if you’re ever thrown into a situation like mine.
Chapter 1 (Sea People): Sea People are some of the most well known magical creatures in stories. They are known for being beautiful, elegant beings. There are three different species of underwater people, Mermaids, Sirens, and Finfolk. They’re some of the hardest beings to tell the difference between each other if you don’t know the tell tale signs. Most likely you’ve heard fantastic stories and tales of Mermaids, the people living in the ocean with fish like tails, and you’ve probably heard fairy tales of Sirens, ocean dwelling people that lure men to death with their magical voices. You might have also heard a tale or two about Finfolk, mermaid like people who abduct human mates. Many times Sea People can be the hardest of magical creatures to get along with. All three have different temperaments and can look fairly similar, which makes them easy to mix up. These types of beings can often times become extremely offended by this, even if it seems like a small mistake to you. Trust me that this is not the mistake you want to make when dealing with Sea People. To you it seems like a wolf compared to a husky, both look similar, but there are differences in both appearance and personality. To them it would be like mistaking a full grown tiger for a domestic kitten. Hopefully this chapter, and my own experiences, will help you not make the same mistakes I’ve made when it comes to Sea People.
Mermaids are the most well known type of Sea People. These fantastic beings are both human and fish. In movies or shows they portray them as evil and troublesome. Many myths have illustrated them as killers of humans, when in fact they are quite the opposite. In reality, they are the friendliest of the Sea People, though there is not much competition.
These beings usually tend to stay in bottom depths of the ocean. In the past, many humans have tried to hunt them down to gain magical powers or cures from them. People used to believe that Mermaids had magical healing powers that could save humans. They also believed that if you make an offer with a Mermaid, you could gain powers. The belief that Mermaids have magical cures is a common misconception humans make. While they do have the magic to be both human and fish, they contain no other magic that Sorcerers know about. Most of the remaining Mermaids live deep in the Atlantic ocean because of the water temperatures, but some small pods live in other areas.
Mermaids also tend to stay in the lower depths of the ocean because of how much the pollution humans are creating. The trash people leave creates a residue in the water close to the surface. Mermaids’ skin is extremely thin and easily absorbs the toxins in their bodies. If a Mermaid’s skin takes in too much of this residue, it can lead to extreme illness and even death. Unlike Mermaids, other Sea People’s skin is much tougher, which allows them to come above the surface.
Humans have helped Mermaids in small amounts also. Since Mermaids are very resourceful creatures and like to use whatever they find, when a ship sinks in the ocean, they like to use it as a home since it helps provide coverage from humans. With more recent technology though, humans are making this harder for them because they are constantly searching or diving in the underwater shipwrecks.
Most commonly Mermaids’ tails are alluring shades of dark green or blue to help blend in with the environment they live in. In some fictional stories they illustrate Mermaids’ tails in various brilliant colors, such as orange or pink. This coloring of tails is highly uncommon to find in reality. This coloring would make it much easier for humans to find them to ask for favors. Most times authors and storytellers want to paint a more vivid picture and instead depict the tales with neon colors.
Mermaids are many times associated with being the causes for horrendous floods, tsunamis, shipwrecks, and more. None of this is true because Mermaids contain a miniscule amount of magic. In ancient myths though, many men blamed these Sea People for the causes of their ship being destroyed or why cities were flooded.
In modern culture, most people believe Mermaids are a fictional beings because scientists have constantly tried to prove that people haven’t seen these creatures. These scientists want to prove cold facts of science and don’t want to believe in actual magic in the world. They like to make explanations that many times it was a manatee sailors saw instead. There have been instances when sailors have indeed seen manatees instead of a Sea Person and believed it to be a Mermaid, but for the most part they witnessed one of the three species of Sea People. Since Mermaids live in deeper waters in the ocean though, sailors have rarely seen Mermaids. Many times they saw Finfolk or Sirens instead. Mermaid’s are the only type of underwater people that are okay with being mixed up with their fellow Sea People. Since they’re much more understanding than the others, they usually only require a sincere apology. Many times during the beginning of my training I have mistaken a Mermaid for a Siren because both species can take the same form. Once you finish this chapter, hopefully you’ll be able to tell the difference between the two.
Sirens are also one of the well known types of Sea People. You might be wondering if Sirens are truly Sea People because it has been popular for stories to illustrate Sirens as humans with magical voices or bird people. They are classified in the Sea People category because they are actually both human and fish, although they are more human than fish. Unlike Mermaids, these beings are able to choose between the two forms they would like to take, Mermaid or human. They’re able to shapeshift because they were originally were magical beings with vast amounts of dark magic and able to shapeshift into various species of creatures, but over generations their magic has slowly started to dwindle away. Therefore they are only able to shift between human and Mermaid since they are both human and fish. In ancient Greek and many other fictional stories, Sirens are told to be deadly towards men when they sing. This is exceedingly true. When a Siren sings, they have the power to lure men to death if they please. Many times they don’t intend on killing the person they’re trying to enchant at first. Instead, they’re trying to find a human mate. By having a human mate, it allows them to feed off the person’s humanity in order to help Siren’s stay in their human form longer, otherwise they have to constantly switch forms. If a Siren ends up not liking the man they lured, they many times end up killing them. They continue to follow this cycle until they find a suitable mate.
From experience, it is challenging to try to get someone out of the power of a Siren. During my training as an apprentice, my mentor and I had been walking down a deserted beach, Sitting upon the rocks on the shore was a beautiful woman singing in a clear, elegant voice. As we walked along the misty beach, my mind was swept completely blank except for the sound of the woman’s stunning voice. Without knowing what I was doing, I started slowly edging towards her. While I was being lured into the clutches of the Siren, my mentor quickly grabbed heavy pieces of cloth from his bag. He quickly stuffed thick pieces of cloth in my ears. They instantly blocked out the alluring Siren Song. Since I had only started to be lured in her trap, the cloth worked to obstruct my ears from her voice. In few instances this actually works, but you have to very quickly block the victim’s ears.
There’s hardly any other ways to save a victim from a Siren. The only other way is to challenge the Siren to a singing contest. Since they like to be the best of singing, they quickly jump on the opportunity to prove this. Usually though, the person who challenges the creature ends up faring worse than the man under the Siren’s lure.
Sirens are much easier to anger than Mermaids. That’s why many of the men they lure are killed. When they Siren realizes they haven’t found the right mate, they kill the person they lured. They can also become very territorial once they find the perfect spouse. When a ship passes through their territory, they use a Siren Song to lure the crew into rocky seaside cliff. From these deaths, people have written stories about Sirens causing shipwrecks.
Sirens are also not the type of Sea People you want to confuse with Mermaids. Since they are quick to anger, they become extremely infuriated when they are confused with other Sea People. When I had first started out, I accidently called a Siren named Conventina a Mermaid. My mentor was trying to teach me how to identify the species of Sea People and asked me to explain what type of Sea Person was sitting on the shore. Conventina quickly angered when she overheard me try to tell my mentor that she was a Mermaid. She tried to lure me to my death as revenge for insulting her. From my experience, your best bet is calling a Sea person a Siren because Mermaids are much forgiving with the mix up of names. Mermaids hardly ever surface from the water, while Sirens stay in the shallows most of the time so you have a safer chance by calling them a Siren.
Finfolk are the less known about Sea People since they are hardly found anywhere but in north Norway and Scotland. Several travel to other parts on the globe, but for the most part stay relatively close to Scotland and Norway. The reason they do is because their skin is extremely thick, unlike a Mermaids, so it helps keep them warm in the cool temperatures in this part of the world.
These Sea people are much less rare to find than Mermaids and Sirens, but can be far less romantic than the other two. Finfolk are well known to sit upon beaches the form of a beautiful human in order to lure humans toward them. Sometimes these beings will use the same traits of Sirens by using magical voices, or traits of Mermaids by using elegant fish tails, to entice innocent humans to come even closer. They are not able to keep the form of Mermaids or humans for long periods of time. Once the person comes too close, the Finfolk grab the human and swim off with them, ending up kidnapping them.
Finfolk kidnap humans as their spouses because humans help them keep their beauty and youth. By having a human spouse, they can force them to become slaves to do their work for them so the people wither away from chores instead of Finfolk. If a female Finfolk ends up marrying a make Finfolk, or vice versa, then they both become terrifyingly ugly and old because they both force each other to work was one another’s slaves.
These Sea People can sometimes be bartered with because Finfolk are extremely greedy creatures. They love shiny objects of value, especially objects containing silver. This is why I recommend you should always carry a small amount of silver with you when you’re near the ocean. If you have enough, you can barter for your life. I have witnessed several instances where just a small pouch of silver has helped someone from becoming a spouse and slave to Finfolk.
Most Finfolk live in Finfolkaheem, an underwater castle ancient Finfolk have created. The entire castle is raised with beautiful crystal pillars and ornate silver designs. The crystal reflects light shades of blue and pink when sunlight hits it. Each room is brilliantly colored to match the colors of the reflected crystal. The ancient Finfolk had Witches and Warlocks cast spells on it to protect the fantastic city from human view.
This city is different from Hildaland. Hildaland is the island that Finfolk bring their human mates to to become slaves. Here the humans spend the rest of their days completing the tasks their spouses have given them. The humans live in small houses next to their Finfolk spouses giant mansions decorated in silver.
In water, Finfolk can change back into their true forms. This form is almost like a dark and murky human with fish like features. Many times their dark blue and green in order to help blend in when under water. They’re huge in their natural forms with razor sharp teeth. Finfolk hardly transform in front of their spouses to help keep the humans under the illusion that they’re beautiful creatures. Unlike Sirens, Finfolk are more fish than human. Therefore their true form is closer in looks to fish. Since they are still a part human, they are able to shape shift between the two. Also unlike Sirens, Finfolk are not able to stay in Mermaid or human form for long periods of time. No one quite knows the reason for this, but ancient Warlocks have believe that the fish part of Finfolk overpowers the human part and forces them to change back to their true form.
Writer's Workshop Piece 2
The Tree by Hannah Coleman
In the dead forest Where nothing living stirs And the silence is almost deafening Stands an overgrown willow In an abandoned clearing With childish fairy tales surrounding Each speaking of new horrors About the tree
It stands alone Dead leaves surround the mangled roots That crunch and break under each step When the local children made dares To visit the tree
Now no one enters the clearing Where the lone willow rests Ever since the last child Came towards the tree
She entered the abandoned clearing Following through with a dare Towards where stands the tree
But never reappeared And the only one who knew what happened Was the tree
Many years ago Laid a town near this willow With two kids in forbidden love Who had nowhere else to go But to the tree
Both would sneak out When not even the moon could light their way Through the deserted grounds To meet in secret Under the tree
After the last time They were supposed to meet At their secret rendezvous They never reappeared But no one knew why they never returned Except for the tree
And a long time ago Was a curious young boy Who was the first to wander too far And found the tree
He walked towards it His mind wandering about the mystery it held The tiny feet crept even closer Until he soon laid his tiny hand Upon the dead bark on the tree
And soon the sun soon set While nowhere he could be found But no one knew how He could possibly disappear Except for the tree
All through the years These stories haunt the forest Each worse than the last Because of the people That never returned from the inside of the tree