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Monsters Needed

ShadeZ

Maester
Magical enough or dangerous enough? A wounded or stressed animal can be very agressive.
Magic enough. Farmers hire hunters for animal and myth hunters for monsters. Monster often have magic that requires those who hunt them to be both hunters and mages.
 
And when I say giant... I mean
giant.jpg
absolutely
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Mad Swede

Auror
Magic enough. Farmers hire hunters for animal and myth hunters for monsters. Monster often have magic that requires those who hunt them to be both hunters and mages.
You haven't really said what is happening in the scene, but if you want something unusual then I'd suggest "skogsrået". In Swedish folklore she (and it is a she) is a creature of the forest with the appearance of a small but beautiful woman - from the front. Seen from behind she has hollow back (it looks like a hollow tree) and a tail. Anyone enticed inte following her into the forest is never seen again. Any man having sex with her loses his soul. If the seduced man is a hunter he will have good luck on the hunt, provided he is faithful to her - if he is unfaithful then bad luck will befall him, and he will eventually die. It is possible for him to break the curse by shooting her with an arrow during a storm. She can be killed by the Wild Hunt, since Odin has a grudge against her, but she usually gets away.
 

ShadeZ

Maester
You haven't really said what is happening in the scene, but if you want something unusual then I'd suggest "skogsrået". In Swedish folklore she (and it is a she) is a creature of the forest with the appearance of a small but beautiful woman - from the front. Seen from behind she has hollow back (it looks like a hollow tree) and a tail. Anyone enticed inte following her into the forest is never seen again. Any man having sex with her loses his soul. If the seduced man is a hunter he will have good luck on the hunt, provided he is faithful to her - if he is unfaithful then bad luck will befall him, and he will eventually die. It is possible for him to break the curse by shooting her with an arrow during a storm. She can be killed by the Wild Hunt, since Odin has a grudge against her, but she usually gets away.
Two supernatural one a Siigra (silver named for their magical auto healing blood and incredible speed and reflexes) and one a demiduur (dragon slayer) are hired to/get bored and decide to hunt a monster that's been terrorizing the local farmers. The job is WAY below their pay grade but they take it on cause one challenges the other to how fast he can hunt the monster.
 

ShadeZ

Maester
Do the tales mention if it's worth the trade?

I would guess no, since that's usually the way with folk tales. But I can imagine it might be if you have a spare soul lying around (or don't place much value in it to begin with...).
Clearly the trick is to be a hunter to begin with lol then you get unlimited sex, luck, and can keep your soul lol.
 

Mad Swede

Auror
Clearly the trick is to be a hunter to begin with lol then you get unlimited sex, luck, and can keep your soul lol.
Er, no. The dream of unlimited sex is (in the folklore) part of the bait Skogsrået uses to entrap men. But once she's got your soul you don't get any more sex, instead you're her slave for life. And that life might be short if you slip up and have sex with another woman... As for shooting Skogsrået during a storm, good luck. I've never heard a tale where a hunter succeeded in doing that - after all, why on earth would your good hunting luck apply to your attempts to free yourself from Skogsrået?
 

ShadeZ

Maester
Er, no. The dream of unlimited sex is (in the folklore) part of the bait Skogsrået uses to entrap men. But once she's got your soul you don't get any more sex, instead you're her slave for life. And that life might be short if you slip up and have sex with another woman... As for shooting Skogsrået during a storm, good luck. I've never heard a tale where a hunter succeeded in doing that - after all, why on earth would your good hunting luck apply to your attempts to free yourself from Skogsrået?
Hmm wonder in one could simple stab her or shoot her at close range if it would count lol
 

Mad Swede

Auror
Hmm wonder in one could simple stab her or shoot her at close range if it would count lol
Stabbing? No, she has to be shot with an arrow. Yes, you could shoot her with an arrow at close range in a storm - if you find her and if she lets you get that close. But as you're her slave, the chances of you having enough free will to actually shoot her are not high. Which is probably why so few manage to free themselves.
 

SUN WUKONG

New Member
Needs to be magical enough that a farmer would hire a monster hunter to hunt it.
You can use an imp. It's not necessarily evil but They are notorious tricksters and attention seekers. If you're wondering how it looks imagine A demonic fairy with bat wings.
And the good part is it doesn't have any specific magic powers so you can give it whatever you want.
 

ShadeZ

Maester
You can use an imp. It's not necessarily evil but They are notorious tricksters and attention seekers. If you're wondering how it looks imagine A demonic fairy with bat wings.
And the good part is it doesn't have any specific magic powers so you can give it whatever you want.
Normally I would but one of the two hunters brother in law is the king of imps lol so that would stand out
 
Why would a Skogsrået or an Imp be terrorizing a farm?

In real life, what does a farmer hire an exterminator for? Infestations of destructive vermin, such as rats, prairie dogs, mice, woodchucks, etc. Taking out coyotes, foxes, wolves, feral cats, feral dogs and other predators killing livestock.

Ask yourself, what magical/mythical creature would be destroying crops, digging up pastures, mucking up water sources and/or killing livestock?

Any creatures going after humans becomes a village problem.
 

Mad Swede

Auror
Why would a Skogsrået or an Imp be terrorizing a farm?

In real life, what does a farmer hire an exterminator for? Infestations of destructive vermin, such as rats, prairie dogs, mice, woodchucks, etc. Taking out coyotes, foxes, wolves, feral cats, feral dogs and other predators killing livestock.

Ask yourself, what magical/mythical creature would be destroying crops, digging up pastures, mucking up water sources and/or killing livestock?

Any creatures going after humans becomes a village problem.
And this is where we as writers need to read up on our mythology before we pick a monster for our stories.

In Swedish mythology, skogsrået is the ruler of the forest, ruler over everything that dwells or grows there. The wild animals in the forest are under her protection, and so if you or your livestock start disturbing the local wildlife she will come after you. Birds, particularly Jays (in Sweden, Siberian Jays), are her messengers, watching over the forest and reporting back to her. That was why you as a hunter needed to stay on her right side - you couldn't hunt animals to extinction or in any way threaten their survival as a species, because she'd know and then she would hunt you. So whilst you could kill the odd predator hunting your livestock, as soon as you tried to wipe all of them out she'd be after you. In the same way, if you were destroying the forest by taking too many trees, or by starting a forest fire (deliberately or through carelssness) she'd know and she'd be out to punish you. And the hunting and punishment would start with her luring you into the forest and taking your soul... With all that written skogsrået could also be very helpful - if you helped her in caring for her forest and her creatures.
 
Sounds like the skogsrået is a force of nature, not a monster. Maybe that's splitting hairs, but in my mind, there's s difference. So, for the skogsrået to get involved, she has to be provoked and it sounds like she'd be going after only the farmer, not crops, livestock or buildings. That changes the story. Once it's revealed the farmer has been irritating a local supernatural neighbor, the monster hunter now becomes a potential negotiator. Not original of course, but a writer could have fun with that.

"That fat farmer is too lazy to fix the fence. The cows keeping wandering in the forrest to muddy the pond and destroy my favorite bed of bluebells! I was only going to take his soul long enough to make him fix that fence."
 

ShadeZ

Maester
And this is where we as writers need to read up on our mythology before we pick a monster for our stories.

In Swedish mythology, skogsrået is the ruler of the forest, ruler over everything that dwells or grows there. The wild animals in the forest are under her protection, and so if you or your livestock start disturbing the local wildlife she will come after you. Birds, particularly Jays (in Sweden, Siberian Jays), are her messengers, watching over the forest and reporting back to her. That was why you as a hunter needed to stay on her right side - you couldn't hunt animals to extinction or in any way threaten their survival as a species, because she'd know and then she would hunt you. So whilst you could kill the odd predator hunting your livestock, as soon as you tried to wipe all of them out she'd be after you. In the same way, if you were destroying the forest by taking too many trees, or by starting a forest fire (deliberately or through carelssness) she'd know and she'd be out to punish you. And the hunting and punishment would start with her luring you into the forest and taking your soul... With all that written skogsrået could also be very helpful - if you helped her in caring for her forest and her creatures.
Sounds like the lotr forest spirit that defends the forest.
 
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