"Walking with Myths" -- What would you do?

[Majin Gojira]

Suppose you were put in charge of writing a new BBC Documentary, from the same people who created "Walking with Dinosaurs" and "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real"-- entitled "Walking with Myths."

The project entitles you to use mythological creatures in a realistic manner, much like the Dragons were, in the format of a nature documentary.

Here are the key questions:

Where would the various (minimum of 5) be set? and When?

What creatures would you focus on? What creatures would appear peripherally?

What would be the basic classification/biology of the creatures that appear?

[Akhlut]

I love it when you do things like this, Majin.

My idea: Walking with Myths: Terrors of Europe! It would, obviously, be set in Europe in the middle ages, probably around 1000-1200 AD.

The creatures: werewolves, vampires, will-o-wisps, giants/trolls/ogres, and woodwoses.

I'm not sure about peripheral creatures, at least not yet.


Will-o-wisps would be insects, closely related to lightning bugs, except larger and with a hunger for flesh. They entice victims by releasing a powerful pheromone which has an attractive effect on mammals and with a semi-hypnotizing light pattern. As they live in swamps, mammals easily get caught up in the muck and foliage, and the pheromone induces some sluggishness in their prey, which they begin to eat alive. They're huge insects, about 3 to 4 inches (10+ cm) in length with enormous mandibles. They also have evolved venom which secretes along their mandibles when prey is nearby. Unlike spider venom, which digests prey, will-o-wisp venom has evolved to debilitate prey and slow the CNS. As they congregate in large numbers (40-50 individuals), they can quite quickly kill smaller animals through a combination of large bites and venom, though horses, cows, and humans can usually get away once their bodies start a powerful adrenaline rush.

Werewolves wouldn't be humans at all, but, instead, highly evolved wolves of large size whose dewclaws have become a nearly opposable thumb. They originally evolved in this manner in response to aurochs in order to pull them down better, however, as the aurochs become rarer and rarer in Europe, they've turned to cows, horses, and people. Being more intelligent than the average wolf (they use far more complex planning), they provide a real challenge to humans who hunt them.

Vampires are a very interesting thing. Perhaps, more accurately, vampirism is a disease. But, no, it is nothing like porphyria or rabies or something else that has been commonly attributed to it. Instead, it is a parasite born in the blood that infects the brains of its hosts, turning them inexorcably into a night-haunting, bloodthirsty monster. The parasite itself, Capitivermi draculis ("head-worm dracula" using this site to find Latin words), is a nematode that lives in the host's brain. It enters through the bloodstream via a bite from an infected human (a "vampire"). Once in the bloodstream, the young C. draculis is carried throughout the bloodstream until it reaches the brain/blood barrier. It swims through those cells into the CNS. Using chemical cues, it seeks out the the brainstem and the cerebellum. Once there, it makes shop and turns from a little worm into a large, semi-amorphous mass that spreads tendrils through the brainstem and cerebellum. These tendrils begin to alter the brain's chemistry, changing the person's circadian rhythm and affecting sensory perception, making them super-sensitive to light. It also gives them an immense craving for blood, especially human blood. Further, by affecting the cerebellum and brainstem, C. draculis speeds up perception and reaction of the "vampire" making them quicker than normal people. After the brain infection, C. draculis matures and starts producing clonal eggs, which hatch in the brain and young C. draculis crawl along the olfactory nerves, push themselves out of the holes in the sinus cavities into, well, the sinus cavities. These young worms crawl to the back of the throat and fall onto the tongue, where they crawl up onto the tongue and all over the teeth and in the saliva of the host. When the host bites his/her next victim, the worms crawl in through the opening into the next host's blood vessels to start the cycle anew. Infection time takes several months to become apparent

While the brain chemistry is changed, the "vampire" retains most memories and some semblence of their personality, though with an aversion toward light and a drive to drink human blood. They also have a strong aversion toward garlic, as compounds in garlic kill the parasites in the mouth. While the "vampire" still eats some human foods, they don't eat nearly as much as they used to, and they prefer a great deal of sugars, to fuel their new speedy selves and to provide the only source of energy available to their brain-living parasites (only sugars can cross the blood/brain barrier, if I remember correctly). Unlike mythological vampires, these "vampires" aren't immortal. In fact, because they tend to assault and murder people and live on sugar and blood, essentially, they tend to die only a year or two after infection. However, that's plenty of time to spread their disease to others...

Giants/ogres/trolls are all essentially the same creature, only called by different names in different places. They're all descended from a break-off population of neanderthals who avoided humans in Eastern Europe for generations and migrated out from there. They've become large, very large creatures. They are usually about 12 or so feet tall (3.6 meters) and about 1000 pounds (450 kg) in weight. They have primitive technology and have been persecuted by humans since Roman times. They're decent hunters, though they've only developed spears as ranged weapons. They prefer to use clubs in most combat, though. They are relatively docile among each other, but hate humans. They have their own cultures and language and have passed down cults of human sacrifice to appease their gods and hopefully regain divine protection against humans. This, obviously, leads to bad blood between them and humans. Humans actively try to kill them off because of this human sacrifice practiced by the giants/ogres/trolls. They live in varied habitats and occasionally keep things like goats and cattle, though they don't do this too often as it starts to attract human attention, even in the middle of nowhere, where they like to live.

Woodwoses are extremely primitive "bigfoots", essentially. They evolved from a terrestrial ape in Asia that migrated westward to Europe. The woodwoses have been around in Europe for thousands of years, but are more secretive than giants and live almost exclusively in forests. They don't use much in the way of tools, except for clubs, which are made simply by tearing off tree limbs. They're tall, but not extraordinarily so, like the giants. They're only about 2 meters/6 feet tall and about 200-300 pounds/90-130 kilograms in weight. They're omnivores who occasionally eat humans.

[Majin Gojira]

A good peripheral for that setting would be the Mountain Dragon (from their other speculative special: "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real").

Other areas I'd have done would be

Mediterainian -- Greek/Roman mythology (sidestepping human-hybrids due to much of their implausibility).

United States -- Modern Folklore (Sea Monsters, Bigfoot, Lizard Men, and other oddities like the Piasa).

England -- Fae Lore (Focusing on the less inteligent Fae--Boggarts, Goblins, Pixies, etc.).

Japan -- Shinto/Buddhist myth (Dragons, Kitsune Foxes, Tengu and Kappa)

[Majin Gojira]

Ghetto Edit: As a rough outline, I'll have more in the evening...

[Akhlut]

I think "human" hybrids could be done, however, it'd have to be done in the context of apes evolving in specific habitats for some of them (mermen/mermaids), while something like the minotaur or satyr would have to be rationalized by the evolution of bipedal ungulates, somehow.

If you're doing the N. American one, I want to see what you do with the piasa. I have some ideas of my own, but I won't tell for now.

I'm also curious to see how you would do the fae.

[Akhlut]

Some peripherals for my "walking with myths" series:

Nixes/Undines/Rusalka/etc. - While generally being called a spirit of the water (of a drowned person or just a personification of the body of water), usually one that sings, at that, this creature is actually a large, flat-faced otter. It also does its own singing and howling to mark territory, attract a mate, and for its own amusement.

Drekavac - Described variously as different creatures, but all with a horrible scream. It is, in fact, a largish carrion bird that uses its terrible scream (it changes its tones, frequencies, pitch, etc. in order to give it a horrific, discordant sound that causes pain in other animals) to drive off other animals from kills. Its screaming call is incredibly loud, too, up to 110 decibels.

The Barghest - The "black dogs" of England. It is a close relative of the werewolf, except it inhabits only England (werewolves, in fact, speciated into barghests in England and are thus extinct there). It is large, usually with a black pelage, and it has a shorter muzzle than its relative. It is also a solitary hunter, unlike it's mainland cousin.

The Unicorn - It appears rather much like its mythical counterpart, except it's just a horned horse without any magical powers. They are about as large as a warsteed, though, and are very cantankerous and impossible to tame.

[LadyTevar]

Actually, the Unicorn would work better as an antelope/deer offshoot, since many references to it mention split toes or cloven hooves.

[Elheru Aran]

Actually, the Unicorn would work better as an antelope/deer offshoot, since many references to it mention split toes or cloven hooves.

IIRC, they actually made an unicorn at some point-- not sure when, but they discovered that it's simple enough to transplant the horn buds of cattle. Simply split them and implant them on the cow's forehead; it'll grow as a fairly straight, single horn. Add to that the cloven hooves and the tufted tail, plus Asian herders used to do that to sheep and goats, and you have a pretty good mythic basis for the unicorn...

[LadyTevar]

Actually, the Unicorn would work better as an antelope/deer offshoot, since many references to it mention split toes or cloven hooves.

IIRC, they actually made an unicorn at some point-- not sure when, but they discovered that it's simple enough to transplant the horn buds of cattle. Simply split them and implant them on the cow's forehead; it'll grow as a fairly straight, single horn. Add to that the cloven hooves and the tufted tail, plus Asian herders used to do that to sheep and goats, and you have a pretty good mythic basis for the unicorn...

The one that RinglingBrothers Circus was showing a decade ago was one of the Balkan goats, iirc. As a young kid, the horns are fused together with a special branding iron so they will twist into a spiral as they grow.

I've never heard the one with the cattle....

[Elheru Aran]

Actually, the Unicorn would work better as an antelope/deer offshoot, since many references to it mention split toes or cloven hooves.

IIRC, they actually made an unicorn at some point-- not sure when, but they discovered that it's simple enough to transplant the horn buds of cattle. Simply split them and implant them on the cow's forehead; it'll grow as a fairly straight, single horn. Add to that the cloven hooves and the tufted tail, plus Asian herders used to do that to sheep and goats, and you have a pretty good mythic basis for the unicorn...

The one that RinglingBrothers Circus was showing a decade ago was one of the Balkan goats, iirc. As a young kid, the horns are fused together with a special branding iron so they will twist into a spiral as they grow.

I've never heard the one with the cattle....

It's from a book I read awhile back, about mythical creatures and their real-life basis, by one of the German rocket scientists, forgot the title... lemme wiki...

Well, I don't find anything, but I definitely remember the author was German, and his book was definitely about cryptozoology. He worked on the US space project. Something keeps telling me Willy Ley, but I don't think that's him... oh well...

[Winston Blake]

The same 'bud-transplanting idea'.

Notably, the unicorn calf quickly became dominant over the other males, since the central horn made it an invincible jouster, and [wiki] "In the domestic goat, a rare deformity of the generative tissues can cause the horns to be joined together; such an animal could be another possible inspiration for the legend." This means a congenitcal unicorn mutant could likely spread it's unicorny genes very well.