Æthelfrith of Northumbria was a Chaos warlord, who led his army of brutes and barbarians from the east to destroy the Imperial province of Teyrnllwg. This entire kingdom has fallen to Chaos in modern times, and provides a foothold for those dark forces in the lands of Lyonesse. Continue reading The Kingdom of Powys
Welsh tradition credited the founding of Gwynedd to the Brittonic polity of Gododdin (Old Welsh Guotodin, earlier Brittonic form Votadini) from Lothian invading the lands of the Brittonic polities of the Deceangli, Ordovices, and Gangani in the 5th century. The sons of their leader, Cunedda, were said to have possessed the land between the rivers Dee and Teifi. The true borders of the realm varied … Continue reading The Kingdom of Gwynedd
On the one hand, maybe I drop them with the chaos-bred of Kusarikku. On the other hand, maybe they are specifically snake/lizard/dragon-kin enough that they should go somewhere else (like the previously mentioned lizardfolk). Last campaign (all five sessions of it before the TPK), I was definitely playing up the later version D&D interpretation of scaled folk, rather than the early dog-faced version (which if … Continue reading Kobolds
In Akkadian mythology the Rabisu (“the vagabond”) or possibly Rabasa are evil vampiric spirits or demons that are always menacing the entrance to the houses and hiding in dark corners, lurking to attack people. It is said that pure sea salt can ban them as the salt represents incorruptible life (salt preserves, and life was first born from the sea). In Hell, they live in the Desert of Anguish, attacking newly arrived souls as they travel down the Road of Bone to the City of the Dead. Continue reading Rabisu
Mukīl rēš lemutti, meaning “he who holds the head of evil”, was an ancient Mesopotamian winged leonine demon, a harbinger of misfortune associated with benign headaches and wild swings in mood, where the afflicted “continually behaves like an animal caught in a trap.” It was one of the two demons that followed people around, an “evil accomplice” also referred to as rabis lemutti (“he who … Continue reading Mukīl rēš lemutti
He appears in later iconography paired with Kusarikku, “Bull-Man”, a similar anthropomorphic character, as attendants to the god Šamaš. As one of the eleven spawn of Tiamat in the Enûma Eliš vanquished by Marduk, he was displayed as a trophy on doorways to ward off evil and later became an apotropaic figurine buried in buildings for a similar purpose. Continue reading Urudimmu
In the Sumerian myth, Angim or “Ninurta’s return to Nippur”, the god “brought forth the Bison (gud-alim) from his battle dust” and “hung the Bison on the beam”. He is one of Tiāmat’s offspring vanquished by Marduk in the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš. Continue reading Kusarikku
On the one hand, this is clearly Dagon. On the other hand, this is clearly how someone trying to pronounce “Cthulhu” underwater would sound. On the other fin… Continue reading Kulullû
Formerly human, but now flesh-eating undead mockeries of their former existence, ghouls are fearsome enemies of all things living. Continue reading Gallûs
Generally speaking, when pulling from commercial content based on default D&D conventions: “Orcs” map to Chaos Brutes. “Halflings” map to Hobgoblins “Dwarves” map to Caledonians. Humans, for non-adventuring NPCs. Caledonian Halflings for adventurers. “Elves” map to Hibernian Gaels “Half-elves” map to Hibernian humans Damn if I’ve figured out where to map default Hobgoblins to, though. Most of the good critter names are already taken. Goblin-magi, … Continue reading Universal Import Matrix
