Selkie

Selkies are seal creatures that can shed their skin once on land to become human. The mythology comes from Faroese, Irish and Scottish folklore although there are several creature like the shape-shifting selkies in other folklore around the world. The word comes from the old English seolh that was then taken by the Scottish selich, meaning seal. The legends have been found to originate in the Orkney and Shetland islands of Scotland.

 The selkie's seal skin is what holds their power and if stolen and hidden or burnt they would be under your power, prevented from going back to their water home, they are also like finger prints, unique to each selkie, only one particular skin would work with that one particular selkie, the magic of the skin wouldn't make anyone turn in to a seal if put on. That is why they are so presious. There are a few theories about what happens when the skin is destroyed. they say either the selkie dies or they are doomed to be human until they die, always longing to go back to the ocean but never being able to.
  The males are said to be extremely handsome and with great seductive powers in their human form, drawing women who typically aren't happy with their lives and/or are waiting for their husbands to return from sea. It is said that if a women wanted to make contact with a selkie she had to cry seven tears into the ocean.

  The females also being beautiful and seductive, where said to make great wives. Even having children with their human husbands. Males would have to lure one in and steal her seal skin, this would then force the selkie into marriage.

  The stories and folklore of the selkies are normally romantic tragedies because even though their love of a mortal may be strong, the pull of the ocean is always stronger. Either the stealing of the skins and the force to stay on land or the lover not knowing that they where selkies and waking up one day to find that their love had changed into a seal would also force tragedy into their tales.
 A selkie also couldn't have contact with the same human once left for seven years, unless said human stole their skins. Although their are a few stories where the selkie female is happy married with a fisherman. This tale always ends with the wife having to change back into her seal form to save her husband from the sea and then never being able to go back to her home on land.

  There are two types of selkie. Ones from the seelie court (which is said to be the fae that are more on the light side, often helping those in need, although when bored can make lots of trouble, nothing ending in great harm and not into hating humans) are good natured, shy and would help those in need, they are hard to anger but can do if enough is done to them. Were as the selkies from the unseelie court (being the fae of darker things and hating just about everything especially humans, they are out to harm) where said to be the harbingers of storms, one that would sink ships as revenge for the harm of kin.

Kelpie

Water kelpie or just kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit originating from Scotland. It inhabits pools and streams, nearly every big body of water in Scotland has a kelpie story, the most well known being that of Loch Ness. It usually appears in the shape of horse but can take the human form, this is where the association with the Christian idea of Satan. In the late 19^th century an interest in transcribing folklore came about, the recorders were inconsistent in their spelling and the frequently Anglicised words result in names differing for the same spirits.

There has been many disagreement about the water habitat of the kelpie. The folklorists who define kelpies as being spirits who live beside rivers has been said to get this mixed up with the Celtic water-horse, who was said to live by lakes and led people astray, the kelpie was used in translation in the English accounts for water-horse. So there is confusion in whether the kelpie actually resides in rivers or bigger bodies of water like lochs.

Others have said the term kelpie is a blanket name for a wide variety of mythical creatures. These have included other Scottish creatures as the shoopiltee and nuggle as well as the welsh Manx cabbyl-ushtey and the ceffyl dwr. There's also parallels to the Scandinavian backahast the Germanic neck and Australian bunyip as well as the Central American wihwinof.

The kelpie is a beautiful and powerful black horse, the spirit of the river Spey was said to be white. One of the most notable feature of a water kelpie is their reversed hooves. The Aberdeenshire variation says the kelpie is a horse with a mane of serpents. They prey on any human that they come across, singing the victim onto i's back by singing. Most of the older tales from Scotland are about the kelpie luring children onto it's back for a ride, to then drown them later and eat them. There would always be one survivor, normally a boy who had stroked the neck and got his hand stuck realising the danger he would either cut off his fingers or hand to escape. The only evidence of the missing children would be a few entrails left behind on the waters edge.

 Kelpies can shift into human form. Nearly all tales are of them being male, one or two of them seeking companionship or love, but most of luring mostly women to a body of water to be drowned, only one was female who drowned a man and boy. They are said to be notable by the water weeds and such things in their hair. A few accounts, especially when Christianity came to Scotland in the 6h century, told of the kelpies keeping their hooves when they where human, this is where the association came along between Satan and the kelpie, it also draws a comparison to the Greek god Pan.

There are a few ways you can stop or even kill a kelpie. Some of them are fitted with a bridle and saddle, to make it more appealing to ride, making it easier to lure people to their watery graves, if these where removed then the strength and power would leave them kelpie. It was said that the bridle and saddle have magical properties, if brandished toward a person it would turn them into a horse or pony, you would also have control of the kelpie, this would earn you respect and would be highly prized as a kelpie is extremely strong and has high endurance, although it would mean a bad end when the kelpie finally got it's freedom.

Another way was to carve a cross into the bridle or shooting it with a silver bullet.

It's been suggested that the origins of the kelpie comes from a reflection of human and horse sacrifices that where made to water gods. Malevolent water spirits like the kelpie would have helped to ward children away fro dangerous waters and a possible warning for young women to be wary of strangers, particularly strange handsome men.

Cyclops.

  The Cyclops, the name means 'round-eyed' was, according to Greek and later Roman mythology, a primordial race of giants, their main and most distinct feature being the one eye in the middle of the forehead.

The three original cyclopes described by Hesiod where Brontes (thunder), Arges (thunderbolt) and Steropes (lightning), said to be the sons of Gaia and Uranus and brothers to the Titans. Cronus imprisoned them in Tartarus, Zeus later freed them so that they could help bring Cronus down. As thanks for their freedom and being the first smiths they made Zeus his thunderbolt, Hades his helmet and Poseidon his trident. Once Cronus fell they continued to work for Zeus on Mount Olympus. It was later said that one of the brothers was killed but Apollo to get vengeance for the death of his son by Zeus and Hermes killed Arges.

Another group of Cyclopes where later writen about by Homer. These being the sons of Poseidon and the helpers of Hephaestus, whose workshop was in the volcanic mountain Etna. The most famous of these brothers was the man-eating Polyphemus who was outwitted and then blinded by Odysseus. Polyphemus fell in love with the nymph Galatea who rejected him, finding out that she had eyes for another, the enraged Cyclops killed his rival Acis by throwing a rock on him, the blood flowing from his crushed body made the stream which now bears his name.

Although there are a few possiblities of the origins for the Cyclops one could be that the prehistoric dwarf elephant skulls that may have been found on the Greek islands Crete, Sicily, Cyprus and Malta could have started the myth. With the skull being about twice the size of a human skull and the large central nasal cavity (which is for the trunk), these could have been interpreted as one large eye socket. The ancient Greeks were unlikely to recognize the skull as an elephants and this would explain why there would be that could be a skull like this.

The Ahool

 The ahool, named after it's call of 'ahoool', is a supposedly giant bat. It's said to live deep in the Java rainforest and can be found across most of Indonesia.

It is said to be the size of a small child (around 4ft),leather wings with an astounding wingspan of 12ft (3m). It's covered in short grey fur, has large black eyes, a flat face that makes it almost like a monkey. It has been seen squatting on the forest floor, it's feet appearing to point backwards.

The ahool is said to be nocturnal creature, sleeping in caves during the day. It feeds on fish but has been know to attack large mammals, including humans.

 Some researchers have said that the ahool could be a living pterosaur, a flying reptile that was last alive during the time of the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago. The description of the ahool does match what we currently know of about the pterosaur. A third theory, although less popular, is that this maybe the worlds first reported case of a flying primate. But the overall thought is agreed that the ahool is most likely a form of unknown giant bat.

 The naturalist Dr. Ernest Bartel had the first reported account with the ahool in 1925. He was exploring near the Salek mountains when an unknown giant bat flew directly over his head. It was another two years before he would have another encounter with the ahool, he was sleeping in a hut close to the Tjidjenkol river when he heard the cry of the bat directly over head, he proceeded outside to see if he could see the bat, it called out again but came from an incredible distance downstream.

At one point the good Doctor had thought that the creature may not have been a bat but possibly a large owl. This theory didn't go down well with others and assured him that they where capable of distinguishing between a bat and a bird. This could fit in with what some people think. The appearance and behavior matches the Javan wood-owl to the ahool's. Observer error by being dive-bombed in remote gloomy forests and the wing-span can be greatly over estimated from far away or when swooping down could be matched with the owls as well as they look grey from below, having flat faces and big black eyes with dark feathers that ring the eyes that can make them look even bigger.

Like many cryptids, it isn't well documented with little reliable information or material evidence. Just a few eye witness accounts.

The Hydra

The Hydra, which was also called Lernaean Hydra, is a nine headed sepent-like monster from Greek and Roman mythology. It wasn't just in the Greek and Roman mythology that it appears, it has many parallels in near ancient eastern religions too, like Babylonian, Assyrian and Sumerian mythology. It was also associated with Bashmu (the venomous snake) constellation (even though it only has a single head) and with the constellation from the Babylonian Marduk's dragon (the Mushhushshu).

It is the child of Typhon and Echidna. The Hydra lived in the lake Lerna in the Argolid, under this lake was the entrance to the Greek and Roman underworld which it guarded.

It is said that when you cut the a head off of the Hydra, two more will grow back, it also has poisonous breath, blood do virulent that even it's scent was deadly and the middle head was said to breath fire.

Heracles (Greek) or Hercules (Roman) was sent by Eurystheus to kill the Hydra in the second of his twelve labours. Hera raised the Hydra just so that it could kill Heracles one day, but in the mean time it would come out of it's cave to terrorise the near by villages. On entering the area where it lived, Heracles had to cover his mouth and nose with a cloth to protect against the poisonous fumes. To confront the Hydra he first had to shoot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair from there he wielded his weapon, being anything from a harvesting sickle (from very early renditions on vase-paintings) to a sword or his very well known club. He began to cut off the Hydra's heads, but as we know they grow back, which would have dishearten anyone but our hero. The Hydra is invulnerable but only if it still has it's one immortal head, so in one version Heracles enlisted the help of his nephew Iolaus who figured out that if they used a firebrand to scorch the neck stumps right after each decapitation then they couldn't grow back (this was possibly inspired by Athena). So Heracles would cut off the heads and Iolaus would cauterize the necks. Seeing that Heracles was winning, Hera sent a large crab to distract him, who crushed it with his mighty foot. Once the immortal head of the Hydra was cut off (which is mostly known to be cut off with a golden sword given to him by Athena) he placed the still alive and writhing head under a giant rock on the sacred way between Lerna and Elaius. Heracles would then dip his arrows in the Hydra's poisonous blood to be used later in his other labours.

The alternate version is that after cutting off one head Heracles would then dip his weapon in it's neck and use it's own venom to burn the wound so it couldn't grow back. Hera, being upset that both her creatures where slain, raised them up and placed them in he dark vault in the sky turning them into constellations.

Sprite

The Sprite is often depicted as a small fairy, they have wings and if seen are normally mistaken for large exotic insects because of their wings.

The word sprite comes from the lain Spiritus meaning spirit, there are a few other variations like the Celtic spriggan or spright. It's often used to mean elves and fairies in European folklore although it's rarely used now.

The belief in these sprites which include tree spirits, elves, fairies, pixies, the Spanish duende, Japanese yokai and many other fairy types has been common all over the world and to some extent be found in neo-spiritual movements like Asatru and druidism. In some elemental magic and rituals the sprite is often believed to be the air element. The belief in these spiritual creatures like ghosts and fairies is nearly universal over the human culture.

They often live in big groups in the deep woods with other fairy beings. They have a short attention span but are curious and like to harass flying insects like butterflies. They can fly far and fast without rest, tending the fairy gardens, eating the bugs that feed on the flowers.

Although they look small and sweet they can be vicious, biting ans swarming if felt threatened. Attacking people that get to near to their gardens, threaten or endanger the trees and plant life around them or themselves.

They have been in fairy tales and even movies for a long while, although they aren't as popular or well known now a days.  

Orc

  The Orc/Ork is a fantasy race that are often twined with Goblins. They are humanoid creatures that come in many shapes and sizes, often with bowed legs and long arms. They are generally ugly and filthy, with prominent fangs and facial features tending toward the grotesque, their skin is typically a shade of green, grey, black, brown and sometimes red.

 Their temperament matches their looks. Ugly, aggressive and cannibals to boot, often eating their own kind. They are used for soldiers, mostly cannon fodder because of their low intelligence, strength and violent by nature, they will fight ferociously if compelled or directed by a guiding will, but tend towards more chaotic behavior if left to their own devices.

  Old English glossaries record the word OE orc matches with the Latin Orcus, deity of the Underworld, and Synonymous with thyrs "ogre" as well as "hell devil".
  The word ultimately comes from the Latin, the demonic Roman god of death, who should not be confussed with Pluto, the god of the underworld and has transformed by several stages from the meanings 'underworld', 'hell', 'devil', 'evil creature' to 'ogre'.

 They have been portrayed through fairy tales and fantasy for a long time, but the most famous has to be J.R.R.Tolkien's reinvention of them in his stories the most famous being the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Where they have a some thing like a culture of their own and their own language.