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The Xerocolous Hraetnug

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen. Originally meant to be a single image, but didn't work with the cropping...

Reasoning below the cut…

"It has wings but does not fly, and its feet are like those of the camel. When the time comes for it to lay eggs, it raises its eyes to the sky and looks to see if the star called Vergiliae, the Pleiades, has appeared, for it will not lay its eggs until that star has risen. When the Hraetnug sees the star, around the month of June, it digs in the ground, deposits its eggs in the hole it has made and covers them with sand. When it gets up from the hole, it immediately forgets the eggs and never returns to them. The effect of the calm, mild air seems to be that the sand in the summer heat hatches the eggs, bringing forth the young."

Honestly, it's been a week, so just a quick one this time. I genuinely had no idea what creature this this prompt related to, until last night I was lying in bed trying to sleep, and suddenly it seemed So Obvious… Curious if I've guessed this one right!

I ended up taking this one pretty literally. I was originally planning on drawing some manner of Beast, but the wings AND the egg-laying made me lean away from this. Rather than a bird, I ended up going for a fairly generic dragon (with That Head which keeps on coming up for some reason on the most unlikely creatures); many dragon illustrations don't look like they could fly anyway, so maybe the wings are more for balance (or cooling, perhaps?). The feet are taken pretty much directly from camels (including the pad underneath that is just visible on the raised foot); this along with the sand makes me think this is a desert dwelling creature.

I genuinely can't work out what Vergiliae relates to, but we also have the Pleiades in the sky.

I'm never going to miss the opportunity to draw cute baby animals, so have a trio of baby Hraetnugs clawing their way out of the sand once they have hatched :)

I think it ended up looking a bit like something from the Moomins...

So, to be a bestiary artist, I must master the art of drawing one bird very well... 🤔

Nice variety of cool (and cute) critters this week. Plus, I managed to guess what it was (after I'd done the drawing, though) - surprisingly not a bad description of the creature, all told!

Bestiaryposting Results: Hraetnug

We've got a good variety of results here, so I'm just going to run through the usual stuff and get to them.

If anyone isn't sure what this "bestiaryposting" thing is about, you can find an explanation and previous entries at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

All of the art below is based on this entry:

If you want to participate, next week's bestiaryposting will be based on this entry:

And the art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided something with wings that doesn't fly might well be a flightless bird, and has drawn a very good penguin/auk/thing. I really like how it's posed against the starry sky; it's evocative. For additional details, check the linked post.

@ectocs (link to post here) thought of sea turtles instead -- which I can totally see. I've had the good fortune to witness a few sea turtle hatchings, and the description of the eggs in the sand absolutely tracks. However, there's the issue that the idea of wing-shaped fins is not compatible with "its feet are like those of a camel" -- hence the very cool shell design. I like it; it's quite clever. The linked post contains some additional discussion of the thoughts and inspirations behind this design, go look at it. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has taught me a new word with this post -- xerocolous. Also, we have a medieval-style dragon here, complete with that ubiquitous wavy-eared head -- it does fully fit the description, too. Always appreciate a little medieval styling; those damned ears made me smile. There's additional explanation in the linked post -- also, thank you for providing alt text.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has laid out a brief but excellent explanation of their design process. It seems to have gone like this:

"What animals do this with their eggs?" "Snakes do that." "But snakes don't have wings or camel-like feet." "This one does."

Brilliant. Love it. No notes. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) also went with "flightless bird" and admits the inadvertent resemblance of their design to Big Bird -- it does have a certain Muppet-like quality, I must say. For additional information, please see the linked post. I particularly like the note that giving it a "no thoughts head empty" facial expression was fully intentional.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) also thought of sea turtles and then questioned how this could be compatible with the camel feet. Their solution, which I think came out extremely well here, was to simply draw a camel/turtle hybrid. I kind of love this design -- and, of course, the stylized art.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn a very charming flightless bird. I really like the sort of shaggy design, which I assume is indicative of kiwi-style feathers. As is normally the case, Strixcattus has also included a modern naturalist-style interpretation of the animal, which I, as usual, recommend reading via the linked post.

To the Aberdeen Bestiary...

Once again, this is basically the same bird we see in a bunch of these, with the exception of its (surprisingly accurate) camel-like feet. However, this is in fact the ostrich. (I have no idea why one of them appears to be eating the eggs.)

I honestly don't have a lot to add here. Bit surprising to see a different set of myths about the ostrich rather than the "head in the sand" thing.

The agonistic Dirubael

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen. Trying something a little different again, trying to work out the best way to draw fur with a thick pen. I feel like I still don't have the level of control I'd like with the brush pen (in terms of getting the lines the right thickness), but it's still fun to use.

Reasoning below the cut…

"There is an animal called the Dirubael. It is black, as big as a horse, with the tail of an elephant, the jaws of a boar and unusually long horns, adjustable to any movement the animal might make. For they are not fixed but move as the needs of fighting require; the Dirubael advances one of them as it fights, folding the other back, so that if the tip of the first is damaged by a blow, it is replaced by the point of the second."

Didn't have a lot of time this week, so a relatively quick sketch. All the references make me think this is some manner of ungulate, probably related to pigs given that is the most distinctive thing mentioned, so that is where we ended up.

The head is distinctly based off of wild boars (with a bit of influence from prehistoric relatives, of which more below), same with the body, but given that we know it is as big as a horse, I assumed that it had a similar kind of profile, so we have some longer, more gracile legs (though still covered in thick fur).

Now, there were actually prehistoric relatives of pigs that had horns... namely Kubanochoerus sp. It doesn't quite work with the description we have been given (namely mobile horns, and multiples of them) but still pretty cool. I also took some inflience from the extinct giant warthog Metridiochoerus.

The horns... I couldn't think of any clever ways to make this work, so I assumed there was thick muscle around the base of each of the horns, which allows a degree of movement. I imagine that there might be a slot or nodule in the skull where the horn can brace while facing forwards, and while the other horn is tucked back out of the way.

The tail is taken pretty much directly from elephants; I had a image in my head of what I expected them to look like (mostly like a naked cow tail), but on doing a little research it ended up quite different. They are actually quite blunt at the end, and the hair tends to be on the left and right edges which normally ends up with a distinct tuft on either side of the end, rather than a fluffy tip to the tail. Elephant tails are also a lot longer than I imagine them to be!

Bestiaryposting Results: Dirubael

This entry happens to be pretty clear on what the animal looks like, so there's a strong similarity between the different depictions this week -- the main difference is how each artist interprets what the hell is going on with these horns.

If you're not sure what this is about, you can find an explanation and the rest of the series so far at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry people are working from this week can be found here:

And if you want to join in for next week, that creature's entry can be found here:

And now, art in chronological order as it was posted:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has designed an antelope-like creature that almost passes as normal if you're just scrolling past... and then you look at it properly and see that it has horned eyestalks. That is wild and I love it. (Fencing with those horns must be a challenge since its eyes are also moving around, but I assume it's adapted for that kind of thing.) More commentary to be found in the linked post.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) went more of a rhinocerous direction, resulting in this nifty-looking creature. The thick, sturdy build here plus the tusks probably make this one pretty formidable in a fight even if it didn't have long, mobile horns. Dangerous beast. Also take a moment to admire that background, and consider clicking on the linked post for more details on inspiration & sources. (And thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) has another creative interpretation of what these mobile horns might actually be -- they're actually clusters of quills that can tense up into horn-like structures when the creature needs them. I think that's quite clever, and I really like the choice to show it fencing on the left there.

@ectocs (link to post here) has something that looks kind of like a boar and kind of like an ungulate... I'm getting "dog", too, mostly from the legs, but that might just be because that's the type of quadruped I spend the most time around. Solid Nonspecific Mammal either way. Anyway, the stand-out here is the interpretation of its mobile horns -- they're a set of mantis-like forelimbs, which happen to rest against the sides of its head to give the appearance of horns. I like this interpretation a lot. Check out the linked post for more information, sketches, and (I enjoy this) a recreation of this creature in Spore.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) has also given us a very solid Nonspecific Mammal that's a kind of of boar / buffalo / horse blend. This one has traditional horns, but the way they are positioned communicates quite clearly that they are mobile. Fairly threatening expression, too, so let's scroll away quickly. (Welcome, Citrvsdrake!)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) notes that their interpretation has ended up going in the direction of "necromantic experiment", which... yeah, it definitely does look like that. We've got a few different animals blended together for the shape of its body, then a boar's skull with some additional spikes for the horns, and a spiky, exposed spine down its back. Honestly, if your necromancers aren't making stuff like this, what are they even doing with their time?

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has joined a general consensus of "boar-like creature with long legs like a horse", which really is a sound interpretation of the text. Traditional horns, and the linked post talks a bit about the difficulty of such an anatomical feature (as well as other things, go check it out). That's a pretty good boar's head, in my opinion. Also impressed by the fact that CheapSweets is doing this with a brush pen.

All right, to the Aberdeen Bestiary:

As I'm sure is completely obvious from this picture, this creature is the Yale.

(Unrelated to the U.S. university as far as I know -- I checked, and the university appears to be named after Iâl in Wales, while the creature's name probably comes from the Hebrew word for "ibex". Though according to Wikipedia, the university does feature some decorative yales in various places, presumably as an obscure pun in a "canting arms" sort of way.)

This is another one of those mythical creatures that didn't quite make it into the modern consciousness -- an ibex that fences with its horns is maybe a bit too low-key to compete with manticores and dragons for attention.

Also, I have to note that I think it's interesting how the medieval artist decided "jaws of a boar" didn't include tusks. The only visual indication I see here is maybe those jowls?

The possessive Wimchlat

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum - thank you again for running these challenges!

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen. Another quick one this week, but I'm pretty happy with it :)

Reasoning below the cut…

"It is a beast marked with spots on its back like those of a pard, but it resembles a wolf: its urine is said to harden into a valuable jewel called [redacted]. The Wimchlats know that this is valuable, as is proved by the exceptional care with which they cover it with sand: they are naturally jealous, and cannot bear it to fall into the hands of man. Pliny says that Wimchlats only bear cubs once."

We don't have a lot to go on, apart from that it resembles a wolf. I could have spend some time making it more 'wolf-like' but in the interest of expediency what we have here is mostly a wolf. We do have some rosette spots, like a leopard, which were really fun to draw, and one of the reasons I picked the brush pen again (plus I feel like I'm getting better at controlling the lines!).

Here we see a Wimchlat mid-creation of a valuable jewel :)

Ha! I genuinely had no idea what this critter was when I was drawing, but it suddenly dawned on me when I browsing other people's art afterwards.

Also, as with so many things, Blame Ovid....

Bestiaryposting Results: Wimchlat

Very similar art this week, which kind of can't be helped because the entry does specifically say that it looks like a wolf with spots. There's some range here, though.

If you're not sure what this is about, you can find an explanation and previous posts here: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry artists are working from this week can be found here:

And if you want to participate in the next round, here's that entry:

...huh. I didn't realize which one was up next until I went looking for the link just now. That'll be an interesting artistic experience, I'm sure.

(Pursuant to some previous speculation on the "-bael" morpheme in the Dikebael and Dirubael, now I'm wondering if the "-at" morpheme in our randomly-generated words might have something to do with bodily waste.)

Anyway, this week's art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) notes that their version ended up quite fluffy, which I have also noted and enjoyed. For some additional detail, which includes some interesting animal facts, click on the linked post.

@doodlebethel (link to post here) is joining us for the first time, and has drawn an excellent not-quite-a-wolf. I feel the depiction of it aggressively guarding that sparkly sand is very well-executed.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has made the decision that the urine in question solidifies into a jewel basically immediately, which I think raises a lot of interesting questions (complimentary). Also, thank you for providing alt text.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) observes that the creature hiding its urine sounds like cat behavior, so they leaned a little harder towards the leopard side than the wolf one. I think it came out well; an animal that is both relatively wolf-shaped and clearly feline has an interesting look to it.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) decided to base theirs on the maned wolf, which I think came out really well in this art style. I also like the decision to make the spots look like eyes -- together with the color scheme and the long limbs, it really has a fascinating (and slightly sinister?) effect. I kind of love this design, really. I want to know more about this creature. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to mix it up a bit animal-wise, and also landed on the maned wolf as an interesting non-wolf wolf option. It's also got ocelot features rather than leopard. I just really like the vibes here -- something about this art style is very charming to me. I'm not an art critic, so I can't elaborate on that. I would recommend clicking on the linked post, which has more information and also some tags I find quite funny.

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary!

... or not, actually. This is one of the folios missing from that manuscript, so the text actually came from Bodley MS 764, and we'll be taking the illustration from the Ashmole Bestiary.

That illustration doesn't help a whole lot, though it does also lean more feline, so we can get something there -- but I saw a number of comments saying that people had recognized it in the process of drawing, so it's probably no surprise that this is the lynx.

No, I don't know why people thought its urine turned into gemstones. Ask Pliny the Elder. (The supposed gemstone in question is called ligurius, by the way.)

I also don't know why the lynx in the Ashmole illustration appears to be having a staring contest with a ram... hold on, let me see something...

... okay, bestiary.ca doesn't have anything that explains that. It might just be an artistic decision. Things I did learn from bestiary.ca just now, though:

Ovid (yes, that Ovid) specified that the lynx's urine solidifies on contact with air, which means that those interesting questions (mostly along the lines of what is in that stuff) raised by CheapSweets's drawing are definitely still on the table.

Thomas of Cantimpre also says that the lynx has the hilarious combination of comic-book-style x-ray vision and a total inability to remember anything it's not currently looking at. So it can see through walls but just immediately forgets what it saw. I love that.

The Deflagrating Bawigrat

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink.

Though process beneath the cut...

"In Asia an animal is found which men call Bawigrat. It has the head of a bull, and thereafter its whole body is of the size of a bull’s with the maned neck of a horse. Its horns are convoluted, curling back on themselves in such a way that if anyone comes up against it, he is not harmed. But the protection which its forehead denies this monster is furnished by its bowels. For when it turns to flee, it discharges fumes from the excrement of its belly over a distance of three acres, the heat of which sets fire to anything it touches. In this way, it drives off its pursuers with its harmful excrement."

My initial response to this one was 'oh boy!'... I'm pretty sure I know exactly what this creature is. If my suspicions are correct, there is traditionally a very specific way of depicting it, which might be dramatic but doesn't actually gel particularly well with the description...

Regarding the Bawigrat itself, we have a bull-like creature. I took a lot of inspiration from aurochs (and heck cattle) - the main difference being the horns curving up and back rather than forward and up, and giving it a fuller belly for maximum fermentation. I also tried to reflect the horse-like mane, though it's sitting a little lank across its neck while it's not in motion.

I was wondering for a while how to present the beast, and came to the idea of drawing a landscape, with the fumes slowly crawling across it and igniting anything they touch. Then I had another thought... Apologies Mac, I know you are going to get this reference.... ;)

This was another fun week :) I've always seen it depicted blowing fire from it's behind (like the picture from the Aberdeen Bestiary, but sometimes a bit more scatalogical, but the description implies more that it the noxious gasses from its belly creeping along the ground and slowly setting things alight... (I very much appreciate that second bestiary picture - noone looks happy!)

Bestiaryposting Results: Bawigrat

This one is kind of odd in general, but also notable in that it's a mythical creature that has not, to my knowledge, made its way into modern pop culture, but is kind of on one of the upper levels of the metaphorical iceberg for people interested in Medieval Bestiary Trivia just because of its... rather memorable ability. So let's get into it.

If you don't know what this is about, you can check out https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting for an explanation and previous installments.

The art you are about to see is all based on this entry here:

And if you want to get in on this, the current entry up for interpretation is here:

(bit of a long one there)

And without further ado, art for this week is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has given us a sort of bovine with recognizably skunk-like features. They note that they focused on giving it an appropriate pose (more details in the linked post), which I think they pulled off well -- I would absolutely believe that this creature is about to fire dung at the viewer.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has a shaggier bovid here, with a notably calm expression. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a terrifying defense mechanism? Also we see that the emphasis here is on the fiery nature of their dung-based defense, as shown by the flames at the back there. (And thank you for including alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has done a bit of malicious compliance here. Yes, it has the head and size of a bull, the maned neck of a horse, sure, but otherwise this is clearly a giant bombardier beetle. You know what, that's fair. I like it. I also appreciate that it is, to quote Coolest-Capybara, "seen here incinerating some Stylized Plants." (And thank you for including alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) has a bull/horse hybrid thing for us, but notes particularly the distended belly, saying that they figure that whatever kind of internal chemistry is going on here might have externally-visible effects. They also question the "acres" thing, as it seems to imply "a creature which can basically do sniper-range attacks with its poop".

I am thrilled to tell you that it's even worse than that. The phrasing of this entry aside, an acre is technically not a measure of distance, but of area. And this isn't a modern contrivance, it's always been area: the definition of "acre" that our medieval writers would be familiar with is "the amount of land that a man can expect to plow in a single day with the help of oxen". Three acres is, according to a quick conversion on Google, 130,680 square feet / 12,140.6 square meters). So it's not a sniper-like attack, it's blanketing an entire city block (or most of one, depending on your city) in burning fumes & poop.

Implications for the fertilizer industry are, I assume, still under investigation.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) apparently decided to roll with the "three acres" thing and has drawn their Bawigrat... um.. burninating the countryside. Which is very funny to me, as a person of a certain age who grew up on the Internet, but the rest of y'all will have to Google it. Reasons for domesticating the Bawigrat may expand from agricultural to military, though that does seem like a dangerous proposition. (And thank you for including alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to go with a bombardier beetle, as the animal with the most similar defense mechanism in real life. (This one is also giant; note the banana for scale.) They've made it more unambiguously insectoid, as the "horns" are clearly antennae and the "mane" is a sort of ridged plate. I really like the stylization here and the inclusion of the alchemical symbol. For more information, and a video that shows off the glittery ink used here, check the linked post. (Also thank you for including alt text.)

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary:

Yep, that beast is sure farting fire onto some knights. If you look for other medieval images of it, this is a pretty common way to show its defense mechanism. I think my favorite is this one:

(Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, folio 78r)

Tell me that doesn't look exactly like the face a creature with weaponized flatulence would make.

Anyway, this is the bonnacon.

As mentioned previously, this is a mythical beast that for obvious reasons failed to really catch on in modern pop culture, but remains a favorite in Bestiary Trivia -- any Internet listicle about obscure mythical creatures is almost certain to mention the bonnacon.

Beyond that, I really don't have much to add other than reiterating that I think it would be pretty funny to include attempts to domesticate the bonnacon in your fantasy worldbuilding.

The Beneficent Gerzlaem

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen. Bit of a tricky one, I had no idea how I was going to approach this until I sat down with it. A little bit of influence from Tove Jannson; there were definitely some parts of this I struggled with, and I think I'm learning some of the limits of the brush pen, but there are also parts of this I'm really pleased with :)

Reasoning below the cut…

"There are said to be three kinds. Of these, the ones which are short in stature, with curly hair, are peaceable; the tall ones, with straight hair, are fierce. Their brow and tail show their mettle; their courage is in their breast, their resolution in their head. They fear the rumbling sound of wheels, but are even more frightened by fire. The Gerzlaem takes pride in the strength of its nature; it does not know how to join in the ferocity of other kinds of wild beasts, but like a king disdains the company of large numbers."

At first I thought we were missing a description of the third kind, until I realised that it was probable somewhere between the two extremes; so we have three Gerzlaem, the tallest with straight hair, angry brows and an upraised and alert tail, the smallest with a more peacable aspect (and asleep - more notes below) with curly hair, and a medium sized Gerzlaem with wavy hair.

We don't get a great deal of descrption, apart from it must be a beast (paws, hair) and my generic beast-shape is something like a wolf or dog (though I ended up taking more influence in terms of the specific shape of the limbs from big cats.

"Those who study nature say that the Gerzlaem has three main characteristics. The first is that it loves to roam amid mountain peaks. If it happens that the Gerzlaem is pursued by hunters, it picks up their scent and obliterates the traces behind it with its tail. As a result, they cannot track it. The second characteristic of the Gerzlaem is that when it sleeps, it seems to have its eyes open. The third characteristic of the Gerzlaem is that when a female Gerzlaem gives birth to her young, she produces them dead and watches over them for three days, until their father comes on the third day and breathes into their faces and restores them to life."

In the background, some mountain peaks. We have a large, brush-like tail for covering its tracks, and on the smallest, dozing Gerzlaem we can see the markings on its eyelids that resemble an open eye.

"The compassion of Gerzlaems is apparent from endless examples. They spare those whom they have brought down. They allow captives whom they encounter to return home. They vent their rage on men rather than women. They do not kill children except in time of great hunger. Equally, Gerzlaems refrain from overfeeding. First, because they drink and feed on alternate days; and often, if their food remains undigested, they postpone the next feed. Then, because they feel uncomfortable when they have devoured more meat than they should, they insert their paws in their mouth and pull the food out, of their own accord. And when they have to take flight, they do exactly the same thing if they are full. Missing teeth show that a Gerzlaem is old. Gerzlaems mate face to face; and not only Gerzlaems, but lynxes, and camels, and elephants, and rhinoceroses, and tigers. Female Gerzlaems, when they first give birth, bear five young. In the years which follow, they reduce the number by one at a time. Afterwards, when they are down to one child, the fertility of the mother is diminished; they become sterile forever."

Just wondering, what kind of animal takes captives? Also, really nice to know that if it does eat someones child, it must have been really hungry…

We see the middle Gerzlaem retrieving its last meal (I tried to make this a fish, mostly because it was funny and more visual, but the size meant I didn't really have the detail to make this obvious).

"The Gerzlaem disdains to eat the previous day’s meat and turns away from the remains of its own meal. Which beast dares to rouse the Gerzlaem, whose voice, by its nature, inspires such terror, that many living things which could evade its attack by their speed, grow faint at the sound of its roar as if dazed and overcome by force. A sick Gerzlaem seeks out an ape to devour it, in order to be cured. The Gerzlaem fears the cock, especially the white one. [Redacted], it is tormented by the tiny sting of the scorpion and is killed by the venom of the snake."

We also have the largest, fiercest Gerzlaem unleashing a fearsome bark or roar! In the background, also a group of terrifying objects and creatures! A campfire! A cart (fortunately with nothing to pull it)! A rooster! A snake! And some other weird creature…!

"We learn of small beasts called Gerzlaem-killers. When captured, they are burnt; meat contaminated by a sprinkling of their ashes and thrown down at crossroads kills Gerzlaems, even if they eat only a small an amount. For this reason, Gerzlaems pursue Gerzlaem-killers with an instinctive hatred and, when they have the opportunity, they refrain from biting them but kill them by rending them to pieces under their paws."

Now this, I have no idea about, but I'm very curious to know what this might be. I have some (very vague) suspicions about the identity of the Gerzlaem, but even then, this 'Gerzlaem-killer' is baffling me…

I had the vaguest idea that this description might relate to lions, but I didn't have a lot to go on (it was purely a vague sense based on the generally positive impression the writer seems to have of this creatuer, and a half-remembered reference to the cubs being born dead and later revived). Another fun week :)

Bestiaryposting Results: Gerzlaem

I'm currently out of state visiting family, so this post might be a bit brief. Anyway, we've got us a new critter. If you don't know what that's about, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

You can find the description of the critter in question here:

The one we're doing next is here if you want to join in:

And this week's art is below the cut.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) gives us these Definitely Mammals that are rather difficult to classify. I always enjoy this effect of "it doesn't really look like anything, but it looks like it would fit in as a reasonable animal design." There's substantial additional information about these critters in the linked post.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has drawn something delightfully bizarre, and I really enjoy both the design and style here. Again you may find additional information in the linked post.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) was inspired by the description of the Gerzlaem pulling food back out of its stomach -- apparently this is a frog behavior, so we have the very frog-like feline you see before you. That is an unsettling face to have staring at you, but it is a clever decision I think.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has decided to draw all three types of Gerzlaem even though the entry only actually describes two of them -- they propose that the third type is just intermediate between the other two. I also need to acknowledge the "scorpion" in the back there; excellent. For a detailed explanation of this image, please see the linked post.

@pomrania (link to post here) has doodled various elements of the entry for us here, and seems to have settled on a canine interpretation. I'm... fascinated by what's going on with that ape there. Some of these are very expressive too. More about all of these in the linked post.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) posits that the three different types of Gerzlaem are the same animal in different seasons, and has drawn this goat/cougar creature in various stages of wooliness. I think this is a good idea, and the art style is pleasant. You can get more information from the linked post, though an explanation for the song lyrics is not included.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn us some dog-like critters which I can't type too much about because I saw their post right after I posted this one and now I'm hurriedly editing. As usual, there's a naturalist-style description in the linked post that I recommend checking out. Good dog-things here all around.

Now, to the Aberdeen Bestiary...

...actually we don't have a picture for this one. And it's not a missing or damaged page this time -- there isn't an illustration for this one in the Ashmole Bestiary either. It's the first entry in the bestiary, and I guess the fancy initials used up too much of the illumination budget:

Of course, this is a long entry, so they could have put the illustration on the next page, but I don't want to backseat-scribe here. Here's the one from MS Bodley 764, though, so we can see what it looks like:

Yep, that's a lion all right.

The lion is typically the first entry because it has that "king of beasts" reputation -- bestiary authors and others in the intellectual tradition of the time took the idea of some sort of animal hierarchy seriously and made sure the lion got pride of place. I think it's a Great Chain of Being thing, but honestly I just haven't done enough research on that whole concept to speak on it in an informed manner.

A lot of the rest of the entry is allegory, but some of it seems to just be nonsense of its own tradition. I suppose the lion's tail does look something like a brush, so I can see the steps there, but most of it I could not explain. This includes what exactly this thing is supposed to be:

We learn of small beasts called leontophones, lion-killers.

No idea. If you know, tell me please.

The Devoted Vaegshar

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink. Not a lot of time or energy this week, but I tried to have some fun with it :)

Thought process under the cut…

"The Vaegshar, so called from the sound it makes, [redacted], is a shy bird, and stays all the time on mountain summits and in deserted, lonely places. It shuns the houses and society of men and keeps to the woods. Even in the winter time, when it has lost its plumage, it is said to live in the hollow trunks of trees. The Vaegshar also overlays its nest with squill leaves, in case a wolf should attack its young. For it knows that wolves usually run from leaves of this kind.

It is said that when the she-bird is widowed by the loss of her mate, she holds the name and rite of marriage in such esteem, that because her first experience of love has deceived her, cheating her with the death of her beloved, since he has become permanently unfaithful and a bitter memory, causing her more grief by his death than he gave her pleasure from his affection, for this reason she refuses to marry again, and will not relax the oaths of propriety or the contract made with the man who pleased her. She reserves her love for her dead mate alone and keeps the name of wife for him."

We have a decently long description this time, and we know it's definitely a Bird, but the rest is more a description of the behaviour than any physical description.

With all this freedoms, I was actually influenced heavily by the approach of @strixcattus and their naturalist-style descriptions; rather than taking everything in the bestiary text literally, I started thinking about what kind of appearence could have caused the writers to come up with these associations (particularly the widowed/mourning aspect).

As such, the female Vaegshar has a crest of feathers that resembles a widow's cap/mourning cap, or alternately a 'Mary Stuart cap', with a peak or heart-shape, and streamers down the sides. Is this a little anachronistic? Given that the widow's cap was Victorian, and Mary Stuary lived (and died) in the 1500s, the answer is probably yes, but I didn't have the time to research medieval mourning customs in detail, and it gave me a nice visual cue to start with.

Of course, the smaller and more flamboyant male Vaegshar has a simlar crest, only the 'streamers' are longer and stand up more. I like to think that for both of them, they can lay their crests flat or raise them for display.

The rest of the birds were largely based on the Eurasian Wren (the bird with the best scientific name, Troglodytes troglodytes), including the colouring and markings (with a little extrapolation/jazzing up, as we know from the description that these birds have breeding or nuptual plumage). They are really cool, funky little birds. Reading the description back, they are probably a little small (I doubt a nestful of wren-sized birds would provide even a fun-sized snack for a wolf)!

On a slight tangent, I am pleased to find out about a plant called 'squill'! It's either Drimia (medicinal, poisonous, so seems likely given the description) or Scilla (which is amusing given that a synonym for Drimia is Charybdis...)

I was genuinely expecting something larger, like a pheasant, mostly given that wolves like to snack on them :D

Bestiaryposting Results: Vaegshar

Sorry everyone for the delay -- a confluence of various minor events left me busy & distracted all of yesterday, and the Bestiaryposting just slipped my mind.

Anyway, we have it now! It's another bird.

For anyone who doesn't know what this is about, you can find an explanation at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. The entry the art in this post is based on can be found here:

And the one that we're doing next is here:

Art below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has done this very evocative image of a flightless bird with pale gray feathers. The moonlight scene is, I think, very pretty in an eerie sort of way. More information can be found at the linked post.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has also got something quite evocative here, I think. Something about the tree on the hillside and the featherless bird looking out of the hollow... I dunno, I vibe with it.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) noted the lack of physical description and went with the clever idea of giving the female Vaegshar feathers that resemble an old-fashioned "widow's cap", thus explaining why people might come up with this specific lore. I like it, and it's worth checking out the additional explanation in the linked post. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) also decided the Vaegshar should have thematically appropriate markings for "mourning", so they made it goth with a pattern that resembles eye makeup. I like this. I like the goth bird.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also had a similar thought, and patterned the feathers on their bird after Victorian mourning garb. The bird itself is also based on a mourning dove. I like it a lot, and I enjoy the halo effect.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn this cute little bird, gathering what is apparently one of several plants called "squill". (I didn't look it up, but it seems Strixcattus did.) I like it; it looks quite charming. As usual, a naturalist description can be found in the linked post and I recommend reading them.

Okay, on to the Aberdeen Bestiary.

... yep, those are birds all right. I don't really know birds.

However, the text tells us they are turtledoves. Which means that the mourning-dove-inspired design is pretty close to the money -- not only is it also a dove, but American mourning doves and European turtledoves look sufficiently similar that apparently some people refer to mourning doves as "turtledoves".

So there you have it.

I don't know what the plumage bit is about, but Wikipedia tells me that turtledoves do in fact form strong pair bonds, and as a result have long been a symbol of devotion within their range. So the bestiary entry is within the zeitgeist there.

That's really all I've got to add, so I'll see y'all next week. And sorry for the delay in getting this written.

The Keensighted Yagstong

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum - thanks again for running these challenges!

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink. A very quick one this week, but I'm pretty pleased with how it looks given the time spent :)

Thought process under the cut…

"There is an animal called in Latin [redacted], because it chooses to live in rugged places; some call it [redacted]. These are the tame Yagstongs which the Greeks called [redacted], because they have very sharp sight. They live in high mountains and can tell if men approaching a long way off are hunters or travellers."

So, an animal that lives in rugged places, or high mountains. Probably something very sure footed, and with a thick coat to keep it warm in the high altitudes.

We also know that it has excellent eyesight. For various other reasons noted below I went with a goat-like creature, and of course one of the things everyone on tumblr knows is that some goats have horizontal/rectangular pupils... Now, this is actually to give them sharper panoramic vision (and also gives them better vision in high and low light). Now the really weird thing is, apparently their eyes rotate in their skulls when they raise or lower their heads, maintaining that panoramic vision and allowing them to scan for predators even when grazing...

The Yagstong has these characteristics: when grazing, it moves from high to even higher pastures. It picks out good grass from bad by the sharpness of its eyes. It feeds by chewing the grass. When wounded, it hurries to find the herb dittany and, by touching it, is healed.

So, a grazing animal, that lives in rugged terrain. Definitely an ungulate, probably (but not necessarily) a bovid. The mountainous terrain is definitely giving me very mountain goat vibes, so we have a goat-like creatuer heavily influenced by ibex and mountain goats.

I chose not to give it the impressive horns of an ibex because I feel like this sort of characteristic feature would most likely be mentioned in the bestiary entry. As such, the horns are a little understated.

It has thick downy hair on its back, and shaggy hair on its limbs to protect it from the cold of the mountain nights. It also has the widely spaced, cloven hooves of a mountain goat, and prominent dew claws to aid with gripping on those rugged slopes where it lives.

Okay, it keeps getting brought up in multiple entries - there must be something really special about dittany (mostly, it seems to be slightly toxic 🤔). I'm pretty sure I've drawn this in a previous entry, but I feel like I'm getting slowly better at drawing plants as well - the flowers on Dittany are really pretty!

[The following appears in a separate entry on the same animal for some reason]

The male Yagstong is a wanton and frisky animal, always longing for sex; as a result of its lustfulness its eyes look sideways — from which it has derived its name. [Etymology redacted] Its nature is so very heated that its blood alone will dissolve a diamond, against which the properties of neither fire nor iron can prevail. Young Yagstongs take their name from the word for eating, for the young ones are very fat and taste delicious.

The eyes on the side of the head tracks with everything else we already know about this animal. We have some other interesting features mentions (including the fact that this beast is so frisky its blood can dissolve the hardest material on Earth...

Since I didn't have the time to draw cute round baby Yagstongs, I'm hoping that someone else took the opportunity!

Really interesting seeing some of the similarities (and differences) in the interprestations here :)

Bestiaryposting Results: Yagstong

I almost forgot to do this two weeks in a row. Just a really hectic month over here, sorry.

Anyway, if you want to know what this is all about, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The art below is based on this entry:

And this is the one we're doing next:

Now, art:

@mistressorinoco (link to post here) has done a delightful mix of different animals here, all of which manages to come together into a cohesive whole. See the linked post for details on which features are here and why. I also like the throat sac thing.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has drawn a fairly striking yet realistic creature -- the mane and tusks are really working for it here. This design, like the above, is highly concerned with making the beast properly adapted to its environment, and you can find out more about that in the linked post.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has drawn some adorably goofy-looking creatures. The wideset eyes, the protruding teeth, the downright spherical juvenile there.... I love them. As usual, information on this design's influences can be found in the linked post.

@pomrania (link to post here), collaborating with @theforceisstronginthegirl, has drawn something that is a mashup of "goat", "llama", and "donkey". I particularly like the magical effects around the one tasting the dittany.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) decided to go in a very goat-like direction, and you can find an explanation of why in the linked post. Solid goat-thing there. They also speculate about dittany (I'm not sure why that keeps coming up either), and note that they hope someone else chose to draw the canonically-fat baby Yagstong -- luckily Coolest-Capybara has them covered.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has done two drawings of this one. It should be noted that in the first drawing, that box is not diegetic -- the beast's lusty nature has been censored. For details on why this design, and some interesting information on dittany, please see the linked post.

So! The Aberdeen Bestiary. We actually have two pictures of this one -- there seem to have been three originally, but one has been cut out of the manuscript.

So very obviously this is the goat, which I think multiple people clocked right away. Say one thing for this illustrator, they can draw a pretty good goat.

The missing image is from the entry for he-goat, which is bafflingly separate from the main goat entry. They're not even next to each other; "goat" is on both sides of f.14 while "he-goat" is on both sides of f.21. This is possibly to do with the fact that the Latin terms chosen are capre and hyrco -- English, to my knowledge, lacks a dedicated term for "male goat" like we have for sheep and cows (i.e., "ram" and "bull" respectively), but Latin has one. So maybe there was some confusion.

Not a lot to add here, but I do like one element of the commentary the people who digitized the Aberdeen Bestiary left: they note that the image of the goat scratching its head with its hoof has nothing to do with anything mentioned in the entry. Maybe the illustrator just saw goats do that and thought it would make a good picture?

The Gabbling Wuggthea

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum (thanks again for posting these challenges!)

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink.

Thought process under the cut…

"Rabanus says of the Wuggthea: ‘The Wuggthea gets its name from its talkativeness; not, as some would have it, because Wuggtheas fly in groups; clearly, they are named for the cry they give. It is a most talkative species of bird and makes an irritating noise, and can signify either the empty prattle of philosophers or the harmful wordiness of heretics.’

More can be said of the nature of the Wuggthea. The Wuggthea lives in the woods and flies chattering from one tree to another, as a talkative man ceaselessly tells others about his neighbours, even the shameful things he knows about them. When the Wuggthea sees someone pass, it chatters, and if it finds anyone hiding from the world, it does the same, just as a talkative man slanders not only worldly men but also those hidden whom a religious house conceals. A Wuggthea, captured and finally secured, is shut away on its own to learn to speak words clearly. Sometimes it happens that a Wuggthea, held in confinement, escapes; then the bird, which was formerly talkative, makes even more noise after its escape."

I'll be honest, I like the sound of this bird (probably a lot more than the author, from the sounds of it!).

We don't get a lot of description of the appearance of this bird, but I imagine it would be fairly small (since it flocks together), and fairly plain (as a fan of birds, 'plain' is relative, but I imagine if there was much in the way of distinguishing features they would have been mentioned.

I knew I wanted to draw a flock of these birds, ideally being as loud and obnoxious as possible. Then I had the thought of them bothering a traveller (hence the excuse for some more medieval-style oak trees). Then I thought about Disney Princesses, and Sleeping Beauty (with her entirely not period-appropriate outfit - as an aside, I found a new interesting website to check out...), being surrounded not by demure and deferential chirping cardinals and bluejays, but by a flock of overly enthusiastic Wuggthea all eager to show off all the great sounds they've discovered (and you just know that if any of these birds did escape from captivity, they absolutely will have learned some swear words along the way... :p

Not deliberately trying to guess the identity of this bird, but I did take a lot of inpiration from one of my favourite common birds that loves to adopt weird and interesting sounds, from radios and birdcall to car alarms (spoiler warning for what I think it might be, but I may have also taken a little inspiration from this post... ;)

I had way more fun than I was expecting with this one. Genuinely surprised that it wasn't a Common Starling (I was honestly a bit nervous taking so much inspiration from starlings given my suspicions, but it really gelled with the way I wanted to go with it); genuinely delightful birds.

That said, I can absolutely see it being a jay - I imagine they were a bit more common back in the day, but I've even seen them in parks in somewhat suburban areas, and it's always a real treat to spot one :)

Bestiaryposting Results: Wuggthea

Another bird! Kind of speaks for itself, let's get to it.

Anyone unsure about what these posts are should check https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

If you want to see the entry these artists are working from, it's here:

And if you want to participate in the next week's bestiaryposting, that entry is here:

Now, art:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has drawn a very naturalistic bird -- I would completely believe this was a real bird if you told me it was. The linked post explains that it has elements of both mockingbird & frogmouth, and why. I enjoy the neck & beak situation here: this is a certified Loud Bird.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) made the delightful decision to include our bestiary author in this image, noting the entry's apparent antipathy to noisy birds and gossipy men. That's the author in the window, suffering from the noise outside. (I also like the Stylized Tree.) For more about the inspiration and art references, see the linked post.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has also included someone being annoyed by the noisy birds (and alt text, thank you). I really enjoy the contrast between the Disney-princess aesthetic and the birds actually being quite annoying -- also the photobombing Wuggthea in the foreground. For more on inspiration and thought process, please see the linked post.

@pomrania (link to post here) took inspiration from the long-standing linguistics in-joke of the "wug". (Random personal fact: I have a shirt that I got free from the Linguistics department during my masters' degree that reads "Wugs Need Hugs".) I love everything about this -- the usage of IPA here is particularly clever I think. For anyone who doesn't know about the wug, it is explained in the linked post.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has given us a tree full of colorful, dramatic, presumably quite noisy birds. I really like the coloring choice here, especially knowing the reason behind it as mentioned in the linked post. Also yeah these guys look like they could make a racket. (And thank you for including alt text.)

Aberdeen Bestiary time!

... hm. Well fuck you too, unknown biblioclast.

Ashmole Bestiary time!

That is a heck of a fancy border, and a reasonably nice-looking songbird. This bird is the jay, which is indeed a noisy one, so good job there.

Fellow USAmericans may be thinking of this guy:

But of course these birds are native to North America and would be unknown to our bestiary author. They are actually writing about this guy:

I have never met a Eurasian jay, but given that its genus name is Garrulus, and the Wikipedia page I got this image from describes jays as "usually colorful and noisy," I have no doubt that it is as the bestiary author says.

The Maternal Ghraggal

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink.

Thought process under the cut…

"The Ghraggal is named for its swiftness [redacted]. It is a beast distinguished by its varied markings, its courage and its extraordinary speed. Hircania is their main home."

So, this is basically all the physical description we get about this creature. It's fast, so I figured I'd give it quite long limbs. We know it's a beast, but not a lot else. If in doubt, by default beast is something somewhat dog or wolf-like, so we have a vaguelly canine-looking creature with long legs and a variety of markings, ranging from almost like stripes on the legs, to finer spots on its underside and larger, more irregular shapes on its back and sides. Hopefully it all gels together as something coherent; I took a lot of influence from the patterns on girafffes, particularly the Rothschild's, Masai and Southern sub-species.

As an aside, Hyrcania seems to be part of modern day Turkmenistan and Iran, which doesn't actually help. However, Hyrcania roughly translates as 'wolf land', which would be a reall cool reason for me to lean 'slightly canine' except I found out about it after I'd done the drawing... ;)

"The female Ghraggal, when she finds her lair empty by the theft of a child, follows the tracks of the thief at once. When the thief sees that, even though he rides a swift horse, he is outrun by her speed, and that there is no means of escape at hand, he devises the following deception. When he sees the female Ghraggal drawing close, he throws down a glass sphere. The female Ghraggal is deceived by her own image in the glass and thinks it is her stolen child. She abandons the chase, eager to gather up her young. Delayed by the illusion, she tries once again with all her might to overtake the rider and, urged on by her anger, quickly threatens the fleeing man. Again he holds up her pursuit by throwing down a sphere. The memory of the trick does not banish the mother's devotion. She turns over the empty likeness and settles down as if she were about to suckle her child. And thus, trapped by the intensity of her sense of duty, she loses both her revenge and her child."

What. A. Jerk. Amirite?

Again, very fast creature, faster than a swift horse. Also, if we're being charitable, not the smartest creature either...

We also know that this is a creature that is valuable enough for someone to raise one from a baby, that hunters have developed increasingly expensive and elaborate methods to achieve this theft!

This did take me down a bit of a rabbit hole of 'crystal ball photography', which I tried to recreate as best possible. :)

The Vigilant Nadokwak

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Sailor fude nib fountain pen, using Diamine Sepia ink.

Thought process under the cut…

"Nadokwaks take their name from the sound of their own particular call, or such is the low, muttering sound they make. It is interesting to recall how Nadokwaks organise their journeys. They go to some extent in military formation, and in case the wind should be against them on their way to their chosen land, they eat sand and ballast themselves to a reasonable weight by picking up small stones. Then they fly as high as they can, so that a from higher vantage point they can look out for the lands they seek. As they fly swiftly on their way, they follow one of their number in a V-shaped formation. Confident in its navigation, it leads the group. It scolds the laggards and keeps the formation together with its calls. When it grows hoarse, another takes over. Nadokwaks are united in their concern for those who tire, to such an extent that if any drop out, they all surround the exhausted birds and support them until their strength is restored by this period of rest.

At night Nadokwaks keep careful watch. You can see the sentinels at their posts; while the other members of the group sleep, others do the rounds and check lest they should be ambushed from any quarter; with their tireless energy, they ensure total vigilance. When the Nadokwak’s turn on watch is over and its duty is done, it settles down to sleep, first giving a cry to wake one of those already asleep, whose turn it is to be on duty. The new guard takes up its allotted task willingly, not refusing, as we do, gracelessly, because we want to go on sleeping; instead, rousing itself readily from its resting-place, it takes its turn and repays the service it has received with equal attention to duty. Nadokwaks do not desert the group, because they are devoted by nature. They keep a safe watch, because they do it of their own free will. They divide the watches at night and take them in turns, according to a roster, holding small stones in their claws to ward off sleep. They give a cry when there is cause for alarm. Their colouring shows their age, for as they grow older, it grows darker."

We have a lot of text here, but most if this is about behaviour, not much of a description. What we can glean from this is;

It's a bird - we don't even have to extrapolate to get this one, plus we know that they fly

They get darker as they get older

They can hold rocks in their feet (so probably not a bird with webbed feet - although you do get the occasional species of perching duck, which could probably manage it)

So, we have a slightly generic flocking, flying bird. Not much in the way of distinctive markings (surely these would have been mentioned in the description?). I figured I'd give them a little bit of a neck, mostly because I felt

In terms of style, I've started reading the Moomins books - I love Tove Jannson's illustrations, so I've done a lot of experimenting with a similar style.

I tried to illustrate the main behaviours mentioned, including the Nadokwak on guard, holding a rock in its foot to stay awake while its companions snooze. I considered trying to set out the dozing birds like a military camp, but couldn't find a good way to make that work; they have however camped out in an easily defensible hollow, almost like earthen ramparts around them.

If you look carefully, you can also just make out a V-formation of Nadokwak flying overhead. This wasn't meant to be quite so obscure, but the shading of the sky resulted in having to peer a little to spot them. This does work well with them flying at night, of course!

I am legitimately shocked that this is not referring to cheetahs - fast, patterned beast, which historically ranged across most of Africa, Arabia and the Indian subcontinent, which (at least from a European perspective) had been used in hunting by Romans and in Byzantium (so, more different Romans), not to mention the cultures of North Africa, and large parts of South and East Asia. I'm aware of some confusion between cheetahs and leopards, but not tigers... huh 🤔

I appreciate that the hunter has come prepared, not only with a fast horse and some glass globes, but also a full set of maille!

If I can find a glass/reflective sphere to roll for my cat, I will let you know the results!

Bestiaryposting Results: Ghraggal

This week's entry is kind of just an anecdote about a Thing That Happens, with not that many details about the animal. So let's see what people did with that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry in question can be found here:

And if you want to participate in the next one, that entry can be found here:

Without further ado, art below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) notes that "ghraggal" looks kinda like "gharial" and just runs with it. I think it turned out well; those are some quality crocodilians. There's also some interesting discussion of the design in the linked post, which I recommend checking out.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) makes the very medieval-artist statement that their Default Beast is some kind of dog-thing, so in the absence of a specific description that's what we've got here. I like the direction they're going with the non-specific "markings". The additional explanation in the linked post is also recommended. (And thank you for providing alt text.)

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) explains that their design is aiming for "drawn by someone who has heard of big cats in theory, but has never encountered one", and I think they nailed it. We can also note and appreciate that in this version the baby escaped.

Aberdeen Bestiary version:

Honestly I think Coolest-Capybara kind of nailed it. That definitely is a big cat drawn by someone who's never seen one, and it's even blue.

Anyway, as I'm sure you can tell by the spots, this is a tiger.

I'm not sure what to add here. We could speculate on why anyone wants to steal tiger cubs, but honestly there's probably demand for them in royal menageries, so it kind of makes sense. I don't think the glass sphere trick would actually work though -- that kind of sounds like someone who observed that cats can mistake their own reflections for other cats and just made up a whole story about it.

You are encouraged to roll reflective spheres at your cats and report on the results. (No actual tigers, please; we do not support harassing endangered species on this blog.)

Reposting since I think this was posted just after the cutoff for entries for this week :)

Ghraggal

I went with a bird for my ghraggal because stealing an egg makes more sense to me than stealing a cub/pup/kit/etc, especially since the mama is tricked by a sphere. I modeled her on the peregrine falcon because they're the fastest creatures on earth! Wow :O