11-28-2020, 01:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2020, 09:27 PM by neon_jellyfish.)
Many thanks, everyone!
Day 332
We're going to have a doodle ketchup for a few days, starting today. I need to go through the thread and count the doodles and fix numbers, so for now I don't even know how much ketchup do I need, I'll figure it out on the go.
I'd like to apologize - all the remaining doodles are going to be uber simplistic scribbles, because I don't want to drop my own challenge, but I also don't have any motivation left, and don't want to put too much effort in it, which, sadly, means that I'll be making you look at a lot of less-than-half-arsed stuff. Sorry, but this is the best I can do under my current circumstances.
I had two supernaturals I wanted to do properly but weeks of migraine did a number on me, so I don't have the energy to do that. I'll mention them briefly now and hopefully get to them some time in future.
***
ADAW ketchup #44
Bludička
Bludička translates as will-o'-wisp / will-o'-the-wisp. Every culture that has swamps, marshes or other causes for natural ghost lights has some sort of supernatural ex→planation for these phenomena, and bludička is the Slavic one. Various Slavic nations call them various names, but the monster is pretty much the same everywhere. Bludička is the Czech one.
There's not much to be found about them. They're either ghosts or corporeal apparitions, but they're always human-like, because they are people who died in the swamps, or were killed and their bodies were disposed of in there, and unchristened babies were added with time, but they don't appear in many folk tales, they're only said to become will-o'-wisps. The ghostly light comes from special lanterns and ranges from yellowish green to icy blue.
Their job mostly revolves around using their lights to confuse people, make them lose their way and lure them into the swamp, indirectly killing them. In some tales, they do so because they're evil, in other ones, they're cursed to do it and have no choice, and it makes them sad. There are tales about freeing a bludička from her/his curse (bludička is used for both genders, despite the word being feminine, male ones are also called světlonoš, more on that in a bit), but I'm having troubles finding reliable sources, so I won't go into detail right now.
Bludičkas can also guard treasures, and if you make friends with them, they can show you the way to one. Or, if you got lost, they could use their light to show you the right way. No idea how you make friends with a bludička.
When dealing with Slavic supernaturals, there are usually remnants of the old lore, and then bastardized versions from after christianization. Bludičkas (proper plural would be 'bludičky') are an exception, the 'before' and 'after' kinda blended together.
I have this personal theory not based on any proper research that there used to be more to them, because a) there usually is, b) the treasure guarding thing, c) the word 'světlonoš'.
I understand the need to ex!plain a weird phenomena as a dangerous creature as a safety measure, so that people don't wander into swamps. The word 'bludička' hints that the creature is dangerous - it is derived from 'bludný', which you usually see translated as 'wandering', but in Czech, it can mean both someone who lost the way and something that makes one lose the way. Bludička makes you lose the way. But then, why do they guard treasures? That's an odd combo isn't it? Plus, the word 'světlonoš' would translate as light-bearer, that doesn't sound particularly nefarious, does it?
There are regional tales about all sorts of creatures ruling over certain area and having access to a ginormous treasure, and if people needed help, asked nicely and did some task or two for that being, they were given enough to live happily ever after, or received some other kind of help, usually much more than they asked for. If they tried to steal or even hurt or kill the guardian, they were punished threefold.
I think that světlonoš might have been that sort of being, maybe separate from what bludička was, and they merged later, or the lore of světlonoš got deformed, and the word bludička came later. I haven't found any info on when which word appeared, so this is all just wild speculation, but I like to imagine some of it might be true.
I based will-o'-wisps in Oddwickshire on Czech ones, except they aren't spectres, they're living species. The crew foreman and light source of the First Lighthouse, Isidor Glowman, is one such will-o'wisp.
Huh, that wasn't brief at all...
*Cough* And now onto the doodle! I had a hard time drawing a ghostly light on a light background, and I couldn't be bothered to do a dark background, and then it wouldn't even photograph, so just imagine it's glowing sinisterly, hypnotizing you to leave the safe path and walk right into the swamp, thank you.
![[Image: 2db1988df6f2aadbbfd99eeebda2366f.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/2d/b1/98/2db1988df6f2aadbbfd99eeebda2366f.jpg)
![[Image: e01e3c124227865225599683ca898ba2.jpg]](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e0/1e/3c/e01e3c124227865225599683ca898ba2.jpg)
Day 332
We're going to have a doodle ketchup for a few days, starting today. I need to go through the thread and count the doodles and fix numbers, so for now I don't even know how much ketchup do I need, I'll figure it out on the go.
I'd like to apologize - all the remaining doodles are going to be uber simplistic scribbles, because I don't want to drop my own challenge, but I also don't have any motivation left, and don't want to put too much effort in it, which, sadly, means that I'll be making you look at a lot of less-than-half-arsed stuff. Sorry, but this is the best I can do under my current circumstances.
I had two supernaturals I wanted to do properly but weeks of migraine did a number on me, so I don't have the energy to do that. I'll mention them briefly now and hopefully get to them some time in future.
***
ADAW ketchup #44
Bludička
Bludička translates as will-o'-wisp / will-o'-the-wisp. Every culture that has swamps, marshes or other causes for natural ghost lights has some sort of supernatural ex→planation for these phenomena, and bludička is the Slavic one. Various Slavic nations call them various names, but the monster is pretty much the same everywhere. Bludička is the Czech one.
There's not much to be found about them. They're either ghosts or corporeal apparitions, but they're always human-like, because they are people who died in the swamps, or were killed and their bodies were disposed of in there, and unchristened babies were added with time, but they don't appear in many folk tales, they're only said to become will-o'-wisps. The ghostly light comes from special lanterns and ranges from yellowish green to icy blue.
Their job mostly revolves around using their lights to confuse people, make them lose their way and lure them into the swamp, indirectly killing them. In some tales, they do so because they're evil, in other ones, they're cursed to do it and have no choice, and it makes them sad. There are tales about freeing a bludička from her/his curse (bludička is used for both genders, despite the word being feminine, male ones are also called světlonoš, more on that in a bit), but I'm having troubles finding reliable sources, so I won't go into detail right now.
Bludičkas can also guard treasures, and if you make friends with them, they can show you the way to one. Or, if you got lost, they could use their light to show you the right way. No idea how you make friends with a bludička.
When dealing with Slavic supernaturals, there are usually remnants of the old lore, and then bastardized versions from after christianization. Bludičkas (proper plural would be 'bludičky') are an exception, the 'before' and 'after' kinda blended together.
I have this personal theory not based on any proper research that there used to be more to them, because a) there usually is, b) the treasure guarding thing, c) the word 'světlonoš'.
I understand the need to ex!plain a weird phenomena as a dangerous creature as a safety measure, so that people don't wander into swamps. The word 'bludička' hints that the creature is dangerous - it is derived from 'bludný', which you usually see translated as 'wandering', but in Czech, it can mean both someone who lost the way and something that makes one lose the way. Bludička makes you lose the way. But then, why do they guard treasures? That's an odd combo isn't it? Plus, the word 'světlonoš' would translate as light-bearer, that doesn't sound particularly nefarious, does it?
There are regional tales about all sorts of creatures ruling over certain area and having access to a ginormous treasure, and if people needed help, asked nicely and did some task or two for that being, they were given enough to live happily ever after, or received some other kind of help, usually much more than they asked for. If they tried to steal or even hurt or kill the guardian, they were punished threefold.
I think that světlonoš might have been that sort of being, maybe separate from what bludička was, and they merged later, or the lore of světlonoš got deformed, and the word bludička came later. I haven't found any info on when which word appeared, so this is all just wild speculation, but I like to imagine some of it might be true.
I based will-o'-wisps in Oddwickshire on Czech ones, except they aren't spectres, they're living species. The crew foreman and light source of the First Lighthouse, Isidor Glowman, is one such will-o'wisp.
Huh, that wasn't brief at all...
*Cough* And now onto the doodle! I had a hard time drawing a ghostly light on a light background, and I couldn't be bothered to do a dark background, and then it wouldn't even photograph, so just imagine it's glowing sinisterly, hypnotizing you to leave the safe path and walk right into the swamp, thank you.