The depths of Nastrond

Hello wizards today's lesson with be on a Nidhoggr or Nithogg as it's sometimes called which is a giant dragon (sometimes a serpent or both) which dwells in Nastrond gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil.

Now in Wintertusk Nordri (whom with his kin I consider vikings or perhaps Jotunn [giants]) task the player with retrieving a tooth from Nithogg who gnaws at the roots of the great tree Grandmother Raven resides on.

It's peculiar that they decided to use this tree as the the one Nithogg gnaws on cause as the legend goes it was Yggdrasil Nithogg gnawed at which would mean Nithogg below here should be gnawing at Bartleby's roots beneath Ravenwood.

There is a connection to be made though from this pairing it involves 3 parties (technically 4) Nithogg, Ratatoskr, and Vethrfolnir.

• Ratatoskr was a squirrel which ran down the length of Yggdrasil carrying gossip to Vethrfolnir and a great eagle from Nithogg and back down to Nithogg my theory on the squirrel is it's tied to Nithogg. In all various cultures and mythologies fights and feuds rise usually at the implication of a person who wishes to see both parties fight for some cause. A perfect example of this is in Wizard101 Kol Shadowsong and The Coven in general used trickery and manipulation to pit the bear clans against the wolf clans. Usually this person will also lie, break promises, and even commit murder to see that their goals are achieved. (This is just a theory in general as such creature doesn't appear in the game)

• Nithogg who gnaws at Yggdrasil also lives in Nastrond a place of corpses, snakes, and poisonous rivers. Nastrond itself means Dead Shore Nithogg is said to reside here were he gnaws at one of the 3 roots but Nithogg also has another purpose he also devours the souls of murderers and Oath breakers. Now if you've read my theory on Ratatoskr you'll start to see the connection here. Ratatoskr is just the type of creature that Nithogg would devour. As in all cultures Murderers and Oath breakers are always promised the worse punishment also consider this Nastrond is located in or close to Helheim. Which is the Norse equivalent of the underworld

• Vethrfolnir was a hawk that sat between the eyes of a great nameless eagle who sat you guessed it atop Yggdrasil now while it quarreled with Nithogg (Mostly due to Ratatoskr's gossip) the great eagle was knowledgeable and knew many things. Theories say that this was a reference to Huginn and Muninn who were Odin's ravens who traveled the world gathering all news to Odin. Vethrfolnir is said to play a similar role delivering the world's news to the great eagle. Although Ravens aren't in this legend (other than reference; symbolism) I think it's safe to say the parallels between the knowledge of the great eagle and Grandmother Raven are quite apparent. Even the Raven race in Wizard101 is one of mysticism and cunning which Grandmother Raven is a part of.  

I think KI is getting more and more inventive with what they put in game and although this is all speculation it's so exciting to try and decipher it even though it's from my own interpretations of the mythology. I advocate all you wizards do the same as there are many secrets to discover. So far Wintertusk is my favorite update and although quest experience was low Grizzleheim was always one of my favorite worlds to play in. Certainly KI has upped their game and rekindled my interest in Norse mythology bravo KI bravo! Any thoughts and comments are appreciated I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Creature Feature: Owls - Wizard's pet? Or Harbinger of Ill Omen?

Hello, wizards today I wanna discuss a cool creature that has been used for fantasy many times over from the Goblin King, Jared to the pet of the greatest wizard in recent magical history Harry Potter. Yes that's right if Gamma up there hasn't let it slip from his beak we are talking Owls!

It's hard to imagine Gamma up top or Hedwig just above as any more than a Wizard's friend but looks can be deceiving. Let's look at how Owls in their antiquity were viewed -- Let's start with  Meso-America home of my forefathers. They in particular the Hopi and Aztecs viewed Owls as omens of death, evil, and sorcery hard to imagine why but they did. Like all cultures many of them just didn't know how to attribute things to nature occurring phenomenon, so it must be supernatural? Keep in mind this is all before the Spanish (Also my forefathers) came and colonized much of the land bringing with them disease but also knowledge.

Africa also has Owls and view them much like the Hispanic cultures of The Americas -- Omens of Death. It's not everyone who believes this, it's mainly indigenous tribes like the Kikuyu of Kenya. Now although these cultures are old there is an even older culture that viewed Owls in a significantly less evil way -- Greece!
That's right our modern view of the Owl can be attributed to Ancient Greece where they saw Owls as beings of Wisdom. In fact, Owls can be seen in that culture as one of the symbols of a Goddess which one you ask? Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, Strength, and Strategy. Who had a city named in her honor you know it as one of Greece's oldest and most influential cities -- Athens in which she was it's Patron.

In our world, the wizard101 one that is the main Owl we can identify is Headmaster Ambrose's pet owl -- Gamma. Besides watching the Spiral in the Headmaster's tower Gamma doesn't do much outside of this. However, in the magical world there is one owl that is pivotal and resonates with people the world over as the pet owl of "The Boy Who Lived" of course you know I am talking about Hedwig. In the magical world of Harry Potter Owls and other creatures are seen as pets, friends, and magical familiars. 

 Hedwig was Harry's Owl in the HP series and was given to him by friend and Hogwarts's Gamekeeper Rebeus Hagrid. Hedwig represented Harry's innocence as is very obvious during the earlier books of the series. Hedwig was very loyal to Harry throughout the series and was very mature even looking down on other immature owls such as Pidwigeon. Now Owls seen as Ill omens it's intriguing J.K. Rowling picked the Owl which is seen as a bad omen. Although it's only merely speculation on my behalf what if Hedwig's presence marked a doom for the whole series? I mean think about all that befell Harry? Is it not curious to think his closest friend -- one of his most well loved ties to the magical world a warning in disguise?

Honestly, I don't like the idea of that either but it's something to chew on, some food for thought. If you are a fan of the series you already know Hedwig's death in the final book symbolized the death of Harry's innocence. So in a way Hedwig was a harbinger just a symbolic harbinger although I must admit in the movie version of the final book I did like how Hedwig was killed as oppose to the book. Now obviously Hedwig dying the way she did meant the lost of innocence. But in the movie she is seen attacking a Death Eater protecting Harry and subsequently being killed by the Killing Curse. This death is also symbolic for the same reason but in a more profound way -- protecting innocence. Hedwig dies marks the end of innocence but left the impression no matter how the mirror is broken you'll try to protect it before, and after piece the shards together.That girl lived a "Great old life" indeed and if there is a Owl heaven Hedwig is definitely there.

Ok, enough with the symbolism and tears time to focus on the animal itself. Gamma and Hedwig are Snowy Owls which were believed to be a separate genus of Owl until recent DNA results show they are in fact related to the Genus Bubo, or Horned Owl family. Hedwig although a female was in the movies depicted with Male snow owls as males have the iconic white feathers -- females tend to usually have more black/brown feathers.These owls you had trouble making the connection between them and their Horned owl brethren.
But as we see on Gamma the horn "protrusions" are much more dominant showing a clear relation to the Horned Owl.

  They are also skilled but opportunistic hunters with talons made for grabbing small rodents or fish out of the surface of the water. They even during low food seasons resort to hunting other species of Owl which is pretty bad to me. It's a wide known fact Owls like Cats are natural predators that keep rodent populations down but Owl poaching threatens this I am happy to say though there are many groups like CITES helping to conserve habitats for Owls as mentioned before cause owls play a pivotal role in the food chain keeping down rodent populations while supplying other species of bird with protection from predators as owls have few to compete with.

That's it for this edition of "Creature feature" I hope you all enjoyed it and come to appreciate these creatures and how they live and captured our imaginations as birds of bad omen and friends.

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Creature Feature: - Cats from Gods to Backstreets to Video games!

Hey y'all today I wanna discuss a animal many of you adore -- or hate but an ancient species of animal that's been around for ages and also happens to be one of my favorite creatures EVER!! - Cats!

Now I am sure you all are very familiar with these creatures especially if you been through Marleybone - that place is jam packed with Cats and rats hm you figure with all the cats there would be no rats. Maybe them dogs down in Scotland Yard should swallow their pride and team up with the O' Leary Gang to take them out!

Now before they were our cuddly friends, characters in a game, and domesticated Cats were worshiped as gods and used in a variety of myths all around the world.

Let's begin with what people most think when they think of Ancient Cats -- Egypt! In Ancient Egypt Ubasti or Bast was a Feline Goddess who was greatly revered now here is the fun part it wasn't until much later that she was seen as a Cat. Before the wars in Egypt between the Lower and Upper Kingdoms Ubasti was seen not as a Cat but as a Lioness. Yes they are relatives but I point this out to inform you and to show you how over time even gods change -- in this case after these wars Ubasti was seen as a less prominent Deity and a Domesticated cat as oppose to a ferocious Lioness.

Before this fall from "Grace" however Ubasti was seen as a Goddess of Protection, Cats, and the Sun. In that time Ubasti was a Child of Ra or Atum or even Atum-Ra who was the God of the Sun more particularly Mid day sun Ubasti was also referred to as Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra! This happened because as a Goddess of Protection in Lower Egypt Ubasti was associated with the Pharaoh who in Egypt was seen as a Physical manifestation of Ra, or an Avatar of Ra.  

Now her actual fall can be attributed to the wars and ultimate unification of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms.
As mentioned earlier she was seen as a Lioness; a Protector this was during wars with the Upper kingdom. After the unification she was knocked down by Sekhmet who was now seen as the de facto feline Goddess in this new unified Egypt. Before that though Sekhmet was seen as warrior goddess and healer of Upper Egypt.

Now here are some cool stuff about Sekhmet she was credited with the creation of the desert in Egypt from her breath and that the hot desert winds are her still breathing --whoa that's some harsh breath! She also like her Lower kingdom counterpart Ubasti was seen as a Protector of the Pharaoh; Leading him to battle and a daughter of the Sun god Ra. Let's move on to another goddess associated with Cats Freyja or Freya from Norse Mythology she ruled over her own underworld like place called Folkvangr where half the dead came who died from battle (Debates say Freyja's Folkvangr was for women who died a worthy death) the other half went to Odin in Valhalla. Freyja was said to have a chariot that was drawn by two cats.

All these different backgrounds on cats you figure KI would have put Cats in Krokotopia or even Grizzleheim but they were also important in England, Britain, and other European countries.

Cats in almost all these cultures were seen as guides for humans or even ascended souls! In ancient Europe many superstitions arose with cats such as a witch may use a cat to augment her power and curses. This many experts believe contributed greatly to the Black Plague in medieval times. How do you ask? As sad as it is to mention but during this time of ignorance thousands of cats were killed for fear of witches. This great depletion of cats caused the Plague infested rat population to explode cause there was no predator to keep the population in check. Before this event however cats were kept as pets even on ships to hunt down mice and rats on board the sailing ships which held food.

Another myth about the cat is that a cat has nine lives obvious this isn't true but it varies many different cultures believed cats had many lives ranging from 6 to the well known 9. This is attributed to one main idea cats have what I like to call "Super Luck" they are able to escape extremely dangerous situations but that's just an idea. Here is the facts cats are extremely supple and lithe. They have extreme sense of hearing and sight especially in dim light since cats like to hunt in the dark. They also have a great balance which works automatically this is what causes the cat to land on it's feet and leads to the saying of "A cat always lands on it's feet" Don't go throwing your cats off your Balcony though you can seriously injure the little fella.

Back to Egypt many though cats first became domesticated there about 3,500 years ago however new excavations revealed domesticated mummified cats buried with humans in Cyprus. These graves dated FAR FAR back to almost 10,000 years ago! Wow now that is one old fat cat!

Well that's all for now I'd like to come back to cats someday there is so much to learn about these great creatures and I'd like to further discuss some of the cool things about them. For example did you know domesticated cats are considered the greatest hunters in the feline world this is because unlike tigers or lions domesticated cats hunt prey purely for sport since we humans provide them with food they have no need to compete over it.

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Double feature: The fiery angel and The spirit of the Lamp.

So some readers really liked my last post about dragons so at their request cause I listen to my readers I am doing a double feature today the Seraph (Seraphim) and the Efreet (Djinn). Let's begin with the angels let's start with the Seraphim.

 Lady Oriel and the Seraph spell both very identifiable within the Wizard101 world one begins our journey on Unicorn Way the other is a life school attack. Unfortunately these aren't correct here are some reasons why. First of Seraphs (Plural; Seraphim) are highest level of angels in the angelic hierarchy there names literally mean "burning ones" they were said to be so pure of light that not even other angels could look upon them. They had six wings two that covered their faces, two that covered their body, and finally two used for flight.

 Seems like Lady Oriel and the Seraph spell are missing a couple of wings there ;). Also Seraphs along with Cherubs (2nd highest in hierarchy) were least encountered on earth as Seraphs were the caretakers of God's throne they also were always in song also being the highest in his heavenly choir they commonly sang "Holy, holy, holy, is the lord of hosts". There are also sources that mention that there wings weren't of light but of flame hence comes the meaning 'burning ones"  

 In Judaism they were in the 5th of 10th in the angel's hierarchy but still considered caretakers of God's throne and nearest to god. The name seraph(im) in earlier times was said to be serpent and that the meaning "burning ones" referring to the burning of coursing poison. 

It seems by reference of the Angelic Hierarchy that Lady Oriel mostly can be associated with not the Seraphim but the archangels or Angels. Archangels are depicted as guardians but not of mankind itself but of it's nations such as the case with Michael who is said to guard Israel. The weird thing is we often see Archangels as the highest of god's angels but this is not true not really anyway archangels are only the 2nd highest of god's angels only presiding over the lowest ranks of angels they are in the third sphere whereas our Seraphim friends are in the first sphere. However if you notice I said archangels not Archangels the upper case Archangels are considered the highest of god's angels there are seven of them with Michael being the highest after the fall of Lucifer.

Now it's time to discuss another mythical being this is the Efreet or Ifrit he has may other names including Jinn or Djinn although Efreet is a negative connotation for Djinn.

They are considered Infernal (Fiery) class of Djinn or genie. They are almost always considered as wicked beings who wish to do harm as such the case in Wizard101 they do harm to our opponents :P. They part of the three sentient creations of Allah the others being humans and angels and in that order are only succeeded by the angels. They are also said to have free will like humans and can be a believer or non believer benevolent or malevolent. They also like humans have their own set of rule within their realm which is a parallel universe to the human world. In this universe the Djinn have kings, clans, and tribes. They also have their own cities were they inhabit.

They also breed and wed just like humans and are even said to be able to breed and marry humans. I have no idea who would want to marry a genie kinda tight living inside a bottle or where ever they inhabit. According to Islamic and Arabic texts Djinn (and Efreet) are made of smokeless fire and are able to shape shift. They are also divided into three subspecies Jinn who have wings, Those who take animal form, and those who fly about without wings.

Although Djinn can be good or bad or neutral humans have always considered them treacherous using their magic to harm humans.They are also said to be invisible to humans and usually view humans as not being clever or have wit. However despite all their magical qualities they are judged like humans on the day of judgment and like humans will be sent to hell or heaven depending on their deeds.

Tough break I suppose just like in Aladdin all that power but not a tiny space but required to be judge as humans do makes you think well they ain't all that powerful. My take on this is Djinn at least to me represent a darker side to humans they have the ability to do powerful things indulge as they wish free to go where ever whenever but are judged like us all. Good thing the only thing our Efreet spells are judging and punishing are our opponents then leaving them a present of a -90% weakness!

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Harbingers of Death - Wise creatures from the Ancient past: Dragons!

 Hey readers so today after what I consider a great successful ending to my comic Fame at a Price I wanna talk to you about a creature that has captured our imagination and put fear in our hearts since the earliest ages of the world - Dragons!

 No creature that I can think of more resonates with fantasy than the dragon revered over by civilizations for it's power, intellect, and ability to appear to as a protector of mankind or the bringer of it's destruction. Let's begin with where exactly did the history of these magnificent creatures begins.

  There really isn't a exact recorded date when Dragons came into the minds of men although one can speculate that it was in the minds of Proto-European and Asian people who like the Greeks attributed the natural world to great creatures of terrible power. Now the word Dragon itself however comes mainstream in the 13th century Europe-France and it meant "Lizard, Serpent, Sea Serpent" also from Greek Drakon earlier accounts state it from the root word drekesthai meaning "one who has a deadly glance". Dragon have various other names for themselves but also for subspecies such as Wyrm, drake, serpent, wyvern, and lindworm.

 The earliest meaning one can almost say with the deadly glance that Dragons might have had similar powers to the Basilisk however that might mean the Basilisk became a separate being as time passed but if you look at the basilisk it has many traits of a wyvern or lindworm which are subspecies of dragons although the basilisk has no wings.

  In every culture they are revered and feared as powerful beings. Asian culture has a less negative view of the creatures dragons in Asian cultures are often seen as ancient primordial forces of nature and the universe. For Asian cultures the dragon is also seen as a wise being often depicted in myths as giving humans wisdom and even in some cultures the dragons taught humans to speak. They are also identified with Longevity some dragons having lived for thousands of years. They also always seem to possess magical powers but in Asian culture it's mostly associated with water/mist or even poison unlike European depiction of dragons breathing fire.

Even the very appearance of the creatures differ again one looks to European and Asia. Asian dragons seem to represent the earliest accounts of dragons in appearance often being large serpentine like creatures that aren't winged like the European dragons also said to possess only frontal limbs if any at all. European dragons however are almost always depicted with wings and 2-4 limbs with dark scaly or feathered hide. Both have been described with the aforementioned hide of scales or feathers with the exception of the Asian variant scales being like those of a fish.

Throughout history various cultures have had their take on the dragon here are some of the most popular.

Greek: Often depicted as serpentine creatures as famous example of a dragon or dragon-like creature is the Lernaean Hydra which had several heads possess a poisonous breath/bite it was killed by Hercules as his second of this twelve labors it was said to guard the waters to the entrance of the underworld it was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna who in mythology would give birth to all the worlds monsters.

Chinese: These dragons are almost exclusively seen as benevolent and a symbol of royalty as is the case of the 5 claw dragon which was a symbol for Chinese emperors. These dragons were also considered guardians, spirits, and forces of nature. They were also said to have immense longevity and take on human form.

Christian/Jewish: What? dragons? Yes although that's not how many of us particularly see them now in these ancient religions dragons were present in the form of Leviathan which means twisted or coiled was a terrible being that rose out of the ocean along Behemoth a land dragon at the end of days. Leviathan in demonology is also one of the seven princes of hell and it's gate keeper of Hell's entrance stories says that Leviathan's mouth was the entrance and was called Hellmouth.



Dragons in Popular Culture:

Most of us identify with dragons through it's modern use let's see some of them.

  J.R.R Tolkien the "father of modern fantasy" had dragons in his epics the most famous being Smaug who was a dragon that hoarded the treasure of Thorin's kin and laid waste to Dale and inhabited the Lonely mountain. He was killed by Bard the Bowman. Another famous dragon from Tolkien's legendarium was Glaurung who was have said to sired the rest of the dragon race or Uruloki which are wingless fire breathing dragons. He is the main antagonist in the Children of Hurin defeating the Noldorin Elves and it's allies he was stabbed twice once by the Dwarven king Azaghal and last by Turin Turambar which killed Glaurung.

 Harry Potter has it's share of dragons as well possessing 10 different breeds which are prominently encountered in the Goblet of Fire. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine also ride a half blind dragon being pursued by goblins and death eaters after they broke into Gringotts Bank to recover a Horcrux from Bellatrix's vault.

  Wizard 101 Dragons are prominent part of the fire school and it was the Dragon Titan that destroyed Dragonspyre. Drake army is also prominent enemies in DS as many of you wizards already know. They were also allies to the citizens of Dragonspyre as "Drake riders" in fact without the help of a Drake the player would have never been able to reach Malistaire. The fire dragon spell is inspired by modern/European depiction of dragons not to mention it's just a kick butt spell. Also Death wizards have an encounter with the drakes if only their bones but it also allows you to see the bone anatomy of our fire breathing friends.

 Pokemon the dragons of the Pokemon universe are indeed a mix of all cultures and myths. representing awesome power and legendary skill. In the games Dragon type Pokemon are considered the overall best type as it's only weakness is Dragon type while having many resistances and the only type that resist dragon moves is the Steel type. Notable dragons are Dragonite which has intellect that matches humans and flies above the world's oceans looking for humans lost at sea. Another is the super ancient dragon and Trio master Rayquaza  which is master of earth's atmosphere and the only Pokemon to be able to quell the other super ancient Pokemon Kyogre who controls the seas and oceans and Groudon who controls/creates landmasses after a climatic battle.

  Another popular culture dragon is Deathwing from the recently released World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Deathwing has believed to be dead was was actually regaining his strength in Deepholm and makes a return to Azeroth he is a Black Wyrm and was given control over the earth and it's deep places but was driven crazy by the old gods.

 Although I doubt I've done these superb creatures justice I think this overview was decent and it shows why many people including those at Kings Isle have chosen these creatures for their universes. Nothing is comparable to dragons how they are awe-inspiring yet terrible. Let's hope for a future with more of these creatures cause they are the things of fantasy and imagination which we all love. Like my friend Lance of the Indigo League in Pokemon says "...You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon! They’re hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior! They’re virtually indestructible!..."  Lets hope they remain this way for all time superior,mythical, and indestructible in our minds.

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Creature Feature: Trolls - Sons of the Giants!

Yes in this edition of Creation I wanted to discuss about Trolls, not internet trolls but trolls of magical quality and discuss the histories of them which stem from you guessed it Norse mythology.


 So all of us wizards who've traversed the Spiral know of trolls heck even if you haven't you must know of trolls as they are present in most works of fantasy literature and movies today. However you know trolls as a separate entity usually as a dim witted albeit exceedingly strong. I am here to tell you trolls were until in modern Norse mythology a sub group or species or the Jotnar or Jotunn. You may remember them from my last article on the Brothers of Nidavellir.

 They are a race of Giants who populated one of the nine worlds within Yggdrasil, The world Tree or if you wanna W101 it Bartleby. It's quite a funny thing if you think about it in technical terms that the dim witted strong troll you read in that book was actually related to something like the Giants. Consider that Giants specifically in the Wizard101 world were primordial forces at the beginning of the Spiral. So you Ice and Myth wizards are more closer brethren than you may think.

But you are not entirely wrong cause as time has passed Trolls became a separate entity from the Jotnar (Giants) however many of their traits as Jotnar passed as they became separate. Let's see what they are.

•  Trolls of mythology like those of fantasy are easily distinguished by their unsightly appearance often having mishapen heads, claws, talons, large height, and a lack of any sort of cleanliness. 

• Their super human Strength which is synonymous when talking of Trolls

• Being of incredibly old age however being slow or dim witted.

• Repulsion for Sun light which would turn them to stone and which is famously used in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

• Almost always on the side of Evil or not in any way helpful to any particular race.

• Always living in places such as Caves or Mountains.

See the similarities? Well I don't know of any Wizard101 Trolls being scared of sunlight or being exceedingly aged but the others are bang on I believe.

 There are many stories that also don't abide by the traditional idea for trolls again I bring up the magnificent works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Many who don't truly read the books won't know in fact there was a sentient race of trolls on Middle Earth created by the Dark Lord Sauron himself they are known as Olog Hai. If you seen the movies it's the troll that gave Aragorn lots of trouble during the battle at the Black Gate at the end of the movie.

The Olog hai were improved trolls made by Sauron who unlike the other races of troll (except is the Mountain Troll but Olog hai had resistance to a greater degree) didn't have a weakness to sun light and were intelligent.
Trolls were originally creations of Sauron's master Melkor A.K.A. Morgoth who made them in mockery of the Tree folk you know them though as the Ents (Woodwalkers to Wiz101fy it Lol). The sun light turned them to stone like the trolls of mythology however the theory behind this in the Lord of the Rings is Melkor created the trolls from stones and so they reverted back to being stones when exposed to the sun.

Luckily for the people of Middle Earth after the War of the Ring all of the Olog hai were hunted and killed. Nothing is worse than a troll who can think as well as have the strength to crush your bones to powder. The Olog hai also could speak but only spoke The Black Speech or The dark tongue of Mordor. In that particular language Olog hai mean't "Troll folk". It is also noted that the Orcs and Goblins of Mordor saw the Olog hai in the same way as the Uruk hai because of both being improvements of existing beings and their resistance to Sun light and larger Intellect.

So rejoice the fact your not a troll unless your an internet troll but you don't wanna be one of those either they get the ban hammer frequently. Cause if you are a troll then that means your strong, old, and dumb not a good combination if you ask me. Feel free to comment anything else I might have missed on these slow but fascinating creatures and I hope you found out something you didn't know.  

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

Creature Feature: The Brothers of Nidavellir!

Today my awesome readers we take a look at the brothers of the macabre underground city of Nidavellir which is in the Norse inspired world of Grizzleheim.

 Let's start with the most well known of the "Giant Trio" and most important in my opinion Jotun! Jotun as you know is the leader of the trio and most consider the Lord of Nidavellir. Jotun as we see him is characterized by his grotesque appearance like his brothers hulking, pointy noses, with spike like protrusions on their back and, carrying large bones. Many similarities can be found from the giants of Norse Mythology which Jotun and his brothers I believe are derived from.

  The only thing I believe is truly out of place is the nose why add it? then again it might be just there to attribute to their overall ugly appearance.It might just be my own interpretation but I often see pointy noses like that being attributed to tricksters or malevolent joke type creatures/gods but this is merely speculation. Now we turn to his name Jotun which in fact comes from Jotunn or Jotnar the ancient race of giants in Norse Mythology which throughout time plagued both the gods of Asgard and humans of Midgard being directly involved in the events of Ragnarok or Norse Apocalypse. The name jotun has many meanings however all seem to allude to the size of the giants or the fact they were known as Man-eaters. 

  Now let's take a ride off the creatures and into the location -Nidavellir. This confused me greatly the Jotunn (Giants) which they are inspired from home world was Jotunheim (Literally meaning Gian Land or Home of the Giants) which was said to be heavily mountainous and forested this natural environment also separated their land from the human world of Midgard. Here is the odd part Nidavellir is the home of the Norse Dwarves and it means "Dark Fields". There is some connections though Norse dwarves were often associated with Deadliness and their lands name was also connected death. Now the Jotun we see in the game are rulers of a Dead City that's underground. Now also interestingly enough the Jotunn in Norse Mythology were often intermingled with other races even the gods whom they were often seen as enemies with. So although it's a stretch it's nice to think hey what if the designers of W101 saw this and intermingled various mythos from each race into the creatures we fight beneath the earth in the game cool right?

  Also consider Grizzleheim which is characterized by it's large icy mountains and forests see the connection? Maybe sometime in the past Grizzleheim was ruled by Jotun and his brothers or their ancestors. Nidavellir also seems to have an cold climate about it that can also allude to that in the mythology when the world was in chaos a Giant was born named Ymir (Ice wizards should be familiar with that name Lvl 48 spell quest hint hint) who from his armpits and feet (Eww gross!) birth 3 Jotunn children. Who in turn created creatures who dwelt in Niflheimr which surprise! was a land of mist and ice and would later become Hel or the Underworld for people who did not die a heroic death or in battle.

 Now for the other two brothers they seem to be based on the giants as well in particular the story I just mentioned where Ymir created 3 Children however one of these children was a monster with six heads I don't think KI wanted to add a crazy monster born from feet with six heads ;) we initially were already startled by their immense health hehehe. This is what I could find from various books I've read and of course the internet it's so fun to find out what stuff we see in games (and in books for those who still read) are derived or inspired from. I implore you readers to go forward and research there is no telling what interesting things you'll discover. 

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger