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fandomhigh2018-01-17 02:39 am
arboreal_priestess) wrote in fandomhigh2018-01-17 02:39 am
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The Cryptozoologist's Field Guide, Wednesday, Per 1
Back in the Danger Shop today, where a chicken coop was sitting in a field, surrounded by boulders.
"Last week we got to play with cryptid cats," Verity said with a smile. "And they're a fun first introduction to the world of cryptozoology. Other than a few scratches and possibly losing your wallet to a lesser griffin, you don't really have to worry much about them. They're only slightly more dangerous than regular cats, even if lesser griffins are smarter. But unless you stand still and let them attack you, they're not going to do a whole lot of damage."
She pulled out a bunch of safety goggles and passed them around. "Today, however, we're going into the deep end. If you look close, you'll see the lenses on your goggles are polarized for your protection. That's because we're dealing with petrifactors today. All members of the Orphion family, a petrifactor is any type of cryptid that can turn flesh to stone. You might have heard of one them, Medusa, a greater gorgon. We're studying two of the non-sapient petrifactors, basilisks and cockatrices. There are also stone spiders, but I don't even want to program those. Now everyone put on your goggles because it's turning to stone isn't fun. It won't be fatal here in the Danger Shop, but it won't be fun, either."
Anyone screwing around and catching the gaze of a petrifactor here in the Danger Shop would find themselves frozen solid for the remainder of the class period and given detention when the class was over.
Once everyone's eye gear was appropriately fastened, Verity's included, she rapped on the door of the chicken coop. Out came several chicken-sized creatures, though they had no feathers and looked a lot like mini-dinosaurs with the heads of roosters. They also sported leathery wings and serpent's tails. "These are cockatrices," Verity explained. "Ground-dwellers that travel in flocks and are roughly as smart as a wild turkey. They're non-aggressive, by which I mean they don't hunt humans for sport, but they will defend themselves and their nests if they feel threatened. And while they primarily live on mice and insects, they can and will eat larger prey if something catches their gaze." She pressed a button and a raccoon appeared in the middle of the flock. Almost immediately, the cockatrices scattered, shrieking and taking turns glaring at the raccoon. Eventually, one successfully caught its eyes and the raccoon made a shrill noise, running a few feet and then falling over, unable to move. "The petrification of the cockatrice works from the inside out, continuing for some time even after the creature succumbs to their organs turning to stone. Because it's a gaze-based attack, the petrifaction poison travels down the optic nerve, into the brain, and then spreads through the bloodstream. It turns the soft tissue to stone first, but moves through the body evenly, targeting the extremities at the same time it's turning the eyes, tongue, and throat to stone. Death usually comes from asphyxiation as the throat closes or a heart attack as it turns to stone. Once the creature stops struggling, the cockatrices devour the outer flesh."
Please note, she didn't say 'dead.'
Verity shooed the cockatrices away from the fallen raccoon. It had toppled over next to one of the boulders, and she bent down and firmly tapped the boulder on one of its sides. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the boulder shuddered and uncurled, revealing itself to be another creature, slightly bigger than the cockatrice and covered with white feathers, speckled with gray. They looked more like chickens than the obviously reptilian-looking cockatrices, save for the same serpent-like tail. The males had bright orange feathers on their tails and throats, and dark red combs. "Basilisks!" Verity explained. "Currently my brother is attempting to mate a pair out in the Midwest because he has a very strange taste in hobbies. Fertile females lay about two eggs per month and fewer than a quarter of her eggs will ever hatch; the rest calcify from the inside and make for really macabre gifts and souvenirs." Your welcome for that image, class. "They also have a tendency to hibernate, anywhere from a year to a decade and when they do so, they curl up and harden, becoming like stone in more than appearance. Which makes them hard to hunt, when you literally cannot tell your prey from a rock on the ground. Someone should have mentioned that to the big game hunters who brought them over for sport, but I'm sure they made perfectly lovely statuary."
This time, it was a naked mole rat that appeared in the middle of the flock, Verity didn't want fur getting in the way of what she was showing them. "Basilisk poison works a lot like cockatrice poison, making a strong case for them to belong to the same genus. However, unlike cockatrice poison, basilisks petrify from the outside in, so the skin turns to stone first. Death is caused most often by suffocation, as the chest becomes too heavy for the lungs to inflate. Again, once the prey stops moving, the basilisks will begin to feed, pecking through the hard outer shell to the soft meat within."
That disturbing bit of trivia shared, Verity leaned down to pick the mole rat up, too. "So, if you find something turned to stone and they're too late to help, the best thing to do is check the eyes. If they are more transformed than most of the rest of the body, you've probably got yourself a gaze-petrifier. If not, or there's too much petrification to tell, examine what you can of the body. Unlike the movies, clothing and accessories don't turn to stone, so you should be able to get a full view. Puncture wounds suggest that the venom has been injected and the size of the wounds can give you a general idea of the size of the predator. A lack of puncture wounds suggests gaze-based, but with cryptozoology, nothing is a guarantee. Fortunately, if caught soon enough--by which we mean before death and usually just a few minutes after initial contact--the effects can be halted or even reversed. If you know the recipe for the antidote."
And suddenly there was a miniature chemistry table behind her, causing several of the cryptids to squawk and poke at the dirt elsewhere. "Guess what you're learning today."
"Last week we got to play with cryptid cats," Verity said with a smile. "And they're a fun first introduction to the world of cryptozoology. Other than a few scratches and possibly losing your wallet to a lesser griffin, you don't really have to worry much about them. They're only slightly more dangerous than regular cats, even if lesser griffins are smarter. But unless you stand still and let them attack you, they're not going to do a whole lot of damage."
She pulled out a bunch of safety goggles and passed them around. "Today, however, we're going into the deep end. If you look close, you'll see the lenses on your goggles are polarized for your protection. That's because we're dealing with petrifactors today. All members of the Orphion family, a petrifactor is any type of cryptid that can turn flesh to stone. You might have heard of one them, Medusa, a greater gorgon. We're studying two of the non-sapient petrifactors, basilisks and cockatrices. There are also stone spiders, but I don't even want to program those. Now everyone put on your goggles because it's turning to stone isn't fun. It won't be fatal here in the Danger Shop, but it won't be fun, either."
Anyone screwing around and catching the gaze of a petrifactor here in the Danger Shop would find themselves frozen solid for the remainder of the class period and given detention when the class was over.
Once everyone's eye gear was appropriately fastened, Verity's included, she rapped on the door of the chicken coop. Out came several chicken-sized creatures, though they had no feathers and looked a lot like mini-dinosaurs with the heads of roosters. They also sported leathery wings and serpent's tails. "These are cockatrices," Verity explained. "Ground-dwellers that travel in flocks and are roughly as smart as a wild turkey. They're non-aggressive, by which I mean they don't hunt humans for sport, but they will defend themselves and their nests if they feel threatened. And while they primarily live on mice and insects, they can and will eat larger prey if something catches their gaze." She pressed a button and a raccoon appeared in the middle of the flock. Almost immediately, the cockatrices scattered, shrieking and taking turns glaring at the raccoon. Eventually, one successfully caught its eyes and the raccoon made a shrill noise, running a few feet and then falling over, unable to move. "The petrification of the cockatrice works from the inside out, continuing for some time even after the creature succumbs to their organs turning to stone. Because it's a gaze-based attack, the petrifaction poison travels down the optic nerve, into the brain, and then spreads through the bloodstream. It turns the soft tissue to stone first, but moves through the body evenly, targeting the extremities at the same time it's turning the eyes, tongue, and throat to stone. Death usually comes from asphyxiation as the throat closes or a heart attack as it turns to stone. Once the creature stops struggling, the cockatrices devour the outer flesh."
Please note, she didn't say 'dead.'
Verity shooed the cockatrices away from the fallen raccoon. It had toppled over next to one of the boulders, and she bent down and firmly tapped the boulder on one of its sides. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the boulder shuddered and uncurled, revealing itself to be another creature, slightly bigger than the cockatrice and covered with white feathers, speckled with gray. They looked more like chickens than the obviously reptilian-looking cockatrices, save for the same serpent-like tail. The males had bright orange feathers on their tails and throats, and dark red combs. "Basilisks!" Verity explained. "Currently my brother is attempting to mate a pair out in the Midwest because he has a very strange taste in hobbies. Fertile females lay about two eggs per month and fewer than a quarter of her eggs will ever hatch; the rest calcify from the inside and make for really macabre gifts and souvenirs." Your welcome for that image, class. "They also have a tendency to hibernate, anywhere from a year to a decade and when they do so, they curl up and harden, becoming like stone in more than appearance. Which makes them hard to hunt, when you literally cannot tell your prey from a rock on the ground. Someone should have mentioned that to the big game hunters who brought them over for sport, but I'm sure they made perfectly lovely statuary."
This time, it was a naked mole rat that appeared in the middle of the flock, Verity didn't want fur getting in the way of what she was showing them. "Basilisk poison works a lot like cockatrice poison, making a strong case for them to belong to the same genus. However, unlike cockatrice poison, basilisks petrify from the outside in, so the skin turns to stone first. Death is caused most often by suffocation, as the chest becomes too heavy for the lungs to inflate. Again, once the prey stops moving, the basilisks will begin to feed, pecking through the hard outer shell to the soft meat within."
That disturbing bit of trivia shared, Verity leaned down to pick the mole rat up, too. "So, if you find something turned to stone and they're too late to help, the best thing to do is check the eyes. If they are more transformed than most of the rest of the body, you've probably got yourself a gaze-petrifier. If not, or there's too much petrification to tell, examine what you can of the body. Unlike the movies, clothing and accessories don't turn to stone, so you should be able to get a full view. Puncture wounds suggest that the venom has been injected and the size of the wounds can give you a general idea of the size of the predator. A lack of puncture wounds suggests gaze-based, but with cryptozoology, nothing is a guarantee. Fortunately, if caught soon enough--by which we mean before death and usually just a few minutes after initial contact--the effects can be halted or even reversed. If you know the recipe for the antidote."
And suddenly there was a miniature chemistry table behind her, causing several of the cryptids to squawk and poke at the dirt elsewhere. "Guess what you're learning today."
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Listen to the Lecture
Her brother, believe it or not, could go for longer.
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"In the baskets in front of you, you have bilberries, which are blueberries' European cousin, and atropa balladonna berries, more widely known as deadly nightshade. Those berries are very poisonous and if you eat them, you won't die in here, but you'll still have a bad day. And I'll spend the rest of the semester calling you a moron that eats poisonous berries."
Which is also the length of time she'd give them detention for.
"So, bilberries got a reputation for improving eyesight during the world wars. They don't, but Eastern Europe has a hell of a basilisk problem and keeping a bunch of bilberries handy could be the literal difference between life and death if you managed to swallow some before your throat turned to stone. However bilberries by themselves can't completely undo the damage, so you'd be alive, but partially turned to stone. Belladonna is a natural pain reliever, up until it kills you horribly, and mixing the two together makes for a topical analgesic when applied to the affected areas, either the eyes or the puncture wounds. Petrification turns your nerve endings to stone, which I can assure you, is incredibly painful. And again, don't mix the bilberries and the belladonna if you're going to need to ingest the bilberries."
She tossed some of the berries into a mortar and pestle and began grinding. "You're going to want about three large tablespoons full of both berries and then you're going to mix them together in this bottle of water. You're going to want distilled water; unicorn water is the best, because it's cleansed down to a molecular level, but they're almost extinct, so you'll be paying an arm and a leg for a bottle, possible literally, depending on who you're buying it from. Mix the three ingredients together, and then liberally smear it where necessary."
Very scientifically put, Verity.
"This doesn't have much of a shelf life, so your best bet is to keep bilberry jam and a vial of tincture of belladonna in your first aid kit, where you can combine them at need. Of course, you'd better hope you have a friend who can do this, because you'll mostly be in pain and losing your vision." Helping! "Again, this won't reverse anything, it'll just keep you alive and/or reduce the agony. If you want to live and having working eyesight, you need antivenin, specifically the antivenin particular to whatever got you. Basilisk antivenin doesn't do shit for cockatrice attacks, neither works if you've been bit by a stone spider, and if you're up against a greater gorgon, you don't really have a chance anyway."
She grinned at them. "So start mixing up your topical ointments."
no subject
But this was just mashing things together, which wasn't that much different from cooking, and Yang could cook. She started scooping berries into her mortar, actually pretty good at estimating proper amounts.
"So, like, what happens if you accidentally add more bilbs than bellas?" she asked curiously. "Like, I get too many bellas is not gonna help at all, but are there side-effects if you add too many of the non-poisonous ones?"
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"Funny you mentioned Gorgons," Molly mused as she went about her work. "One is the reason I'm still walking around."
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She shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a rather pretty soulstone, but I have to imagine it's also awfully powerful."
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She choked back the other five or so questions that had sprung to mind to let Molly have a chance to answer these first.
no subject
She gave a little shrug. "Soulstones are magical crystals of a sort, powerful catalysts of magical energies, and by all accounts actually powered by souls or soul energy trapped in the crystal." You know, totally normal stuff.
"It was called The Gorgon's Tear because it supposedly has the soul of Gorgon in it," Molly said. "An old creature of fantastic power in Malifaux. And given the photo I took of it, it probably does."
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Because the possibility of having a soul trapped in a rock forever like a fly in amber sounded very unpleasant.
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Examine the Animals
She also has the raccoon and mole rat on display if you want to watch the course of petrifaction. The molerat's skin is already turning gray and the raccoon's fur is stone around its eyes and mouth.
Yes, it's macabre. But it's a good lesson (and on holograms.)
Re: Examine the Animals
More about weapons than monsters, but still. NERD.
Re: Examine the Animals
That was a pretty good rule of thumb for all cryptids, honestly.
Re: Examine the Animals
Re: Examine the Animals
Talk to Verity
OOC