recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Yowie

Official artwork

## Reference

**Yowie** are a type of cryptid native to the swamplands of Australia. They first appear in Pocket Apocalypse.

## Appendix Entry

*Yowie* (Gigantopithecus yowe). These close relatives of the Sasquatch are found only in Australia. A fully grown yowie will stand somewhere between seven and nine feet in height, with dark brown skin which sometimes trends to olive green due to a biological process we do not fully understand. They tend to be swamp dwellers, although it is unclear whether this is voluntary, or a matter of "that's where we can remain mostly hidden." Yowie tend to be very pleasant. They also tend to be nudits. Approach at your own discretion.

## About

Yowie are primates similar to Sasquatch or Bigfoot. Unlike their cousins, they have difficulty blending in with the human population due to their green skin and hair. They also tend to be nudists.

Female Yowie average seven to ten feet tall, while males can grow up to twelve feet. Their lifespan is similar to humans.

They are susceptible to typical primate diseases, including fleas, and are resistant to most venoms due to their thick skin.

Yowie appear to be solitary, choosing a swamp and sticking to it for as long as decades.

## Characters

* Basil is a longtime friend of Shelby Tanner and her siblings.

## In Popular Culture

**Yowie** is one of several names for an Australian folklore entity reputed to live in the Outback. The creature has its roots in Aboriginal oral history. In parts of Queensland, they are known as *quinkin* (or as a type of quinkin), and as *joogabinna*, in parts of New South Wales they are called *Ghindaring*, *jurrawarra*, *myngawin*, *puttikan*, *doolaga*, *gulaga* and *thoolagal*. Other names include *yaroma*, *noocoonah*, *wawee*, *pangkarlangu*, *jimbra* and *tjangara*. Yowie-type creatures are common in Aboriginal Australian legends, particularly in the eastern Australian states.

European colonists in the 1800s called the Australian cryptid "Yahoo," likely after the creatures in Gulliver's Travels. The term "Yowie" overtook "Yahoo" in the 1970s.

## References

1. ↑ Appendix Field Guide: Book 4
2. ↑ Pocket Apocalypse Ch. ?
3. ↑ Yowie - Wikipedia
4. ↑ Coleman, Loren and Jerome Clark (1999). *Cryptozoology A-Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Ness Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature.* New York: Fireside. ISBN 978-0684856025
Waheela

Official artwork

## Reference

**Waheela** are a shapeshifting cryptid that first appear in Discount Armageddon.

## Appendix Entry

Waheela *(Waheela sapiens).* Therianthrope shapeshifters from the upper portion of North America, the waheela are a solitary race, usually claiming large swaths of territory and defending it to the death from others of their species. Waheela mating season is best described with the term "bloodbath." Waheela transform into something that looks like a dire bear on steroids. They're usually not hostile, but it's best not to push it.

## About

Waheela are shapeshifting mammals that can transform into a twelve foot tall bear-dog hybrid. Their first form is indistinguishable from humans, and they can shift forms at will.

In human form, the scent of a waheela is identical to that of freshly-fallen snow. Even in their "great-form", they only leave a scent trail when wounded.

Waheela jaws are capable of chewing through rock.

### Culture

They tend to be suspicious, very literal, and very solitary. Most claim territory ranges of up to twenty miles, and even in a large city there is only likely to be one or two. They only come together to mate and make important regional decisions. However, their territorialness seems to be limited to others of their kind, as they can form meaningful relationships with other sapient species.

Waheela, as previously mentioned, are not social creatures. The runt of the litter is often too weak to fight off their siblings, but the largest are at risk of filicide from a hungry father. Of Istas's litter of five, only three survived.

Their afterlife is an endless expanse of ice so cold it burns.

### Proverbs

* "Flesh is temporary; flesh will end. Ice is forever. Remember this, and choose your steps with caution." -- Red as Snow
* “The strongest sheet of ice may one day crack. Do not build your den to be a victim of the thaw.” -- Black as Blood

## Characters

* Istas
* Istas's parents
* Siluk and Irniq, Istas's brothers
* Miali, Istas's aunt
* Unnamed waheela who traveled with an incubus and several Johrlac to the "Giant Bug Dimension"

## In Popular Culture

* The Waheela appears in the animated cartoon, *The Secret Saturdays* and the video game, *The Secret Saturdays: Beast of the Fifth Sun.*
* On reality television, the Waheela is hunted on *Alaska Monsters.*

## References

1. ↑ Audiobooks narrated by Ray Porter
2. ↑ Appendix Field Guide: Book 1-3, 5-11
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Red as Snow
4. ↑ White as a Raven's Wing
5. ↑ Black as Blood
6. ↑ Calculated Risks
Yeti

Classic depiction

## Reference

**Yeti** is a type of cryptid mentioned in Magic for Nothing.

**See also:** Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yowie

## Popular Culture

The **Yeti** is an ape-like creature purported to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range in Asia. In western popular culture, the creature is commonly referred to as the **Abominable Snowman**. Many dubious articles have been offered in an attempt to prove the existence of the Yeti, including anecdotal visual sightings, disputed video recordings, photographs, and plaster casts of large footprints. Some of these are speculated or known to be hoaxes.

It was first reported in the 1800s.

National Geographic produced a documentary called Hunt for the Abominable Snowman, which references yeti sightings.

Investigators have argued that tracks left by a "yeti" were actually that of a large black bear; DNA evidence taken from the tracks confirmed both bear and dog DNA.

## References

1. ↑ Yeti
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Halls, Kelly Milner (2019). *Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide to 50 Fascinating Beasts.* Seattle: Sasquatch Books. pp. 5-6. ISBN 978-1632172105.
Black as Blood

**Black as Blood** is a short story in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. It is the second story in the Istas and Ryan mini-series.

## Synopsis

Things are getting serious between Ryan Yukimura and Istas of the Waheela—enough so that it's time for Istas to experience one of the great milestones of a tanuki relationship. It's time for her to meet the parents. Of course, that means flying to the other side of the country, in a plane packed full of humans, to spend time in someone else's territory. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately for Istas, the humans aren't the problem. When confronted with the stark reality that she and Ryan will never be members of the same species, will she be able to continue with the relationship? Or will she be forced to admit that blood will always tell, and that in the cryptid world, she will always be a monster?

## Plot

Ryan and Istas travel by plane to Seattle to meet Ryan's family. When they arrive at the Yukimura home, his family are very rude to Istas, and she leaves to turn into her wolf-form and run through the woods. After spending some time alone with her thoughts, she returns and tells Ryan's mother that she will be staying with Ryan whether she approves or not.

## Characters

* Istas
* Ryan Yukimura
* Chiyako Yukimura
* Paul Yukimura
* Christine Yukimura
* Michael Yukimura

**Mentioned**

* Kitty Smith

## Cryptids

* Waheela
* Tanuki

**Mentioned**

* Bogeyman

## Locations

* Seattle, Washington

**Mentioned**

* Manhattan, New York City
	+ The Freakshow

* Chicago, Illinois
* Far northern Canada

## Organizations

**Mentioned**

* Covenant of St. George

## Quotes

* “The strongest sheet of ice may one day crack. Do not build your den to be a victim of the thaw.” -- Waheela proverb

* **Istas, to Ryan:** Why are you unhappy? We have reached your ancestral homeland without attacking anyone, or being attacked in turn. Soon we can run naked through the evergreen forests, and enjoy the smell of blood in the rain.

### Pop Culture

* Hobbit holes
Sylph

Official artwork

## Reference

**Sylphs** are a type of cryptid that first appear in Magic for Nothing.

## About

Sylphs are physically indistinguishable from humans from a variety of ethnicities. They are warm-blooded and omnivorous. They are able to control their density, ranging from lighter-than-air to heavier-than-bricks. Most seem to have high-pitched voices.

## In Popular Culture

A **sylph** (also called **sylphid**) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. Because of their association with the ballet *La Sylphide*, where sylphs are identified with fairies and the medieval legends of fairyland, as well as a confusion with other "airy spirits" (e.g., in William Shakespeare's *A Midsummer Night's Dream*), a slender girl may be referred to as a sylph. "Sylph" has passed into general language as a term for minor spirits, elementals, or faeries of the air. Fantasy authors will sometimes employ sylphs in their fiction, for example creating giant artistic clouds in the skies with airy wings.
Swamp Bromeliad (species)

Official artwork

## Reference

The **swamp bromeliad** is a cryptid plant found in Buckley Township, Michigan.

Not to be confused with Swamp Bromeliad (story).

## About

Swamp bromeliads are tropical monocot flowering plants. Their flowers range from a few inches to four feet across, and their prey ranges from the size of frogs and frickens to deer. They have sharp, wooly “teeth” on their inner petals that allow them to trap their prey.

They lie in wait similarly to a venus flytrap and can catch and consume mid-size predators. Their introduction to the ecosystem means that those predators are no longer present to prey upon creatures like tailypo and frickens, creating a chain reaction of affected species.

They “hunt” by releasing strawberry-scented pollen that has a narcotic effect, putting their prey to sleep. The bromeliad then uses its vines to pull the prey in close and surround it with the petals.

Swamp bromeliads scatter their seeds by intentionally releasing some prey, which are injured enough that they will wander farther into the swamp before collapsing, decomposing, and releasing the seeds into the environment.

Swamp bromeliads were imported to North America, Africa, and likely other continents. They are an invasive species and have thrived in their new homes’ marshes and swamplands. They are incredibly hardy, surviving both frost and fire.

## In the Series

### Alice and Thomas Shorts

There are numerous swamp bromeliads in the Galway Woods of Buckley Township, Michigan. Alice has fallen prey to them several times, although they never quite manage to kill her.

### Spelunking Through Hell

Thomas Price brings swamp bromeliad seeds with him when the Crossroads take him away. He plants them in the compound on Lemure, originally to remind him of home. He and his people eventually start using them for their sedative properties as well.

## In Popular Culture

The **Bromeliaceae** (the **bromeliads**) is a family of monocot flowering plants of 75 genera and around 3590 known species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, *Pitcairnia feliciana*. Members of the bromeliad family range from pineapples to spanish moss.

Bromeliads are often sold as tropical houseplants.

## References

1. ↑ Dictionary.com
2. ↑ https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/peinao.html
3. ↑ Swamp Bromeliad (story)
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliaceae
5. ↑ https://www.thespruce.com/grow-bromeliads-indoors-1902667
Reaper

## Price Family Field Guide

These dark-cloaked ghosts seem to exist only to guide the spirits of the recently deceased onto the next stage of their existence. We don't know why. They do not speak to the living, and none of us has ever been willing to commit suicide for the sake of an interview.

## Characters

* Bethany (changed from a Crossroads Ghost by the Ocean Lady)
Annabelle MacLaine

**Annabelle MacLaine** is a in InCryptid character mentioned in Halfway Through the Wood. According to Thomas Price, she is Enid Healy's mother. This appears to contradict the Aeslin catechism of the family history, which calls Enid the second daughter of Caroline Carew. This is due to the Mice accepting Caroline's adoption of Enid and considering her family.

## Quotes

* **Thomas:** "[Alice is] the granddaughter of Enid Healy, born Enid Carew, and the great-granddaughter on the same side of **Annabelle MacLaine**, who was herself the daughter of Muriel Chaseman. Generation upon generation of Carew men being assigned their wives on the basis of certain traits, until those traits began breeding as true as hair color or build."
**Alexander, later:** "I'll have to ask how he knows Enid's lineage as well as that. The Carews have always been a minor family, and I wasn't aware we had started requiring people who had already been cradle betrothed to memorize them out the required four generations."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Halfway Through the Wood Ch. 11
2. ↑ That Ain't Witchcraft Ch. 24
3. ↑ The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went
Robert Tapper

**Robert Tapper** is a character in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. He is the mate of Heloise Tapper.

## Biography

### Oh Pretty Bird

Jonathan tracks down Heloise to Whiting, Indiana. He, Fran, Alexander, and Enid all travel there, with the precaution of anti-telepathy charms. In Whiting, they discover that everyone in town has become hypnotized by Heloise and her mate, **Robert Tapper**, who they presume are in the town to breed. Heloise is posing as the town librarian, while Robert took over as the school principal. Both are living in the mayor's house, where the Healys go to confront them. As Jonathan and Fran enter, Robert removes Fran's charm, seemingly taking control of her mind. Jonathan keeps the cuckoos talking as Alex and Enid approach through the back door. When the Tappers proudly reveal how little they care about human life, and gloat over murdering Daniel, Fran reveals she was faking being mind-controlled, and kills Robert with a shot between the eyes. She and Johnny turn on Heloise, both shooting her at the same time, in the middle of her rant. They take the bodies back with them to dissect, but the cuckoos' baby is never found.
School Belles

**School Belles** is an InCryptid short story. It is 14th in the Alice and Thomas Shorts.

## Synopsis

Alice is away to college!  We learn more about Laura!  Mice!  Thomas continuing to make self-destructive choices!  Yes!  We're pushing forward the Buckley timeline, wildly rushing toward the point where it collides with the family as we know it today, and not everyone is having a good, good time...

## Plot

Alice arrives at the University of Michigan and finds out her roommate is her old friend Laura Campbell. Laura tells her about routewitches and umbramancers. Mary drops off some clothes for Alice and later visits Thomas at the Old Parrish Place. Some weeks later, Jonathan visits and delivers Thomas's mail.

One night at college, Alice finds a baby hodag and brings it back to her room. She sends a letter to Alexander asking him to pick it up, and Mary warns Jonathan she'll tell his father he's been destroying Alice and Thomas's letters if he doesn't at least stop hiding Alexander's mail from him.

## Characters

* Alice Healy
* Laura Campbell
* Mary Dunlavy
* Thomas Price
* Jonathan Healy
* Bus driver
* Peter

**Mentioned**

* Alexander Healy
* Frances Healy
* Juniper Campbell
* Rose Marshall
* Gwendolyn Brandt
* Cynthia

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice
* Umbramancer
* Routewitch
* Crossroads Ghost
* Tailypo
* Hodag

**Mentioned**

* Whangdoodle
* Ambulomancer
* Crossroads
* Cornwife
* Fricken
* Huldra
* Bidi-taurabo-haza

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ Thomas's home
	+ Galway Woods
* Ann Arbor, Michigan

## Organizations

**Mentioned**

* Campbell Family Carnival
Portland, Oregon

**Portland** is a major city in Oregon and home to the Price family in the 2000-2010s. Points of Interest are in the immediate area.

## Points of Interest

### Price Compound

Kevin Price built the Price family compound, hiring cryptid builders, plumbers, and electricians. It consists of a large house, two outbuildings, a barn, and a workshop that was formerly a stable. The compound is enclosed by a fence with an 8-foot-tall iron gate, and surrounded by pit traps in the woods. The family formerly had neighbors, but they had a mysterious accident involving a Cerberus in the early 2000s and had to move away.

#### Inhabitants

* Kevin Price
* Evelyn Price
* Verity Price (occasionally)
* Dominic De Luca (occasionally)
* Antimony Price
* Sam Taylor
* Sarah Zellaby (occasionally)
* James Smith (after joining the family)
* Alex Price (formerly)

### Harrington House

#### Inhabitants

* Theodore Harrington
* Jane Harrington-Price
* Elsinore Harrington
* Arthur Harrington
Wagyl

Trail marker in Australia featuring the Waygl

## Reference

**Wagyl** are an Australian cryptid mentioned in Pocket Apocalypse.

## Appendix Entry

**Wagyl** (scientific name unknown). One of the great snakes of Australia. Virtually nothing is known about them, save that their bite can heal all ills, and that they are intelligent enough to bargain with.

## In the Series

### Pocket Apocalypse

When Gabrielle Tanner is bitten by a werewolf, Basil takes her to a nearby wagyl to barter for healing. He does not allow Gabby's sisters to come along, warning that the wagyl are very private.

## In Popular Culture

The Wagyl is the Noongar manifestation of the Rainbow Serpent in Australian Aboriginal mythology, from the culture based around the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar describe the Wagyl as a snakelike Dreaming creature responsible for the creation of the Swan and Canning rivers and other waterways and landforms around present day Perth and the south-west of Western Australia.
Ryan Yukimura

**Ryan Yukimura** is a recurring character in the InCryptid novels and featured in the Istas and Ryan short stories. He is a bouncer and bartender at the strip club where Verity Price works.

## About

### Appearance

In his human form, Ryan is tall, with dark eyes and hair, and pale skin. He appears to be of Japanese and European descent.

### Personality

Ryan is generally more easygoing than his girlfriend Istas.

### Abilities

As a tanuki, Ryan can transform into a Japanese raccoon-dog, or into a giant terrifying monster, as seen in the image at right. He can also temporarily transform part of his body into stone.

## Biography

Ryan was born in Seattle, and later moved to New York, where he got a job at Dave's Fish and Strips. He has several siblings.

## In the Series

### Midnight Blue-Light Special

Istas and Ryan take refuge in the dragons' warehouse when the Covenant comes to town. Istas helps Sarah rescue Verity from Covenant capture.

### Red as Snow

Istas and Ryan are kidnapped by her father and brothers, who want her to come back to the Arctic with them. She and Ryan fight back, overpowering them, and spare their lives on the condition they never return to New York.

### Black as Blood

Istas and Ryan travel by plane to Seattle to meet Ryan's family.

## Relationships

### Istas

Istas and Ryan met while both were working at Dave's Fish and Strips, and started a relationship.

## Quotes

* “I had to give him this: he was extremely quick on the uptake. It was one of the things that had first attracted me to him. That, and the way he could transform into a vast, ravening raccoon-dog, fully capable of disemboweling my enemies. A girl likes to know she will be taken care of.” -- **Istas on Ryan**, White as a Raven's Wing

## Trivia

His father is human and a witch, while his mother is a tanuki.
The Star of New Mexico

**The Star of New Mexico** is an InCryptid short story. It is fourteenth and last in the Jonathan and Frances Shorts.

## Synopsis

Almost twenty years ago, Jonathan Healy rode a train across the country to investigate reports that something was killing people in the wake of a small family circus. Almost twenty years ago, he brought home the woman who would be his wife, the mother of his children, and his partner in the endless quest to protect the cryptids of the world. The time has come for Fabulous Fran, the Flower of Arizona, the Star of New Mexico, to take the stage for the final time, and take her final bow.

Fran touched a lot of lives in her time in Buckley, and the people who loved her are coming to say goodbye. It's not going to be easy. The things that are most important so very rarely are.

They say she never missed a shot; she was the darling of the west. But now she's gone, and the ones she's left behind must figure out what this means for them.

## Characters

* Alexander Healy
* Enid Healy
* Jonathan Healy
* Frances Healy (deceased)
* Alice Healy
* Roy Hagar, funeral director
* Juniper Campbell
* Laura Campbell
* Mary Dunlavy
* Arturo Gucciard
* Elena Gucciard
* Asta Kalakos
* Chruse Kalakos
* Lynn Gentling
* Elaine Lindsay

**Mentioned**

* Daniel Healy
* Rabbit
* Aldo Gucciard

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice
* Crossroads Ghost
* Gorgon
* Finfolk ("mermaid")

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ Healy Home
	+ Buckley Township Funeral Home
* Chicago, Illinois
	+ Carmichael Hotel
Console Man

Console Man is a role played by Snap, and sometimes by Echo, since it's only way to communicate is through whispering in the server console with the command `/msg` or `/tell`. It only talks to ELNGSoup, since it's a god from the depths below the bedrock layer, which is where ELNGSoup comes from.

## History

The Console man started as a joke in the beginnings of the SMP, when Snap or Echo wanted to say something but they couldn't join to the server.

* In the past, everyone was able to read Console Man messages because of the command `/say` used instead.
Gather-grim

**Gather-grims** are a type of ghost mentioned in the Ghost Roads series.

## Price Family Field Guide

Next to nothing is known about this class of psychopomp; we're not honestly sure that they exist. We have heard them mentioned by other ghosts, but they are quite leery to answer questions, and will generally change the subject. Investigate with caution.

## In Popular Culture

* Possibly based off of grim reapers or "the grim," a shadowy death omen that appears as a dog. There are several supernatural black dogs, such as Black Shuck and the Barghest, that appear in Atlantic Archipelago lore.
	+ The Grim shows up in series like Harry Potter, and is currently the most well-known.
	+ McGuire herself uses the w:c:october-daye:Cu\_Sidhe in her October Daye series.
The Ghosts of Bourbon Street

**The Ghosts of Bourbon Street** is an InCryptid short story. It is first in the Dominic and Verity Shorts.

Best read after Half-Off Ragnarok; includes direct references to the novel's events.

## Synopsis

Verity Price and Dominic De Luca are currently putting their relationship through what can only be termed the ultimate stress-test: they're traveling from one side of the country to the other in a rented U-Haul, accompanied only by Verity's colony of Aeslin mice and the contents of her iPod. (Dominic is receiving a crash course in modern dance and pop music.)

But what's a road trip without a hidden purpose? Verity knows she's driving Dominic toward the biggest confrontation of his life—her parents—and that means she needs to start easing him in gently. What better way than with a stop in New Orleans to drink layered cocktails and meet her fun-loving Aunt Rose, who just happens to be a Predeceased American?

Poor Dominic didn't set out to become part of a ghost story, but it looks like that's exactly what's happening, as the old, new, and undead collide all over Bourbon Street.

## Plot

Verity and Dominic stop outside of New Orleans to summon family friend--and hitchhiking ghost--Rose Marshall. Together, the three visit a bar on the edge of the ghost world and are approached by another ghost who has a complaint. The ghost floats for Mardi Gras are being destroyed by a particularly nasty spirit.

The trio confronts the spirit, Benjamin Georges, and help him understand his role in the afterlife. Verity checks with Dominic to see if he's passed his threshold of tolerance for weird, but he's still on board for what she has to offer.

## Characters

* Verity Price
* Dominic DeLuca
* Rose Marshall
* Alexander Price
* Germaine Favre
* Amelia
* Benjamin Georges

**Mentioned**

* Mary Dunlavy
* Shelby Tanner
* Queen of Routewitches

## Field Guide

* Hitchhiking Ghost
* Aeslin Mice

## Locations

* New Orleans, Louisiana
	+ Bourbon Street
		- Marty's (bar)
	+ Deadman's Alley

**Mentioned**

* Manhattan, New York City
* Buckley Township, Michigan
* Columbus, Ohio
* Australia

## Organizations

* Ghost krews of Mardi Gras

**Mentioned**

* Covenant of St. George
* Dance or Die
* Thirty-Six Society

## Continuity

* Verity receives a call from Alex confirming Shelby isn't a member of the Covenant. The other side of this conversation took place in Half-Off Ragnarok.

## Quotes

### Epigraph

* **Alice Healy:** "There's nothing wrong with pausing to catch your breath every so often. It's best to live a balanced life when you can, and that means enjoying yourself. You only live once, after all."

### Popular Culture

* Verity makes several classical TV references: Casper, Betelgeuse, the Wizard of Oz, Scooby-Doo, and Ghostbusters.
* Verity calling Dominic Batman may be Antimony's influence leaking through. Dominic returns by calling her Catwoman.
* Rose invokes the travel-to-the-otherworld tales of The Goblin Market, and the story of Persephone and Hades.
Muriel Chaseman

**Muriel Chaseman** is a in InCryptid character mentioned in Halfway Through the Wood.

According to Thomas Price, she is Enid Healy's biological maternal grandmother. This contradicts the Aeslin family history, which calls Enid the second daughter of Caroline Carew, and Caroline the daughter of Elizabeth Evans, due to her adoptive status taking precedence in the mice's catechism.

## Quotes

* **Thomas:** "[Alice is] the granddaughter of Enid Healy, born Enid Carew, and the great-granddaughter on the same side of Annabelle MacLaine, who was herself the daughter of **Muriel Chaseman**. Generation upon generation of Carew men being assigned their wives on the basis of certain traits, until those traits began breeding as true as hair color or build."
 **Alexander,** **later:** "I'll have to ask how he knows Enid's lineage as well as that. The Carews have always been a minor family, and I wasn't aware we had started requiring people who had already been cradle betrothed to memorize them out the required four generations."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Halfway Through the Wood Ch. 11
2. ↑ That Ain't Witchcraft Ch. 24
3. ↑ The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went
Peryton

Modern depiction

## Reference

**Peryton** are a type of cryptid mentioned in the InCryptid prequels. They dwell in the forests of Buckley and are consumed by the invading Alkabyiftiris slime.

## Quotes

* “Peryton herd’s supposed to be passing through. We’re going to keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t raid any of the local flocks. You know how the farmers around here get when skinless flying demon deer drop down out of the sky and carry off their sheep.” -Enid Healy, "Oh Pretty Bird"

## In Popular Culture

The **peryton** is a mythological hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird. The peryton was first named by Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges in his 1957 Book of Imaginary Beings*,* using a supposedly long-lost medieval manuscript as a source.

## References

1. ↑ Spelunking Through Hell audiobook
2. ↑ Peryton
Target Practice

**Target Practice** is an InCryptid short story. It is third in the Alice and Thomas Shorts.

## Synopsis

Buckley Township is starting to grow on Thomas Price, rather like a particularly aggressive strain of moss. He still has a lot to learn about his new environs, and about the people they bring him into contact with. People like Alice Healy, whose talent for getting herself into trouble is only exceeded by her inexplicable ability to get out of it again. Luck is not a dependable survival mechanism. And hers is running out.

When Alice stumbles over something that even the ecologically unusual Buckley woods shouldn't be able to sustain, it's anyone's guess whether she'll be able to handle it on her own--and if she can't, whether she'll be able to find the help she needs to stop an invasive species from damaging the town and people she cares about. Thomas, meanwhile, just wants to avoid being shot by her father.

Tensions are high and stakes are higher as Alice and Thomas both begin taking aim on what they want, and where they want to be when they get it.

## Plot

Alice finds herself chased by a dire boar and takes refuge in the Parrish Place, where Thomas shoots the attacking beast. She returns home to her concerned family, whereupon Jonathan grounds her without listening to her story.

Enid and Alexander know Jonathan is being unreasonable and that Thomas likely saved Alice's life. Enid goes to visit him, and they discuss family dynamics and Covenant history. Then they realize Alice has probably returned to the woods to find more dire boar. Together they find and rescue her, again.

When Enid and Alice return home, Enid tells Jonathan in no uncertain terms that Alice needs proper training. He reluctantly agrees.

## Characters

* Alice Healy
* Thomas Price
* Jonathan Healy
* Alexander Healy
* Enid Healy

**Mentioned**

* Frances Healy
* Sally Duffy
* Mary Dunlavy
* Daniel Healy
* Pembroke Cunningham
* Charles Healy
* Ada Healy

## Field Guide

* Fricken
* Dire boar

**Mentioned**

* Aeslin Mice
* Tailypo
* Igneous Scorpion
* Angler Tortoise
* Cuckoo
* Apraxis Wasp
* Ukupani

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ The forest
	+ Parrish Place
	+ Healy House
	+ Church (mentioned)
	+ Library (mentioned)
	+ Old Mill Road

## Continuity

* References to Frances's death, Daniel's death
* References to the cuckoos in Whiting

## Trivia

* Enid was the best marksman in her class of Covenant trainees

## Quotes

* "Good hair can cover for a multitude of sins, including a thorough dousing of ichor." -Frances Healy, Aeslin proverb
* "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Mind you, I always assumed that meant the other side of the fence was where all the bodies were buried, but that's neither here nor there." -Enid Healy
* "Healy luck. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but it's always exciting." -Enid Healy

## Pop Culture

* Frederic Myers coined the term telepathy, though it had been in use since 1882.
Oceanid

Modern depiction

## Reference

**Oceanids** are an aquatic cryptid that appear in several short stories.

## About

### Appearance

Oceanids can shift between liquid and pseudo-solid forms. As a liquid, they are indistinguishable from regular water. As a solid, they are able to wear clothing and hold items, but risk losing those possessions if they lose focus and become liquid again.

### Abilities

Little is known about Oceanid abilities beyond being, quite literally, made of water.

### Habitat

Oceanid have been found along the coast and near the Great Lakes of North America.

### Culture

Little is known about Oceanid culture. They do not have last names; Lea takes on her husband's surname when they marry. They do have family units such as siblings.

## Characters

* Lea Gucciard is an Oceanid.
* Young Alice Healy and Laura Campbell meet an Oceanid brother and sister while vacationing in Florida.

## In Popular Culture

* In Greek mythology, the **Oceanids** or **Oceanides** are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.
* Appear very similar to the Undine of the October Daye series.
Shami

**Shami** is a minor character that appears in Half-Off Ragnarok. A male wadjet, he appears only in cobra form and cannot reside with his betrothed, Chandi Sarpa, because male wadjet do not cohabitate well. The Sarpas arranged for Shami to stay in the reptile house of the West Columbus Zoo under the care of Alex Price. Chandi comes to visit him regularly, often sneaking into the zoo outside of visiting hours so the couple can bond and she can develop immunity to his venom.
Jammed

**Jammed** is an InCryptid short story. It is third in the Antimony Shorts but can be read as a standalone. It takes place after the events of Midnight Blue-Light Special.

## Synopsis

Antimony has finally gotten her groove back. She has friends on her roller derby team; she has her cousins to keep her company; and she has, for the most part, managed to keep her off-the-track activities from bleeding over into her social life. So what if she's a professional cryptozoologist and occasional monster hunter? There's no reason for that to change anything.

Until there is. Until one of the jammers on the Concussion Stand is found dead during a match; until her cousin Elsie is shouting at her to make things right, because Elsie's girlfriend Carlotta is the Captain of the dead woman's team; until it becomes crystal clear that whatever killed the skater, it wasn't human.

Antimony must decide which matters more: getting justice for the dead, or maintaining her cover as "just another skater." And she'll have to decide quickly, because the killer is still at large, and whatever it is, it doesn't seem likely to stop with just one skater...

## Plot

Annie helps the Slasher Chicks take home a victory. Afterward, she and several derby friends join her cousin Elsie in the stands to watch the remaining match.

A scream interrupts their fun, and Annie investigates to find a dead derby player torn to pieces. She orders Fern to contact the authorities, then makes plans to return to the warehouse to investigate without the interference of said authorities. She argues briefly with Elsie, who wants to include Carlotta.

Annie checks in with Artie for possible cryptid culprits, and then she meets her allies at the warehouse. They locate the chimera, which knocks Annie out, but not before she shoots it dead.

## Characters

**Slasher Chicks**

* Antimony Price / Final Girl / Annie Thompson
* Elmira / Elmira Street

* Fern / Meggie Itwasthewind

**Concussion Stand**

* Leya / Princes Leya-you-out
* Tanya Durham / Holly Go Lightspeed
* Carlotta / Pushy Galore

**Other**

* Elsie Harrington
* Artie Harrington
* Cylia / Triskaidekaphilia

**Mentioned**

* Kevin Price
* Evelyn Baker

## Field Guide

* Sylph
* Manticore
* Chupacabra
* Incubus / Succubus

## Locations

* Portland, Oregon
	+ Roller Derby rink

## Organizations

* Roller Derby Community
	+ Concussion Stand
	+ Slasher Chicks
	+ Rose Petals
	+ Stunt Troubles

**Mentioned**

* Covenant of St. George
* Portland PD

## Quotes

* **Annie:** "Mom! I'm going out to fight a monster I haven't identified yet!"
**Evelyn:** "Don't get decapitated, dear!"

### Epigraph

* **Alice Healy:** "Nobody ever got eaten because they ran too fast. Maybe a few people went over cliffs they didn't see coming, but that's probably a better way to die."
To Build a Better...

**To Build a Better...** is an InCryptid short story. It is twelfth in the Alice and Thomas Shorts.

## Synopsis

And we're back to Buckley for another month, as Alice and Thomas fumble their way toward an understanding.

## Plot

The mice set a still-healing Alice to a mission: gathering supplies so the colony can expand their dwellings in the attic. She goes with her grandparents' blessing into the forest to retrieve fricken down from their nests. While climbing trees looking for nests, she is trapped by a D'nhyr bear without her shotgun. Thomas finds her there and shoots at the bear, distracting it and giving Alice enough time to get down from the tree. She finishes it off with her own shotgun, retrieved from the ground.

Thomas joins Alice in her quest, helping her find fricken nests and then offering his basement forge to the mice. Throughout the quest, Thomas and Alice take turns secretly admiring the other's looks, although Alice still thinks Thomas is in love with Mary.

When the forging is complete, Thomas takes Alice home and Enid invites him for dinner; Jonathan is conveniently out of town. Enid encourages Alice to show Thomas the mice colony in the attic.

## Characters

* Alice Healy
* Thomas Price
* Enid Healy
* Alexander Healy

**Mentioned**

* Jonathan Healy
* Missy the library volunteer
* Mary Dunlavy

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice
* Fricken
* D'nhyr Bear
* Sorcerer magic

**Mentioned**

* Swamp Fairy
* Bloodworm

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ Healy Home
	+ The Forest
	+ The Parrish / Price Place

## Continuity

* Alice is still struggling with her injuries from the slime bear, her growing crush, and the mistaken belief that Mary and Thomas are romantically involved.

## Trivia

* Enid was supposedly involved in the last Aeslin expansion project.
* Alice is able to keep track of the Aeslin ritual calendar, at least for the most part.
* Jonathan is out of town on undisclosed business, likely cryptozoological.
* The mice have named Thomas the God of Extremely Inconvenient Knowledge, indicating that they now consider him part of the family.

## Quotes

* "The swamp wasn't hers, not in the way the woods were."

### Aeslin Lore

* The Holy Ritual of the Replacement of the Ammunition
* Construction, consisting of The Time of Harvesting, followed by the Time of Forging Very Hot Metal

## Pop Culture References

* Cinderella
* Alice in Wonderland
What Was I Meant to Do?

**What Was I Meant to Do?** is a short story in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. It is a standalone story featuring Dave Smith.

Best read after Discount Armageddon, but no other continuity requirements!

## Synopsis

Whatever happened to Verity's old boss from Dave's Fish and Strips, the eponymous Dave?  How does bogeyman society deal with angering the Price family?  Do we know where he wound up?

## Plot

After betraying Verity, Dave knows he can't stay in New York, and goes on the run before she and Istas wake up and escape. He makes his way to a bogeyman community in Pennsylvania, but has to keep moving when rumors of the events in New York reach there. He travels across the country, avoiding Ohio since he knows there are Prices there, and eventually ends up in New Mexico. He finds work as a bartender at his cousin Marjory's place, Bottoms Up, and is content to live out the rest of his days there. One day, Drew Baker arrives and confronts him in the dark, letting him live with the knowledge that they know exactly where he is.

## Characters

* Dave Smith
* Verity Price (prologue)
* Istas (prologue)
* Carol, Dave's sister
* Pammy
* Marjory, Dave's cousin
* Drew Baker

**Mentioned**

* Kitty Smith
* Derek (presumably Kitty's brother)
* Angela Baker (not by name)
* Martin Baker (not by name)
* Jane Harrington-Price
* Rose Marshall (not by name)
* Alice Price-Healy (not by name)
* Deirdre
* Sarah Zellaby

## Cryptids

* Bogeyman
* Waheela

**Mentioned**

* Wadjet
* Tooth fairy
* Dragon
* Tanuki
* Wulver
* Cuckoo
* Revenant
* Swamp Hag
* Ghoul
* Fūri
* Gorgon
* Hitchhiker
* Routewitch
* Chupacabra

## Locations

* Manhattan, New York City
	+ Dave's Fish and Strips
	+ Carol's place

* Pennsylvania
* Maryland
* West Virginia
* Kentucky
* Illinois
* Missouri
* Oklahoma
* New Mexico
	+ Bottoms Up

## Quotes

* “We lost, but that doesn’t make us losers. The tables, once turned, can always turn again. We simply have to wait for the opportunity.” --Bogeyman proverb”
* “My own kind allowed me to be stolen and sold to a human family as a pet. They didn’t come to find me when I was taken by a known predator.”
[...]
“‘My own kind’? The Prices are my own kind, because they’re the ones who didn’t try to murder me while I was still an infant.” --Drew Baker
Naga

**Naga**, also referred to as **Uncle Naga**, is a character in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. He appears in the Jonathan and Frances prequels, and in Spelunking Through Hell. He is a snakelike species called a lamia, and a professor of interdimensional studies.

Naga becomes a regular friend of the family, attending Thanksgiving dinners and inspiring fond memories in Alice. He cannot eat vegetables or cooked meat, so they give him a casserole dish full of live frogs.

## About

### Appearance

Naga is a lamia, with a humanoid upper body and serpentine lower body. He has no hair, eyes with slit pupils, and his scales get larger further down his body. When he and Alice first met, he was about 20 feet long. By 2021, he's 50 feet long.

### Abilities

Naga is fluent in English as well as his native lamia tongue, and is able to use interdimensional portal charms to travel between worlds.

### Professional Life

Naga is a professor of Interdimensional Studies at the University of K'Larth.

## In the Series

### Snakes and Ladders

During Halloween 1944, our time, a group of snake cultists kidnapped Alice Healy to sacrifice when they summoned him. Naga, being a pacifist and vegetarian, has an academic conversation with her instead. When Mary and Frances arrive to rescue her, Alice declares Naga her friend.

### Spelunking Through Hell

Alice visits Naga to renew her skin and replenish her magic tattoos.

## Relationships

### Alice Price-Healy

Naga was the one who first helped her travel between dimensions when she began her search for Thomas, and over the years he has become used to her dropping by, often injured. He has added small comforts for Alice's visits, like clothing, cushions, and meat she can cook herself.

## Trivia

**Naga** are half-snake, half-humanoid beings in Hindu mythology.

## References

1. ↑ Off-Balance
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Spelunking Through Hell Ch. 4
3. ↑ Snakes and Ladders
4. ↑ Spelunking Through Hell Ch. 4-5
The Flower of Arizona

**The Flower of Arizona** is an InCryptid short story. It is the first in the Jonathan and Frances Shorts.

## Synopsis

Something is killing people in Arizona...and whatever it is, it's not anything currently known to science. Left unchecked, this new predator could call down a Covenant strike team on the state, endangering the lives of uncounted innocent cryptids. Faced with this immediate threat to the cryptid community, the Healy family has no choice but to send a representative to check it out. And as the youngest Healy, Jonathan inevitably draws the short straw.

Naturally, things can't be as easy as "take the train to Arizona, find out what's killing people, make it stop, go home." There's the desert heat to contend with, along with over-friendly locals, a traveling circus that seems to follow the predator's path, and a golden-haired trick rider who may or may not know more than she's letting on. It's enough to drive a gentleman cryptozoologist to distraction—and that's before the mice get involved.

That's really not addressing the fact that anything with a taste for human flesh is likely to regard Jonathan himself as potential prey, and he is, after all, so very, very far from home...

## Plot

Jonathan Healy arrives in Tempe, Arizona following reports of a string of deaths that have followed the Campbell Family Circus over the last six months. He travels with a small sect of Aeslin mice. On his way into the carnival, he runs into a blonde woman who is the only rude person he's met since his arrival. The woman hurries away, but once the show starts he recognizes her as the headline act: Fabulous Fran, the Flower of Arizona. The mouse accompanying to the show declares Fran Blessed by the Gods as she performs a rodeo show that involves throwing knives while standing on horseback.

Jonathan visits her backstage after the show. She is difficult when he tries to question her, and when he tries to pull a gun she shows off her deadly knife skills. The Aeslin mouse appears from Jonathan's jacket, hailing Frances as a priestess and interrupting their standoff.

After some discussion and disbelief, Fran convinces Jonathan that she is not the murderer. The two set out together in search of the real culprit.Their hunt leads them to a North American Questing Beast. which they manage to kill. They drag it back to Fran's trailer, than confront Paul, the circus's owner. He acquired the Questing Beast as an attempt to revitalize the carnival and sees no issue with the collateral damage. Fran kills him.

Jonathan ships the Questing Beast back to Michigan for further study, and then he and Fran get on an eastward bound train out of Arizona.

## Characters

* Jonathan Healy
* Frances Brown / Priestess of Unexpected Violence
* Paul Campbell
* Rabbit

**Mentioned**

* Alexander Healy
* Enid Healy
* Bull (strongman, deceased, first victim)

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice
* North American Questing Beast

**Mentioned**

* Oread

## Locations

* Tempe, Arizona

**Mentioned**

* Buckley Township, Michigan
Crossroads Guardian

**Crossroads Guardians** appear in the Ghost Roads series. They represent the interests of the Crossroads, and are the counterpart to crossroads ghosts.

## Price Family Field Guide

The flipside of the crossroads ghost is the crossroads guardian, a being which was never alive in the traditional sense, but which now represents the interests of the crossroads in all things. When asked about crossroads guardians, Mary Dunlavy's response consisted of a single word: "Run."

## About

"He feels like an absence in the cornfield next to me, a space that happens to be shaped like a man. A man who, when I look at him from the corner of my eye, seems vaguely familiar, like he could have been one of the younger teachers at my high school, but who, when I look at him directly, isn't there to see."

Crossroads guardians were never alive. All they care about is making their deals.

## Characters

* Mary worked with a crossroads guardian to broker the deal of Bobby Cross. The guardian persuaded her into believing the deal was a fine one, taking advantage of her naivete.
* Rose and Bethany encounter a crossroads guardian when Bethany makes her deal. The guardian tries to convince Rose she could have come to the crossroads for help instead of the routewitches, but Rose smart mouths him instead.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sparrow Hill Road, "Crossroads Bargains"
2. ↑ Sparrow Hill Road, "The Killing of Route 14"
The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork

**The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork** is an InCryptid short story, following Sam Taylor taking Antimony's Aeslin mice to the airport and their subsequent journey. It takes place before Magic for Nothing's epilogue.

## Synopsis

There are two concurrent plot threads of Mork and Mindy making their way through the airport and Sam in the Hotel the carnival is staying at being harassed by Mary and his Grandmother.

## Plot

Sam drops off Mindy and Mork ad is comforted by then that they can indeed make the journey without his help.

...

Mary drops in again and shows voyeuristic tendencies.

...

The mice meet a dragon princess and are able to negotiate passage to the family compound.

## Characters

**Major**

* Mindy
* Mork
* Sam Taylor
* Emery Spenser
* Mary Dunlavy

**Minor**

* Ananta
* Item

**Mentioned**

* Antimony Price
* Ada Healy
* Ananta's brothers

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice
* Fūri
* Dragon princess
* Wadjet

**Mentioned**

* Dragons

## Locations

* Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport

**Mentioned**

* Item

## Organizations

* Spenser and Smith Family Carnival

**Mentioned**

* Campbell Family Carnival

## Continuity

* Mindy is indeed pregnant as Antimony intuited.
* The various Dragon nests are still clamoring for males to revive the species.

## Trivia

* This is the first time it's confirmed that the Aeslin have information that they have not shared with the prices.

### Aeslin Proverbs

“Remember who we were. Remember who we are. Remember that one day, all of this will change. The gods provide. All else is up to us." --from the Aeslin litany of Faiths Forsaken and Yet to Come.