Chilluminati Podcast - Episode 242 - Cryptids and Folklore of Romania

Episode Date: March 17, 2024

Mike, Jesse and Alex head to Romania this time around to take a look at all the scary (and cool?) myths, folklore and legends that catch their interest. Would they have a drink with them though? MERCH - http://www.theyetee.com/collections/chilluminati Special thanks to our sponsors this episode - All you lovely people at HTTP://PATREON.COM/CHILLUMINATIPOD Stamps - http://www.stamps.com PROMO CODE: CHILL HeroForge - http://www.heroforge.com PROMO CODE: CHILL Jesse Cox - http://www.youtube.com/jessecox Alex Faciane - http://www.youtube.com/user/superbeardbros Editor - DeanCutty http://www.twitter.com/deancutty Art Commissioned by - http://www.mollyheadycarroll.com Theme - Matt Proft

Hello everybody and welcome back to the Chiluminati Podcast episode 242. As always, I am one of your hosts, Mike Martin, joined by the Dracula and Wolfman of LA, Jesse and Alex. And actually I got to be the Wolfman, right? I don't know, man. I think you're more cultured. You think I'm more cultured? I think I'm more. I think you're more of a Dracula. Yeah. But look at me.

I mean, I can see the argument. Yeah. I mean, like, look, looks, you've got the wolf man vibe, but Culturally, yeah, I feel like if anyone's gonna hang around at night Flying through windows biting necks. It's gonna be you and you're gonna be popping out of your trousers in the bushes? Yeah, I'm gonna be bursting out of my pants. Alex is the half and half one from the Underworld franchise. Oh, that's good, yeah. I'll be part, what is it, Lycantents? No, what are they called?

The Lycants. Wait, if we get to be movie character vampires, I wanna be Deacon Frost. Oh, dude, see, now he's right back on the vampire train. I want to be Deacon Frost. Oh dude, see now he's right back on the vampire chain. I want a blood tornado. I'll be the Antonio Banderas. What is it? What is the name of that movie? Interview with the vampire. Oh, then I'm going to be Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise. The Van Helsing of like all the franchises then? No, then we'd have to kill you. You just want to come kill us? But like, okay, what if I'm not Van Helsing, but I'm like his second cousin who just wants to sleep with the supernatural?

No, that's why you're the creature from the Black Lagoon, because you're under the water reaching for the titties upside down. Yes, yes! Oh well, I don't know if I like that. I don't know if I like- And he's afraid of fire, so like it all checks out. And he's made from the body parts of six or seven dead people pulled from their grave right right right wait no this is not who I want to be this sounds more and more like I'm a serial killer like

no he's he's actually the one good guy originally you said I want to be the Van Helsing of the tale which is like the most serial killer guy that you could be if you're a vampire well I've only Frankenstein is the least killy of all the monsters yeah he only killed one or two small boys. I've seen the Van Helsing movie, OK, so like, you know, I'm thinking about. The Van Helsing movie, I'm going to help you out. It's not going to be accurate to the real literature. Isn't isn't your boy Frankenstein in there?

Isn't that right, y'all? Isn't it a fucking there was a there was a Christian Bale Frankenstein? No, There was a Christian Bale, Frankenstein? No, not Christian Bale, Harvey Dent. Oh, God. Oh, no, he was not Frankenstein, was he? I think he was in another movie about, that was like in the Van Helsing. Daniel Radcliffe was Igor?

In what? So Aaron Eckhart was in I, Frankenstein in 2014 where he played the monster. I forgot about I Frankenstein. That's right. And Bill Nighy plays Nebarious, the demon prince. Right, from Frankenstein. I forgot about the demon prince in the famous story.

Nebarious. That's like the guy at the Willy Wonka experience that just added this unknown character. The unknown! Dude, we're not even at the- Miranda Otto is in the movie as Leonore the gargoyle queen. Mama. Uh, and uh, Bill and uh, Yvonne Strahovski from Mass Effect and Chuck, uh, is Dr. Tara Wade, uh, from StarCraft, a world-renowned electrophysiologist employed by the demon Nibarius to research reanimation of dead matter. What do you think about that? Dude, I need to watch that movie. That sounds like the stupidest thing I've ever heard of my entire life.

Check it out on Rotten Popcorn, available at our Patreon, which I'm about to talk about right now. Patreon.com slash ChiluminatiPod, the only place you can go to support this show. Isn't that crazy? You can go there, you can support the show. We keep making it. And even the people who can't afford to support it, then go on to listen to it. And somehow in that twisted little version of events, you're a hero. So get out there, go to patreon.com slash Chiluminati pod, watch our, uh, broad

popcorn episode that we may or may not record about I Frankenstein. And it's my turn this week or this episode coming up. So you got a buckling from my could be a hero. You could be a hero. Patreon.com slash to my pod. You could be here. Even you could be you unicorn or overlord available now. More of a overlord available now. Do great game. I'm playing the demo of it right now. That's really fun by the way. Yeah, excellent art is gorgeous in the food. I'm just going to say the food art is spectacular. I just mentioned it as a joke because it has a funny name,

but it does look great. I love ogre battle. I love, I love ogre battle. Let's not like strategy tactics games. Yeah. Like ogre tactics and shit. This is a game. We're not joking. We're this is not a brand deal. Just go ahead and check the game. No, no, but if they want to sponsor us, I'm open. Let me know. VanillaWare. This is your call. Please. We're not joking. We're this is not a brand deal. Just go ahead and check the game. No, no, but if they want to sponsor us, I'm open. Let me know where this is your call. Please. We'll do it. We'll do a full unicorn episode. If you are the PR person for vanilla wear or Atlas or whoever the fuck put

this game out, please contact us. We will do it a full episode on unicorns for unicorn overlord. And all you gotta do is give me a code for the game on Nintendo switch. How about that? I love it. Done love it done done I if I were their CEO you would have sold me right there perfectly shameless as all things should be it's become clear boys we're not gonna be able to top last week's episode as well so we're gonna try our best you mean just in in in like in sheer journalistic relevance yeah and sheer relevance and I must say it's shocking

to me how much of you listening right now love that episode. I told you why. I thought for sure that was madness incarnate. Any illusion that you may be under that we are anything more than a like a light jape when it comes to like intellectual discourse on any of these topics. If you think we're anything besides a thirst slaking diversion on top of anybody's deep sips of knowledge. We do a fair amount.

Would you give yourself a PhD in anything that you've done before? Oh God, no. I am not a doctor, but I am also not just reading a Google passage. I'm not even a historian. I'm not even a journalist. No, God, no. I'm none of those things. I'm a games journalist. That's not the same thing. I'm an internet internet tainter edgy edgy.

And you're an internet. This is infotainment infotainment. There we go. That's the word I'm looking for. Exactly. Infotainment. That's what you are. But I am no a jpe, sir. That's how we are, dude. It is time once again to dive into the world of mythical creatures, cryptids, and folklore legends into a part of the world that we are not familiar with nor visited. At least I don't think either of you have visited this place is today. We're speaking about Romania in particular.

You've none of you have traveled. Jesse, you traveled around the world for a video game thing with I traveled around the world multiple times circumnavigated the globe. particular, you've none of you have traveled. Jesse, you traveled around the world for a video game thing with I've traveled around the world multiple times. I've circumnavigated the globe thrice. Yes. What can I say? It's racing Dodger around it.

What can I say? But I do. I haven't been around anybody. When I was in Poland years ago, I went to a bar under a bridge and a bunch of people showed up because I was like, I'm in Poland. Let's get crazy. And first off, amazing bar under a bridge and a bunch of people showed up. Cause I was like, yo, I'm in Poland. Let's get crazy. And it, first off, amazing bar under a bridge. But second off, we were there all night and two dudes from Romania showed up. And then never forget this because as we're there at the bar, one of the

Romanians goes missing and I feel so responsible because the dude's like, I don't know where my friends at bro, that I spent the rest of the night till 4 AM walking the streets of Warsaw, looking for this kid. We could not find him. And I had a flight the next day and I was like, all don't know where my friends at bro, that I spent the rest of the night till 4 a.m. Walking the streets of Warsaw, looking for this kid. We could not find him. And I had a flight the next day and I was like, art, you've got to let me know. If you find that I have to go, I'm so sorry. I have to go. So I went, got on my plane, came home and there was a DM on Twitter that was like,

yeah, I woke up the next day. Uh, he was in my hotel room sleeping. And, uh, and I was like, what happened? What? He's like, ah, he does it all the time. What? He just disappears in returns. You did that. And one of the main characters from Heavy Rain, and it was heavily implied

he was murdering people. So like, you know, just double check where your friends go. And if he just disappears. Look, look. Whoa. Whoa. That murder is not my friend. I met him once. I was saying you I'm saying other guy who may or may not be Look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, Thank you to David Cage for any further promotion of any of your video games. You fucking weirdo. All right. Yeah, we're in Romania today, boys. And we are discussing, I have a list of 10, if we get through them all, we'll see if we

get through them all, of different cryptids, folklorian legends, and all kinds of stuff. What's going to happen before we get through them? Are we, is there, what, you think we're going to like get too scared? No, but there are many a times where we, we're going to like get too scared? No, but there are many times where we hit. We're going to talk about the first mythical creature, one that actually you probably know, heard about, and we were talking about a little bit ago. Strigoi or vampires, vampires of the area. They're they change.

They're a little bit different, which we'll talk about why. But these guys, an ancient Slavic and Romanian traditions, held a deep respect for the dead with complex funerary rites meant to ensure the smooth transition of the soul to the afterlife. And disruptions to these rituals, whether through improper burial or the deceased harboring ill intentions,

it could lead the spirit to returning as a malevolent stregoi. Before modern medicine, death, disease, and misfortune were often like just no idea what caused what. Bad luck befalling a family or community could be blamed on a recently deceased relative's malevolence, transforming them into a stregoi seeking vengeance or sustenance from the living. They kind of like feed off of the life force of people and so on. Like in a more indirect way maybe? Like their simple existence?

Yeah, so like they used Strigoi as a reason that people were getting sick or maybe a reason somebody died. Strigoi would be? Like a living curse? Like a curse with agency? Kind of. It's more like vengeful kind get it or does it just like.

Absorb it by existing. You mean the mystery of like if it's in the area and people are getting sick it's like is it crouched is it like crouched in my house and it's like sucking my. My talent off or my my my needs my it's like sucking my, my talent off or my, my, my needs, my, it's like sucking off my like, well, let's talk about its abilities. Let's talk about it. So we'll get to its abilities and maybe that'll help clear. I'm going to use the word siphoning from now on. It's fine with me. I'm down. I know you are. I know you're fine. We suck.

There was a belief in ancient times where individuals that were born with physical peculiarities, those that were considered witches or practicing sorcery or those who died by suicide could preemptively be labeled as a potential strigoi. Really quickly, I just want to point out before you continue, because I think this is fascinating. You said with their born physical deformities, they're considered witchers or whatever, right? For much of society growing like way back, like going way back. Yeah. Hundreds thousands.

Beauty was considered a blessing by God. And if you ever want to look this up, I'm not going to take up the episode for it, but just go look up the court case of a woman who was put on trial and her defense was she's too beautiful to be evil. And so beauty, you know, it was, it was a weird thing. Whereas like if you're, if you're ugly, man, you are having a bad life. That sucks, dude. I, I wonder if I, you think I'm too pretty to be a crime man? Yeah, man. Are you too pretty to be a crime man? Yeah. Yeah, man. You're too pretty to be a crime man. Thanks. Yeah. I appreciate that.

You know, it makes me feel better at night that the cops will never arrest me. But Shagroy wasn't just a creepy ghost, it was a potent force of malevolence equipped with a wide array of interesting abilities, including shapeshifting. Shagroy were said to be able to transform into familiar animals like dogs, cats, owls, insects. This allowed them to move discreetly, spying on their victims and stalking them until they were in a prime place to be fed from. Which moves to their next ability, their life draining.

Whether through sucking of blood or more subtly sapping of victims' vitality as just like a more vague kind of attack. Surgoy were fueled by the life essence of living things. This explained the lingering illnesses or mysterious deaths that brought upon their targets by using their life draining victims vitality as the reason somebody got really sick and died. And it's a physical person, Alex, to clarify. It's a physical thing that would have to be next to you and be like, Yeah, it sucks you. Or it just kind of does it by kind of being like an absorbing. Yeah. But you still need to be near. You know who could be a sturgoyoi the blonde witch from Hocus Pocus

Yes. Yes, because he would be a strigoi. She would be more like um, she sucks all the life force out of kids I'm trying to think of like a reference that Alex would know immediately in Witcher 3 The lady from the trailer I think the Striga, the like redheaded woman. And he like meets her in the forest. Yes. Yes. And the trailer, I think that would be a Strigoi or whatever they would call it in that. It's gotta be a Striga.

It's the same as a Striga for sure. Oh yeah. For sure. Definitely. Yeah, it's similar. I don't look, I want to tell everyone it was such a great time coming out to Indie Popcon last year. Really fun time, had a grand time, but I will tell you for sure that my biggest memories

of being at that convention was getting stoned with Mathis and then talking to him for two to three hours a night only about vampires. And I wanted to- Empyre the Masquerade. And not even, yeah, not even mythological vampires. Like a tabletop RPG. Licensed IP vampires.

But I do remember something about you bringing up something with a similar name to this at that in that, in that, uh, in that discussion, something strega, strega, something like that. Maybe there's a bunch like there's the vampires that sap life force in that are known as equation. Um, that's probably from another language, right? Yeah, it's probably from another language. They they're like, they're vampires only in that they sap life force from living things, but they don't, they're not like vampires in any other way, really. Yeah, I don't know.

I have to think. I don't know what, what, what it could have been. This feels very much to me like vampires, like as we know them, but like before the branding. Does that make sense? Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. A lot more bestial, like more into like pre-Bella Lugosi vibes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. A lot more bestial like more and three Bella Lugosi vibes Yeah, yeah exactly Of course in the reanimate form the Strigoi were often said to possess Unnatural strength and be remarkably hard to just destroy. It's like impervious to damage and lastly there are some accounts that give the Strigoi the power to Manipulate shadows as well as just purely vanish from sight. So ways to hide many ways to just kind of keep them their existence away. And a popular Romanian folk tale speaks of a young man plagued by nightmares in which

his recently deceased father calls out to him. Growing weaker each day, this family suspects the father has become or is becoming a Stigoi. They exhumed after he dies, they exhumed the corpse to find it unnaturally fresh and bloated, which kind of just sounds like a body decaying to me. Following the gruesome prescriptions of their time, they stake the heart, burn the body, scatter the ashes and for, and which is supposed to stop the strigoi from rising ever anymore. And then when they did that, their nightmares and mysterious illnesses ceased. To me, that sounds like they were very familiar

with the Strigoi legend and it made them very, gave them anxiety when their dad died. And then made them really scared. And then they got really scared after their father passed and it just like became like a source of anxiety, which probably gave them nightmares and made them feel sick all the time. Or if the course was like rotten in some way, you know, maybe they got a little bug. Like you could maybe have gotten sick at the wrong time for some reason. Maybe even got the same thing that killed the father who knows. Yeah. You know, and then you just pass it like a bug. And then, yeah. And then every time it's the anger spirit coming back of the last one, that's a

strigoi making you sick, making you die, which makes you become a strigoi. Yeah. Yeah. I can see that circular logic. I would not be surprised if that was something that like happened often. And the notion of what is true, like little. Organisms that like inject themselves into your cells and make you sick is so impossible to guess or like into it without science that it's like it might as well be the Striga the the the Strigoi you know what I mean might as well be like a the lineage of a monster. It's not any weirder or less. It's actually less weird other than the fact that we know that it's true.

I agree. I like that. It, I think a lot of that kind of like applies to a lot of other types of things. We'll go through. Thank you so much to today's sponsor, stamps.com. And as the excitement of the new year wears off, all pretty much all gone at this point as summer is right around the corner, it's probably time you find your groove if you

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free postage and a free digital scale. No long-term commitments or contracts all you got to do is just go to stamps.com click on the microphone at the top of the page and enter code chill. It's that easy. Thank you again to stamps.com for sponsoring today's video. The next one we're gonna move to is Strigoi. Like pretty classic. I think we've even done Strigoi maybe in another

cryptid one, cause it's the Strigoi is kind of in multiple different countries in that area as like a myth and a creature to be, you know, concerned about a cryptid if you were. But we haven't spoken about this one. The second one on the list is known as the ZMU, Z-M-E-U, which is like a fucking hard name to say. The Mew's origins are a kind of like natural symbolism, primeval fears and echoes of historical clashes from their past all kind of like rolled into a creature. It's very much the embodiment of natural forces. They often represent the destructive and chaotic power of nature.

They're giant people basically, they're giants. They have the ability to fly, breathe fire, control weather and it could be, they use these creatures as an explanation for thunderstorms, earthquakes, or in areas where they had them volcanic eruptions that would be witnessed by these people. Zemu would be a good cryptid, or I won't even say cryptid, folklore legend is probably more appropriate. Uh, where this is like a nature was very much this thing's domain. It's almost like a mythological creature of like, of old, right? Like, I mean, I guess this is kind of is too, but it almost doesn't, it's almost like

not real so much as it's like, wait, so what is this? So like this is pale and like skinny and has the teeth. I can visualize it. Right. It's got long, crazy looking hair and it's like, yeah, these ones are like, these ones are like dragons kind of, right? What is this? Yeah. Yeah. Like this is of course the first thing that pops up. Um, the dragon's wiki etymology of it is familiar. It's familiar. The word, the name is like, I don't think I've heard it from

this culture from from like Romanian, the name, but Zemue? Yeah, but like things I know that I've I've like things called like the shmoo or the the you know, stuff like that, like stuff that's similar in name. I think there's even like probably some Final Fantasy or like Shin Megami Tensei type. That's probably true. Yeah, yeah, I don't doubt that at all. Looking at it, especially like it's like a dragon kin man.

Kind of. But like, here's another picture of it as well that looks nothing like that. And this is why it's like hard to like pin down, like exactly what it looks like here. It's like an anthropomorphized. It's like a scaly. Yeah. And I'm going to give you. Yeah. You know, it's like a lizard. It's like a scaly. Yeah, and I'm gonna give you yeah, you know It's like a lizard man. It's like a decent with dragon wings like a dragon like in in Dark Souls 3 the like area where there's like Last reference photo I have for dragons growing out of everyone and everything

Yeah Yeah, it's like a drag. It's like a it's like a Yeah, literally like a dragon. It's like a it's like a literally like a dragon kid. Like literally know who it is. You know who exactly it is in the hit film. Jupiter ascending. Yes. The Dragon Men in that movie. Yes. 100% exactly who it is. He looks like Shenron from Dragon Ball GT. Yeah, that's exactly the same guy. Yeah. Same thing. Exact same character. Yeah, exactly. Let's go over these guys powers. So these guys are kind of interesting in that they much like I said earlier, they are giant in form. They have possess immense physical strength, capable of apparently battling entire armies or shattering mountains with a single blow. They can just like

Strigoi shape shift. Some of them can take on a handsome human form to deceive or manipulate others, underscoring just like their constant chaos that they are seeding. Oh, little do they know, they do not need that magic power anymore. Oh no, not anymore. They can fly and breathe fire

as that dragon-like ability imbued into them. And some of them are depicted with multiple heads. There are some that may that have three, six, or even nine to 12 heads. Each severed head may regenerate unless vanquished in a particular way, making them near impossible to kill. So they're both Hydra and I guess the heads don't grow back. Some of them are Hydra. Like there's not not a common thing.

It's just some are predicted that way. Again, it sounds like fan fiction for Scalies. Like, yeah, no, I'm a lizard kin, but also I have wings and I'm a Hydra too. Like, okay. All right. Yeah. Like a character I created in high school to write fanfic about that just was way too powerful. Like your custom insert character into fucking Dragon Ball Z. It's like I'm Shenron, but upgraded. We're going to over real quick a quick beloved Romanian fairy tale named

Pracilia the Brave and the Golden Apples. We're not gonna read the whole thing, just like a rundown of it. The youngest and often underestimated son, Pracilia, undertakes a perilous quest to rescue his brothers from the clutches of fearsome Zmei. These Zmei live in splendid castles and hoard treasures like dragons that we know of in Western mythology,

including the magical golden apples. Armed with courage and enchanted weapons, Priscilla overcomes each Zemeu, their strengths growing more formidable with each confrontation until he finally emerges victorious. So yeah, it's like a classic hero fantasy story of him going to slay a dragon except it's a bunch of them that are just more and more and more powerful as

they go along. So yeah, this is the main what do you we haven't all we forgot to set up a ranking system. Fuck. We always do a ranking system. I got this. I got this. Okay, I'm gonna assume Ursus is your most popular beer Romanians. It's the first one I found. However, it may not be true. Don't hold against me. How likely on a scale of one to ten, ten being the most likely. How much or how likely would you be to go have a drink with this person?

Like an Ursus and have an Ursus with them. I love it. Okay, start with this Turgoy. Let's get started. Number one. Oh, a ten. I want to I imagine they've got so much stuff going on. I think he's the vampire and I'm the wolf. Yeah, I was the same and they

don't they're interested in having a beer with you at all. They just want to suck your life force away which is why I give them a 10. It's going to that makes sense for me. I would immediately be like what is the deal like how does this even work? Why are you sucking like what's going on? How you suck in, bro? And dude, like, why? Like, what's it like?

Let's go get a drink. I have to get a one. Do I have to give it a one? Can I give it a zero? You give it a zero as much as you want. OK, I'm going to give it a zero on the beers. I don't want to get I don't want to drink a beer. The vampire number one.

Waste of time. Vampires can't drink beer. Number two. It's going to kill me. It's going to drink me instead of the beer. Exactly. Exactly that. Yeah.

But then I'll be drunk. Then he'll get drunk and that's hilarious. So that's, and that's just a good time. That's 10 dude. That's just vibes. Yeah. That's just, that's just vibe. That's just straight up this guy's mu, uh, like a seven.

I feel like we can shout out of the world. If he's getting drunk, I'm worried. I feel like we can shadow the world if he's getting drunk. I'm worried. I'm much higher. I'm much higher on the on the scale with the second guy. I feel like maybe we could convince him. He looks like a D&D guy. Like, yeah, he just wants to chat. Like maybe he wasn't even made into a dragon. He's only going to talk about himself. He's only going to talk about his backstory. I want to know about it. Really intricate. It's too much for me. It's too much. No, I think that's why I'd be into it because I'd love all that stuff So I would I'll give it like an I think I give it an eight person. I'm a giver. Yeah, what'd you say? Alex would you score him seven seven and Jesse seven? Oh, okay. All right, two sevens

All right. All right. Now we'll move on to the next one on the list This one is known as the solo Manari, which is such a fucking cool ass name. I love it so much Solo Manar that sounds like some Star Trek shit right there known as the Solomonari, which is such a fucking cool ass name. I love it so much. Solomonari. The Solomonari? That sounds like some Star Trek shit right there. I'm all in. Solomonari is like the plural for Solomonar. Okay. Yeah.

So let's get over their appearance first. These guys are marked by the skies. The Solomonari is often described as lean and weathered. Their skin bearing scars are intricate markings from their battles amongst the clouds. Is it a humanoid? Yes, yep. Okay, okay.

That's literally to say they look human. Their eyes might hold an unusual glint, reflective of their otherworldly experiences. And after completing training, some Solomonari returned to the villages that they came from, serving as protectors and even healers. Others prefer a more solitary existence, their presence a mix of kind of respect and fear. And then there's the Balars book. They're said to carry a power powerful

books containing their knowledge of weather control. Timeout, timeout. Are these just D&D characters? No, like they sound like a Gandalf and Solomon. Are they just the wizards that would be in Lord of the Rings? Except they're also like trained to like fight with swords. They have like combat in the sky. Literally Gandalf rolls around with a sword. What are they called? They sound like wizards.

Is the, they're called something. Uh, Oh, the Ishtar. The Ishtar. Oh, that does sound familiar wizards. They're called something. Oh, the Ishtar, the Ishtar. Oh, that does sound familiar, yeah. The original wizards that are like these ancient beings that come to earth and they don't really remember who they are, I think, at first. These guys, but you're saying these are just people from a village that then go train

and then come back wizards. These are not born into their power, they're chosen. It's believed that certain babies are marked with a call, which is part of the amniotic sac, or other unusual birthmarks signaling their potential. And then legends say that these marked children around the age of seven are spirited away by Elder Suleimanari to begin a rigorous,

decades-long apprenticeship. Harry Potter, dude! This is Link. This is the hero of time, Link, right here. This is what we're talking about. I love this! This training is said to occur in a secret place called Solomonari, or Solomonanta, depending on where you, who kind of says it, often believed to be a remote mountain cave or even located

somewhere beyond the edge of the earth. So the land behind the ice walls boys. It's true. It's true. I love this. I need more information. Mathis more information on the Sula Minari school. Students learn a mysterious language rumored to be the tongue of animals and nature itself. This grants them the ability to whisper to the to the moth and the butterfly and then the eagles come? Oh my God. This grants them the ability to understand

and control the elements of the sky as well. They're also storm riders. Their most striking power is the ability to mount and command fearsome dragons called the Balauri. And together, Sulamunari and their dragons battle the forces that bring devastating hail storms a vital role in protecting agrarian communities. So somebody heard thunder and made up like the sickest story ever.

Someone was like had the most badass imagination ever. Yeah. I must stress to you. I went to go look up the ball Ari to see what they look like. This makes it even better. According to this, they hung out with the Solmonar people, but more importantly, they also hung out with the new guys. They were all crew. They all were like they rolled together. Here's a picture of it from that's

awesome. I love this. This I yeah, I'm glad this is one of my favorite ones. There's a picture of it from that's awesome. I love this. Dude, this I, yeah, I'm glad this is one of my favorite ones. There's a picture of them just depicted in like a ancient drawing. Jesus Christ. Literal dragon writers, like dragon writing wizards. He's literally riding a dragon. That's just what he's doing. Literally, I just want to stress,

what are the best part about this? Perth? Pern? The best part about this image is it's like, the dragon looks almost like one of the gargoyle dragons, which is fine. Dragons, whatever. But imagine a dragon, like the most fearsome dragon you can picture in your imagine dragons, imagine dragons. But then on top of the dragon holding the reins is an old man with a literal cane, like a curved cane that that's his weapon. That's awesome.

Yep. This is cool as hell. Victories over hail storms aren't complete without dealing the spoil. Soliman Ari are said to gather the conquered hail and store it in hidden locations within caves and mountain fortresses or some even believe in a lake beyond the known world. And the Solimanari are not strictly benevolent figures either their ability to call storms also holds destructive potential. A Solimanari scorned or angered

might bring drought, floods or even direct lightning strikes upon their enemies. So yeah, it is another they're just they're the most badass reason for bad weather. Lightning bolt. Yeah, yeah. on their enemies. So yeah, they're the most badass reason for bad weather. Lightning bolt. Yeah, yeah. Oh, boys, I should take you LARPing one day. Oh my God, I've been LARPing for years.

I LARPed for years. I love it. It's so much fun. So that's a Solimanari. They're kind of just like another weather metaphor in a lot of ways. It's just like more bad weather. They're like the thralls of Zeus in a way.

Yeah. It would be bad ass to be like, to have like a Solminar show up in town and just to take a seven-year-old away and be like, you come. Mom can't say anything. It's like when the Jedi come and take a kid to go to Jedi training. It really is the Jedi. Yeah.

It is. You don't really get to say anything. You just go and you don't see him for decades. And then when they come back, they're all weird and different. That's cool. I love this. Romania, you have good creatures and or people, creatures and or people. Um, all right, we've got to rank the sucker.

Oh, 11, 11. Yeah, I would have, I would buy more than one, one beer for this wizard. Oh, yeah. And one beer from this wizard. More than one beer from this wizard. For the wizard. I give him a 10-2. Final Fantasy 10-2. Final Fantasy 10-2.

I didn't play that one. Was it good? Yeah. I must stress you must play it because it's insane. Actually, fuck yeah. It rules. Man, I'm playing through Final Fantasy Rebirth. Okay, so like, and I finished remake. Ins insane seems to be part for the course right now.

Great follow-up to to to one of the best Final Fantasy reviewed Final Fantasy games of all time. By the way, Final Fantasy 10 to I don't I can't think of a better follow-up for you. So that's great. All right. All right. Yeah, I'll put on my list. It's available on all major platforms. Square Enix. I'm looking at you guys.

This could be back to our video game deals all the time. Yeah. Thank you so much to today's sponsor, HeroForge. I'm so happy we're working with them again, by the way. I love it. I don't know if you know, but I've been a tabletop RPG guy for, oh, do I want to date myself? Yeah, like over 20 years anyway, uh, and you know doing minis and getting minis is one of the best parts of it

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on your own or you can get them fully colored on your own and with a bunch of different bases for different game sets. It's my favorite fucking place to go and if you're like me and you ended up investing in a 3d printer you could still use hero forge all the models that you make you can just buy from them for their stl files for super cheap and you can just print it at home i love hero forge i love being a nerd in tabletop rpgs and minis it's just so much fun and uh if you want to check it out and you want to hear me stop gushing about this stuff, just head over to heroforge.com. We actually got a code this time around.

So if you use code chill, you're going to get 5% off all of your orders of physical miniatures. So go over to heroforge.com, make your mini, make your game awesome, upgrade your tabletop experience and use code chill for 5% off your physical miniatures. Thank you again to heroforge for working with us again and sponsoring today's video. The next up on our list of insane creatures is the Prickly

Chi. I'm sorry. That sounds a little easy. The way you're saying that makes it sound Italian. It's I mean, you know, here you go. I copy pasted the way you spell it. The way I see it looks Italian also. Yeah. I mean, you know, uh so at their core, it looks like a character in Dragon Ball. What? Yeah, kinda. Yeah, a little bit. It's a little bit piccolo. It's like, yeah, kind of. Rick, I think it sounds like some type of like liquor that tastes like shit. From like 19 to 1905. Yeah, you mix it with Goldschlager and you make it like it's called the werewolf treat.

They drank this on the deck. The Titanic before it sank. That's what they were going after in that submersible. And that bottle of whatever the last bottle, the last bottle of prickly. At their core, prickly share just undead spirits cursed to roam the world in the form of monstrous wolves. Their origins are often tied to a life of violence, wickedness,

or those cursed to become werewolves after death. Can I just say in the back back in the olden days, if you were an evil fuck, you'd just die and become a badass creature. You don't go into a punishment world, you just become something scarier. It's not a good way to dissuade people from being evil. Probably normal people, but not people who have a paranormal podcast. Yeah, well, yeah, we're a niche in a niche, okay?

So let me ask you a question then So these are like wolf bad man monsters that maybe aren't necessarily werewolves in the same way that we're thinking about but they are The same shape as werewolves But is that different than the Varka lock? What I What okay, there's a Romanian. I think it's Romanian. Jesus Christ. I hope that I am not listening. May not be on the list is the thing. I that's not a name that I put on this. That's that's the Romanian werewolf that I have heard of. I don't know. Maybe they're the same thing. Maybe they're different. Maybe it's just a different word. No, this

is different. Hang on. We'll put we'll slip this in. Just two separate entirely different wolf. This is a different wolf creature. Sweet, so this is. Sweet wolves. This apparently is a prickly or however one would say is supposedly the like most violent, worst people that enjoyed chaos and blood and life became them. Yes. And basically instead of being like, I guess a lot of the time werewolves are, yeah, they have to feed and whatever, but the, the idea of a werewolf is like, there's some sentience there. This is like, no, they're just, they all, they aren't werewolves. You don't go back to being a man. Sometimes it's like werewolves unleashed wolf man. Yeah. They're full on,

they just eat and feast and they're bad people. You're just now a man sometimes. It's like werewolves. Unleashed. Wolf man. Yeah, they're full on, they just eat and feast and they're bad people. You're just now a wolf guy. Like they're literally depicted, basically a majority of the time as just larger than ordinary wolves. They might have like red eyes, a weird aura around them, or even have like shadowy semi-transparent forms,

like a semi-spirit, but the Pricolici retain a bestial lust for blood and life force. That's nice. So you only have to buy pants once and then... Yeah. They prowl the countryside attacking livestock, but can also target humans, sometimes fixating on their former families, with terrifying malice.

The Pricolici's weapons aren't limited to just its bite either. Legends often tell of them manipulating the weather to cloak themselves in smog, or not smog, fog. LA wolves would be smog. Summoning storms or even possessing the ability to vanish in an instant. They do have very similar weaknesses to like stragoi and stuff, but it's, prickly-che is like very difficult to fend off.

Garlic, religious symbols symbols and sunlight might offer a little bit of protection stalling it a bit, but it won't ever fully stop the creature straight up. Like any from the mummy, man, you need more than silver bullets or just like any of that stuff stories, according to legend mentioned beheading or impaling the corpse of the steak, much like the Strigoi, sometimes a priest conducting specific rites or the burning of the body may be necessary to finally end the creature's evil existence. But there are rare tales out there, rare as they may be, they exist, that suggest a captured

Prickly Chi might plead for release, even regaining human appearance for a short while. However, these narratives often end in betrayal. I was about to say, that's a trick. Reverting to its monstrous form to wreak more havoc afterwards. So yeah, you know, keep it. It basically was an explanation for livestock being killed probably by wildlife or whatever. Or just like us. I guess it's like a warning story for kids.

But I mean, yeah, it's weird. It's a weird one. But yeah, I'm now we're going to, let's jump right over to varcalac real quick. Uh, so here's what I've got on varcalac in my quick research. Um, varcalac is a word that's derived from the Bulgarian term or werewolf. So this is like a full werewolf. So the other thing that's is a wolf, wolf with human parts. This yeah a guy that were back

and forth yeah these are the varcal act though hold a unique place in Roman mythology blending the werewolf aspects with a potent like cosmic role apparently one of their core traits is its ability to devour the Sun or moon holy shit and connected to the phenomenon of eclipses instilling like so I guess that makes sense. Kind of wolf like in a way. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And it kind of gives like the moon like, or like an eclipse, like a kind of sense of foreboding if it's these things. Legends state that the Varkala Varka

lock G can be born as such so they can be like genetically a lupine, often the result of a pregnant woman being looked upon by a wolf. What? Yeah, that's what it says here. There's also the belief that those who break religious fasting rules or commit certain sins can be transformed after death. So after you die, you become a werewolf, which again just sounds fucking badass. Like your mom is looked upon by a wolf, now you're a werewolf.

But if you die by not following God's rules, you're a werewolf too. That's kind of cool. Poor kid doesn't get a choice, but I mean, this guy, just all you have to do is not fast and you're going to become one. So they have these ability, following abilities, they can also shape the shadows, which seems to be a running theme through a lot of these cryptids and creatures and mythology. They can also, yeah, eating of the sun and moon, which we talked about. And while they can attack with claws and fangs, the Varkolox threat is more than just physical.

They symbolize a disruption of cosmic balance, bringing darkness and uncertainty during times already imbued with superstitious fear. So they're like an omen, they're like a werewolf. They're all kinds of stuff, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah. As far as protecting yourself from these things, light and sound, villagers would traditionally

make as much noise as possible, ringing bells, pots, pans, slapping them against, it's just like chaos noise scares them away. Then you got rituals and religion and prayers. The end of the day, some lore also says that they're a harbinger of greater apocalypse, that there's more bad things coming. So yeah, just like an Omen, it's like an Omen amplifier. He's the moth man.

He's a vampire. He's like a God eater of cosmic bodies. And that's all I got for you on this quick go with this thing. So let's start, let's go back to the prickly G drink, drink scale. Oh, for both of these guys, one, it's gonna be low. It's gonna be low. I'm gonna, I want to give them both low, maybe like a one or two, just because they're sick, just because they're rad. But between the two of them, if I had to choose one that I had to have a drink with, I would choose the Varcolac just because I didn't know about

any of that cosmic business. And that's intriguing to me. They literally are the whole premise is they're bad people to begin with. Like they're evil. Yeah. But like, I said zero on the prickly. Gee, I would give a six to the, uh, the Varka lock or what it was. What? But, but it has to be one that was born one. I don't want one that became one after he died.

Cause he was, you know, he didn't fast or whatever. I want to know what it's like for one that was born one I don't want one that became one after he died because he was you know, he didn't fast whatever I want to know what it's like for one who was mother was looked upon by a wolf and they were born a werewolf Essentially because they who says they have to be bad. Why do they got to be bad? Damn, dude That's why you're gonna save them all you serious. All right, I I I can fix her right like I can fix her That's why I gotta be a her him. I'll fix him. I can fix him too. I'll fix right. I, I, I'm not, I can fix her, right? Like I can fix her. That's why it's gotta be a her. Him. I'll fix him. I can fix him too. I'll fix them. I'll fix everyone. I'll fix you all.

That's just a reminder to get your pets fixed. The patreon.com slash. All right. Next one, Jesse, this was another one I marked as you would probably really enjoy. I didn't actually think you would enjoy the, uh, How did you mark it? Did you put a J by it for just put a giant like rock hard cock next to it. Nice. So like, but why put a stone chicken there? It doesn't make sense. Uh, all right. So I went to how to pronounce this. So this is the yellow yellow. I have to say it like that. You bring your shoulders up, your

chin, go yellow. I'm going to link it like that. You have to bring your shoulders up, get out your chin, and go yele. I'm gonna link it. It's I-E-L-E, so it looks very confusing unless you know what you're actually looking at. Yele. Yeah, these, the yele, oh sorry, I closed my little notes there for a second. The yele are fundamentally elusive fey creatures.

They are often described as beautiful, ethereal maidens likened to fairies or nymphs and maybe other Western mythologies However, they are far from benevolent spirits and can be incredibly dangerous if you piss them off There are some tales that depict the yella as born from just the air or Morning dew they just birth from nature or mourning dew, they just birth from nature. Others suggest that the connections to ancient deities are even claimed them as the restless souls of unbaptized women, which to me sounds like

it came around the time where it was like, you know, Catholic church trying to like. It sounds like the Lord Frollo from fucking Hunchback of Notre Dame came up with that one. Lord Frollo, oh God, I don't, is that like the fancy guy? Like the. He's the guy who's plagued by lust. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. It's I've only seen that movie like a couple of times

when I was a kid. It's been a while. ELA are usually linked to wild remote places like forests, meadows, caves. And they're especially known in stories about people coming to crossroads. Like kind of like how you meet the devil at the crossroads. And these you meet, Iele are often at the crossroads. Their presence is often there to cause chaos with you, more or less, to play around, to tease, to trap. They're able to, they're most famous for their entrancing nocturnal dances that draw you in, often forming circles under the moonlight,

and mortals, as they're lured into these dances, are slowly driven mad, become hopelessly lost, or sometimes even just vanish altogether. Which reminds me a lot of sirens in the open ocean, where they're drawing people in with a song, and usually men go overboard, and then they get lost in you know, The water and stuff seems like the forest version of that

ELA are also sometimes known to tempt men leading them astray and potentially even stealing their life force Another like it's which is another kind of so they're all Reminder warning to like the allure of going into the wild alone and you know fucking just dying because you got lost. While not inherently evil overall, the ELA are easily offended and disrespecting their domains, interrupting their dances, or even looking directly upon them can cause, can lead to curses, illnesses, and sometimes worse, death. Now what are these beautiful, dangerous,

fairy things look like? Well, they're often portrayed as young, breathtakingly beautiful women with long-flowing hair and mesmerizing eyes. They may wear shimmering gowns or be adorned with flowers. Some accounts even describe a yele as having translucent bodies or lacking any solid form. Sometimes they reveal monstrous aspects too, like fangs, claws, or even horse hooves

if you piss them off. In some areas, Iele are solitary spirits, and others, they exist as groups, most commonly as three to seven sisters. Their specific powers and temperament might also change subtly across Romania and different cultures and communities. The best way to save yourself from them is to simply just respect them and maintain caution. across Romania and different cultures and communities.

The best way to save yourself from them is to simply just respect them and maintain caution. Treat their territory with respect. Travelers through remote places would often leave offerings of food or flowers. It's my kind of cryptic right there. Yeah, food or flowers in hopes of appeasing them. Should you encounter any nocturnal dances, avert your eyes, or even just straight up run away altogether without looking back to break the enchantment or if they even began to enchant you. And then there's some folk remedies. Like if the misfortune of encountering a yele befalls upon somebody, various folk cures exist ranging from specific herbal remedies to complex rituals performed by village healers.

Yeah, these guys are like a weird mix of beauty and horror, but not like inherently evil, just very, very sensitive and very, very territorial. Something classically compelling or significant about like a bunch of beautiful women bathing in a glade. You know, I mean, it's like it's strong nymph dryad territory. Yeah, I don't know what I don't know what that is, but yeah, it has that essence to it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, like literally, as I said earlier, like that's like their counterparts in the West are nymphs and fairies 100%. Like that's easily what they're closest. I don't know why. I don't know why them bathing in a pool is like the thing that unites them all, but it kind of is for some reason.

I mean, just the idea of like a sexy lady in a pool is kind of a vibe for everyone ever. So here's what I'll say. That's true. That's how it's a 10. Uh, maybe an 11 because I like the idea. I knew it would be 10 for you. I like the idea that they're going to try and make me mad and like encircle

me and be like, we're going to turn you crazy. And I'm like, I already am crazy. Well, God, and then we're just going to do it. I assume. I don't know. Take my essence. It's fine. I lived a good life. It's not the greatest stories that I read. Unfortunately, I'll buy them all a drink respectfully, buy them all a drink. That's a 10 All the other guys not so much works as long as you hand them a woman Respectfully the Wizards and the nymphs and we got that's I'm forming a D&D party Give me one of those party people in a wizard and a hot nymph Really putting together like yeah, like this is a cool ass place to do a D&D campaign.

I'm right. Let's. Yeah, I want I want I want Romanian Pokemon. Now let's go. Dude, no shit. All right. All right. Are you ready for the next one?

Yes. Oh, wait, no. Ten from Jesse. What did you write? I said ten or I said hi. So I'm also a ten. A hundred percent of ten. Next up on our list is the Muma Paduri. Once again, just kind of copy paste the spelling in case you want to go hunt some. Muma Paduri. They're like troll witch type looking things

if you look at images of them. Mumauduri is a guardian spirit of the Romanian forest. Her name literally translates to mother of the forest, underscoring her connection obviously to the freaking woods that she freaking lives in and protects. This is like, I don't know if you're seeing a running theme with a lot of these themes, but it's forest related. A lot of dangers in the forest. I'll just look at a picture of Romania, right? I know. Well, no, exactly. That's what I'm saying. Like it's just a hundred percent makes sense. Uh, one of the more fascinating aspects to Mooma Paduri is her duality. Like she's neither super purely evil, but not like super good either. Uh, she's chaotic neutral.

If I were to slot her into D and D level alignment charts, um, she's often envisioned as an elderly, hideous woman, sometimes with exaggerated features or even animalistic characteristics. I saw a picture with her with like huge antlers at one with one of them. This appearance highlights her again, otherness compared to people to really represent the merger of humanity and nature. Some say that she is fiercely protective of the creatures and plants within her domain, very similar to Iele. She may punish or mislead those who hunt excessively, disrespect the woods or harm its inhabitants. Her deep connection

to the forest sometimes grants her knowledge of healing herbs and remedies, and those who approach her respectfully may gain her favor, and she may be willing to help them as a reward that was giving them a healing or an herb. So they're in like the beneficial part of it, which to me speaks of going into the woods, treating with respect, knowing what you're looking at, looking at in terms of healing herbs or herbs that might like help with maybe pain or something and just not over farming or overtaking from it. And obviously when it comes to an old witch or crone in the woods, there's a bajillion lost children stories and there's absolutely the same here. Um, sometimes mama per durie is depicted as either helping lost children find

their way home or leading them further astray if they were being mean or misbehaved or disrespectful, that kind of thing. She's like, I said, a force of nature. She's a I said, a force of nature. She can actually control the weather much like others that we've spoken about before. Like a crone, a black anus type Baba Yaga. Super unique in terms of like what she represents and how we have similar things in other cultures around the world. She'd eat a kid but if Lord Farquaad came to take all the forest creatures away she'd team up with the good ones and take them out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what?

Yes, correct. That's exactly correct. She seems cool to me. In terms of the drink scale, I'd go like an eight. Yeah, I'm a little put off by the danger, but I'm a little worried. But I love nature. I'm a man of the green as well. I'll take that. I think

I can hang with the mama mooma poot poduri. Mooma poduri. She seems like a pickle. I don't think she would kill me. Like here's the thing I'd hang but this is like an it's like a seven. Seven. Okay, but still that's still pretty high. Pretty above average. It's not bad. That's not bad. It's worth the experience. She's not inherently going to get there. But not interesting enough that I would exactly give a 10 like a like a stregoi, because that's terrifying. But also I want to know what that's I want to maybe I could be one. I don't know. What are the rules?

Did you know that did you know that there was a mumma poduri on the mass singer? Romania? Is it good? Is there more to that or is that one first place? It's you know, like it's a cop. It's a costume that they wore on the mass singer. That was the Mooma Pajuri. So it's, you know, must be quite well known in that popular. Yeah.

Well known. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Jesse, the next one is well, but not just Jesse Alex to this is one that as we talked a little bit about earlier, as you said, the Balauri are fucking cool. That's what the Sulamunari ride. And that's exactly what we're gonna talk about now.

The Balauri. These guys are often represented and represent rather untamed chaotic natural forces, much like the Sulamunari can. They also like storms, floods, earthquakes, their destructive power mirrors the sometimes unpredictable and catastrophic power of nature itself. And in many folk tales, Balauri are greedy and destructive creatures. They hoard vast treasures, kidnap princesses, and often clash with heroic figures representing

order and courage. Some scholars theorize that Baolar reflects memories of historical clashes with nomadic invaders or foreign empires. The fantastical form of the dragon may have evolved from exaggerated accounts of powerful leaders and their intimidating beasts of war that they would not have been familiar with as they were being invaded. Like other things we've talked about, this thing is potentially multi-headed as well. They can have up to three heads as the common. Some of them describe

them with nine. This adds to their like weird hard to kill like stuff like the other creature we're talking about that weird multi-headed dragon type thing. And yeah, it's exactly from the, rather Priscilla, that was the name of it. Priscilla and the brave and the golden apples. Like that's a story of her going through that kind of thing. So yeah, there's just, you know, Blowery, just a quick little bit more about them. They're not really creatures you can get a drink with though. So I don't know. They're like sentient enough. No, they're often just depicted as animals and hoarding wealth. They're not, they're

they're ridden as like beasts of war and more than they're actually like sentient creatures. Do you think it would? Drink beer if it was sentient enough, no, like if there was like a trough full of beer like, oh, I see, I see. You know what? Yes, I think it's like for like, like, let's say, let's say the sullimanari come down and like park at the bar like come down and like park at the bar like I pour like a trough of a of Ursus out in the in the street for the for the I like that I'm gonna say yes you probably can in that. It, you know, I, I'd be into that through like a fence at the, at the ranch. This is a 10 because in my mind it's like shadow facts, the mount of a great wizard. And so, you know, yeah, you know, this dude, he'd be sipping the same thing. The wizard sipper, the wizard comes down with a little like flask of something

and he gives it to his, he gives it to his dragon his dragons you know they're friends the wizard probably talk to him so i want to know as a 10 all right you sold me i was afraid of this thing initially i was going to rate it really low but both of you have like there's a way we could do this where safety is involved and you actually get like to meet a wizard so how am i even going to get this thing to come to me without a wizard with me right Right. Right. Exactly. I mean, it'll it'll attack your village maybe with bad weather. So you can go looking for it when you get hit by like a thunderstorm. You might be nearby. No. OK, let's move on to the next one.

Yeah. Some a Samka Samka. I'm pretty sure that's how you say it. I'm going to it's pretty much spelled how it said the Samka, unlike many of the creatures that we've discussed so far, Samka is literally just purely demonic energy entity. It's often depicted as a monstrous being, grotesque, terrible, representing the literal embodiment of evil. The exact origins of the name Samka are really actually hard to pin down. Some suggest a connection to the Slavic word for female dog, while others find links to words associated with devil or darkness.

Sampka are primarily seen as a bringer of misfortune, particularly targeting children and those most vulnerable. So again, illnesses, accidents, unexplained bad luck usually can be pinned, much like on the Strigoi, can also be pinned here on the Sompka. Looks like if the Krampus was a sex criminal. Oh my god. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.

That's a good way to put it. What is it? I, uh, huh. Is it? I mean, man said that's a good way to put it. Is it? Look at his ass. Actually, kind of though, like the one I'm looking at. It's in Resident Evil, by the way. I

don't know if you knew this in Resident Evil. They're in Resident Evil. Good question. I'm guessing four or eight mold infection. So it has to be like the most recent ones. So probably eight. I would guess the mom Alex the mom from Resident Evil seven. Yes. Seven lady Dimitrescu. Oh no, nevermind. Nope. That's, that's different one.

That's like, I was thinking the mom from the, the, the house one, not, oh, it's the boss that we fought on the, on the, on the, maybe the boss that we fought on the ceiling or just like the enemies that we fought on the ceiling. Maybe but years ago when this game was released, I don't like these guys. They nasty. Yeah. Well, the way they look, uh, uh, unlike other Romanian creatures, there's no single consistent description of some, the pictures very wildly, but always emphasize its crotesque appearance. Like it's always just like nasty and fleshy

and gross. Um, it may be imagined as like a hideous old woman, a horned beast sometimes, or a shadowy demonic figure. And some legends mention a horrifying dance associated with Samhka. It's said that the sight of this dance also drives a person insane or can cause them to inflict harm upon themselves. So these things are just pure dangerous, like don't go anywhere near them. If you want to protect yourself from them, religious symbols and prayers are believed to be the most powerful form of defense against Samhka. Holy water crucifixes and the intervention of a priest could combat its evil influence over you. And various folk remedies exist as well from hanging garlic at the threshold, very, very typical a lot of things like this, to uttering specific incantations meant to ward off its presence and iron much like Fay iron is a

common thing to be able to have a protective power against demonic entities like the Sombra Sombra exists more as like a chilling invocation of like evil and badness rather than a character that's often told in folk tales you know what I mean doesn't really have like that. Character, yeah. Yeah, exactly that. It's more of like a representation of fear as like a control mechanism. Yeah.

I think, like that's a way I think a lot of like. Like a nightmare or something like that. Like a. Yeah, exactly. Like this creature, a nightmare, not the notion of it. No, exactly. We do have like, there are some examples out there of some of the curses, because there are curses it puts out there.

Again, the most common are someone getting really sick, someone dying, someone actually going mad or crazy. But there's, one of the most common ones is a curse that invokes the Samhka called Bhattate Samhka, and its English translation is, beat you Samhka called Batate Samhka. And it's English translation is beat you Samhka or may Samhka strike you down. This is a very simple curse that carries profound power within the context of the folklore. By invoking it, the speaker essentially is wishing like the Samhka could bring terrible

misfortune. You're just like basically wishing the worst on somebody. Yeah. So it's not used lightly either apparently, or at least wasn't. I don't know how it is now. But yeah, it's like what you would see people who are extremely pissed off shout at somebody. All that known, would you get a drink with a Sampka? No, no, no, F the Sampka. The personification, the notion of evil as a thing. Yeah, but wouldn't you want to know what like the visual representation of the

evil like looks like? No, this thing sound like at least with the Strigoi I get, I know what it is. This thing sounds terrible. It sounds awful. No, no, no, no, no. Thanks. Like if Tom Petty was the Krampus. OK, I was going, I was trying to like, I want you know, maybe me give you even think about it.

I tried to like devil over your little shoulder there. But no, there's no convincing you. I'm good because I'm at a zero to so good on the Sanka. Yeah, zero percent. I'm good. I'm good at the Sanka as well. And boys, that brings us to an end already. And we're over an hour of our little folklorian romp I had a grand time too these are always fun these are great because these ones are like very like primordial to the Western like

myth culture yes these feel like the unbranded versions of a bunch of guys that I know very well from like Hellboy even, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, stuff that's still fucking around. So that's awesome. And I don't know if I said this before, but like my favorite thing about doing as so many like over time is like being able to see the similarities or even trace how some of them made their way into other countries and cultures and stuff and how they all hold the similar story of just like, it's funny.'s like danger. Even like China, right? China's huge.

Yeah. Its influence makes sense, because it influenced a bunch of cultures around it, because it's so huge and there's so many people there. But in Europe, there's not really like a mega country at the center of Europe in the same way. And like all the countries are so different from each other, but like so close and geographically close, even though maybe like, you know, separated by barriers that keep them from assimilating into each other completely.

But people can travel from one to the other. It's really of near each other and like there's little bits from little areas That all kind of formed into this it's like America don't really know it's like America Europe is like America where there's like a bunch of different cultures all occupying the same space at the same time But they're all separate. It's really interesting. I mean, that's true, man I mean if you think about it, it's all really America is kind of just like that. But anyway, that's it for us boys. We're out of here. We're done with the episode already.

Shit went, flew by. We're heading over to patreon.com slash Julio Manati to do another mini-soap for you right after this. Please head over there and you get to add free episodes. You get fricking popcorn. If you're hot, you get like t-shirts. If you go check it out, posters from Mel, which are always bad ass.

You did a burlesque theme one with last time, which actually I need to get to Alex slack because you asked for it. I haven't got it. It's fucking great. It's fucking great. So yeah, head over there. Check it out. And yeah.

And if you guys got any stories about any of these like cryptids of your area, drop it on our subreddit, man. I'm always on there like poking around and seeing what people are saying. Some really cool stories over there from cryptid stuff to dreams to ghost on things. It's all good Yeah, that's it for us. We love you. We'll see you next week Hello everybody welcome back to the Jaluma naughty podcast It's always I'm one of your hosts Mike Martin joined by the I Don't know who they are!

There's two... What? Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer. No! Neo and Trinity. No! I don't understand, and I probably never will. Let me just tell you right now that there's two...

Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield I'm telling you, I think he literally just looked up famous duos Cheech and Charles And it's been going through the list ever since I'm trying to dig deep Which one of you is uh... Dick Powell? Me?

Your name's Jesse Cox! Dick Powell. Me? Your name's Jesse Cox! I want my money back I want your humanity I want your humanity Hello everybody, welcome back to the Jaluminati Podcast. As always I'm one of your hosts, Mike Martin, joined by Alex and Jesse. Like a shooting star across the sky that's actually a UFO. you