Quote from: WERDNA on September 18, 2024, 07:43:26 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit on May 21, 2024, 12:54:32 PM

Quote from: WERDNA on May 20, 2024, 06:49:23 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit on May 13, 2024, 11:21:44 PMAs it turns out my article on the four terrible creatures isn't going to be going into the Pundit Files after all, it will be in the next issue of Mad Scribe Magazine.

I assume you mean issue #6 and not #5?

I think 6, yes. Not the one that just came out, the next one.

I finally purchased the magazine and read the article. I found it a good take on the creatures; however, I have a couple questions:

1. The article states these spirits to have become what they are 2500 or so years before the setting's timeline, but the figures in their origin stories are mostly from the time of the Yellow Emperor or early Xia dynasty which would be closer to 2500 BC than 2500 years before 1200AD.

2. From where does the description of the Qionqi come from? I am not familiar with the serpent-bodied, copper man-headed variant. I do know of the winged tiger and quilled bovine versions which I believe come from the Shanhaijing (the former being the most common in modern media).

Quote from: RPGPundit on September 19, 2024, 11:11:21 AM1. That was a typo. I somehow screwed it up. Obviously, I meant to say around 2500 before Christ.

2. I can't remember the specific source, but from what I recall it was from some note about the subject where in early objects that seem to be depicting the four terrible creatures there's no sign of the tiger (or the quilled ox), but there is a serpentine monster. It speculated that at some point the depiction of the Taowu got mixed up with it. From an esoteric perspective, particularly when you connect (as I did) the four terrible creatures with the Sixiang (the four archon creatures of Chinese esotericism) it would make more sense to have a serpentine creature.

Quote from: WERDNA on September 19, 2024, 01:45:26 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit on September 19, 2024, 11:11:21 AM1. That was a typo. I somehow screwed it up. Obviously, I meant to say around 2500 before Christ.

2. I can't remember the specific source, but from what I recall it was from some note about the subject where in early objects that seem to be depicting the four terrible creatures there's no sign of the tiger (or the quilled ox), but there is a serpentine monster. It speculated that at some point the depiction of the Taowu got mixed up with it. From an esoteric perspective, particularly when you connect (as I did) the four terrible creatures with the Sixiang (the four archon creatures of Chinese esotericism) it would make more sense to have a serpentine creature.

If you ever remember your source let me know as I cannot find anything about this anywhere as of yet, and I'd be very interested to read more. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of using interpretations of early (I presume Shang, but that's just a guess) archaeological objects over the written sources popular in the setting-contemporary Song dynasty; but modifying the creature to fit another body plan is so ridiculously simple as to be insignificant. Furthermore, as a sort of spirit creature there is no reason for any form in particular to be the only one the apparition ever takes.