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Description
For Inktober 2023, I'm doing a month of mythologically originating monster people that aren't just some variation of elf or dwarf.

Numbah fifteen is the Sea Bishop, or Bishop Fish, but NOT the sea monk. That'd be silly as they don't wear hats~!

If you've ever heard of the fabled questing beast -- quarry sought by King Arthur with parts of a lion, leopard, snake, and I think goat or camel -- then you know just how bizarre some medieval descriptions can be. Odder yet is what was being described. The legendary questing beast, you see, was just a giraffe. However, to a people who had never seen such a beast, it was a monstrosity, and the game of telephone describing this abomination only distorted it further. Romans used to import these herbivores into the coliseum for deadly combat. Deadly for it, obviously.

Similarly, the skate, a type of ray fish, is down-right alien to people who had difficulty understanding even a normal fish. Somehow, a turkey-legged holy-man was seen when looking into the water. Also of note, eyesight was not often corrected with glasses. Just sayin', maybe connected. Anyhoo, replace the actual hat and cloak with parts of its anatomy, a cone-head and frills. Have them lean towards white magic, a refreshing change of pace from the standard "grr, evil" type of monster.

Outside of such, there ain't much to say. The thing was captured, shown to some royalty, made the sign of the cross, and the giftee said it should be returned to the waters. Great stories, guy. I love how many times the sign O.T.C. was the deus ex machina in old stories. Need to escape? Show your devotion. Need to defeat a monster? Father, son, and YOU"RE a ghost!

Pen and ink (Higgins, waterproof drawing ink, black india).

Description
For Inktober 2023, I'm doing a month of mythologically originating monster people that aren't just some variation of elf or dwarf.

Numbah fifteen is the Sea Bishop, or Bishop Fish, but NOT the sea monk. That'd be silly as they don't wear hats~!

If you've ever heard of the fabled questing beast -- quarry sought by King Arthur with parts of a lion, leopard, snake, and I think goat or camel -- then you know just how bizarre some medieval descriptions can be. Odder yet is what was being described. The legendary questing beast, you see, was just a giraffe. However, to a people who had never seen such a beast, it was a monstrosity, and the game of telephone describing this abomination only distorted it further. Romans used to import these herbivores into the coliseum for deadly combat. Deadly for it, obviously.

Similarly, the skate, a type of ray fish, is down-right alien to people who had difficulty understanding even a normal fish. Somehow, a turkey-legged holy-man was seen when looking into the water. Also of note, eyesight was not often corrected with glasses. Just sayin', maybe connected. Anyhoo, replace the actual hat and cloak with parts of its anatomy, a cone-head and frills. Have them lean towards white magic, a refreshing change of pace from the standard "grr, evil" type of monster.

Outside of such, there ain't much to say. The thing was captured, shown to some royalty, made the sign of the cross, and the giftee said it should be returned to the waters. Great stories, guy. I love how many times the sign O.T.C. was the deus ex machina in old stories. Need to escape? Show your devotion. Need to defeat a monster? Father, son, and YOU"RE a ghost!

Pen and ink (Higgins, waterproof drawing ink, black india).