Dr.Esteban's Cryptozoology Reports

[studentloandebt]

My name is Dr. Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoyo de la Rosario Ramirez. I am a cryptozoologist who has been traveling around the world for years, seeking to find out the mysteries of our world.

I was born in Hux, SLD, in 1990. When I was 7 years old I walked into my parents' room and found my mother, Rosario Ramirez, on the bed with a very hairy creature. She later nervously told me that it was a Sasquatch. Ever since I have only had one thing on my mind; learn all I can about these mysterious creatures and show them to the world!

I graduated from Wilak University with a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology in 2013, Masters Degree in Zoology in 2015, and a Ph.D in Yoga Studio Management in 2015. After, I moved to the DSA Capital and opened a Museum called the "Frightening Exhibition of Real, Gross, Amazing, Legendary, & Incomprehensible Cryptids, Interests, Occultism, & Unknowable Specimens Museum" (F.E.R.G.A.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. Museum) to show case my findings and next door opened a Hot Yoga Studio called "Esteban's Hot Hot Yoga". The Museum is always up to date with my latest findings. I travel around the world in search of all the mysterious creatures that live right next to us. Join me on my Voyage into the Unknown.

Map of Explored Cryptid Locations

[studentloandebt]

Ghoul Fish


My first major expedition was into the water as I searched for mysterious creatures that have legend surrounding them. Legend goes that some locals had spotted an animal walking around weird like. After further examination, they found it to not be an animal but a skeleton without muscles, walking around on the shore. After much time of research, cold nights, and wet socks, I have come out with a report on what I call The Ghoul Fish.

Anatomy and Physiology

The Ghoul Fish, also known as the Zombie Fish, Death Squid, and Death Star Fish, is quite a remarkable specimen. The Ghoul Fish is radially symmetric, can consist of 4 to 8 arms, and their average size can range from 0.3 meters up to a full meter. While they may look like a starfish, they act more like an octopus in function. They have no bones but rather a hydrostatic skeleton that moves based on fluid pressure. They can alter their skin to create small air pockets that can act like suction cups and allow them to stick to surfaces. They are translucent, giving their skin a glassy look. Each arm has a venomous gland that can incapacitate prey.

Distribution

I have found them to be able to survive in many latitudes, from the equator up to the polar latitudes, but not beyond. They are most plentiful in tropical waters.

So far they sound more like a ghost than a ghoul, so why are they referred to as a Ghoul Fish? Because of the gruesome way they survive.

Behavior and Feeding

The Ghoul Fish is a carnivorous scavenger and parasite. For food they can either hunt down smaller animals like crabs or scavenge for already dead animals. That's the carnivorous scavenger side. The parasitic side is much more gruesome. The Ghoul Fish can be easy prey for larger animals and as such the Ghoul Fish seeks to protect itself. If the Ghoul Fish finds a significantly large enough organism with an exoskeleton, usually shellfish, the Ghoul Fish will force its way into the other fish. It will eat the shellfish from the inside, killing it in the process. One the shell had been hollowed out enough, the Ghoul Fish will climb inside and use the exoskeleton as protection for itself. The shellfish does not have to be alive for them to do this, however. I've seen a Ghoul Fish find the skeleton of another animal to use for protection. They will either wrap themselves around the skeleton or dig their way into the bones which can look like a walking skeleton.

While the Ghoul Fish usually does this with shellfish, they can also do this with animals without an exoskeleton, though not as often. If the animal is healthy enough and large enough, the Ghoul Fish can use them for protection as well. These kinds of invasion are by far the most disturbing kinds I have seen. They will latch on to their prey. If they can easily access a orifice, like a mouth, nostril, or anus, they will enter through there. However, if one cannot be easily accessed, they will burrow into the side of the animal. They will begin to either eat away at the organism or almost dig out the organism to make room inside. They will find the main limbs of the organism and move their tentacles into those limbs to have access to them. Once fully inside, they can move the organism around. However, not so well. The organism serves more for protection and as a food source than for movement. Sometimes these organisms can be used as a nest to lay eggs inside.

During this process, the organism will be in excruciating pain, wailing around, screaming, attempting all it can to rid the Ghoul Fish from their body. The environment can become very bloody very quickly, usually with the Ghoul Fish winning the fight. After some time, once the organism has decayed too much to be suitable to live in, the Ghoul Fish will leave the dead organism in pursuit of a better host.

I have found that the Ghoul Fish will become most active in the autumn months, feeling the colder weather approaching and seeking a host before winter arrives.

Variations

Of my studies of this creature, I have found they come in 3 varieties; the Ghoul Treader, the Tidal Ghoul, and the Shore Ghoul.

Ghoul Treader

The Ghoul Treader lives entirely on the ocean floor. These Ghoul Fish prefer shellfish to non-shellfish and will rarely seek out non-shellfish. However, the Ghoul Treader is the most deadly variation of Ghoul Fish. Their venom is more paralyzing and lethal and they have bioluminescence. They use their light to attract organisms to prey on. When inside of another organism, they can use their bioluminescence to attract the predators of that organism in an attempt to enter the predator.

Tidal Ghoul

The Tidal Ghoul live close to or at the shore. They are the smallest in size of the variations with their average size being 0.3-0.4 meters. However, the Tidal Ghoul, compared to other Ghoul Fish, are more social and live in groups that better their survival, resulting in the Tidal Ghoul being the most common type of Ghoul Fish. The Tidal Ghoul, when in a pack, are more likely to go after non-shellfish animals, with multiple Tidal Ghouls inhabiting an organism at the same time, controlling different parts of the organism.

Shore Ghoul

This is the most unique of the variations in that the Shore Ghoul is an amphibious fish, where as they can venture onto land. These are the largest of the Ghoul Fish I have seen, with average size being 0.6-0.8 meters. Like the Tidal Ghoul, they live close to or at the shore, but they can also venture onto land. The longest I have seen one on land is 1 1/2 days without a host. However, with a host, they can stay on land as long as the host is still viable and moist. While they can venture onto land, they thrive best in the water. The Shore Ghoul is able to invade land animals like sea animals.

Human Interaction

Some human tribes have known about the Shore Ghoul for a long time, one tribe I have found uses them as a punishment for horrible crimes. They will throw the criminal into a dug out pit with water and Shore Ghouls in them. The Shore Ghouls will invade the criminal in a horrific sight of pain and terror. By the end, the water is blood red and the criminal will twitch from the movement of the Shore Ghouls inside. While I have only seen one use of them on a person, the villagers have told me that the Shore Ghouls will sometimes be able to make the person move in a stumbling manner, a sight that I do not wish to see.

[studentloandebt]

The Salterinni Crow

The Legend

The Salterinni Graveyard. You may have heard about this place in history class, but nowadays it's more niche than household name. This stretch of land on the coast of Syvis was once home to one of the largest active ship demolition sites in the world, bringing in massive ships to be taken apart and sold for scrap. At it's height there were around 450 ships being demolished and over 40,000 people working there. In the years after the war, competition began pulling away at the site, taking both workers and customers with them.

In it's final years, strange events began to occur. Strange noises inside the hull of the ships, blood found in odd places, dead animals found in the deepest or highest rooms, entire walls that seemed to have been busted down. Workers felt like they were being watched by someone, something. Accidents were increasing; objects almost hitting workers, more limbs being crushed or amputated, and more fatalities. Workers reporting seeing a strange creature, one that looked like a rat with the body of a crow that was the size of a person. Some workers reported seeing it fly from ship to ship.
One case involved a worker working alone in a dark hallway of one of the ships and hearing a noise, feeling a presence. He shinned a flashlight down the hall and said he saw what look like eyes, the light reflecting off of them in a bright whitish-green shine. He dropped the flashlight and ran as fast as he could to the top deck to get off.

Another more gruesome case involved a worker named Freddie Stevens who was sent to work on a ship. He didn't come up for break like he always did, but his friends thought he may have just been working more. Next break came around and he didn't come up. Some of the workers went down to see what was going on. As they got to the bottom of the ship, they smelled something horrific. They said they could hear something shifting around, squishing noises as well. As they went further down the hall, they found Freddie Stevens dead on the ground, his insides scattered, a pool of blood surrounding him. Next to him was a hairy beast crouched down with red hands and Freddie Stevens in its hands and mouth. They left the shipyard and never came back.

The beast was given multiple nicknames; "The Salterinni Crow", "Salterinni Rat", "The Rat Crow". I say we do a fancy shmancy name of "Corvus Rattus", though I doubt it will catch on. The amount of incidents and deaths resulted in the shipyard being closed down and abandoned. Every now and then, urban explorers find their way to the graveyard to explore the large stretch of rusted and abandoned ships. Some tourists to the graveyard report seeing the Salterinni Crow, and a reported 3 have gone missing there.

My Expedition To The Salterinni Graveyard

I set out to find these ships and try and learn more about the Salterinni Crow. It was a cold and rainy day, around 12°C. I arrived at 8:55 PM, around dusk. I presumed starting my expedition at night would allow me to get the best results. The ground was wet and muddy as I approached these rusted colossi of trade and war. Besides the sound of water droplets hitting the many puddles and the sloshing of my socks and sandals in the mud, it was quiet. I boarded one of the ships, my wet sandals echoing each time I stepped on the metal floor. I brought along a polaroid camera for spooky aesthetic. After exploring the first ship, I found nothing. I went to another ship after. Nothing. This continued on until the 5th ship.

I climbed up to the deck and looked out over the railing. What I saw was a black mass move from one ship to another. I got down as fast as I could and sloshed over there. I slowly crept through the ship hallways, following every sound that I heard. I soon stumbled upon a horrid smell, the smell of death and decay. My short jorts practically flew off my body from the excitment. The smell grew stronger the further I ventured. I flashed my polaroid and found a long decayed body. I was disappointed. I wanted a Crow Rat and all I got was a dead 20 something. However, I heard something in the dark beyond begin to run towards me. I flashed again and saw it; the Salterinni Crow. It was only a meter from my face when I flashed the camera. It flew over me and knocked me down onto my dummy thicc booty as it flew up the stairs behind. I rushed after it and found it flying away.

No matter, however, for I captured a photograph of the beast. The legends are true. It has the head of a rat, the torso and wings of a crow, along with the arms and legs of a rat. To find an animal with both arms and wings is quite a fascinating discovery. The picture as well as a feather from the beast will be available for display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum in the DSA Capital.

The Salterinni Crow = Real and Spooky

[studentloandebt]

The DSA Capital Sewer Beast

Warning; story involves tight spaces that may not be ideal for people with claustrophobia

The Legend

The Capital Sewer Beast is a creature that has captured the imaginations of the DSA Capital City's inhabitants and others around the world. The Beast is described as being a decayed creature that lives in the sewer and tunnel systems of the DSA Capital. While there are multiple proposed origin stories for the creature, there is one I believe that best fits. This origin is one that goes back to the early 1900s. In the 1920s, the DSA Capital City was experiencing issues relating to their sewage; water poisoning, subway tunnels flooding, and even sinkholes. The city government began extensive renovations, deconstruction, and construction of the mass system of tunnels that ran underneath the city. Francis Leblanc, a construction worker contracted by the city, was doing renovations to one of the sewer lines. His fellow coworkers told authorities that he said he heard a deep noise in the tunnel and went to investigate. He was never seen again. Authorities searched the tunnels for weeks but could not find him. Despite all the construction and renovations, no one could find where he went. One worker claims to have seen an unidentifiable person walking through the tunnels near where Leblanc disappeared, but nothing conclusive.

It wouldn't be until the 1960s that the Leblanc case would see new attention. Teenagers exploring the tunnel systems in 1967 reported going into a hole in a sewer wall and seeing a man walking around down there, limping. They shined a flash light on the man and say he looked old, decayed, and covered in bumps, almost fungal like. Apparently this man turned to look at them as soon as the light touched him and he began walking towards them.The teens, like reasonable people, sprinted out of there in fear. Some believed that this could have been Leblanc while others believe that the teens were doing too many drugs.

Cultural Impact

Regardless of if the Monster is Leblanc or not, the concept began to spread around the city about monsters in the sewers and tunnels of the DSA Capital. Urban legends began to spread about it, including (I don't know how this keeps happening) people reporting that the "Capital Sewer Beast made me his secret lover". Police have heavily discouraged people exploring the sewers to find it, especially after multiple people have gone missing down there.

One reason the Capital Sewer Monster became popular was from it becoming an anti-authority figure. The story that the teenagers reported was capitalized on by then-mayor Gregory Pennicoth for his infamous Clean Streets Initiative he implemented in the late 1960s. The CSI was aimed at reducing drug use in the city and the story of the teenagers was used to show the "harmful effects of drugs on our city youth". The CSI is now widely regarded as being a program based on racism, xenophobia, and aporophobia due to the large profiling and arrests in minority, immigrant, and low-income communities that were shown to have non-significant differences in drug use compared to other communities.

With the CSI taking energy from the Sewer Monster story, so did the opposition to the CSI. Graffiti called the "Fungus Lord" began appearing in 1968 and onward of Mayor Pennicoth's body with a head of flowering fungus and weed, largely credited to be the work of graffiti artist Harem Young. The mockery of the mayor through the story of the Sewer Monster increased the popularity of the story and the Sewer Monster became an icon of anti-authoritarianism and drug legalization. This graffiti still appears today in places around the city, especially at sewer entrances and in underground metro tunnels. The cryptid had gone from being a monster legend that the community feared to being a symbol of resistance.


My Expedition To The Capital Sewers

Luckily, compared to other cryptids, this one is located in my own backyard. Not too far from the FERGALICIOUS Museum was a sewer entrance that I was able to access. I brought flashlights, my camera, and a map of the sewer system that I..."acquired" from City Hall (they couldn't resist my charms). The opening of the sewer was covered in graffiti, including Fungus Lord artwork. There were many tunnels in the system and I spent about an hour down there not finding anything besides graffiti, abandoned trash, and a surprising about of cruising. However, soon my curiosity would be peaked.

Reaching one of the deepest part of the sewer system, I saw a rat that was oddly colored. I would find that it had fungal growth on it. This made a connection to the 1967 Sewer Monster spotting. It scurried into a small hole in the wall. Looking through it, I could seem a room that wasn't on the maps. When they were doing work in the 20s, there were some corridors that were closed off, which is where I needed to check. I grabbed a nearby rusted metal bar and use it to make the hole larger. I climbed through and found whole new (or I guess old) corridors. I journeyed on.

There was more water in this portion than the unblocked areas, making my moccasins wet. There were also more rats in this area. As I journeyed deeper, I began seeing more rats with fungus on them. The place had an old smell to it, one that had been contained for almost a century. Because of the way the tunnels are constructed, they echo in such a way that your own footsteps seem to be coming from behind you and also seem to take one more step than you do when you stop. I felt uneasy, like I was being watched.

I would soon begin to hear singing echoing through the halls of sludge and darkness I was in. I approached and soon saw a flickering orange light peaking through a small hole in a wall as a beam of light. I neared the hole in the wall and peaked through to find a group of people. They were in a room that was decorated in candle light and dark objects. The people were chanting a song and wearing strange outfits. I think I stumbled upon a cult, either that or some emo BDSM group. I believe I was peaking into someone's basement, meaning I was closer to the surface than I thought. These people were not what I was looking for, so I continued on.

The main tunnels would soon end and I would find a small access corridor. Seeing this as being the only way left, I entered. The tunnel was to the size where I had to slither on my stomach to get through. I could not turn around so I would have to crawl backwards if I wanted to leave. I crawled for maybe about 120 meters, not knowing where I was nor if there was even an end and if I was going to have to slither backwards for the rest of the tunnel. It didn't help that my dummy thicc cheeks were scrapping against the wall and making it harder to squeeze through. I could hear noises coming from the darkness at the end of the hall. Eventually I traversed into a larger room where I dropped off a meter into water. Turning on my flashlight I found there to be more tunnels, but these ones were different. They were colored with patches of fungus growing on them.

As I walked through the tunnels with only a flashlight's circle guiding my way, I saw more rats running around, almost all of them crusty and with fungal growths on them. I started to think they closed off these tunnels for a reason. I stopped for a moment but still heard the water moving. It wasn't a current, but something traveling through the water. I pointed my light at the water to try and see what it could be. After a few seconds, a wake in the water was heading toward me. I started running and kept running until I found an area higher than the water, to which the wake stopped. It was another room, this time with a stronger smell. Shining my flashlight into the void of the underground I found the room to be quite large, perhaps 6 meters wide, 7 deep, and about 4 meters high. The area was home to scores of fungal life all growing on the walls, ground, and ceiling. The ground is all sticky and every step I take sounds like I’m undoing a heavy Velcro strap and feels like it too. I also find many skeletons of rodents littering the ground, each providing a sturdy base for the fungi to grow up with.

I hear a noise, like something heading this way. I turn off my light and try to not make a sound. It sounded like footsteps, every second step being heavier than the first. It was getting louder and closer. I didn't dare make a sound. I could hear it's breath; heavy and wheezing, like it was in pain. I become aware of a wet heat coming from right in front of me. Suddenly I realize there’s someone there, right in front of me, inches from my face. It stands there, not moving. I can smell it's breath creeping into my nose, the vapor in it's breath condensing on my face. It takes ages. I’m standing there, unable to move, speak or breathe properly. The wet heat passes and it trudges along, but I stand still for a while longer to make sure.

When I think it's gone, I begin to slowly walk away. However, the sound of my dummy thicc cheeks slapping together echoes through the room and catches the attention of the thing. I hear a horrible screeching noise as it starts running towards me. I run into a full on sprint towards the same exit I came from, falling into the water and quickly getting up. As I run, I hear it enter the water and run after me as well, continually screaming at me. I turn on my light to see where I am going and I flash it behind me to try and see what the thing looks like. The creature is tall and lanky, covered from head to toe in fungal growths to where you could barely make our what they are. Their mouth hanged open to the size of a watermelon. Could barely make out eyes but what I saw were not like eyes, but more like a dark abyss to which there would be no return if you stare into them. I soon found the end of the tunnel where the small access corridor was. I dove into it and tried to crawl through, though little I could due to how tight the space was. The creature tried to enter, but I presume the growths on it prevented it from being able to and it roared into the corridor.

I make it out on the other side of the corridor and continue running. I eventually making it back to the hole I expanded and return to the main sewer line. I swear I need an extra long hot yoga day after this. From what I can confirm, I do believe that the story those teenagers told in the 60s was true and I do believe that this could possibly be Francis Leblanc. While he may be a monster, I believe that the fungus down there could be the real culprit as to how he is still alive and his aggressiveness. Perhaps I may return down there some day to try and learn more. However, for now, I prefer to not eat mushrooms anymore. A fungal sample I got from down there will be available for display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum in the DSA Capital.

DSA Capital Sewer Monster = Real and Needs A Breath Mint

[studentloandebt]

This Cryptid has been Retconned

The Empyrean Squid

Woah, slow down there, Cryptkids!
This report contains death from fire and the results from that. If this is not your cup of tea, I would advise not reading

The Legend

The Peoples of the Guthrie Desert are an ancient one, dating back thousands of years. In their stories, they have a creature known as the Empyrean Squid, sometimes mispronounced by foreigners as the Emperor Squid. This creature is a weapon of the Empyrean, the name the locals use for the afterlife. Legend goes that, if society becomes horrid, disobedient, and abandon the gods, the Empyrean Squid will be sent to punish humanity. The description of the squid is quite interesting in my view. The squid is a white cloudy-like monster who suddenly appears in the sky through a loud booming sound. It reaches down to the ground with it's many tentacles, spreading fire throughout the land. They say that the divine nature of the fire makes it almost impossible to put out the fire. This was only in legend. However, in recent years, people have been reporting that the Empyrean Squid have been spotted and destroying many towns and killing many people.

My Expedition To The Guthrie Desert

I landed in the central region of the Guthrie Desert, which is where most of the incidents have been occurring. I rented a jeep and traveled for a few hours to a village of one of the tribes that has been reporting the most occurrences of the Empyrean Squid. The village was a dreary sight; burned buildings, worn out places, worn out faces. I begun to investigate by asking the villagers anything they knew about the creature. Didn't get too many details, mainly because I didn't speak their language and Gobble Translate wasn't that good. I examined some of the villagers who survived the encounter. Many were covered in burns, some with limbs amputated. Whether or not this creature was real, something real happened to this village and I was going to find out.

I traveled to another village in the area to find that this village was intact. However, as I drove into town, I saw it. A sudden boom erupted from the skies and the Empyrean Squid was there, like it just popped into existence. As I saw it appear, I also saw it's tentacles rain down. The street was engulfed in flames. People were screaming, running, and trying to find cover. I tried to drive away, but one of the tentacles landed behind my jeep and flew it and myself forwards, crashing into the ground. Struggling, I climbed out of the flaming jeep. My leg was hurt and I had to limp to nearby cover, still not knowing what was happening. The jeep exploded into flames and I could hear the screams of people burning. The explosions stopped and people began to slowly emerge from cover.

The street was black with ash. Fires were still burning. Smoke filled the air. Bodies littered the ground, rigid and blacked by their burns. I was in shock by what I had seen. Villagers were crying, some from the physical pain and some from the emotional. Many were singing songs that were of holy nature, attempting to praise their gods who called the squid down onto them to prevent more attacks. I had to get out of there and tell the world what was happening.

I wandered the desert for 4 day and 4 nights. My designer jeans were ruined by the experience and I had to cut them down into designer booty jorts to stay cool (temperature wise and fashion wise). I eventually made it to a small village that had wifi (it was the end of the month. I wasn't going to waste data and get charged) and I was able to call an uber ride

My Conclusion

The Empyrean Squid is not a real cryptid. I can understand why they would think it was a creature, but it is not. In fact, it is a white phosphorous munition. The look of the creature is white smoke. The tentacles are the particles erupting from the munition. The burns are the same as other white phosphorous burns. The long lasting fire is a property of white phosphorous. I believe it is some kind of group that is launching attacks on these villages, using weapons that are banned under international law.

I would be providing something about this at the FERGALICIOUS museum, but I don't think we need to have one for a war crime.

Empyrean Squid = Only A War Crime

[studentloandebt]

The Walking Temptation

My journeys have next taken me to the mountains of central Romaxia to find a mysterious plant colloquially called the Walking Temptation. This plant can be found largely in the Ghasi Mountain Range. With how little this area of the world is explored, this plant has largely remained a legend, until today that is.

Characteristics

The Walking Temptation has a stem growing between 21 centimeters and 52 centimeters in height with wide and smooth leaves. The base of the plant has strong roots that spread out from the stem to form a solid base.

Carnivory

On top of the stem is a pitcher about 28 cm in height on average. The inside of the pitcher is lined with a sweet nectar that causes insects feasting on it to lose control of their limbs and fall into the pitcher. The bottom contains a pool of digestive enzymes that digest the insect. Trapping prey is the main mechanism for obtaining nutrients for the Walking Temptation. Typical prey that get trapped are insects. The purpose of these traps is to obtain inorganic nutrients from the degradation of insects, most commonly nitrogen and phosphorus

Toxicity

Growing directly out of the digestive enzymes and up the middle of the pitcher is another stem, usually between 33 and 37 cm in height. This stem is lined with small hair fibers. Contact with these fibers causes them to break off and penetrate the skin. While deadly to insects who would fall into the pitcher and be digested, it is also meant to be a deterent for larger predators. The skin will develop blisters and cause an intense stinging sensation that can last for 2-3 days. After, the area of skin affected can experience a lesser stinging sensation any time for months after when interacted with, including interaction with water, heat, or gusts of wind.

Cotton

On top of that stem of death is where you can find the flower of the Walking Temptation. The single flower on top is orange with red on the inside. When the plant is ripe, the flower capsule will open and expose the cotton surrounding its seeds. This cotton is highly praised for being able to be spun into some of the softest fabrics in the world as well as it's high yield with cotton being about 20 cm long. The cotton is usually white but sometimes can be bluish-white in color and one plant I found was puce in color. The "Temptation" part of the name "Walking Temptation" stems (get it? Stem?) from the high desirability of the cotton at the possible cost of touching or inhaling the hairs of the stem it grows on, as well as the temptation insects face of the sweet nectar that lures them in and traps them.

Motion

While the carnivorous, toxic, and cotton aspects are cool and all, what I personally find to be the fascinating thing about this plant is it's ability to relocate. The base of the plant contains many strong roots to uphold the plant, but the number of roots also allows it to easily move to many locations. The plant is able to reabsorb its roots back into itself and grow them else where, thus moving the plant to wherever it chooses. The process is slow and the fastest I've seen it move is only about a meter a day. However, this becomes an amazing sight when you stumble upon a whole field of them, come back a few days later, and find the whole field has shifted.

The main reason the Walking Temptation may move could be for sunlight, whether to get out of shady areas or get out of too sunny areas. Other reasons may also be to find better soil quality, more insects, and escape areas with many predators.

Luckily for me, I was able to get some of the cotton without being in terrible pain. With that, the Cotton of the Walking Temptation will be available for display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum in the DSA Capital.

[studentloandebt]

The Shadow Over Jinns Mount

Woah, slow down there, Cryptkids!
This report contains a mention of sexual assault and rape as well as the story culminating in a scene of sleep paralysis. If this is not your cup of tea, I would recommend not reading.

The Legend

The year is 1908. A prospector in the Sinclarian Mountains finds a gold nugget. What follows is the Sinclarian Gold Rush with thousands of prospectors arriving to try and make their dream of becoming rich a reality. However, not everyone in those mountains were excited. The Native Sinclarians were finding foreigners rip up their land, exploit the resources, kill or scare away native animals, take their land, and sometimes attack the natives to drive them away.

The Sinclarian Natives have a story of a spirit named "Aijet" or "The Torch". Originally the story was that it is the spirit of the mountain Manuhe, or now internationally called "Jinns Mount" that would punish those who would tread on the mountain, usually by fire. Overtime the story developed into Aijet punishing those who disrespect the mountain rather than trespassers. This came sometime perhaps two thousand years ago around when some of the tribes began moving their villages onto the mountain after facing increasing competition from other tribes. Aijet became part of the local legends for the native people who attempted to appease the spirit and pay respects to it. Around the time of the gold rush, we see another development to the story where Aijet is a protector of the natives and not just the mountain. This reflects the view of the natives that they have become one with the mountain with Aijet now also protecting them from those who disrespect the mountain and its peoples. Today, some natives say that Aijet protect them from all non-natives.

While some may see the legend of Aijet as just a story, there have been incidents for decades that have raise suspicions as to if Aijet may actually be a real force in the Jinns Mount area. Around the end of the gold rush came increasing difficulties for the prospectors and others who moved to the area. Food would go bad quicker and was harder to come by, water would run out sooner, illness became more prevalent, predatory animals were attacking more, less and less gold was being discovered, and quite a few settlements and even towns were burned down. Many decided to leave while for some it had become their home. There are still more foreigners in the area now than natives, though in a much tighter ratio.

Some towns that were abandoned by the gold rushers were soon occupied by natives who adapted it to their own needs and occasionally find non-natives travelling through the area and staying in these towns over night to escape the harsh alpine climate. Non-natives report feelings of being watched even when no one is around or in their room. Some report waking up to find cuts or bruises on them. Some have found burn holes in their clothes after staying in native land for a while. A whole host of other issues have been reported; missing money or equipment, food disappearing, vehicles breaking down, mysterious sounds following them, and feelings of nausea. More intense things have occurred as well. People have been pushed down flights of stairs only to find no one at the top. Some have found to have sat on sharp objects while others have narrowly avoided them.

People have woken up in the night to see a shadowy silhouette in the darkness watching them. The encounter with this shadowy silhouette has even been physical. Some have reported being beaten by the silhouette, cut by it, chased by it, and even occurrences of sexual assault and rape. There have also been deaths attributed to the shadow. Non-native travelers found beaten to death, some found with their necks sliced open, and also some being burned alive in cabins, tents, and vehicles. One person was found tied up inside their sleeping bag and set ablaze. To this day, travelers seeking to climb the mountain or witness the nature of these lands continue to risk an encounter with the spirit Aijet, despite warnings from most travel guides.

My Expedition To Jinns Mount

It was quite a cold time on the jagged cliffs of Jinns Mount. Winter was still upon us as the sky threw down it's blanket of snow. I had driven pass a few spa towns located on top of hot springs that offered some much needed warmth. On my way to the mountains, I had driven through a mountain pass and entered a town in the pass called Trevor's Pass. During the Gold Rush it was a major trading town, supporting over 9,000 full-time residents at it's height, along side thousands more settlers coming in or leaving the Sinclarian Mountains through wagons and trains or trading. Now-a-days, with the Rush over, many have left and now the town supports about 5,000 people, about 2/5ths of them being natives who moved in after most of the settlers left.

I stayed in the town for about a week. I met a lot of people, ate some good food, and seduced the night guard as my friends sneaked into the principle's office to change their report cards. However, I didn't experience anything like the reports of Aijet, so I venture onward. I traveled eastward, further away from Trevor's Pass and further into native majority lands, where most reports have been occurring. I soon found myself in a town called Hasum, entirely populated by natives after being abandoned by settlers.

It was a small town, maybe 500 people at most. As I traveled through, I got some looks from the locals, fear mostly. I found an inn called Red Cliff Inn and decided to stay there. It was an old building, probably made back during the gold rush. The man in charge warned me about what happens to outsiders when they come here, about Aijet. I told him I would be waiting, then dawned my sunglasses and did a 360 kickspin out of there on my skateboard...okay that last part didn't happen, but I was waiting.

Night came as I "slept" in the bed. The town was quiet. No lights were on, so I could see the stars from my room's window. It was nice. I tried to stay awake but ended up falling asleep, tired from my expedition. I woke up the next morning to find no shadow figure in my room. However, I did find something that struck horror in me; my left glute had a cut on it. I know how my glutes are and know that this didn't naturally happen. Someone, or something, came into my room and cut my glutes. This was a crime of the highest order! Do you know how much I work on those and to find it desecrated like that? I was going to get to the bottom (get it?) of this!

I decided to climb up the mountain side in isolation, hoping that Aijet would show up. The locals would warn me about Aijet and say I wasn't safe, genuinely fearful that I would be attacked. Little did they know that I was already attacked in the most brutal way possible. I was about a mile away from town and was quite high above the area. The area was beautiful. Forests stretching for miles on end, intersected by winding rivers. Dark blue mountains littered the horizon with virgin snow resting atop their peaks. I could understand Aijet's disdain for the settlers that came in and developed the land. I was unable to enjoy the scenery for long when I heard a twig snap behind me. I stood there, ready for whatever was around the corner, ready to slice some glutes if it was Aijet. It was a goat. They came around the corner, stared deep into my eyes, into my soul, and bahed at me. I cried a little, feeling like I had become one with nature and the mountain at that moment.

Nothing happened that day and I didn't find Aijet. I returned to my inn room and prepared for sleep. This time, something happened. I awoke some time in the morning. It was dark outside, only a slight light coming through the glass. I realized that I couldn't move. Suddenly I realized I saw something in the corner of my peripheral vision and I could hear it breathing. When I slowly rolled my eyes to the side I saw a shadowy figure. It blended with the darkness of the room, but you could tell it was there. Then I saw its eyes. They were two little pinholes that were pure white, staring right into mine. It stood there in the corner staring at me for what felt like forever. I could see it was holding something, something long and sharp. I believe it was the knife used to cut me the night previous.

I started to feel something in my arm, like I was getting feeling back. As that happened, the figure slowly moved across the room. It wasn't like it was walking, but moving through space. It was right over my bed, staring into me. I saw it slowly raise the knife, glittering in the moonlight. The sight of it spurred something in me that woke up the rest of my body. As the master fighter I was, I punched the figure in the crotch. It fell onto the ground as I got up. I like, totally had some very clever one-liners and, like, totally roasted the figure. I took the knife out of it's hand and kicked the shadow. I turned on the light and found it to be a person. It was one of the locals that I saw passing through the town.

In the morning, the townspeople knew about what happened. My assaulter denied trying to kill me. The town didn't deny that there was an attempted assault, but believe he didn't try to assault me. They told stories of this happening before and believe that Aijet had possessed my assaulter and that it was actually Aijet attempting to attack me, not the person Aijet possessed. The assaulter was put under care by local spiritual leaders. I left that day, having enough of this.

My Conclusions

Aijet, the Shadow Over Jinns Mount, is a unique creature, one that I had only heard of and never witnessed, much less almost be killed by. I do not believe that Aijet the Mountain Spirit possessed my assaulter, but Aijet the Tulpa possessed my assaulter. Tulpas are a very interesting type of creature. The word "Tulpa" is a term that originates from the Durkheim Mountain Peoples. In their local beliefs, they have the term "sprul-pa", or "emanation" that refers to the ability of heavenly spirits to emanate onto Earth through the bodies of humans or for humans to create a spiritual version of themselves to travel into heaven while alive. These emanations were meant to teach, help, and guide humanity in enlightenment.

In the early 1900s, "Sprul-pa" was mistranslated by foreign esoterics as "Tulpa" and the original meaning was bastardized by those who didn't understand the original meaning, or at least didn't respect it. These esoterics interpreted the Tulpa, also called thoughtforms, as things or events that come into existence purely through willpower alone. In my case, Tulpas are referred to independent and full beings that are willpowered into existence. Imagine it being like an imaginary friend but they're an actual person who came into existence through your own willpower. They differ from the Sprul-pa in that these are not emanations meant to help humanity in enlightenment, but are like imaginary friends that have the ability to turn on their creator. The more willpower you use, the more real the Tulpa can be. As such, there are many Tulpas that are created from the collective thoughts of separate individuals whose combined willpower make it far more real than if from a single person.

Do not interpret this as me believing in them, however. I do not believe our willpower is creating beings, but can create something akin to mass hysteria. I believe this is what is happening at Jinns Mount. The native peoples have been telling the story of Aijet for generations. The whole town believes in Aijet and sees the spirit as a very real being. Perhaps my attacker did not like that I was a foreigner entering their town and they entered a hysteric state where they believed Aijet was possessing them and thus they rid themselves of autonomy and responsibility for their actions. I believe this is what has been happening over the decades, of the locals believing in the legend of Aijet so deeply that they were inducing a hysteric state onto themselves and taking on the personality of their legend.

In case you were wondering, my left glute healed. You can't even tell that a hysterical mountain person sliced my booty open in an old inn. That very knife will be on display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum; The Glutious Cuttious.

Aijet = Most Likely A Tulpa

Picture; Artist Rendition of Aijet

[studentloandebt]

The Four Legged Duboi Sparrow

My most recent studies have taken me to the humid subtropical forests of the Duboi Mountains in search of a species of sparrow. Now, sparrows by themselves are not that interesting of a specimen to warrant a whole report. However, this one is unique in that it is a bird with 4 legs.

Anatomy and Color

Four Legged Duboi Sparrows are petite, trim sparrows with a small bill, slender body, and fairly long, notched tail. Compared to all other birds (except the Salterinni Crow), the Duboi Sparrow, as the name says, has four legs. The size of these birds, however, are nothing like sparrows. Their length ranges from 0.55 to 0.79 meters (1.8 to 2.6 feet) with a weight of 0.68 to 2 kilograms (1.5 to 4.4 pounds).

The Duboi Sparrow has a pale cream chest with a brown back a feathers.The crown is a solid brown, with a pale cream stripe over the eye and darker cheek.

Habitat and Nests

The Duboi Sparrow is found exclusively in the north and northwest portions of the Duboi Mountains. They largely reside in the mountain region but can be found at the base, less and less common as you approach the coast. The Duboi Sparrow make their nests in evergreen trees. It is an open cup nest with the floor of the nest covered in cotton and furs that act as a soft bed.


Behavior

Their four legs are a useful tool when the sparrow is unable to fly and has to run from predators. The fastest I have seen a Duboi Sparrow run is around 14 km/h (8.7 mph).

This bird is one that likes to play. I have seen them play hide and seek with one another and also have games of tag. A lot of this game is played on the ground with the birds running on all four of their legs. I have also seen some act as collectors, finding shiny objects and hiding them under their cotton beds.

Their call is one of their most unique features in that it sounds like a police siren. This has confused those within range of their call into thinking that police are nearby. There have even been a few reported incidents of crimes being stopped when the Duboi Sparrow sings nearby and the criminals running away. Their typical call is a rising "ah-nee" or "que-lick"

While there, I found the feather of one and have collected it. The feather will be available for display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum in the DSA Capital.

Picture of the Four Legged Duboi Sparrow

[studentloandebt]

Death's Eyes

Woah, slow down there, Cryptkids!
This story contains description of a young child having a violent death. This is at the end of the story in a section labeled "A Terrible Incident". If you do not want to read that, feel free to skip it.

The Legend

It was back in the 1800s that outside explores first stepped foot into the northern expanse of the Great Frimuniran Plains. While the land contain natives, these imaginary lands were known little to those beyond it. The original explorers who went about studying and mapping the land, Maryweeker Louie and his life partner Willis Clarp, made encounters will the natives and documented the legend of a group of harpy-like creatures that supposedly belong to Death. In the native language, the name translates to both Death's Eyes and Death Eyes. Legend says that, if you see one of these or hear their groans, then it is an omen that you or someone you know are destined to die soon. These birds are believed to speak for the dead and are seen as psychopomps where, if you follow them, they will lead you to the afterlife.

While this may have originally just been a story, recent events may say otherwise. Internet celebrity, Lucas Paw, recently took a trip to these lands and proceeded to disrespect the natives and their culture. Despite the poor quality of his personality and difficulty in watching the video, he did document something that resembled a Death Eye. Two weeks later, Lucas Paul died. This has caught quite a stirring on social media of people looking into the legend and has now raised this creature from native legend to possible cryptid. Considering that the air is getting colder and the culture is getting spookier this time of year, what better cryptid to explore than death birds?

My Journey To Lake Corujea


My expedition to North Frimunira was no easy feat. There are no nations anywhere near Lake Corujea, where they would be located this time of year. No river takes me to the lake. The closest nation to the lake has a giant mountain range blocking it from the rest of the continent. My best means of travel was to sail north and into the Gulf of Solus Unus.

On my voyage to the gulf, I had stopped in Nimbasa City of the Balkvla Islands. I rented a ship and found a crew who would be willing to take me to the gulf. As I walked in the streets of Nimbasa, I felt a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks (both pairs), which braced my nerves and filled me with delight. This breeze, which has traveled from the regions towards which I was advancing, gave me a taste of those icy lands. The cold was not excessive if you are wrapped in furs, a dress which I had already adopted, for there is a great difference between walking the deck of the ship I traveled in and remaining seated motionless for hours, when no exercise prevents the blood from actually freezing in your veins. I had no ambition to lose my life on the post-road between Nimbasa City and Lake Corujea.

How slowly the time passed in the north, surrounded as I was by frost and snow. To our luck, we had found few villages scattered across the coast near the cape. We had resupplied, rested in warm lodgings, and ate well. We were rounding the cape soon after. As we were, we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated. Our situation was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog. About two o’clock the mist cleared away and we saw, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end. Sometime later, we heard the ground sea, and before night the ice broke and freed our ship. We, however, lay to until the morning, fearing to encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice. I used this time to rest for a few hours. When I awoke, we were already sailing south into the gulf. We had arrived.

We soon reached the southern coast of the gulf. While not as blisteringly cold as the northern cape, these lands did not look forgiving. The skies were gloomy, the chilling air hanged over us dreadfully, and the land was a vast expanse of yellow and brown grasses with the occasional shrub and copse. You could see forests in the far distance outlining the field, a mysterious sight that both beckons you but frightens you. The unknown does that to people; makes you want to learn more but makes you hesitate out of fear of what that knowledge will bring. The air here smells familiar and the wind sounds almost sad, like the low and distant howling of the dog you never had. It was quite an experience to be here.

I departed from the ship on my expedition to Lake Corujea, accompanied by some who sought to help me traverse these lands. I was quite excited by this journey from the fact that these lands have barely been explored by outsiders and contain so much to learn from both the land itself and the peoples who had lived here for so long. We would occasionally find tribes and villages who would help us whether in directions or aide, along with much needed knowledge about Death Eyes.

Some more days of traveling and we had reached Lake Corujea, one so unhampered by the outside world, unhampered by industry and pollution, and super refreshing like wtf? This water is amazing. It was here that we spotted them; Death Eyes.

Anatomy

Firstly, these things are tall, like, average non-stretching height, they're probably 7 feet tall (around 2.1 meters). They are covered in black fur and have black feathers. With these creatures being in such cold areas, their fur and feathers are extremely dark, almost Vantablack dark, which traps 99.965% of incoming light. This helps keep them warm.

They have long necks, maybe 3 feet (0.9 m) in length. The next sticks straight up from the torso and bends down, making them look hunchbacked. However, when stretching their neck, they look like they're something like 10 feet in height (3 meters!). Covering their head is an extra layer of skin that connects to their neck and has the appearance of a hood that can be retracted when desired. This skin covering has more fur on it than other parts, indicating that it is to provide more warmth to the head. The head of Death Eyes resemble that of a vulture. Beaks are different among the sexes, with females having a slightly gold colored beak while male have more of a normal bone colored beak. Their beaks are also super sharp.

The wings were quite a shock to me as perhaps the most fascinating physical aspect of this animal. Despite how avian the creatures are, their wings are mammalian; made of skin and bone instead of feathers. They still support feathers on the tops of their wings but the inside looks entirely like a bat, also covered in black fur. Their wing span is very scary looking almost 16 feet (4.9 meters) in length. I have not been able to observe their feathers, but it would seem that their feathers are designed in someway to muffle sound. Want to know why this is horrifying? The fur and feathers reduce sound and the long wingspan reduce the amount of flapping Death Eyes have to do and allow more gliding, meaning these flying shadows are super quiet when flying. They can sneak up on you just like Death.

Now to get to the feet, which are more physically scary than the other parts of their body. Their feet are are almost a feet tall themselves (about 30 cm). Their feet consists of 4 toes that look like long wrinkled fingers, like an elderly human's hand. Fingers are probably 9 inches (23 centimeters) long, so you got some really long and wrinkly fingers.

Vocalizations

Death Eyes make a noise that consists of deep groans and hisses. This has earned them a reputation among locals as being supernatural monsters, echoing the pain of the afterlife.

Click Here To Here The Sound

Habitat and distribution

Death Eyes are, to my knowledge, only located in the cold areas of Northern Frimunira. They are best adapted for taiga and tundra climates and prefer low elevation areas to high elevations. According to the locals, during summer months they migrate to the bogs of the north coast of Frimunira. During the winter months, they migrate south to the area at and surrounding Lake Corujea. They can be found most prevalent in open areas, from fields to open water, and in some forests. They can be found in a few heavily forested areas, but not often.

Activity

Death Eyes are carnivores, with corvids making up a large portion of their diet, while feeding on other small animals as well. Corvids can be found in much large numbers in North Frimunira than other parts of the world it seems. How they hunt corvids is kind of scary. They will grab onto the bird with their hands midflight. Once they have a good grip of them, the Death Eye will use it's sharp beak to start stabbing the bird, like a woodpecker making a hole in a tree. Once the corvid has been mangled, the Death Eye will swallow it whole.

Death Eyes are solitary-but-social animals. Death Eyes share nest locations, reproducing and raising young in the same location. However, they are not social animals and only interact when it comes to sharing nesting areas. A Death Eye hunts on its own and cares only for its offspring.

Death Eyes are most active during gloomy or stormy weather. I am not sure why but perhaps it is to make sure they don't overheat when it is sunny out considering their fur in almost vantrablack. So you got these humongous beasts with hoods on that are almost a 2-D shadows in appearance with bat like wings flying around in stormy weather ready to stab to death their prey who also have the name Death Eyes, have low groan like sounds, and are seen as supernatural hell birds. Like what?

A Terrible Incident

During my time there, I saw a sight that I may never forget. Some young children, a 6 year old boy and his 4 year old sister, were playing in a field not far from others. A storm was approaching but they continued to play. Unknown to anyone, a Death Eye was flying near by, their flight quiet. The bird swooped down and began attacking the children. The Death Eyes grabbed the young girl and tried to carry her off. The boy tried to run after, but wasn't fast enough. The Death Eye landed on the other side of the field. It was too far away for me to really see what was happening, but I could see it bobbing it's head up and down, presumably stabbing the little girl. I would find out later that this was true once the parents found her remains. The Death Eye couldn't eat all of her and I was told that what remained were some scattered intestines, a leg, and some parts of her torso. It would be a few days later when a hunter from the village would find that the Death Eye couldn't finish all of her and coughed up her head not too far from where they found her body. I didn't even want to know what that looked like. There is a reason why Death Eyes are so feared by the locals.

---

During my trip, I found the body of a dead Death Eye. I have collected and cleaned the skull of it and the Death Eye skull will be available for display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum in the DSA Capital.

[studentloandebt]

Dr. Esteban's Encounter and Hospitalization

I was visiting my family back in Hux in SLD. The weather that week was gloomy and rainy. I was at my mother's house seeing her. As she ate lunch, I was doing my hourly squats to keep me nice and tight as the sound of rain trickled in from the outside.

As I neared my 78th squat, there was a knock at my door. I found it to be a young woman named Deirdre. I don't know how she knew my mother's address but none the less she found me. She had heard that I was around and came looking for me. She explained that she and her family have been noticing odd occurrences in her area and believe there may be a cryptid in their house. She pleaded that I come check it out and try and stop it. I am always one for adventure and I thought about how I could publish a cryptid report on my home state, so I agreed and said I would meet her later that night. She gave me the address to her home, went back to her car, and she drove away, her taillights fading into the gloomy fog.

I had my gear ready and packed in the car, suited up in a nice warm jacket, and drove off. I don't often get to drive through the countryside while it rains since I'm usually everywhere else in the world. We were in the middle of autumn, one of the best times to drive through the country. The sky was a dark grey, rain cooling the air and bouncing off the roof of my car. The gloomy sky was contrasted by the bright colors of the trees with yellows and oranges, dull downed by the atmosphere, still providing a vivid sight. The distant mountains had their white foggy clouds hovering at the top. Of all the times to get a call, I was glad it was today.

I arrived at the property around 6:52 PM. The way to the house was guarded by an iron gate. The pillars that held it up were adorned with statues on their tops of what looked like winged dogs, ready to strike against any who dare hurt their masters. The gate was open so I drove through, accessing the long rock driveway that was secluded by a canopy of oak. There was less rain as I drove through, but the drops were heavier and louder than before, sounding like bullets trying to pierce through. The canopy soon ended and opened up to a large estate. The sky was grey as it contrast with the dark manor that stretch for a large distance. The prodigious pillars that adorned the front of the building were both intimidating as well as intriguing. What I was entering was the unknown, which is itself always both intimidating as well as intriguing. A candle light could be seen in one of the windows, flickering lightly as it became a pupil to this otherworldly house.

I turned off my car and stepped out, the rain washing over me as I approach the stairs that led to the front doors. I felt as if I was being watched, with each step echoing in the silence of the rustic land, letting the house know that another was ready to enter it. I reached the top to find a large doorway, the wooden doors elaborately decorated with designs that I could not make out, but it told a story of some kind. I knocked on the door, the echos it made in the mansion's inner chambers bounced back through to me, with us both knocking to learn more about each other. The door creaked opened and a familiar face peered through the entryway; Deidre. She gladly invited me inside, closing the door behind her with a faint wind flowing through as the door latched audibly.

As I had thought, the inner room was quite large. The first thing one notices is the chandelier that hanged in the center of the room, its crystals glittering in the littlest light it could have. The chandelier hanged from a large skylight, allowing one to see the sky as it departed into night. The floor was a white marble, stained with black that fluttered through the canvas like paint strokes. A small gathering of furniture was to the left, illuminated by a roaring fire that allowed the chairs to cast their shadowy fingers around the room. A grand staircase laid in the back, leading up to a hallway illuminated by faint light. As Deirdre and I walked, each step bounced across the marble and to every corner of the room.

She brought me over to the fire where her family sat patiently for me. There was a mother, a father, her three siblings, and a black Great Dane who laid stretched out on the rug in front of the fire. They welcomed me to their home and we began to talk. I sat down in a chair and partook of their wine. It wasn't that good, but I didn't mind. They began to tell me about their cryptid issue, one that had been affecting this area of the state for quite some time it seemed.

The story goes that there is a creature that has been in this area for decades. People say it is both man and falcon with glowing red eyes. It is said to have been brought from the dead, wrapped in bandages and mummified. Upset at its rest being disturbed, it roams the countryside, screaming in despair and agony of wanting to return to the land of the dead. The creature is called Shanul, named after a native legend of a similar creature. Locals say that the creature hides in old or abandoned buildings, sleeping in the day and coming out at night to feed. Deirdre's family told me that their youngest, William, had told them of how he saw a strange bird flying around, assumed to be a sickly hawk. Last week, the family had noticed a broken window leading into their East Wing, which had been closed off. Occasionally they would hear noises coming from the area, sounding like an animal in pain. The previous night, the mother was passing by one of the closed off entrances to the East Wing when she heard a horrible scream coming from the other side. It had shocked her so badly that she entered into a deranged state, seeing objects in the room move around like people, shadows rushing around her, portraits glaring into her and warping into frightening demons. Her husband had found her huddled on the floor, frightened and horrified. They immediately sought my help.

I was prepared and asked them to show me to the East Wing. Walking through the mansion, you really get to see how large it is, with many hallways and corridors. They told me their family history of how they once headed the lumber industry in the area. They grew tremendously in wealth and status and constructed a mansion centuries ago where they would host many peoples. It would be within the last hundred years that they began to lose all of that. After the Two Year Vernalis occurred in SLD with mass reforestation, animal attacks, and a dramatic retaking of land by nature, the public feared further interference with nature and many regulations were passed to preserve nature. This struck their family hard, unable to do mass logging and this crippling their income. Their company went bankrupt and they had lost their fortune. The house that once had 100 servants doing upkeep soon became a ghost of itself. Unable to do upkeep and heating becoming too expensive made the family close off whole wings of the house.

We had approached the entrance to the East Wing. The door was locked and Deirdre went to unlock it. As she did, the room dropped in temperature as the cold air of the East Wing rushed in. Luckily for me, my glutes always keep me warm and I was ready. They gave me their key in case I needed to unlock any doors that were locked in the East Wing and bid me good luck. I turned on my lantern (side note: I was invited to a house in the countryside in rainy weather. You think I'm going to bring a flashlight instead of a lantern? Like a chump? Nah fam) and entered the East Wing, the door closing behind me and securing me in.

The was cold, dark, and quiet. I was not sure where to start first since I would be exploring pretty much everywhere until I found what they wanted me to find. I wondered down the hallway, moving slowly so as to remain quiet. The East Wing was eerie as it looked like time had stopped. Furniture still sat in rooms untouched and portraits and paintings hung on the walls like they were adored every day by someone. Admittedly, I was a little spooked, but I wasn't going to be intimidated on my own homeland. I would find myself wondering around for what seemed like hours. I had stumbled into a hallway that had large windows leading out to the back of the mansion. A stone walkway with a fountain sat in the back with unkempt hedges lining the paths. The light of the inhabited parts of the house shined through to the back, casting windowed shaped light onto the back grounds. The property went on into the dark, a void of unknown lying beyond reach, calling to me and yet warning me as well. I continued on.

I had entered another hallway and begun to hear sounds. They were faint, but noticeable. I approached, concluding that it was coming from a room that I stood in front of. The door was slightly ajar and the room was pitch black. I readied myself for what may lie behind it, though looking back on this I don't think I actually knew what I would do. Maybe swing my lantern at them or something? I don't know. As I opened the door, I felt something hit my face. I fell down onto the hallway floor, my eyes, nose, and throat irritated by what seemed like a spray. The light of my lantern began to dim and it was in that moment that I felt genuine fear. Eventually, the light was out and I was in complete darkness, not knowing what happened.

My eyes were closed, but I felt a strange feeling. It was suddenly warm and dry. The ground was no longer a carpet, but a hard surface, dusty even. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was no longer in the hallway, but somewhere else. I think I was outside. Around me was vast barren land, nothing in all directions. The land and sky had a color to it, like a dull brownish grey of some kind. In front of me I could see there was a sun, but it was hidden behind layers of dense cloud and fog, making that side of the universe only slightly lighter, but not much. Wind was blowing past me. the only noise there was. This place...it felt familiar somehow.

I got up and could see to my left a large silhouette. It was distant and blended in with the sky, but you could see it slightly if you really focused on it. It was possibly a mountain or some large structure. I decided to walk towards it, seeing that it was the only thing around. However, I never reached it. I walked for a long time, but it seemed as if I never moved. I looked back out towards the very faint sunlit horizon and I could see another silhouette in the sky. It had wings and legs, with something hanging off of it and fluttering in the winds, perhaps cloths. Was this the cryptid they had told me about? I stared at it for a while, seeing it flying in the wind, not knowing what it was doing. Then I saw its red eyes, staring right at me. It had noticed that I was there with it. It then began to fly at me at tremendous speeds. I ran in the opposite direction, not knowing where I was going. I looked behind me to see it nearing me, ready to grab me. It let out a scream like it was in pain and I believe I could see it's mouth wide open, an even darker maw that was ready to take me. Then everything went black.

I was surrounded by a bright light, voices muttering in my ears. Beeping, I could hear beeping. My eyes adjusted and I could see I was in a room, a modern room. I was in the hospital. I didn't know how I got there nor what happened. Doctors soon noticed and came to check on me. Deirdre was outside the room as well. She filled me in on what happened. The family had heard me screaming and the father came to find me. He found me on the ground, screaming and twitching. They called an ambulance and by the time they arrived, I had already entered a comatose state. I was in the hospital for two weeks before I woke up. I am out of the hospital now, still recovering slightly.

Right now, as I type this, I still don't know what happened in there. I had some kind of experience there, staring into the black room and then falling. I don't know what it was that I experienced...that place...that thing. I am still scared of what happened. I feel like I had gone to a real place, but what? Was it the afterlife? Had I peered through a veil into another kind of existence? And who is it that lives that existence? That creature that attacked me...that sought after me...that wanted me? Perhaps this is the price for peering into the unknown, for trying to understand a universe that does not want to be understood, a universe that cannot be understood.

My Conclusion? I don't really have one. I don't understand exactly what happened. Something I do know, however, is that something happened in that mansion's East Wing. Something was in that room, and it is still there.

[studentloandebt]

The Gator of Limne Swamp

The Legend

Everyone has heard the legend of some kind of swamp monster. Many are based on a misunderstood sighting of some kind of regular animal. However, some have more than just sighting and word of mouth. May I bring to you the Gator of Limne Swamp, a reported legend going back decades.

Limne Swamp is a relatively isolated area on the Alyprean southern border; fields, trees, marshes, and a lot of swamp. The population of the area is only a few thousand people and has stayed that way for generations. One doesn't move to or leave Limne Swamp it seems: it just exists.

The Gator of Limne Swamp was first reported back in the 1960s by Erwin Gunthel. Him and his daughter were out on a hunting trip. His daughter shot down a geese from the air and it landed in a field. Before they could retrieve it, they saw something in the field run off with it, something big. Gunthel first thought it may have been some kind of dog or something. However, a week later on another trip, they saw it again, this time closer up. It was scalie, long, dark, and all kinds of freaky. Not many in town believed in Erwin, but soon enough there were more reports of people seeing this creature. Some say they saw it jump out of the river and run, some have seen it galloping across fields.

In 1981, there was an incident involving Apeiros Thereutes, a local who was hunting. She reported being attacked by the creature, seeing it sprint after her and run away, with her losing a forearm in the process. It was after her incident that the creature gained a named; the Gator of Limne Swamp. In the decades since, reported sightings of the Gator have appeared now and then across the southern border of Talamia, but the most being in the area containing Limne Swamp.

My Expedition to Limne Swamp

May I first say that I am not a fan of swampy climate. It is too humid, too hot, humid and hot together, too many bugs trying to bite my glutes, and all around just not fun for me. But none the less, I was on a mission to see this Gator myself.

I arrived in Limne Swamp in the morning, setting up operations in the town of Limne, where most of the population lives. It was quite a small place; one gas station, a convenience store, a post office, a diner, a few religious buildings, some residential houses, a bar and inn, and a town hall. I got to the inn, got a room, and got everything set up to begin. I begun by asking some of the town folk what they could tell me about the Gator of Limne Swamp. I was told the usual stuff about it; large, ferocious, fast, alligator looking, big legs, etc. I did get a few people also telling me that it was the child of a witch named Farmakeutria and the Zodiac Killer. This intrigued me so I asked more.

Farmakeutria is a legend that is mainly only known in Limne. She was a young girl who lived in a house along one of the rivers in Baddale. Third of six children, she was raised in a strict household with a family that had strong devotion to Jeb! Bush. She didn't really fit in with the rest of the community and was said to ask too many questions. In the 1940s, she was accused of witchcraft after having been found with charms made of rabbit bones. She ran away and her family's home burned down that day. They say she ran away to live in the woods and practice witchcraft, having be seduced by Ted Cruz and abandoned Jeb! Bush. Locals have told me where I could find an abandoned house that is believed to be where she lived but most are too scared to go to it, seeing it as bad luck and a Zodiac worship site. However, they do also say that that the surrounding area is where the most reports of the Gator come from, so that is where I went.

I got a small boat and took a jeep as close as I could get. Eventually the ground became too wet to go any further in car so I had to go by boat. However, it wasn't quite river enough so I had to drag the boat through muddy marshland for quite a bit. There was a moment when the water was almost above my boots but not quite, then there was suddenly a drop and I fell in. The water was all the way up to my glutes! The rest of this trip, I was very uncomfortable. Once the water was deep enough, I hopped in the boat and went down the river, getting closer to the area. You may be thinking that it wouldn't be safe to try and find an alligator cryptid in a small boat and you'd be right...

Nothing happened the first day I was there, so I headed back in to town. I came back the next morning and got back into the swamp. Down the river, I started hearing sudden rushes in the water. I figured that it may be the Gator so I prepared myself. I stopped the boat and sat still, bat in hand, ready for anything. Nothing happened for about 20 minutes. It seemed like nothing was going to happen, so I kept going down the river. Later I decided to disembark and head onto shore. Dragging the boat onto the shore, I then saw something coming up the river. It was hard to see, but something was moving. I backed up from the shore, ready to swing. It stopped about a meter away from the shore and we looked at each other.

Then, it leaped forward out of the water. A big splash of water erupting from the river as you see a mouth and teeth emerge from the sudden chaos. I jumped out of the way as it barely passed me. Like any reasonable person, I climbed up a tree to get away from it. It was there that I really got to get a look at it. This thing was big and very much looking like an alligator. However, the other parts were true as well. This creature was on four legs and pretty tall. It tried to climb into the tree and kept clawing at it. I tried swinging my bat at it, but it was out of reach. This went on for some time until the creature realized that it couldn't get to me. However, it decided to wait for me and just sat at the bottom of the tree.

I was there all day and fell asleep into the night. I awoke in the middle of the night and it was still there waiting at the base of the tree. I knew I couldn't out run this thing seeing it's legs and how fast it burst out of the water. The boat was even worse since it was an alligator like creature. I had to climb from my tree to another to get away. Once I believed I was far enough, I climbed down and ran back to my jeep. I climbed in, horrified by that experience, and turn it on. The headlights flashed on, and it showed something in the distance. It was the Gator, running full speed at me. I drove right out of there seeing that. In my rear view mirror, I could see it galloping behind, slamming each of its feet into the ground to get me. It had to be going something like 35 kmp or even faster. Eventually I lost it. Once back in town, I ran into my room and locked the door.

My Conclusions

The Gator of Limne Swamp seems like a very real thing. This cryptid is a big boi and a horror to look at, especially when it's chasing you on a rural swamp road in the middle of the night and keeping up with your car. I have my doubts as to it being the child of a witch and evil spirit, but I cannot myself make a good guess as to where it came from. I was able to hired someone to go back out to the area (because I'm sure as Tuxis not) and they were able to get a footprint from the Gator. That will be on display at the FERGALICIOUS Museum here in the Capital of the DSA.

The Gator of Limne Swamp = Real and In Your Rear View Mirror

Artist Rendition of the Gator of Baddale Swamp

[studentloandebt]

Originally published December 24th

The Jeb!mas Toad

Tis the season of Jeb!mas, a special time of year where the religious celebrate the birth of the messiah Jeb! Bush and most others celebrate a more cultural aspect of togetherness, joy, and ＣＡＰＩＴＡＬＩＳＭ. I am currently on break and celebrating with my family, but I did do one investigation into a relatively small and not well known cryptid: The Jeb!mas Toad


The Legend

The Debtian Isles are home to many strange creatures, this being in part due to being isolated from mainland Frimunira for so long. While many have been discovered, some remain part of folklore and not properly investigated. One that I looked into is one called the Jeb!mas Toad. This little fella has been part of folklore for the country of Pondosa for centuries. Many locals today claim to have seen these toads themselves. The Jeb!mas toad is a black toad with glowing eyes that are deadly to humans.

The legend goes that a man went into the woods to chop down a tree for Jeb!mas and would see moving beams of lights shining through the trees. They would look out at it and see a line of toads, black as the night sky, staring into them. One jumped at the man and touched an exposed part of his arm as he ran away. Later, that part of his arm would begin growing hard and dark lines climbing up the arm as blood vessels turned a dark purple. Some variations of the tale say he ran off, sick and losing sanity, into the woods and transformed into one while others say he went back to kill the toads but never returned. Locals say they too see the beams of light at night around Jeb!mas and know not to enter those woods out of fear of becoming a Jeb!mas Toad as well.

Cultural Significance

The legend is not just out of fear, though, but also has become part of local culture and festivities. The Jeb!mas Toad is something you can find in a lot of houses in Pondosa for Jeb!mas; small black toad figurines that are hollow to place a candle or light in and glass eyes to have the light shine through. Many people even place it in their Nativity scene next to the baby Jeb! Bush. Children's books talk about the Jeb!mas Toad like a figure that punishes children who have been naughty.

My Investigation

Last week I went to Pondosa and it was a nice trip. A mountainous nation with scattered villages that have a strong appreciation of the culture and aesthetic of Jeb!mas. I spent the week in a small village called Görsham that was decked out for Jeb!mas; lights, reefs, and a big tree in the middle of the village. Best part was the food. Pondosan markets are well known in the Isles for their taste, though quite fattening. But hey, I’m thicc and tight enough to handle some Jeb!mas food.

I spent my nights traveling through the woods in the area, cold but too sexy to freeze. I did a LOT of hiking that week, so many hills and climbs. However, it was a great sight to look over a cliff and see a snow laden valley as the moon shines down on it. I did find dark toads that live in the area (a curiosity themselves in that they can survive these cold temperatures), but none of them had eyes that acted like headlights. This was a common occurrence throughout the week and I found nothing.

My Conclusion

Seems to me that this toad may be more folklore than reality. My guess is that people see these toads reflecting light off their eyes and moon light reflecting off the snowy hills and rivers provide the beams and the movement. Although hey, maybe I just missed out. Maybe you need to be a believer to be and to see it. I’m not here to crush people’s Jeb!mas spirit. Merry Jeb!mas to everyone.

Jeb!mas Toad = Shiny Eyes and Icy Beams

[studentloandebt]

The Kolokos

My name is Dr. Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoyo de la Rosario Ramirez. I am a cryptozoologist who has been traveling around the world for years, seeking to find out the mysteries of our world.

On this journey, I am not joined by 1 nor 2 but 3 individuals. I am joined by Emanuel Vasilakakis, a man who will be joining me for further expeditions as a team. Alongside us are Francesca Mariana Consuela Gonzalez Damasco Garcia Ramón Lucia Gwenburg Gomez and Fanta, hosts of the Debtian radio show Noir Leens. They are here to help us in our journey to Suceabiga to find out more about the Kolokos

The Legend and Background

The Kolokos are a unique type of being to the Suceabiga tribe in the Bayar Desert Peoples nation, found no where else among the native tribes in the Bayar Desert. Taken from their native tongue, the Kolokos, translated to "The Voids", are creatures that inhabit the western forests. The legend goes that these are beings that do not belong in our world. They are typically depicted as ghoulish, with decayed tissue, exposed bone, dark eye sockets, and tattered clothing. Now, that's no different from modern depictions of zombies, no? True, although zombies don't glitch.

Stories of the Kolokos also depict them as coming into and out of reality. When a person stares at them, they suddenly disappear and reappear. Their head can appear off and on at the same time as it jumps from its neck to the air next to it within a blink of an eye. The locals believe these are the spirits of their dead loved ones. This is due to their most often spotted location. The Suceabiga have a tradition of burying their dead and planting a tree where the body is. They do this in the western area of their land where the soil is most fertile as to respect them with the best possible conditions. The forests that were made through this tradition are where the Kolokos are most often reported.

In Suceabiga theology, the state of life is under the domain of Tukoy, or the forces of the ground, while the state of the afterlife is under the domain of Keyin, or the forces of the sun. Neither are gods or deities of some kind, but rather are natural forces that exist in the reality of our universe. Life and the planet function because of the existence and maintenance of Tukoy while the afterlife functions because of the existence and maintenance of Keyin. Imagine it like a code in a computer that would naturally try and correct errors that occur. Not consciously, but just naturally. The Suceabija see the Kolokos as a conflict between the two forces. Their loved ones have passed on from Tukoy and thus should be in Keyin. However, Tukoy still recognizes them as part of the land while Keyin recognizes them as part of the afterlife. While both forces attempt to correct what they see as errors, the Kolokos are now neither part of Tukoy nor Keyin and are within a third domain; Koloke, the Void.

The tribes people believe that the spirits are being pulled in and out of Koloke by Tukoy, which they see as a stronger force than Keyin. The image they have is quite disturbing to me, the image that the Kolokos are people that are constantly entering and leaving an unknown domain of reality. There are little to no stories about what Koloke is exactly. The only point of reference that seems to exist is its connection to the Kolokos in an attempt to explain them. Not many people are comfortable discussing Koloke, with many being physically uncomfortable with it being mentioned.

Our Expedition To Suceabiga

Travel is limited so far into the continent. With that, we arrived at a port near the Borqian Sea and hired a ship captain to take us up the river. The sail north was long, the air was hot and dry, but we had each other to keep company. After a few days of sailing against the current, we arrived at the Suceabiga lands. We made port at a relatively large town. Dr. Francesca had to put a leash on Fanta, saying this was because the locals might not be so open to the idea of a sapient otter.

We bought additional supplies like food and water to replace what we used on the ship and we talked to the locals about the Kolokos. Many were fearful to talk about them, some refused to even talk to us about them. One person threatened us about talking about them. It is clear that these creatures are quite infamous around here. After gathering the knowledge that we needed to know, as shared before this section of my report, we headed off to the forests these creatures are spotted in to begin our study.

As we ventured closer, the number of settlements gradually decreased, becoming more and more rural as we went. Then, we arrived at the edge of the forest. Dr. Francesca and Fanta got their recording equipment ready. I invited them along because they have expertise in the anomalous and the esoteric. I felt they might know more on the subject and could explain more than I could. Also they paid for their own travel, so no harm in them coming.

It was 3 in the afternoon when we entered the forest. The forest was more quiet that I would have expected; no birds chirping despite early spring, the wind blew against my back cheeks but did not rattle the trees. After some time of walking, a mist began to surround us and impaired out vision. Despite this, we continued on. What only felt like an hour ended up being longer as the sun was beginning to dip below the tree tops and the sky becoming purple. We set up our camp at a reasonable location to operate from and made dinner. Seeing as this was the perfect time, we sat at a fire to tell ghost stories. Little did I expect that Fanta, the esoteric studies expert, would have some of the most horrifying ghost stories. I couldn't keep first watch after that so Emanuel and I slept first.

That night, nothing occurred. We saw no Kolokos or anything. Although we still could barely see anything since the fog had stayed. We had our equipment set up at the camp site but found some errors occurring. Firstly, our GPS was no longer working. It could not identify our coordinates and had our spot jumping around the forest. Emanuel found that even his compass would not work properly. It would continually swing around and couldn't tell north from south. We decided to equip ourselves with flairs, then, to let others know where we were. Fanta and I departed the camp first and Francesca and Emanuel stayed behind to try and monitor.

We walked for a while, not finding much at first. We still has not spotted any birds nor any animals for that matter. However, we did discover something quite remarkable. We found a long gorge that ran in both directions. It was too long to walk around so we tried to climb down it, but found that we could not. There was nothing below our feet and yet it was like we were on the ground. I decided to walk further on it and found myself in the air, right above the gorge as if it wasn't there. I felt the ground and it felt like dirt, but there was none. Fanta was very interested, scurrying around on the invisible surface. The forest ground was very much there but we couldn't see it. It was like an optical illusion. He recorded footage of it and tried to tell the others on walkie-talkies about, but they were not picking up. So we went back to tell them.

As we were about half-way back, a gigantic flock of birds soared over top of us. Must have been something like a thousand of them. Their wings drowned out any other noise and filled our ears. I even had to cover mine from how loud it was. Then they were gone, none of them landing anywhere near by. When we arrived back to the camp, we tried to tell Dr. Francesca and Emanuel about what we saw, although they were skeptical. When we showed them the footage, all it was was of us standing on dirt, no gorge in sight. I was concerned at this point about what is happening in these woods.

Dr. Francesca and Emanuel left next and Fanta and I stayed with the camp. Dr. Francesca decided to set up cameras around the camp's surrounding area in case we miss the Kolokos. I noticed that one of them had already died and I went out to change the battery. As I was changing it, I could hear noises in the woods, strangely enough after it had been so quiet for so long. It sounded like shifting and I felt like something was near by. I heard a twig snap and I was freaked out enough to run back. Big issue arose; the camp was gone. I could not find it anywhere.

I searched around, I did not want to scream in case that twig actually was something. I was lost. I tried calling the group on the walkie-talkie, but instead I got a loud static that almost pierced my ear drums. It was almost the end of the day and I needed to find the group.

I was alone for 2 days. I could not find anyone, no sign of anything. It was never ending trees. That whole time I felt like I was being watch, but there was no one. I was the only one in the forest. As I was walking, another twig snapped and I turned around to see what it was and found the camp. It was right behind me and I didn't understand. Fanta was sitting at the camp and looked up to see how clearly horrified I was. I told him what I experienced after eating and having water because I was so thirsty and hungry. He said I was only gone for a few minutes.

Emanuel was concerned for me, thinking I might be under stress and that it is getting to me. I assured him that I know what happened. That day, Emanuel and Dr. Francesca said they spotted a deer, alone in the woods eating. They said it looked up at them and its antlers were glowing. As it did that, it let out what sounded like a human scream. They both came back immediately, scared from the animal.

That night it stormed. The rain was heavy and thunder shook the forest. Dr. Francesca was checking the cameras and said they were capturing something. We checked her computer and could see something on it. We were not really sure, however, due to the darkness. She decided to go out and Fanta went with her. Emanuel advised they don't but they went anyway. I decided to keep watching the camera, gun in my hand ready to jump to action in case anything occurred. The walkie-talkie turned on, sounding like Dr. Francesca trying to say something. I could not understand anything she said, for it all came out as static.

I decided to go check, immediately getting poured on as I stepped outside the tent. I walked towards the direction they left in. As I did, however, I some how arrived back at the camp. I walked straight away but someone came back. I thought I might have possibly gone in a circle, but I was suspicious because of what happened in the day. I walked in the direction again, making sure I was going forward, and somehow came back to the camp. I didn't understand.

I called to Emanuel in the tent but he didn't respond. I went to open it up and he wasn't there. I called out to him, but got no response. I then called out to Dr. Francesca and Fanta, but they did not respond either. The rain was so loud that they probably couldn't hear me. Then a bird landed on the tent. I turned on my flashlight and shined it at the bird and found something I didn't expect. The bird was not sitting on the tent, but standing on 8 legs that looked like that of a spider. Then another landed, and another. Soon more would come and start filling the camp area. I didn't know what to do and then found myself surrounded by them. I called out to Emanuel one more time and they all jumped and flew away at the same time, flying in all directions. So many flew past me and I lost my balance and fell. I landed in mud and dropped my flash light.

It shined into the woods, and I looked up to find that, in the distance, was a very faint outline of a silhouette. At this point, I was not sure if it was the people I came with or another surprise. It then began to move closer, more into the light. As more details were revealed, I was petrified. They were bleeding from their thighs, their shirt tattered and covered in blacked spots, ribs stuck out like the skin was eaten away. Their head was deformed, with a chin that hung low and half of their face's skin gone. You could see the bone beneath. Their eyes, my god their eyes are what stay with me now. One looked broken, with a large pupil staring right at me. There was no other eye, only a socket, and yet I could feel that eye also staring into me. I tried to crawl away, moving through the mud as the rain tore down onto me. As I stared at it, I also could see it jutting around, no, glitching. It would move back and forth between spaces, appearing only about 5 feet away and then suddenly 9. It's limbs moved sporadically, but its eyes never left its sight from me. I had found it, I had found a Koloko.

I didn't have my gun on me and I couldn't find it in the mud. I tried to push the beast away but it grabbed me. The next part of this text is difficult to write about because even I do not know what happened. In what might have been only a few seconds felt like hours of experience. I could feel my heart stop and start over and over, my vision would go black, then fill with color, then only some colors, then back to the camp, then black again. I could feel my body separating then coming back together, like an instant surgery over and over again that was continually cutting me open and sewing me up again. My ears were like a horrible static of silence and ear bleeding sound and voices and my screams as the Koloko held me with it's decayed hands.

Then suddenly everything returned to normal, but I breathed in so hard that it felt like my lungs were going to burst. Emanuel was on the ground trying to help me come out of what I presume was shock. He was saying we have to go, trying to get me up. On the ground was the body of the Koloko, of whom Dr. Francesca had fired on with her shotgun. They had small bags with them in their hands and told us to run. We left most of our stuff behind as we ran away from the camp. I could see in the corner of my eye more things, possibly more Kolokos approaching our camp. As we ran, the loudest thunder that I had ever felt before ripped apart the sky, sending a shock wave down that made be fall. Emanuel got me back up and we kept running.

I don't know how long we ran, but we somehow got out of the woods. Our car was still there on the edge and we got it and drove as fast as we could away from there. We drove for so long until we arrived back at the port town we came in from. It was dark and no one was on the streets, like the town was dead. We got back to the ship and, for the first time in a while, breathed. In the morning, we sailed back down the river, too afraid to go back into the woods to get what we left behind.

Conclusions

This was the most intense cryptid hunt I had ever been on. The Koloko is 100% real and I cannot understand the circumstances that I found it under nor how it exists. Fanta and Dr. Francesca suggest the possible idea that those woods are the site of an Anomaly Hotspot. They say these are areas of the world with a highly unusual amount of anomalous activity, where things that should make sense don't, where metaspace is closest to the surface of reality. This is all new to me and I find it hard to make conclusions from it. If what they say is true, then there is something going on in those woods that are creating some kind of horror show out there.

The Kolokos = A True Horror