Artist Notes 5/21/2018: Hey guys! Happy Monday! Hope you all are doing well! 

So, I mentioned last week that I wanted to tell you all more about the horse-like creatures these characters are riding, so without further adieu:

A lot of what makes Mag Na Mell unique are our interpretations of traditional folklore, which are pretty easy to compare/contrast when dealing with Werewolves, Mummies, or other popular creatures of myth. But when it comes to the less well-known legends we’ve found that it can create a bit of confusion which, while understandable, is something we want to avoid! So with that in mind, moving forward we’re going to try including little blurbs in the page updates to hopefully provide a bit more context a bit more quickly.

So to kick it off, we’d like to introduce you to the Kelpie! Now there are a ton of different myths surrounding Kelpies, and multiple conflicting descriptions, but essentially they are spirits/demons that take on the general form of a horse and like to hang out in streams and lochs around Scotland. However, as is often the case in folklore, they do tend to prey on us humans and do so by tricking their victims into riding them by adopting a docile temperament and the appearance of a beautiful horse. When a person climbs on the back of a Kelpie its skin becomes tar-like in substance and the rider is unable to get off, finding that they have become completely stuck to the back of this creature. The Kelpie then drops the façade, reverts back to its original form, drowns its rider in the nearest body of water, and eats all but their intestines.

In Mag Na Mell, Kelpies, (or Kaelpies as we’ll call them), serve a bit of a different purpose. Since traveling by anything other than foot isn’t that common, particularly in Mael Duin, Kelpies are like luxury SUV’s to the Fomorians. Incredibly strong and with enough endurance to work for days without rest they are sought after by the powerful to serve as beasts of burden. Capturing and domesticating Kaelpies is an intensive process, and even after completed they still pose some risk to their riders/cargo. If taken too close to a body of water they are known to go feral and sprint directly back to their preferred habitat, heedless of the frantic attempts to escape/regain control made by their doomed riders.  As long as the savvy Kaelpie wrangler keeps them clear of moving water, and brings enough water on their person (to remove themselves with!), they’ll remain perfectly safe with their equine companion.

If you guys have any questions feel free to comment! And I’ll definitely try to provide a little more background info here in the future!

Have a great week you guys!