Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the
Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow
Speaker 2: Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters. In
Speaker 2: time for today's episode, I turned once more to the
Speaker 2: world of Dungeons and Dragons and a particular raven loft
Speaker 2: monster that I remember quite fondly from my own monstrous
Speaker 2: compendium binder from way back in the day. The creature
Speaker 2: was the Crimson Death. Known in other editions of D
Speaker 2: and D, including fifth Edition, as the Vampiric myst It
Speaker 2: is typically described as a pale or gray mist, otherwise
Speaker 2: indistinguishable from mundane fog, but it is in reality an
Speaker 2: undead vampiric entity. It creeps up on unwary victims, envelops
Speaker 2: them in tentacles of mist, and then begins to draw
Speaker 2: the blood from their body, even through their very skin pores,
Speaker 2: staining its vaporous substance ever deeper shades of pink and
Speaker 2: red in the process, eventually raining droplets of blood like
Speaker 2: a heavy seguine cloud. The monster's compendium entry lists several
Speaker 2: possible origins for the crimson death. Perhaps it is a
Speaker 2: particularly evil air elemental or the bodyless remnants of a
Speaker 2: slain vampire, the origin that is also presented in fifth edition.
Speaker 2: But it may also be the spirit of a mortal
Speaker 2: who became a vampire. This spirit evil and separated from
Speaker 2: its physical blood drinking form, and if one could bring
Speaker 2: these two back together again, then the vampiric curse might
Speaker 2: be lifted. Now there's an obvious link to Dracula's mist
Speaker 2: form in Bram Stoker's novel. We also find evil milk
Speaker 2: in smokelike creatures in various folklores as well. In Japan,
Speaker 2: there is the smokelike Ininra, said to emanate from bonfires
Speaker 2: to creep out onlookers. In addition to the human tendency
Speaker 2: to see patterns as something as shifting and abstract as smoke,
Speaker 2: it may also link to the common illusion where smoke
Speaker 2: seems to follow one, due in part to the vacuum
Speaker 2: created by our movements, which of course draws the smoke
Speaker 2: in after us. In Wales, the civil duo or water
Speaker 2: horse may take a mortal on a supernatural ride into
Speaker 2: the very sky, only to then transform into a mist
Speaker 2: and drop the unfortunate rider, and in the poetic Eda,
Speaker 2: mist is the given name of a particular valkyrie, the
Speaker 2: chosen of the slain of Valhalla. And of course, we
Speaker 2: also have to acknowledge the role of miasma theory, the
Speaker 2: outdated pre germ theory idea that human illnesses are caused
Speaker 2: by bad air and foul smells, such as those that
Speaker 2: might drift over into populated areas from swamp lands or cemeteries.
Speaker 2: As we've discussed on Stuff to Blow your mind in
Speaker 2: the past, this idea was advocated by the likes of Hippocrates,
Speaker 2: among others, and again the notion was that bad and
Speaker 2: foul air would allow disease to travel and infect. Therefore,
Speaker 2: the removal of bad air, or positioning yourself further from it,
Speaker 2: prevents or combats illness. Now, as we've discussed before, this
Speaker 2: approach can work accidentally in some cases, but it is
Speaker 2: not correct, but it is a basic concept that stretches
Speaker 2: back into the ancient world. Now, turning once more to
Speaker 2: the crimson death or vampiric myst we can see how
Speaker 2: easily miasma theory melds with ancient ideas of invisible spirits,
Speaker 2: demons and fairies that might creep into our homes to
Speaker 2: do us ill seek us out across great distances with
Speaker 2: the evil eye. The very sorts of threats we might
Speaker 2: set out witch bottles to catch, and as such, the
Speaker 2: Crimson Death or Vampiric Myss seems a fitting fantasy world
Speaker 2: synthesis of miasma theory and supernatural apparel with more than
Speaker 2: a dash of Dracula. Tune in for additional episodes of
Speaker 2: The Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email
Speaker 2: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.