The Beastly State of Your Campaign
This information adds background flavor to your games. It will have to be your judgment call as to whether a PC picks up on a superstition or clue as to what you’re trying to tell them. Other ideas of how these pieces of folklore can be worked into your game are below.
Generic Bird Foretelling
- A bird that flies into a house, foretells an important message.
- The white bird foretells death.
- A birdcall from the north means tragedy; from the south is good for crops; from the west is good luck; from the east, good love.
- If bird droppings land on your head/conveyance, it is good luck.
Game Terms: Next time a magic-user casts something having to do with good luck, have a bird poop on the PCs’ heads. If a PC calls for some sort of portent, fortune-telling, or word from her deity, have the message delivered in the form of a bird. On a special day (like Beltaine) in some strange town, the young girls run off to find any birds to determine their future lovers. Expand the above Valentine’s Day concept to include many more birds, and in this region it is believed that the girls should pursue whatever type of man the birds indicate. The most beautiful or richest girl is set up by an evil clergyman, who understands enough about magic to make a blackbird come to her, with him soon after.
Eggs
In ancient folklore the egg was the start of the universe, or at least the earth. Certain cults and peoples thought you shouldn’t eat eggs, especially if you were a woman. There’s an old English superstition that if a girl wants to see her true love, she places an egg in front of a fire on a stormy night. As the rain picks up and the wind begins to howl, the man she will marry will come through the door and pick up the egg. When you finish your boiled egg, crush the shell or push the spoon through the bottom to avoid bad luck. It was believed that evil spirits or witches collected the empty shells and used them to go to sea and work spells against hapless mariners. Do not bring eggs into the house after dark, as it is bad luck.
Owls’ eggs are said to be a sure cure for alcoholism, when scrambled up and fed to someone with a drinking problem. Dirt found under a mockingbird’s egg is used to alleviate sore throats. A hen’s egg too small to bother with cooking can be tossed on the roof of the house, to “appease the witches,” according to Appalachian folklore. If a woman tosses an egg shell into the fire on Beltane and sees a spot of blood on the shell, it means her days are numbered.
Game Terms: An egg-oriented cult may have baskets of eggs out that are not meant to be eaten. Or a basket of eggs is left outside for the PCs to find and create havoc with. Local evil spirits or witches may wander the local coasts in grand yachts made entirely of eggshells.
From Albatross to Wren
ALBATROSS: The bird is believed to carry the souls of dead mariners. If a sailor kills the bird, bad luck would fall upon him for the rest of his natural life. This was not a universal belief; the feet of the albatross were once used as tobacco pouches. When seen flying around a ship the albatross was reputed to indicate that stormy weather was imminent.In July 1959, the cargo liner, Calpean Star, was docked at Liverpool with engine trouble, after a misfortune-heavy voyage from the Antarctic. The crew believed it was all due to a caged albatross on board heading for a zoo. Fifty of the crew staged a sit-down strike, unwilling to continue their voyage. The captain commented in the Daily Telegraph that it had required courage on his part to bring the albatross on board in the first place. The ship suffered a major generator engine failure on the return trip to Antarctica in 1959. It smashed the rudder and one screw on the rocks near South Georgia. It was towed to Montevideo and then, as it was leaving after repairs, it sank in the river Platte.
Game Terms: Most gamers read enough to recognize that you don’t kill an albatross. Finding a zombie crew of sailors might be provided a more believable reason should it become obvious they killed an albatross. Likewise a group of PCs on board a ship might awaken one morning to find out one of the crew members killed or captured one of these birds. Now the PCs are involved whether they like it or not.
BLACKBIRD: If this bird makes a nest on your roof, this is a traditional sign of good luck. In fact, most people believed that if this bird nests anywhere near the house it is a positive sign. Seeing two males together is unusual and a sign of good luck, as the blackbird is very territorial.
Game Terms: The Blackbirds are so revered as being the good luck charm for a successful town that the roofs are COVERED in them. The town has just thousands of these territorial birds and they all get along. Should something or someone threaten the town… well, think Alfred Hitchcock.
CHICKEN: A hen with tail-feathers like those of a rooster is considered to be unlucky; and a hen that crowed near a house is supposed to be a bad omen as well. Any hen that persistently crowed is said to have “the Devil in her” and all of the above birds were killed. Hens that roost in the morning are said to foretell of death, usually the farmer or someone in his household. A hen that enters the house is an omen that a visitor will arrive, likewise if a rooster crows near the door or comes inside. It is said to be unlucky for a hen to lay an even number of eggs and you would be well advised to remove one from a sitting bird.
The cock is greatly prized because it was believed when he crowed at dawn, all ghosts and evil spirits had to return to the underworld. A cock crowing in the evening is an omen of bad weather the following day. When a cock crows at midnight a spirit is passing; in England it is a death omen if one crows three times between sunset and midnight. Shakespeare recorded the superstition in Hamlet that the bird crows all through Christmas Eve to Christmas morning so no evil spirits can spoil the holy time. A white rooster is considered very lucky and should not be killed, as it protects the farm on which it lives; black cocks, however, were more ill-omened, and often associated with sacrifice.
Game Terms: The crock crow at dawn chasing the spirits away is a great image to add to a long hard campaign against the forces of evil. So long as the rooster is kept in the dark, night can rule the world. Using the “hens foretelling a visitor” folklore, you could have a great scene of a flock of hens running panic-stricken into a house clucking madly as they head for a backroom. The owner of the house watches this bemused and merrily says, “Visitors comin’…” Right before the climatic battle with a bunch of scary monsters.
CROW:
One’s bad,
Two’s luck,
Three’s health,
Four’s wealth,
Five’s sickness,
Six is death.
Game Terms: What a great way to “warn” the players of what’s coming… without them or their characters realizing it.
CUCKOO: The cuckoo's first call in spring indicated different things whether you were a young person (the time when you would marry), a married couple (the arrival of your next child), or old folk (how much longer you had to live). It is said that because the poor bird was kept so busy answering such enquiries, it had no time to build a nest and therefore had to offload its young on foster-parents. It is a lucky bird and it is widely believed that whatever state of health you are in at the time you hear the first call, so you will remain for the rest of the year. A wish made at this time is supposed to come true.
Game Terms: It would be interesting to see the players’ reaction when they learn that a huge horrific situation was caused originally by a person’s wish on the first cuckoo call of the year….
DOVE AND PIGEONS: Seen by many as a sacred bird since ancient times and the one bird into which the Devil or a witch cannot transform. The messenger of Venus, the dove is associated with lovers. For Indians, the dove is traditionally believed to contain the soul of a lover, and to kill one brings misfortune. Miners saw the bird as an ill omen and it was reputedly too dangerous to go underground if this bird was seen near a pitshaft. To have one tapping on the window or flying near the room of a sick person is believed to be an omen of death, as is to see one circling a house. Today, the dove is an international symbol of peace and a Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit.
PIGEONS: A lone white pigeon perching on a chimney is said to be a death omen. For a long time when feather beds were popular, it was claimed pigeon feathers only prolonged the agonies of someone dying; consequently, any pillow or mattress containing them was removed from a sick-room.
Game Terms: It’s been seen in a video game or two, but having a village lsing young people by the droves and the doves in an attic increasing in number at the same rate could be a great clue that something’s going awry in a setting. In cases where a PC is trying to transform into a bird, the GM could ask what kind of bird the magic-user is thinking of; if a dove the magician cannot change for some inexplicable reason. The white pigeon could be noted as the PCs arrive to a destination where someone is dying.
DUCKS AND GEESE: If this bird hisses or quacks more than normal rain is on the way. If the bird lays any dun-colored eggs, it should be destroyed, along with the eggs, according to a traditional English belief stating misfortune will follow should this event happen. At this and any time, hanging a duck upside-down assures that negative energies and spirits can fall from it. Although legends indicate that geese are silly birds, if one flies around the house it is said to know that death is on the way.
Game Terms: As flavor text, a duck hanging upside-down in the village square is sure to make the PCs wonder. The dun-colored eggs allowed to hatch can result in the birth of a monster terrorizing the area.
JACKDAW: The jackdaw is a mixture of good and bad; one of them perching on a building is a sign of misfortune, but if a whole group does so then both an addition to the family and an increase in its financial wealth are signified.
Game Terms: It adds some colorful text to the story: the adventurers go into a new town or city and are hired by the wealthiest man in the area. His house is covered with these black and white birds. Turns out the gentleman isn’t very nice and the PCs have to go against him and stop his nefarious deeds. As they leave, there are no more birds on the roof of his home…save one.
JAY: Jaybirds go down to the devil's house on Fridays to tell all the bad things that have happened during the week. Jaybirds who remain on Friday are checking up on what people are doing.
Game Terms: In terms of the setting, a jaybird would be the perfect go-between for a local demon subverting a small town or region. Instead of the big dark ravens or creepy crows, have the blue jay be a perfectly respectable intruder reporting everything back to its master.
KINGFISHER: Seen as a very lucky bird, to carry feathers of the kingfisher will protect from negative energies and act as a good luck charm, bringing good health. To see a kingfisher sitting on its eggs indicates that there will be no storms at sea. A dead kingfisher hung on a ship allows you to know the direction of the wind. To hear the call coming from the right is a positive omen of imminent success in business (while the opposite is true from the left).
Game Terms: Carrying the feathers adds a saving throw against bad rolls or against evil attacks. Or it could add a plus +2 bonus to rolls against illness or poison. Seeing a dead kingfisher hanging from a mast or on its eggs is good flavor text for a GM-read opening.
MAGPIE: The best way to avoid bad luck when you pass a magpie is to tip your hat A number of incantations are favored when passing a solitary magpie, such as, “Hello, Mr. Magpie, how do you do?'” In England, magpies are also counted: One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy; five for sorrow, six for gold, seven is a secret never to be told, eight is a wish, nine is a kiss, and ten is the bird you must not miss.
Game Terms: The reason for greeting the magpie may stem from the concept they are actually transformed sentient creatures in a particular adventure opening. Should someone break the spell, the magpies may be turned back into their original shapes. It could be in a village where the men-folk were all turned, leaving the women behind. The women are not allowed to tell anyone of the transformation; otherwise, it becomes permanent, or the women are transformed too, or some other reason.
MARTIN: Seen as a lucky bird in the Christian faith being God's “bow and arrow.” The martin is thought to bring good luck to any house where it nests and rears its young.
Game Terms: The characters come across an old cottage or shack that is surrounded by tall birdhouses on poles. The crazy person who owns the house has been trying for years to cajole a martin to come live and breed in his or her birdhouses. The person is quite mad and this is just one of the obvious signs, the meat cleaver behind the back being the other one.
OWL: The ancient Greeks revered owls and believed them sacred to Athena. Also has a poor reputation because the night has long been associated with darker forces and negative energies. To see one by day is unlucky and to experience one flying around the house at night signals death is present. To look into an owl's nest is reputed to leave the observer with a sad and morose soul. In France, to hear the hoot of the owl when pregnant means that the baby will be a girl. In Germany if one is heard as a child is being born then the life will be an unhappy one.
A dead owl serves many purposes, including mixing some of the flesh with boar's grease as an ointment to ease the pain of gout. Owl broth was once used to feed children to avoid whooping cough, according to British tradition, perhaps because the owl itself never suffered in pain when making a similar sound. The eggs were also once thought to prevent epilepsy and bad sight, and to bring drunks back to their senses. Any man who eats roasted owl will be obedient and a slave to his wife.
Game Terms: Owls have bad reps and a GM can either go the obvious route with portents of bad luck or buck tradition by having the owl be a messenger of good. An owl treasured by a forest denizen could result in the need for assistance from the PCs to save the bird from those who would use its body to treat an ailment.
PEAFOWL: A peacock feather has an evil eye at the end. Never bring a peacock feather indoors for decoration, as they are unlucky. The peacock is another indicator of rain, signaling its approach with a harsh crying call.
Game Terms: A theater group could have a string of bad luck and horrible accidents, until it is learned a rival has hidden a peacock feather somewhere on the stage.
RAVEN: An ill-omened bird, able to predict the future, particularly death. If the Ravens in the Tower of London should be lost or fly away, then the Royal Family will die and Britain will fall to an enemy. To kill a raven is to harm the spirit of King Arthur, who visits the world in the form of a raven.
Game Terms: The flight of the Ravens of the Tower is a striking opening for any modern day adventure that takes place in London. It could be the start of an alternative reality during World War II or any other where the current king is assassinated, destroy the future of the English monarchy. King Arthur’s spirit is another interesting legend that can be used to introduce Arthurian backgrounds.
ROBIN: Dire are the omens if you should kill one. The hand that does so will shake thereafter. Traditionally, whatever you do to a robin you will suffer the same tragedy. Breaking the eggs results in something of your own being broken. Legend has it that it got its distinctive red breast when it tried to pull the bloody thorns from Christ's head as he hung on the cross. The bird has been regarded as sacred to household gods since the earliest of times. You should make a wish when seeing the first robin of the season, making sure that you are quick as if the bird flies away then no good luck will be present for the next twelve months. Flying in through an open window or tapping on the window is a sign of death. To see a robin sheltering in the branches of a tree indicates that rain is on the way and to see one chirping on an open branch indicates that fine weather is coming.
Game Terms: The household gods would get really angry if an adventurer inadvertently kills a robin. To do so on purpose would certainly ruin their day. Mostly used as flavor text, the GM’s stories could certainly include the robin or two to add depth to the story.
ROOK: Should a group of them leave an area where they have settled, then a human connected with that land is about to die. They are an omen of summer weather to come: if they are high up it will be fine, but low down and it will be cold and wet.
Game Terms: The king of a region is very worried. The rooks tied to this land are beginning to vanish and he is unsure why. Turns out one of his court is plotting against him by trapping the rooks and hiding them. The betrayer is in league with the next in line for the throne, and he is hoping to offer his council that perhaps the king step down and let the usurper up in his place. .
SEAGULL: Three seagulls flying together, directly overhead, are a warning of death soon to come.
Game Terms: A superstitious sailor could point this superstition out any time the adventurers are traveling. Keeps them on their toes.
SPARROW: The sparrow has a mixed reputation depending on where it is. To kill a sparrow or to have one fly into a house is considered unlucky. The sparrow is seen to symbolize the gods of the household environment and family, and therefore to be nurtured. Rain is supposed to be imminent if a group of sparrows is merrily chirping.
Game Terms: A sparrow-worshipping cult village has the adventurers praying to the tiny little birds as often as possible. There’s even kowtowing.
STORK: Storks deliver babies. Storks were sacred to Venus in Roman mythology. If a stork builds a nest on your roof, you have received a blessing and a promise of never ending love from Venus. Aristotle made killing a stork a crime.
Game Terms: There are many places where killing a stork is a crime. There could even be places where the storks deliver babies. In these cases the storks could actually be not-so-good guys, stealing the babies from elsewhere, as directed by a single master. SWALLOW: In Scotland it was believed that the swallow had the blood of the Devil in its veins. The sight of this bird indicates that summer is on the way but if the bird flies low this will signal that rain is coming. If this bird builds a nest on the roof of your home, it is thought to be lucky and to be protective against fire, lightning, and storms. Misfortune will follow if it suddenly abandons the nest. The swallow that flies into your home brings considerable good fortune, according to English folklore. An old German belief states a woman that treads on the eggs she become barren. A French belief tells that should one land on your shoulder then death is present. Farmers say that to kill a swallow will result in low milk yield and if you disturb the nest then the harvest will be a poor one. It is traditionally seen as a sign of misfortune to see a group of swallows fighting amongst themselves. It was believed the swallow carried two precious stones within their bodies: a red one to cure insanity and a black one thought to bring good luck.
Game Terms: The potential power of the two stones of the swallow’s innards may prove too much for the traditional treasure seeker. Should the characters take part, they find that the typical swallow has two powerful stones in its gullet: one is a preventative and cure for insanity; the bonus is sufficiently that the bearer cannot go insane (complete immunity). The second provides a saving throw against misfortune or a re-roll when necessary. Like the rook, a family may be upset because a swallow abandons its nest, signifying bad luck.
SWAN: A swan's feather, sewn into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity. When a swan rests its head and neck back over its body during the daytime a storm is on the way.
Game Terms: A local woman wants to hire the characters to steal a pillow. She is having an affair with a wealthy married man and the man’s wife just pulled the sympathetic magic spell of a swan feather in the pillow, ensuring his fidelity to her. This other woman is angry and wants more money, so offers a fair amount to steal the pillow. Whether or not the characters feel that it is right to do so is their own moral dilemma.
WREN: This poor unfortunate bird was hunted and killed for a large portion of history, although today is respected. The main day for hunting was December 26 when young boys would receive money as they paraded the dead birds from house to house. The wren was a sacred bird to the early Druids and therefore a target by Christian believers. The feathers were thought to prevent a person from drowning, and feathers were very popular with sailors. A traditional French belief tells that children should not touch the nest of a wren or the child will suffer from pimples.
Game Terms: The concept of a religion’s sacred bird being the target of other religions seems so petty and yet is not surprising. What would be great, however, is if a member of the targeted religion took one of their nests and ensured all the children of the attacking religion touch it. What results is a war between the religions that only the PCs can resolve.
