Flo's History

  The Babylonian empire had a rather extensive and tumultuous life. Various ethnic groups dominated the empire over its millennial-long history. The Kassite period, today's focus, came relatively early. The Beginning The first dynasty, also known as the old Babylonian Dynasty, has been losing power ever since the death of the legendary ruler Hammurabi. Between internal disputes (like the Sealand Dynasty breaking away from them) and their neighbour in the north, the Hittites, attacking them constantly, times were tough. In this unstable environment, the Kassite people rose to power. The old Babylonians tried to stop them initially, seeing them as a threat to their position. However, they failed and let them slowly take control of the empire. This went to such an extent that, towards the end of the dynasty, it was recorded that the Babylonian army was composed of Kassite people. This may sound like a bad thing, as pretty much nothing stood between the Kassites and a coup to take over...

  After exploring the famed Kelpie, let’s discover a more exotic being for this week. The Akhlut is a monster hailing from the legends of the Inuit’s inhabiting the arctic regions. Like most of the supernatural creatures of the area, the Akhlut is more of a spirit than a creature, only taking physical form when active. The Akhlut is quite a badass spirit. He is generally portrayed as a mix between a wolf and an orca. If you don’t find this awesome, nothing will meet your expectations! However, being the mix of two predators means that this creature is not to be messed with. It is considered extremely dangerous by the Inuit tribes. The spirit is known to be quite ravenous, preying on anything that it can find, but it seems to have a taste for human flesh. The Akhlut would only take physical form when it is hungry, which is about all the time. Most of the time, it would attack isolated fishermen or travellers sleeping close to the seashore. However, it is not unheard of that when the...

Well, after the last three posts being about a historical figure, I think it is time that we return to the supernatural part of cultures. Let’s visit one of the most recognizable monsters of Scottish mythology, which at first glance may not look like it but is very much of the mythical world. Today I present you the Kelpie. Kelpies are shapeshifting monsters, usually resembling a great black or grey horse. They live exclusively in aquatic environments like lakes or rivers and only ever go to the surface to hunt. Be wary of them as Kelpies are expert hunters. They use their appearance to attract unsuspecting victims before dragging any unfortunate individual into the depth of their domain to be devoured. Their body is also extremely adhesive, making approaching one even more dangerous. If you couldn’t tell already, that creature isn’t exactly the friendliest thing to hang around. I mean it will be more than happy to invite you for dinner, except you are the dinner. Kelpies, however, are...