Mooncalf - Revision history

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'''Mooncalf'''; AKA '''Moon-Calf''', '''Moon Calf'''

Origin: American Folklore, from a Scots-Irish and/or British term for a monstrous birth in use since the 16th Century.

==Description==


A mooncalf is basically a monstrous birth, generally of farm animals like cows or sheep, but sometimes of other animals and even humans: a birth of enormous size, or probably with grotesque birth or mental defects, so-called for the imagined influence of the moon over such births. Some mooncalfs might be claimed to speak inexplicably upon birth. Sometimes the birth is accompanied by the "birth" of a "twin" in the shape of a serpent or worm, which might have partially consumed the mooncalf in-utero.

Mooncalfs are taken as bad omens, and are perhaps a sign of tampering by malevolent [[Faerie]]s. A [[Witch]] might adopt or birth a mooncalf as a [[Rat-Thing|Familiar]], and such mooncalfs might be the result of intercourse with [[Demon]]s.

Sometimes, a mooncalf might take the form of a "faceless birth" - with a membranous "cowl" over the face; when such births are human, the child may be believed to have the gift of prophecy or other supernatural powers, due to having been "touched" by [[Faerie]]s or other supernatural beings.

Stories abound in American folklore of (human) "mooncalves" being concealed from the prying eyes of neighbors in dark, dusty Victorian attics and cellars, an idea which has appeared in more than one [[H.P. Lovecraft]] story (most notably "[[The Unnameable (fiction)]]").

In the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' role-playing game, "Mooncalves" are a Lovecraftian alien race of monsters said to inhabit high mountains and islands-in-the-sky, from which they swoop down to disturb remote villages by night. These creatures have an indeterminate shape beyond being [[Tentacle Monster|winged masses with tentacles]], and though commonly believed to originate on the dark side of the moon, actually come from far darker realms of blackest space, where they act as [[Servitor of the Outer Gods|servants for sinister "Moongods"]], acting as messengers or observers of monumental events. Mooncalves in that game have the ability to communicate telepathically (though they rarely choose to do so), have a chance of being born with the [[Byakhee|power to teleport]], and if threatened or resisted some have the ability to cast (weather-related) spells in addition to attacking with a tentacled grasp; victims of that grasp might then be alchemically consumed and disintegrated by the Mooncalf.

==Keeper Notes==



==Associated Mythos Elements==
* setting: [[Folk Mythos]]

==References==

[[Category:Races]]
[[Category:FolkMythos]]

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 Stories abound in American folklore of (human) "mooncalves" being concealed from the prying eyes of neighbors in dark, dusty Victorian attics and cellars, an idea which has appeared in more than one [[H.P. Lovecraft]] story (most notably "[[The Unnameable (fiction)]]").
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 <!-- Optional.  This is a good place to include non-canon and controversial aspects of the creature's mythos.  Suggested Alternative Theories include:  Derleth's elemental scheme; pseudo-science interpretation; "fanon" interpretations; unofficial humorous or eccentric versions; identification with "Real Life" mythological, religious, folklore, natural, and historical phenomena; rumor and speculation contribute some flexibility and ambiguity to the mythos. -->
 ==Associated Mythos Elements==