I previously explained that my campaign setting has a more relaxed conception of lamiae. I let them have the lower bodies of any creatures, including dragons and hybrids. I give them shapeshifting abilities to better conceal their appearance. In this post I will explain more of the liberties I take to give lamiae more in common with mythology.
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| ©1982 Michael Berenstain |
Terminology. The singular is lamia and the plural is lamiae. Although I typically speak of lamiae in feminine terminology, as I said before I do allow for the male lamia or
lamio to exist. The word "lamio" originates from the Hack & Slash blog, and I think it uses the Spanish rules for masculine and feminine forms (
-a/
-o suffix). By Greek rules, the plural of lamio would be
lamioi.
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| ©2006 International Masters Publishers |
Comparative mythology. In Greek myth the lamiae were part of a group of ghosts and night-demons, including the empusa, mormo, and gello. In some parts of the Balkans they are still used as bogeymen to frighten children into good behavior. They are similar to monstrous women in other parts of world mythology, such as La Llorona, Yuki Onna and Aswang Mandurugo. A more recent variation would be the three-headed Midwich Medusas from
Vampire Hunter D. If I wanted to include these monsters, I would treat them as variations on the lamia.
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| ©2006 International Masters Publishers |
The lion centaur, woman headed serpent, etc. While most editions of D&D depict her as a lion-centaur, the lamia’s appearance varies dramatically in art throughout the years. In the original Greek mythology the lamia's appearance include a shark, a woman with a leg of brass and a leg of a donkey, and similarly freakish stuff. I treat a lamia’s shapeshifting as a continuum rather than a
set of fixed forms. On one end is an attractive woman while on the other is
monster with a woman’s face. The various diverse portrayals in art, then,
merely depict the same lamia at a different point on the continuum.
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| ©2014 Steve Bellshaw |
Living story, bizarre facets. The mythology behind lamia is based on oral histories and even today people are putting their own spins on the lamia. The original myths are often vague and in retelling often try to explain the inexplicable. For example, lamia being able to remove her eyes (and gaining prophetic powers as a result) was explained as allowing her to sleep because like the snake she was unable to close her eyes. The monster ecology article on the Hack & Slash blog gives this capability to lamiae in general.
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| ©2018 Veronica Aldous |
Lost, grieving souls. I do not treat lamia as a self-sustaining race. Instead, I
treat them as the transformed souls of spurned lovers and parents who lost
their children. This is why lamiae are driven to kidnap and devour children and seduce and devour young men (or women, in the case of the lamio), not unlike how ghosts are driven to haunt. To become a lamia, you must lose your loved ones and curse the world
or be cursed yourself. Then your grief, or the jealousy of the one who cursed you, will transform you into a monster. Sometimes you will transform after your death.
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| ©1987 Yoshitaka Amano |
Cursed bloodlines. Lamiae may
sire or bear children, but these children will share the lamia's curse. They are typically the reincarnated souls of those with the potential to become lamia or dead lamia whose souls were reclaimed. (This is taken from
The Complete Guide to Fey's take on the fey as souls outside the cycle of souls, as I typically type lamiae as fey. See that book for details.)
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| ©2015 Alex Pei |
Monster brides. There are a number of stories dealing with the idea of someone marrying only to later discover their spouse is actually a monster. These stories almost never end happily, perhaps especially if the couple has children (who are often as not monsters themselves). I have included links to such stories in the links section below. I would allow that lami@ are
capable of suppressing their bloodlust and playing house when they find
particularly captivating prey, but as in the stories this almost never ends well.
Lamia mythology and folklore research links
Lamia in roleplaying games history research links
Monster bride/groom stories links
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