A MOBA called Smite

Now I'm sure by the title you can guess what I'm going to talk about.
Now before I get into Smite, lets talk about MOBAs is general.
So a MOBA(Multiplayet Online Battle Arena) is a game genre that focuses on having champions(League of Legends), heros(DoTA) or in Smite's case the gods themselves in a battle arena fighting against other players in real time. The typical MOBA battle arena is a three lane battlefield with jungles containing various buffs for your character, two towers that protect your lane, minions going down those lanes and an objective at your enemies base. Your goal is to level up, buy items, destroy the towers and kill your enemies in order to reach the objective.
But Smite is no typical MOBA, unlike the usual bird eye view, Smite has you go over shoulder view. And it isn't a point and click, its a third person shooter. Now that's creativity.
But you must be thinking. Why am I talking about Smite?
Well to answer that question, lets talk Smite.
So Smite is another MOBA yeah I get it, just like LoL and DoTA(btw this is actually what the ancronyms actually look like). But Smite uses gods. Yeah you probably know Sun Wukong and Zeus thanks to the two MOBA giants, but Smite doesn't make them a made up character. Smite uses real mythology history to base Lore. You can say they used Lore to make Lore.
Now I'm sure you guys and gals use YouTube, who doesn't? Anyway, I'm sure you know Game Theory, hopefully most of you do. I won't give details. So there is a channel collaborating with it. It is called Gaijin Goomba. Now the guy who runs the channel I'm a fan of. He knows his myths and legends and world issues. So recently,  he did a review on one of Smite's gods, Raijin(I'll explain who he is in a different post, or you can check the video yourself), and oh boy, Hi-Rez Studios(the company that made Smite) was happy to help. Anyway, GG was pretty happy, Smite did an almost accurate representation of Raijin. So that's real genius of Smite.
Now Smite has interesting Gods, for example the upcoming Oathkeeper Jing Wei(maybe I should do her first). To give a brief description, Jing Wei is a swallow that is trying to fil the Eastern Sea with sticks and pebbles... Not smart but the story has moral, determination. Anyway she isn't a god in terms of how most people would view them. Sure you tell someone Jesus is a God its believable, but if you tell someone Arachne is a God, you find that hard to believe.
To clarify this, I thank good old Oxford Dictionary.
According to Oxford, the term God means

    a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity

Or

An image, animal, or other object worshipped as divine or symbolizing a god

Now you might be confused, some of you hss probably guessed it, or even understand. You see, a god isn't always something that is considered as someone who is called the God or Goddess of this and that, it depends. Let's talk back about Jing Wei, now she is interesting, she is the daughter of Nü Wa(not the Creator of mankind Nü Wa), the Flame Thearch*. Jing Wei is a deity thanks to her lineage and rapid reincarnation(she was someone else before being called Jing Wei). Arachne? She is considered the mother of all spiders, an animal worshipped as divine.
So Smite really knows their english.
How about the gods skills? You know the QWER skills. Anyway, going away from my MOBA speak, Smite's gods have skills relating to their religion and god. For example Agni, he has a skill called Flame Walk. This is a reference to the Hindu practice of Flame Walking. So Hindus would pray to Agni to purify them of evil, and how does Agni do it? By burning them. Just kidding, he gives them blessings and then the Hindus run through a path of burning coal so Agni can burn the evil.
So yeah, Smite is pretty cool, its awesome and definitely worth checking out if you want to play something different.
I'll bring it to an end here, so be well my Theorist.

Grammar
Thearch: A monarch of gods

Santa Claus

Ho Ho Ho?

  Fine, I couldn't think of a better title. anyway, remember my previous, and sad post that featured Santa, well, I decided to go more in depth with the jolly bowl of jelly, by going to this channel

Yes, ERB. I not sure how many know RapGenius. It be good you know, ERB has done their history homework real good. Even though the Santa is red but still good. i will give five facts on Santa. Now I will start with fact 1.

1. Santa ain't red

Yes, the people who know don't worry, that won't affect Christmas. Santa originally came in green, white or brown. Surprise surprise Sir Prize. Anyway, enough puns. Why green, he was portrayed in an artist work which the old man of Christmas carried a pack of toys. White? Saint Nicolas mostly don white, with red. Brown? Well, some cultures believe that Santa was associated with Odin, yes, the Father of Thor and Loki(stop screaming girls). In portrayals of him, he wears brown clothing. Santa's famous red coloring comes from Coca-cola advertising artist who was to design a design for Christmas, he chose Santa and coloured him in the Coca-cola brand coloring, red and white.

2. Santa's reindeer

Everyone knows Santa's 9 reindeer, but there was originally eight, want evidence, here's an excerpt from the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas"

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:
"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen!
"On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!

 The names highlighted are Santa's original 8 reindeer. Just a little factoid, Donder and Blitzen derive from the German words for thunder and lighting respectively.
Where's Rudolph the red nose reindeer? Simple, he was introduced later, in 1939 or 20th century. Rudolph had a different origin, he came from author Robert L. Mary who publish the book so children could get it in Christmas time. For those who read the book, you would know that Rudolph was a social outcast among other reindeer for having a glowing red nose. One fateful Christmas day, it was a foggy night and Santa had problem seeing, for some reason Rudolph has a house which Santa happens to land on, Ho Ho Ho noticed the glow and thought it would made a makeshift lamp, Rudolph agreed to lead the 8 and Santa for the rest of the night. Rudolph was the most popular reindeer, being in a featured film and a TV special of the original story. But here's something more interesting, Santa has more reindeer. L. Frank Baum's story 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus' shows none of the original reindeer, but includes a list of 10, Flossie and Glossie being Santa's principal reindeer is the story. Santa has eight more named, Racer, Pacer, Fearless, Peerless, Ready, Steady, Feckless and Speckless. Baum should have added Go, get it, Ready, Steady, Go! The 1964 Rudolph special features Fireball shows 5 other reindeer, Fireball being the son of Blitzen, a fawn that is the son of Donner struggling to fly, two other unnamed reindeer fawns of the same age and Clarice, Rudolph's love interest. Joe Diffie's 1995 album, Mr Christmas has a song named Leroy the Redneck Reindeer. Sesame Street feature a Reindeer-in-training named Lighting in 'Elmo saves Christmas'. In the 1998 movie feature film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie, introduces Mitzi, Rudolph's mother and wife of Blitzen, Rudolph's love interest Zoey and cousin and rival, Arrow. I could on and on about the others, but I leave with your own research.

3. Santa's Location

  You maybe thinking, Santa's in the North Pole or Magnetic North. Currently, due to climate change, Magnetic North has moved over the Artic sea, since there is no way a workshop, shed, trees, factory, village for elves, house could be there, we go to Finland, who has the best claim of Santa's location. Why? Santa's Village is located there, you can visit the reindeer shed, elves and Santa himself, even during the off season. Canada has given Santa Claus citizenship. Go Canadians!

4. Letters to Santa

  Not the Muppet movie or that Polish one, I'm talking about tradition. The letters are technically wishlists in an envelope of children who want a specific toy and their good behaviors. Social Scientist founded out the girls have more polite and longer letters than boys. They express the nature of Christmas and requests gifts for other people. Post related literacy,like letters and emails, are first learned by Santa's letters, hence an educational benefit. Maybe that's how boys get slime guns for Christmas. Letters that have been sent can be through postal services, helium balloons and burning them? British culture says burning Christmas letters in an open fire will have their letters sent by the winds of the North Pole. Not smart Brits, not smart at all. Children may sometimes receive letters from Santa through private agencies or organisations. People in Beijing can get personalized Santa letters for their children.

5.Santa tracking

  For those who use Google Search Engine, you may know of this. Santa tracking started by accident, a misprint in a poststamp by 1955 Sears ad. This is what happened.

 The misprinted telephone did not go to Sears Toyland, rather it went to CONAD.  The first call to Santa was answered by Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, who responded by telling children Santa was indeed heading south from the North Pole. This tradition continued under the name NORAD tracks Santa when Canada and United States jointly created it in 1958. Currently, its 8 days still Santa takes flight by Google Santa Tracker. So keeping waiting patiently.

What does Santa Claus, Jack Frost and the Abominable Snowman?

What?You may ask... well...

  Okay, maybe some of you out there may know, the answer is Winter. They are all associated with the frigid, freezing cold of Winter. Hey, its December, so why not get yourself a hot cup of chocolate and sit down to this article.

I'll start with the Spirit of Christmas himself, Santa. First, > ain't real Santa. Real Santa is green. This is just a Coco-Cola advertisement. So kids, hate to ruin your dreams of that mega action robot, for that guy in the mall isn't Santa.
The real Santa looks like this.
Yes children, sad ain't it. But that doesn't mean you can give up on Christmas, take it from me, I live in TROPICAL CLIMATES, sure more animals live in this kind of weather but no snow. Just for those out there who have never touch your geography books, the tropical climate is between the Tropics of Cancer and the Tropics of Capricorn. Or 20° North and 20° South from the equator. But not my point. We still celebrate Christmas, doesn't mean that Santa in the mall isn't going to bring you presents doesn't mean you can't stop celebrating it. Now this is going off course I know, but reflect on the time family and friends come around the table to talk or play. Anyway, time to go from the detour into the main road. Santa has been our lives since the day with started putting up Fig trees in our houses and decorating it. Christmas or X'mas was originally for Jesus, but one man changed everything. His name is Saint Nicolas, Santa's real name. He gave the poor, good children toys every year on Christmas Day. Soon, his name spread across the world and became Santa Claus. Different cultures have different interpretations of Santa Claus, one has Santa Claus being a joker and making children laugh, one puts toys and gifts in your shoes, that culture influence stocking being hanged over your fire pit. Now, to see if Santa is real. Lets start with what he does, send presents, first, how many presents does he have to send. But the toys in each present is different, so lets start with action figures for boys, and hula-hoops for girls. A action figure is about a gram, and a hula-hoop probably 50-60 grams. Lets say every boy and girl is good, since I don't have Santa's good list. There are 1.9 billion children around the world. The sex ratio is 107 male to 100 females, so I will do a bit of math. Okay, my math ain't that great, but the total is more than a 1000 kilograms, so that means that sleigh carries blue whales in tiny bits. So Santa has a titanium sleigh, how about the reindeer, its impossible for 8 reindeer to pull that sleigh. 8? Why 8 you may ask, because in original Santa Claus stories, Rudolph is a recent addition of the 20th century, Santa dates back to Saint Nicolas's time, which is obviously not the 20th century. Okay, lets say Santa manages to get off the ground, he has to travel the world in one night. The speed Santa has to go plus the air resistance he has to face with the amount of weight, makes him a skeleton by the time he gets of the north pole, maybe that's why he can go down chimneys, he just dismantles himself. So Santa doesn't exist. But you can go to Finland to Santa Claus Village to meet "Santa" during the off season. But him existing, sadly, Busted :(
Now, Jack Frost.
I bet your stockings and Christmas presents that you never heard of until you've watched Rise of the Guardians. Well, that Jack Frost ain't accurate, he is not a teen, he is this dude.

Yes, this dude, no staff that controls power stuff. He is the Jack Frost, he is an interesting mate, he is either a teen, young adult or a man.  I don't know much about him, I do know Wikipedia has answers(not all of them are right though). Jack Frost represents, you get it, Winter. He is a variant of Old Man Winter, but Jack is believe to be the cause of frost(duh), nipping of toes and noses(hence that phrase in the movie, which is a real phrase). He was introduced in 19th century literature, and some depict him as serious mischief maker. He is a carefree, friendly spirit, but insulting him would get the person covered in snow and ice or turn them to frost. He behaves as he pleases and is the being that parents warn their children about. He starts in Anglo-Saxon or Norse winter customs, but that is not confirmed. In other countries, he is as different entities but have the same role. Jack paints the autumn leaves with either a paintbrush with paint of the colors of autumn or with none at all. He wishes to bring happiness to people and enjoy himself.  Him existing is a hard nut to crack, or ice I should say. But science has added another sad face :( as the reasons of leaves changing colors, frost paintings have been explained. Busted.
Now, we have the beast of the snow, the Abominable Snowman(still have problems pronouncing) or Yeti.
The Bigfoot of the Snow, he is said to live high in the mountains where its cold, but why is he related to Winter? Well, think of Bigfoot for a sec, now picture rabbits, specifically snowshoe rabbits Now think of snow, both would obviously stand out, but snowshoe rabbits change their fur from brown to white when that season comes. My theory is that the Yeti and Bigfoot are the same creature, just that they change their fur colour like snowshoe rabbits. Why? Think about this, both are ape like creatures taller than average humans, both have to have giant feet since your foot size times seven equals height. Both have thick fur and live in remote areas. But Bigfoot is in America while Yeti is in the mountain range of Tibet and Nepal. May Bigfoot migrates, but that won't make sense since the reason animals migrate is because of winter and want to get to warmer areas. Eureka! Maybe Bigfoot does migrate, not because of winter but rather because of humans, think about it, people would be coming to forest to chop down a X'mas tree, Bigfoot's home is being terrorize, so living in the mountains would give Bigfoot some time to wait for the trees to grow back so he can remain hidden. But getting there, those giant feet should be good swimmers. Fur to keep him warm while swimming the cold water, maybe their water proof. But him existing, not so much of a Busted but Plausible. Okay why? I have been watching Finding Bigfoot on Discovery Channel, and a fur sample almost proven Bigfoot's existence. But for now, we wait.
Pictures belong to the brilliant people who own these.
And one more thing, may God bless us every and a very Merry X'mas(play a catchy Christmas bell chine tune here, ding ding ding ding)

The Dragons of the World

Dragons

 Dragons have been our lives for centuries, influencing each other's culture. DBZ fans should know this one here.

Familiar with this one Zelda Nerds?

They may look different, but Shenron* and Valoo* are both dragons. The word dragon came from the Greek word "δράκων", meaning dragon or water serpent.

Western Dragons

Lets start with where the word dragon came from, Greece

"the first mention of a "dragon" is derived from the Iliad* where Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate"

-Wikipedia

Now we could probably guess dragons first started in Greece, but no, the term δράκων has already been used for snakes, so we can't be sure. 

In 217 AD, Flavius Philostratus discussed dragons in India in The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, meaning before Greece came in touch with dragons, India beat them to it. The description of the Greek dragons goes as follows, "In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine's, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as abraded as sharks' teeth" According to a collection of books called On Animals by Claudius Aelianus, he mentions a species of dragons in Ethiopia that hunted elephants. It could grow up to 180 feet, or 54.864 meters and had a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals. Famous Greek Dragons are the 100 hundred head dragon Ladon and the Hydra.

Then we travel to the Medieval age of Europe,

European dragons are tied with Chinese/Japanese dragons in popularity. These dragons are depicted in mythology and folklore, living in rivers or an underground lair or caves. They are said to be covered in armored or hard hide, rarely described as flying even with leathery bat-like wings. They are said to be malevolent under Christianity and pre-Christian dragons, such as Y Ddraig Goch, the Red dragon of Wales are seen as benevolent.

Most European dragons are evil, exceptions in Welsh folklore. Its has some Greek influence and partly Germanic.

Slavic dragons are different in their own ways, they have similarities, but are mostly Russian, Bulgarian, Polish and Consortia of origin. The three head dragon, Zmey Gorynych, is an example.

South and East Asia

Now, We head to the other side of the world, and the largest Continent, Asia, mainly South and East Asia.

We start with Ancient India.

Vedic Religion states that Vritra, a Asura and naga* or dragon-like creature that was the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Flavius Philostratus, yes the same guy up there a few paragraphs, wrote that, according to Apollonius of Tyana India was highly infested by dragons, which is obviously not true since India isn't in flames and that in India belief. Nobody is sure how he got the idea. Vritra has three heads like Zmey Gorynych 

Persian dragons go by the name of Aži Dahāka, modern Persian, azhdahā means dragon. They appear as banners of war. Persian believe baby dragons are the same colour of their mother's eyes(How cute) 

Interesting mother, must be those rare types with two different eyes colours.

Anyway, on to East Asia Dragons. The most recognized dragon tied with European Dragons.

Chinese dragons and Japanese are similar, both have long, elongated bodies, scales, wingless, associated with rainfall and bodies of water. Chinese Zodiac Calendars show the dragon as the fifth animal. If you went to China, you could see dragons pretty much everywhere(not as living things).

Bhutan made the dragon, Druk(Thunder Dragon), a national symbol of their country. 

Manipur has an interesting one, its has a Pakhangba, a mythical hybrid dragon of a deity of the Meithei people preceding Hinduism in the region. It looks like a Chinese Dragon, except with lion legs and no mane.

Vietnamese people are, according to an ancient creation myth, descendants of a dragon and a fairy(uh).  Anyway, like the Chinese, Vietnamese dragon are bringers of rain and represent the symbol yang*, universe, growth, life and existence. Not much is known about the Vietnamese dragon due to the fierce changes of history with the sinicization of the Nguyễn Dynasty.

The inspirations of dragons might have came from many animals, such as crocodiles, spitting cobras and skeletons of large sea mammals and dinosaurs. You readers may have heard of the Komodo Dragon, a giant lizard that lived solely in the Indonesian Islands, Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar. This creature is a beast, poisonous saliva that it drools constantly and may infected wounds of its prey using its curved claws. Its hunting tactics goes as follows. First, find and wound prey, making sure it infects the prey with saliva, second, leave it alone to run away allowing the poison to kill it, third, use scent sensing tongue to find dead prey.The dinosaur version of this animal is even worse, and may have the strongest possibility to be what inspired the dragons, it had napalm like saliva, scorching the things it touch with saliva. Prey that may have been fossilized might have made people that found it think that dragons did this.

But we may never know if they truly exist, for some things can't be explain by science. Anyway, all credit goes to Wikipedia and those who filled its pages. Credit for pictures goes to their respective owner.

Word section

Shenron: The dragon of Dragon Ball Z, he grants one wish to he who find the Dragon Balls.

Valoo: An NPC from Legend of Zelda, he appears in Wind Waker as the guardian of Ruto Tribe, sitting atop a volcano, giving a feather to the Ruto child that climbs to the top. Tip: Use his tail to fight the Boss of Dragon Roost Island. Grapple it.

IIiad: A book by the Greeks

Naga: Serpent, not that thing from Twilight Forest.

Yang: In Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese belief, the yingyang symbol is used to represent the spiritual being of every thing in the universe.

Dragon fishing

Dragon caught by Fisherman?

There has been a capture of a "dragon" by a Fisherman in inner Mongolia, if you have no idea, watch the video above.

Anyway, to make things clear, this dragon is an Chinese dragon, and not the ferocious beast that terrorize the European lands. But not my point, point is, its a Dragon! For those unfamiliar with the Eastern Dragons, picture the dragon from DBZ, you know the thing that appears once all Dragon Balls are collected, yeah that thing.

Dragons are world renown mythical creatures, they appear in games, stories, movies and even artwork like above.  The origins of the first dragon is unknown,  but there is one similarity in all dragons of the worlds, they are large, powerful creatures with scales and are either good or evil, Eastern mostly supporting the good side. Eastern dragons, have fish scales, eagle talons, a camel head, a cow's nose, deer antlers, snake body, catfish whiskers and a lion's mane. Interesting right. Now unlike Western Dragons, Eastern Dragons spit water instead of breathing fire, not all do that though. Chinese believe for Dragons to be deities or gods of water, rain and the sea. Hence, fishing up a dragon would seem more likely than catching one in the air, unless its raining. Now lets look at the dragon in the video, like the guy said, have the eagle talons, antlers, whiskers and long body of a  snake. But something's not right, the dragon has fur instead of scales. No sign of a mane,  nor does its horns look like a deer's. Either it is a separate species of dragon, or a hoax. I couldn't find any news on this creature sadly, so not much is confirmed. It has been sent to Beijing for studies. But the video I found was during June 24 2014, so what could this mean, first of all, I believe this dragon is a hoax, firstly because of the evidence above, second is because how did the dragon die, fishing tools are mostly just nets and poles, never guns, so it should be alive, Lastly, blood, no records show the colour of dragon blood, if you look closely enough, the dragon was bleeding, but I have some doubts, scientist have a habit, if they find this dragon to be real, they would test it over and over again, searching blood samples and other crazy experiments most of us won't understand, just to be baffled by the results again and again, hence taking a long time. Or people who are crazy about Area 51, the troops there had probably took it back to base and kept it there, hence why there is no news. Busted or Plausible, I say Busted. The most crucible evidence is killing the dragon. How is it possible to kill a deity, let alone a god? So its Busted.

Pictures belong to their respective owners and video is by Beyond Science, a YouTube channel that is dedicated to Cryptology, like me.

Welcome Cryptological Theorists

Welcome Theorists to my Blog

People of many minds often wonder about the many things of Earth, some are logically possible, some are just plain stupid. But how about mythical theories such as 'Do unicorns exist?" or "Santa Claus exist?!". I shall tackle these theories like how a Cretan Bull would charge at enemies. In my blog, I shall discuss about theories, videos and other forms of media to see if its Plausible or Busted. But that is not my main goal, my main goal for you guys and gals out there to learn about the culture and science behind these mysterious beings. For this is what Cryptologist* do!.

But before I go into anything at all I would like to make some things clear.

1. These are my personal thoughts and ideas and research, so feel free to comment on what you think
2. I will not bother with flames, bad ideas or just plain nonsense, nor shall you readers out there. They are just people wanting attention, the bad kind.
3. If you manage to give my mind some doubt in my personal ideas either through the comment section or personal messaging, I will mention you in the next post.
4. There are some words that you people won't understand, so I will put this * next to the word. If there are some words you guys and gals do not understand but I didn't place the symbol, look it up yourself.
5. I like to keep my comment sections clean off any "filth", so unless you want me to get you reported, don't do such things.
6. There shall be some 恐怖画面* in some of my post, since Ghosts and other scary things shall be on this blog.
7. Like in point 6, I might use Chinese if I can't get my thoughts through my fingers and into words, so I'm sorry if you don't understand readers.
8. If I miss things that you know about a specific mythical creature, tell me and I will also mention you.

Word Section

Cryptologist: A person who studies myths, another name would be Mythologist. 

恐怖画面: Revolting/Scary/Disgusting/Stomach churning images