Cause of death in magic
They call it Forensic Science for a reason, because the rules of death are grounded in absolutes. If too much blood is lost, a person dies. If too many internal organs are damaged, a person dies. If there is no oxygen, a person dies. In thrillers and mysteries, unless there is a supernatural element, writers rarely have scope for miraculous recoveries. People may survive gunshot wounds, but they cannot dodge bullets. People may survive being held underwater for a people or time, but they cannot breathe underwater. However, fantasy has its own set of rules when it comes to death. Many of our fantasy creatures are mythological or supernatural. Many are immortal and can only be killed by other immortals.
When we talk about cause of death for magical creatures, we are usually focusing on their destruction because the creature is killing humans. Here are a couple of interesting pieces of information I have found while researching for the Fantasy: Mythical Creatures word search books. Here are some interesting ways I have discovered for killing fantasy creatures.
Vampires: We know the most common methods of destroying a vampire, but did you know that the powerful method is od destroying a vampire in Bulgaria is to bottle it. It may only be undertaken be a well-trained sorcerer. The sorcerer carries a holy picture and a bottle and lies in wait for the under. When the vampire appears, the sorcerer ambushes it, following it relentlessly, until the vampire is forced to face the holy picture and its only means of respite is to enter the bottle. The bottle may also contain a food as a lure, (In Bulgaria this is manure). The sorcerer then seals the bottle, screams in victory, and hurls the bottle into fire.
Ghouls: Ghouls are highly susceptible to fire, concentrated acid, or electrocution. Decapitation has also proved an effective method of destruction.
We will explore more of these ways to destroy creatures in our Gothic series of word searches, which are planned for release in 2021. Be sure to sign up to our newsletter to be kept up to date on all our word search releases. You can sign up here. Plus receive a free word search sampler.