Tail-Snakes

The tail-snakes originate as a local household superstition on the island, generally told to kids. Most people are quick to say that they're only made up, and that no such creatures could be real.

The Story

Children are told the tale growing up, to deter them from grabbing at other people's tails which is quite rude. The superstition holds that if you grab at a person's tail you may find yourself bitten by a tail-snake which can disguise itself as a person's tail and then bite questing hands. Of course, most will say that such creatures like these tail-snakes are of course make believe, and laugh. Though a small few claim otherwise, that in truth there are such things as tail-snakes, that the superstition originated with real creatures.

The few believers say the story originates in the far past. It's said there was a young Faerie girl who was very curious about those that had tails for she had none herself. In the beginning her parents and those that cared for her merely thought it was the playful curiosity of a child. But as time went on they realized it was more than playful curiosity. The girl would tug on the tails of pretty much anyone she encountered, and often none to lightly. She was scolded of course, punished often for this act and yet she would not be curbed in her desires. Her family grew increasingly frustrated, to the point where she was kept away from anyone that had a tail. It made things tense, until one day when the young girl slipped away from her sitter while in a public garden. As the sitter searched and called frantically there came a scream. The sitter was among those that heard the commotion and hurried, finding a startling scene. In a copse of trees was the young girl and another child. The stories are never clear what race the other child was, only that she was a race that had a tail. The other child sitting across the area against the trees, scared. The one girl with the penchant for tail grabbing was writhing on the ground with her hands clutched to her chest. Later the story was told. The young girl had found the other tailed girl and grabbed her tail. The girl then fled, trying to get away and crawled into the bushes. The one girl, eventually, found her and pulled her tail hard. According to the girls' statements the tail came off without blood and only minor pain and a strange sensation like plucking a flower from its stem. The removed tail, according to the grabbing girl, whipped around now sporting the head of a snake which bit her hands. Then the tail-snake creature apparently slithered off into the bushes and disappeared.

While none other than the two girls had seen anything happen, no one was sure what to make if it. The other girl was indeed missing her tail without any sign of damage or scar. The one girl who liked pulling tails suffered damage to her hands from some kind of bite that seemed similar to that of a snake. Their parents and really everyone who learned about the story were skeptical, but it was hard to deny the evidence. But from then on other stories cropped up here and there over time. Similar stories of tails being pulled one too many times, and the puller then thinking they found another tail, finds themselves bitten instead by a snake-like creature. As time moved on though, the story became a simple superstition that parents told to their disobedient children to keep them from grabbing others' tails. And what started as severe, crippling damage to the hands became simply the warning that such creatures would bite children who did pull tails. Again, most people readily admit tail-snakes aren't real, but some believe in the old stories. Either way, parents continue even now to scare their kids into behaving by threats of being bitten by the dangerous tail-snakes.

According to reports a tail-snake looks like the tail of any creature. Except where the base of the tail would be it's become the head of a snake. Some are scaled, others furred or feathered. Some little, others larger, all depending on the type of tail. They said that tail-snakes come from tails that were pulled exceptionally hard and came off. Turning into these creatures they'd bite the hands of those that pulled tails. Often posing as a normal tail to lure such grabbers into range of their fangs.

Legitimacy

In a way it's hard to prove whether or not such tail-snakes really exist. The island's magic has know to cause some strange effects, so changing a tail into a snake-creature really isn't farfetched. Then again, most people will admit they've never seen a tail-snake nor actually know of anyone who's been bitten by one seen one. Outside of the usual tale telling to children of course. And yet, maybe the superstition comes from a kernel of truth like a lot of those kind of stories. It's not hard to believe their could be some kind of snake that maybe has fur, or partially furred and scaled to give the impression of it being a tail. Most people claim the tail-snakes bite then flee and so most of the time there probably isn't a clear view of the creature. Whether they really exist or not though, their main purpose is to be a tale to tell, one of warning to grabby children who hopefully learn better than to grab at people's tails so.