Episode 116: Dark Fae: Obayifo

The folklore of the obayifo in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2024 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about the obayifo in folklore here.

Get the transcript here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With over a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my Dark Court Sisters book series. Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Three sisters. Three destinies. Three ways to destroy the world. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/darkcourtsistersseries for more.

You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion. Go to buymeacoffee.com/ronel to support me.

We’re continuing our exploration of Dark Fae.

Today’s Faery: Obayifo

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Not a lot of original folklore – at least the written kind – is available about the Obayifo. What can be found, though, speaks of a kind of vampire who delights in the blood of children, sucks the juices of crops, destroys cacao crops, and is obsessed with food. They can be recognised by their shifty eyes, preoccupation with food – especially meat – and a phosphorescent light coming from them at night. They supposedly have the power to leave their bodies and travel great distances, possibly as a glowing light, at night. They prefer the darkness to prowl. These witch-vampires can be anyone.

In some lore, the Obayifo casted a spell to create itself as a living witch-vampire, while in other lore one is born like this. Sometimes this creature can even shape-shift, besides as a type of corpse candle or will-o’-the-wisp, into an animal.

However these living vampires who are also witches came to be, they are deadly and shouldn’t be messed with. Hide the children and cacao plants!

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an Origin of the Fae: Obayifo

Two kinds.
First is the known kind.
They were once Witches or Warlocks who made an alliance with the Unseelie King for more power and longevity. They became Vampires who drained the life from the earth and blood from small children (under seven years old). They retained all their witchy powers and then some.
The earth dies wherever they go as they suck the very life from it.
Their mission is to completely destroy all life.
Their magic lies in a bone pendant around their necks. The pendant is made from the bone of any powerful witch or warlock they have killed.

They are usually attractive, powerful, with a hunger for power and blood that cannot be met.
The second kind are victims of the first kind who played vampire and tried to make more Obayifos from normal, non-magical humans. Rarely does it take. They have to bite so deeply with their fangs that they pierce all the major vessels and arteries in the throat/neck in one bite to transfer a bit of their own powers. The bite also kills and then brings the victim back to life.
The second kind of Obayifo cannot make more of their own kind – only the first kind of Obayifo can make more in this way. This second kind is more Vampire than Witch. They can drink any blood to sustain life. They can also eat food. They do not burn in the sun. A stake to the heart cannot kill them; starvation can.
Mortal enemies:
Type one: Nature Faeries and Druids.
Type two: None Known (they usually die via suicide – starving themselves).

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faeries.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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You can now support my time in producing the podcast (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

You can now own the backlist seasons as audiobooks. All proceeds go to hosting the podcast. Exclusively available from Ronel’s store.