Mythical and magical creatures are a staple of the fantasy genre, sometimes as obstacles for heroes to face, sometimes as healers and dispensers of wisdom, sometimes fulfilling roles both stranger and more mundane. If you decide to include such beasties in your world, what are they doing there? And how deep you delve into the biology and ecology of these creatures? Do you need to make them make some sort of scientific sense, or can everything be covered by "it's magic"?

We also recap our Seattle WorldCon experience! So listen to hear about our panels, our amazing outfits, and losing a Hugo Award, again.

[Transcript for Episode 163 -- With thanks to our scribes!]