The Winter Country (Slavic Folklore RP - 1908)

The halls of Petrograd were white but warm, as snow fell upon them and froze their rivers. The darkness of Rossiya loomed over, as the Tsar and his minsters huddled in their warm rooms, great capes and gowns upon them. Even the son of Siberia was wrapped in the finest of brown furs, watching out the window as evils swept across the plains.
But in the west, there was no grand palace of gold and silver, with mass fires to warm a city. There were no huts and homes and houses. There were forests, and woods, and there was snow. There was more snow than one could even comprehend. In these snows, children went missing, villages went quiet, and hunters who had spent more than half their lives in the terrain were found mangled and broken. People said it was simply the blizzards, the harsh nights. They were wrong.

Beasts, demons, monsters, and dark men and women roamed the forests and snows, and they were the plague of the new age. They were the beasts that kept the armies awake, they were the demons that kept the children scared, and they were the monsters that kept the nights harsh and full of terrors like no other. People had begun to train, to work hard in the art of killing, in hopes of ending their hold of the regions. They were known as the Okhozima - the Winter Hunters. They were soldiers, slaves, hunters, farmers, any and all walks of life led to the Okhozima. And they saw darknesses untold.

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Monsters of the Winter Country:

• Neuri: A race of people of the far north, who have migrated and boomed in new century. They are often times little more than tribals, farmers and workers who make a living off nothing but their own interactions. But for seven days a year, they become things far more horrific. Mindless hounds, the size of bears, able to rip down brick and mortar with ease, with teeth like knives and claws like swords. Few have had the honour of slaying one, though many have had the misfortune of meeting them.
  
  
• Varacolaci: These are rare and unknown beasts, the likes of which the common ilk would never suspect. They bare pale skin, dried and chapped and scarred, with eyes as dark as the night sky. And with them, a hunger for blood and flesh so great that it is inconceivable; Varacolaci are known to not only drink, but bathe and sleep in the mortal sustenance of their prey. When fed, they are fast, strong, ferocious, and as they are fed on and on, they change from pale and dried people, to splintered, hairy, disgusting creatures, with snouts wide and teeth sharp, and great wings that span the length of trees. When a Varacolaci is fed as much as it can feast, it will embark on its final meal - the moon. Only the efforts of the Okhozima have stopped such a thing happening.
  
  
• Nelapsi: Few creatures are as ruthless and powerful as these beasts, great walking cadavers with red eyes bright as that of rubies, and flesh so leathery and worn, they need not even wear clothes. They do not hunt as their cousins or kin do, but they watch and feast on the torture and death of those around them. The Nelapsi are known to climb to the highest point of a steeple, from which they will begin their menacing ways - watching the people wander around, and once eye contact is made, they collapse and die, bringing shock and terror to the populace. As the Nelapsi watch, slowly, they seep utter plague and death upon the towns, and once all is said and done, it is not possible to know there was ever a village there. These are to be avoided.
  
  
• Yagaba: The wandering elder women of the forests and snows, these are a mix of temptresses and mothers, out to either aid those they encounter, or do away with them as they see fit. Often seen as the mothers of soldiers, weeping and in torn dresses, the Yagaba are deformed and scarred, with faces so hideous they give even the most stalwart man heart attacks. For this reason, the Yagaba are able to hide as clouds, birds, snakes, or most terrifying of all, the winter itself. They are known to abduct children, where they raise the daughters into their own likeness, and the sons into something more gross.
  
  
• Koschei: Few can exhibit the same presence as the Koschei. Raised by the Yagaba, these are the wiry, malformed men who see themselves as princes, kings, Tsars and mystics, sitting on thrones in the middle of their 'kingdoms' - abandoned homes, burnt villages, and even in some cases, clearings in the woods. It is there they lead wives and mothers, who become more wives, slaves, play things for the Koschei. There he waits, as his women please him, until a hero comes to attempt to put him to death. When the hero fails - as they always do - they become servants and guards to their new masters. It is then that they learn of the secret of the Koschei, and the island of Buyan in the far frozen norths, where the souls of all Koschei are kept safe forever.
  
  
• Zharpitsa: The beautiful birds of flame and flight, that somehow bring to the world death and agony like nothing else. When they fly, they leave with them a trail of find embers, which become pores of plague once they land. The Okhozima do not believe the Zharpitsa are even aware of their cruelty, but nonetheless, they are targets to be put down. When a Zharpitsa is befriended, however, as hard as it is, they can become great and different things, transforming into large flightless birds, with four legs and beautiful faces of whoever their master loves most. There, they become symbols of hope and power to all who witness them.
  
  

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Gonna add some stuff tomorrow, but yeah.

I like the idea so far. Are you taking anything from pre-existing romanian or perhaps Dacian mythology?
Or what sort of inspirations are you looking for?

Nickromancer wrote:

I like the idea so far. Are you taking anything from pre-existing romanian or perhaps Dacian mythology?
Or what sort of inspirations are you looking for?

One of those creatures was Romanian, I think it was the Nelapsi, though it may have been Polish. Dacia I've not even thought to look into, but it may be a good idea to do so.

I'm just going to drop some wikipedia articles of romanian stuff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaur
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C4%83pc%C4%83un
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iele
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C5%A3olea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricolici
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A2nzian%C4%83
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiridu%C5%9F
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strigoi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uria%C5%9F
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A2lv%C4%83
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A2ntoase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A2n%C4%83
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zmeu
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=V%C3%A2rcolac&redirect=no
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Romanian_mythology
http://www.academia.edu/1705362/Myth_in_Romanian_Folklore_Themes_Motifs_and_Archetypes_Poster_
http://www.beyonddracula.com/romanian-mythology/
http://www.dacia.org/history/myth_e.html [Text wall]
https://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/slavic-mythology-hors-dazbog-solar-deity-and-wolf-deity-or-lame-wolf-shepherdwho-rules-the-underworld/
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/vlachs/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_beings_in_Slavic_folklore

Some of this I'm sure you've seen in your own research.