Godherja Encyclopedia

Living Blizzard (animal)

Though initially indistinguishable from a particularly vicious and deadly snowstorm by those unfortunate enough to get caught in one, the living blizzard's malign intelligence slowly becomes apparent as a pattern of leaving their prey on the brink of death, allowing them respite, only to return to torment them further and take away all regained hope emerges. The reason behind this behavior is not clear, as are most things about the monster - mostly stemming from the fact that their habitat in the upper North Kharadan mountains is extremely seldom visited by humans, allowing for mercifully little contact.

The creatures also display a significant variability in size, with the largest known living blizzard, Setokhin 'the White Devourer' being so large that it is capable of hiding entire mountains within its snowy maw. Most, however, are only around the size of a castle when in an unagitated state.

The tactics for defeating a living blizzard are exceedingly difficult to come by, and separating peasant superstition from genuinely effective methods is even harder. In no small part, this is a result of the fact that the spirits are "hunted" so rarely that the defeat of even one living blizzard is considered a great affair.

As we finally finish our grueling climb up a cliff face, we come upon the snowy slope on which we first noticed the persistent snowstorm that seemed to move with too much purpose. Our suspicions are confirmed as the monster begins to approach, no doubt thinking of us as its next plaything. I can only hope that the esoteric spells, incantations and Sarradonian tarshaf glass we brought along will be enough to contain, or at least destroy the thing. On terrain such as this, retreat is likely to prove impossible.