Mythic Bestiary

Log 14:Krampus

A very long overdue monster.
Summary:Krampus is a creature from Germanic folklore,said to travel with St.Nicholas during Christmas as his counterpart.Krampus punishes bad children,and his punishments range from whippings to dragging the child to the Underworld. A half-goat,half-demon,all awful.

Legends:The basic stories of Krampus are usually the same.
The little boy glanced outside at the chilled night, his blonde hair matted to his face; He's been sweating bullets all night. He jumped when the door to his room creaked open, his bright blue eyes widening in horror. His younger sister looked at him, a confused smile on her pale face."What? What is it?", she asked,"You look like you've seen-" She was cut off by her brother flailing his arms and loudly hissing his discontent.

He put a finger to his lips. "Don't say his name!", He looked around, his eyes scanning the frozen ground outside of his window before he turned to the darker corners of his small room. "He might hear you!" The brunette shook her head, her own blue eyes following his panicked movements."You don't need to worry.You know Opa dresses as Krampus and doesn't even do anything to us. He's too soft. Besides,we've been good!"The boy slowly looked back at her, tears brimming in his eyes as he spoke-"I wasn't."

Both children walked down the stairs as their mother announced "Krampus'" arrival, the young boy trembling the whole way. They moved into the sitting room, freezing air wafting in from the open front door. Their mother was standing next to a tall figure, her face stern.The young girl seem confused, she had never seen their mother look so tense. But she gladly ran up to the fuzzy figure with a smile on her face."Op-Krampus!I've been good this year!I can tell you about everything I've done!"The horned creature walked past her,the stench of ashes and brimstone floating into her nostrils. Her mother pulled her close as the girl saw chains dragging behind what she thought was her grandfather.

Her mother placed a hand over the young girls eyes,whispering for her not to look as an impossibly deep,raspy voice began to speak."You've been a naughty child. Lying, stealing, blaming others for your mistakes. Do you know what happens now?"The girl could hear her brother's voice trembling as he begged for the creature to give him another year. He could be better, he could work for those he stole from, he could- He began to scream.The girl grabbed her mother's wrist, trying her hardest to get her to let go. She had to beg for Krampus to leave him alone,that maybe she could help him to improve. She finally tore her mother's hand away, just in time to see the hulking figure of Krampus drag her sobbing brother out the door, and into the darkness.

Weaknesses:Krampus does not have any specific weaknesses. If children wish to ward him away,then they must be good. But according to an odd amount of Christmas cards, Krampus liked beautiful women.So maybe you could distract him with a hot lady.