Viy

A viy is a frightful, netherworldly monster, whose lair has a scent that distinctly reminds visitors of the grave. It is roughly humanoid in its dimensions, but very solid, with very thick, almost metallic, skin. Its most outstanding feature is its eyelids, which dangle down to the floor. For whatever reason, a viy cannot lift these eyelids itself, and needs assistants to do so. The effect of its open eyes is not precisely known, but there is a very strong suspicion that its gaze can turn people into stone. To lift its eyes, it summons nechist' creatures - apparently, kulishes - seemingly up to four at a time. It can also appear as if from underground, and has a terrible aura of fear that can cause all but the most stout-hearted people to flee away from it in terror. Its arms are like large bludgeoning weapons with some sort of infernal power behind them, and it can use these to terrible effect even if its eyes remain closed.   
One such viy was the guardian of the Cave of the Sleeping Bogatyrs. There is strong suspicion that it turned the bogatyrs of old into stone. It rose up out of the ground when the Serpent Slayers approached its chamber from the cave where the statues were located. Three of them - Alden, Misha and Agapia fled immediately. Ignoring the girl, it began to intone "where are you, my faithful servants?", summoned several kulishes, and followed the rest into the cave with the statues. Zorina let off several shots which did not find purchase, and when the viy with its minions got to the large cave, she tried again, firing from behind a column. But she did not get out of the way quickly enough, and the viy killed her with just two blows, causing her insides to splatter across the cave floor. Malina tried to stay out of the way, summoning up a beam of moonlight, which annoyed the viy, and destroyed his minions. Frustrated, the viy kept summoning more and more, but this gave Alden and Misha a chance to recover from their terror. When they recovered their wits, the viy engaged them, and felled them just as quickly as he had Zorina, though Misha did hurt him with this spear several times. But all the while, Malina kept harrying him with the searing moonlight. After felling Misha, the kulishes surrounded Malina, and looked certain to finish her with their claws and bumpy foreheads, but Agapia happened to arrive just in the nick of time. Her words, inspired by Kivi were so powerful that they struck the viy dead, causing its minions to vanish. The death of the viy also caused the Shimmering Curtain blocking access to the statue cave, to disappear. Earlier, that curtain had caused the most horrible wounds to the Serpent Slayers, and had turned Yuri into stone.  
On the floor of the cave where the viy kept its vigil, it had a sizable pile of treasure.

Year of Death

6833

Eyes

Closed, behind very long eyelids

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Earthy gray

Height

Approaching 7 feet

Weight

Close to 500 lbs.