The Ygrims

Don't go alone out in the cold winter evening, and don't follow any howling winds, especially near hills or mountains. You don't want to meet Ygrims, they will eat you.

— Old residents retelling the warning of winter's evenings.

Winter is already a harsh season for many as snow and cold moves southwards from Jorvemland and into the rest of Telamirein and Marlun. Animals are not the biggest danger dispite the lack of food for them. Instead there is the cold and what hides inside it. Among them is the Ygrims, medium sized monstrosities that lie in wait to capture you and eat you alive.

Summary

Ygrims are, according to legend, a monster that comes out during winter to hunt humans, especially the one who live or are alone. They all stand on two legs like Humans and have a woolly fur to survive the cold. Many are pale white and can hide in the snow to ambush their prey with their strong hands that can crush a human's chest or rip it open. Why they target lone people is because they don't have the protection of another person. A Ygrim can't target more than one being at a time, fixing their small eyes with a determined vision of capturing and eating that single being. They can, of course, protect themselves from several people at once but their ferocity in hunting their selected prey usually diminishes this ability. Ygrims are also resistant to magic, making them harder to counter for people who rely on magic to protect themselves.

Historical Basis

There is little evidence beyond mauled bodies but that can be any human or animal's doing. I believe... or rather fear... that the Ygrim is the production of something else more than a cautionary tale of winter's hardships. My fear is that there might be something about The Other Goes in this tale, and the rest I leave out.

— Everam, Teller of Nimenra

The tales of Ygrims relate to the encounters out in the wilderness and to single targets that have died in the winter, finding what remains of them later on. Milder versions are told to children so that they never go out alone in the cold as it is a fast killer if the winter is harsh. The animals also have a harder time finding food in this season which makes animal attacks a probable explanation.

There are other attacks that are harder to refute when people have retold about facing or meeting a Ygrim and surviving. Encounters like these are more common close to Jorvemland which people still have not explored properly. Creatures like the Ice Harrow exits after all and who can't say that the Ygrims can too?

There are alternative explanations to the Ygrims as well. "Ygrim" as a word is awfully close to the name of one of The Other Gods, namely Ymrin, or Ygrimnir as they are also known as. The topic is highly sensitive and no one will talk about it without fearing for their life, if not foolish to distrust the Gods of The Eight Pantheons. What can be told is that Ymrin was a God of Winter, Cold and the Sky-mountains.