Striga

 


A striga is a vampire like demon from Slavic and Polish folklore. It has owl like features, such as feathers, golden eyes and bird like talons. It can also shape shift into an owl at will. Strigas are strictly nocturnal, coming out at night to feast on the blood and flesh of the living.

A striga comes from a person, usually female, that was born with two souls. This person will have various signs that they have two souls, usually having duplicated body parts, such as having two rows of teeth or two heartbeats. If this person is found out in life, they will be cast out of society to go die in the wilderness. If they're not found out they will continue to live like a normal person while they're still alive. On death one of the souls moves onto the afterlife while the other stays trapped in the body.

When this happens the stiga begins to transform. They'll start out looking like they did in life, just with pale grey skin. Over time they will transform, gaining long needle like teeth and long claws on their hand and feet. As they continue transforming they will gain more and more owl like features, becoming something like an owl harpy.

In their afterlife, the striga will need to feed on blood and flesh of the living to sustain itself. It will start out feeding on live stock, but eventually will feel the overwhelming craving to feed on human blood. The first person the striga will kill is whoever wronged them the most in life, then the person with the next most grievances and so forth. Eventually they'll run out of people who have done ill to them and just start attacking random strangers.

During the day the striga will sleep in it's grave. Ways to stop the striga involve finding the grave and neutralizing the corpse, either by burning it, decapitating it, or laying it face down with it's leg tendons cut.

If a person is out at night they must avoid groves of trees, abandoned buildings and graveyards. In fact they should avoid anywhere shadowy. They should travel down the middle of the road, staying away from any trees or vegetation at the sides. They must not investigate strange noises or shadows moving in the corners of their eyes, just keep moving without stopping. 



Sources

https://lamusdworski.wordpress.com/2016/01/31/strzyga/

https://brendan-noble.com/the-strzyga-striga-in-polish-mythology/




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