Classification: Ethereal Entities

Temporal Range: Medieval era

Geographic Range: Central and Eastern Europe

Diet: The blood of men

Marzanna, the death goddess and embodiment of winter, is not to be trifled with. A harbinger of doom and bringer of terrible luck, she appears at the onset of winter, bringing frost, darkness, and a frightful chill in her wake.

This death goddess manifests as a beautiful woman and is often compared to her sisters Vesna, the goddess of spring, and Zhiva, the goddess of summer. At times, she has also been revered also as a goddess of fate, Marzanna can bring destruction to men, riding the nightly winds in search of their blood to drain.

Each year, a ritual is performed to purge Marzanna and send her back to the afterlife. At the beginning of spring, locals build an effigy of Marzanna, adorning it with ribbons, flowers, and trinkets, before drowning it in a nearby river. Sometimes, this takes the form of small dolls rather than a large effigy, but either method suffices. This ritual plunges the goddess back into the underworld, where she remains until winter returns. There's a short window to seek her favor, so time it well and avoid letting her see you playing with any dolls in her image.