"Yrka, you are not a devil, but a dark man, he is one of those, maybe, who hanged themselves, drowned themselves. At night, his will. At night, he walks all the roads, wherever he would meet someone, get drunk on the warmth of life in order to live out the unfinished. He ended his life, but he has to live. So he's looking for it. He is especially attached to Ivan Kupala. That's why they light the lights all night..."
— Yuri Petrovich Mirolyubov, Russian writer.
Yrka is an evil and thin creature from Slavic mythology. The ancient Slavs considered the act of suicide a great sin, and a man who shortened his life of his own free will was doomed to wander at night in the guise of a wolf, killing people and sucking their blood, trying in this way to replenish his vitality, which somewhat makes him related to the wendigo.
His eyes glow in the dark. It looks like a human, but the body is disfigured by ulcers and cadaverous spots. This evil spirit hunts only at night and moves very quickly and silently, watching its victim for a long time.
Yrka hunts at night only in the field, as the goblin does not let him into the forest. In most cases, if a person notices the presence of a creature, then a painful death awaits him. Sometimes a lonely lost traveler walking in the night can feel a boring gaze on him. The ancient Slavs believed that this yrka was watching its victim. In this case, you should not turn around, and even more so try to escape by running, because in this case a person faces a painful death.
It can confuse a person, lead them astray, or make the shortest path endless. If you look back, the creature instantly turns up next to the person and begins to circle and speak, which makes the victim slow and loses his sense of danger. Yrka's gaze has a kind of hypnotic effect. The monster can also call out to the traveler with familiar voices, tempting him to turn around. As soon as a person falls into his hands, he drinks all his blood and calms down for a while, filling his need for vitality. The unclean night on Ivan Kupala is especially rampant, that's why bonfires are lit everywhere on the holiday, the creature is very afraid of fire. It is also actively looking for a victim in August, perhaps this is due to field work, when many farmers can stay in the field overnight.
If you have already turned around, then prayer is the only salvation from a painful death. If you say it, the spirit will howl, and you will have the opportunity to escape. Also, if you feel an unblinking gaze on yourself, you should run into the forest, where the cat will not be able to penetrate, because the goblin will not miss it.
Skills, strengths and abilities
Hypnotic gaze - The Yrka is able to hypnotize its victim with a glance, thus keeping it at a close distance.
Tremendous speed - According to mythology, the yrka can quickly catch up with the fleeing victim.
Voice change - The student is able to change his own voice, making it look like the voices of the victim's relatives, tempting her to turn around in this way.
Wandering - Like various spirits of forests and fields, yrka is able to make a person wander aimlessly in the field or completely lose their way.
Excellent night vision - Prowling at night among the field grasses, the yrka is able to spot the victim in complete darkness and from a sufficiently long distance.
