Lore
The Lore Behind Threadbound
Zmei (also known as Zmaj, Zmey, Zmeu, Zmiy)
Because of this dual nature, zmei is as much ruler as beast. He is a creature that hoards power rather than gold. Versions agree on one truth: a zmei’s word binds tighter than any silver chain.
While in most tales zmei don't breathe fire, in Threadbound each zmei is born with a unique ability. Zhar's happen to be two: breathing fire... and great appetite (read: gluttony). Zhar embodies that paradox of ancient strength bound by oaths and desire. His weakness is not his fire, but his conceit. His presence blurs the line between monster and ancient being, wisdom and gluttony.
Like the red thread Jasna follows to him, he ties life to death.
Those who bargain with a zmei rarely walk away unchanged.
Leshy (Леший, Lesovik, Lesnik, Lesovyi, Lesavik)
The Leshy is the spirit and sovereign of the forest. He is a being who shifts into as many shapes and sizes as there are leaves beneath his canopy. In the oldest tales, he is the forest’s conscience. He is sometimes a guide, sometimes a trickster.
He can appear as man, beast, or tree, and his laughter is said to echo through the woods before he leads a traveller astray. Stories differ across the Slavic lands, but all agree: to trespass without offering respect is to invite the Leshy’s wrath. He protects the creatures of the wild, guarding every root and wing from human greed. Yet, like the forest he embodies, he hungers still for offerings and reverence. (Readers may recognise his likeness in Sapkowski's Witcher series, where the Leshy appears as a sentient, deadly being)
In Threadbound, the Leshy is no mere woodland spirit but Gorovoi, the Tsar of the Forest and ruler of all his kind. Beneath his crown of antlers, he carries a gentle heart. But if a creature of his forest comes to harm, you would do well to hide. He is, after all, tsar of all forests across the realms for a reason.
Those who enter his domain without this knowledge seldom return the same.
The Lamia is a creature of contradictions. In South-Slavic folklore, she is often shown as half woman, half serpent, born from hunger older than the gods. She is a devourer of men and children, a jealous guardian of treasure, or a lonely being who lives near rivers and is rumoured to drink these rivers whole when thirsty. Her many heads symbolise her insatiable desires; when one is cut off, two more rise in its place. In some tales, she has three heads. In others – nine.
Some stories call her a monster of storms, her breath summoning whirlwinds and thunder. Others speak of her as a fallen mother or cursed maiden, transformed by envy or grief. In some beliefs, she is known as the zmei's evil sister, and the two are destined to battle each other.
In Threadbound, the Lamia who crosses Jasna’s path is no mere beast but a sentient creature. Her serpentine grace conceals centuries of solitude and a wisdom as venomous as it is alluring. In Threadbound's upcoming sequel, the lamia feeds on stories as much as blood, weaving each tale she’s told into a memory as old as time. To meet her eyes is to feel the pull of every secret you’ve ever tried to bury.
Those who speak with the Lamia must decide whether to flee her hunger... or feed it.