#267: The Winter Soulstress

     I am now 15 years old! *zealous confetti-ing* *smashes plate* That's a pretty whopping development in itself, but get this: once the numbers are sufficiently crunched, you'll find that I've been running this blog for over one-fifth of my life! I'm also about five-sixths of the way to starting college and making/breaking my adult animation career, so it's crunch time, folks. Anyway, sorry for not posting the ♪6th Creation of Christmas♪ on Sunday while I was enjoying my pre-birthday birthday shindig. But we've still got a good 5-ish days until the big 'Mas and the 12CoC's epic climax, so I'll make sure to balance things out by then. Now, onto the post! Ladies and gents, the first character post of the 12 Creationz of Christmas: the Winter Soulstress! Super alpaca points to anyone who noticed and appreciates the lowkey punnyness of that name, but if you aren't one such person, fear not. This character goes deeper than just some snappy paronomasia. Of all the abnormal and eye-raising locales on JC-Earth, there is one in particular that's managed to thouroughly cement itself in myth, and for good reason: Jästus Ridge. The snowy Finnish mountainside has seen a bus load of eager explorers visiting over the years--but few leaving. This could be attributed to your textbook geologic hazard, but par for the course with the JC-Verse, the truth is much, much stranger. Jästus Ridge just so happens to be the home of the legendary, and ridiculously dangerous, Winter Soulstress! Originally a curious young witch born in the Middle Ages, she broke a colossal taboo by falling for a non-mage at the age of 16. Enraged, the elder witches and warlocks had her lover sentenced to death, and cast her out into the icy slopes of Jästus Ridge, assuming her a surefire gonner. Unfortunately for them, they did some serious underestimating. With nothing to loose, the heartbroken young witch eventually stumbled into another taboo practice: soulsnatching. This brand of magic allows any experienced witch or warlock to suck the very spirit out of another living thing, and harness its life energy to, if they play their cards right, live forever. And with hikers trekking now and then across the treacherous Ridge, she had enough souls at her disposal to give it a go. So, the young witch became the Winter Soulstress, luring strapping and unsuspecting explorers into her icy clutches and stockpiling their souls, sustaining her life century after century. (*inhales and exhales* Nothing like a good ol'-fashioned mystical European death mistress to get you in the spirit.)

(Version with more details coming soon (maybe))