Perun

Do you know what a leshy is?

I didn't.

A leshy is a forest being. A human like creature with amazing powers. A greenman is close to the description of a leshy. Mainy male, I understand. They are great friends.

How do I know?

Because Perun is one.

If you are familiar with Deerbow City, you know of the large expanse of woods on the outskirts of the Eastern part of the city, called Greenwoods. You know the place with the "lost village". Perun lives there.

A leshy looks like an average looking man, with wild hair and a beard. He has moss and small plants growing in his hair and beard. His feet, oh god, his feet. They are human, but elongated like a dog. He walks on his toes. He can leap and bounce in the woods like a mad man.

Perun is another friend of Steopa's. He had lived in Poland for many years. But something happened in WWII and he ended up here. He is a wildman. I mean really a WILD MAN.

He loves vodka more than Steopa does. He will drink any liquor, but his favorite is vodka, or a sipping whiskey. If you want to make him really happy. Leave him a few pounds of meat. And you should once in awhile. He will leave you alone then. He likes to play tricks and games with people. and if you have paid him off, he will let you be.

He farts, he belches, he makes rude comments, he tells stories, he is always looking for a woman to take back to his house for some fun, and he protects those woods fanatically. A good example happened a few nights ago.

Down near Jacob's Landing, on the southern end of Greenwoods, there is a new development going up. Technically, it is out of his range. But he goes down to the edge of it and sees what they are doing. The night we went with him. One of the contractors had decided to dump scrap wood on the edge of Greenwoods. Legally, nothing wrong. But what pissed Perun off, was that they had destroyed a fox den, when they brought the wood over with the front end loader.

We go down to the site with him. There are a couple of people there. One is this woman, she is just as pissed about the fox den as Perun is. Perun chuckles. "Nice to see human's caring."

Her boss, I can only assume it's her boss, tells her off and tells her to forget about it. Perun starts to sing. His singing, to me, sounds like chanting. I can never make out the words. But then I hear rustling in the woods and smell foxes.

Steopa and I turn around. There are dozens of foxes coming out of the woods. Perun must have called the entire population of Greenwoods. The foxes wait. Then Perun whistles and points to the man. They attack! They are biting, and yipping. Dozens of red foxes descend on that man. The woman runs and hides in her car. Perun is laughing.

He calls the foxes off after a minute. The guy is laying on the ground, bleeding and looking embarrassed. Perun walks up to the car. He smiles at the woman. I swear he did not say a thing. But she walked off with him. And a few moments later, we can hear them in the woods. Steopa shook his head. I couldn't help myself. I had to giggle.

As much as he embarrasses me, I like being around him. He is a bit like Vincent, if he likes you, you will have a good time. But he is a fierce friend too. Steopa and him are not supposed to get along, but they went through something together, and they watch out for each other.

So if you are in Greenwoods, leave a bit of food and drink for him. And if you are a woman, he might show you a real good time.

Would you want to meet a leshy?