Nils Weinander:
. The moomin books are great stuff. The world
> of the moomintrolls contains lots of weird creatures worth stealing for
> gaming purposes. Some of them are very very cute and would be lovely to
> annoy macho players with. Others are among the scariest literary creations
> I have encountered.
Seconded. Want a different Darkness demon? Check out the Groke,
a female horror which appearantly eats people, is always surrounded
by cold and darkness, and is herself so filled with cold that the
place where she has sat for more than a couple of minutes is barren
forever. But you see, the thing is that the poor creature really
wants warmth and light and friendship. 'ts not her fault, really,
that she extinguishes fire and scares away potential friends....
That is, however, a somewhat shallow description: check out
"Moominpappa at sea" for a more complete one. That book is
also Good Literature from my point of view, _and_ can be read as a
kind of horror story.
(I actually used part of the story for my Esrolian campaign, where
the characters are also living on an island and have the duty of
tending a Lighthouse.)
Or the girl which is so timid and shy that she actually goes
invisible? The hat of a sorcerer (translated as "the Hobgoblin",
probably for allitterating reasons) which (sometimes horrifyingly)
transforms anything put into it? The Hattifnatters (sorry, not sure
if they are translated that way), thin, ghostlike beings with mighty
electrical powers, which never speak or communicate in any meaningful way,
and sail the seas seemingly without a goal - though some say they
try to reach the horizon? Or the seamen which save a cloud and use it
as a sail on their flying boat?
Whow! I'll suddenly decided I'll reread a load of Tove Jansson books
for Christmas (ie when I'll have time).
When we're on the subject of Finland-Swedish female authors of
children books, I hope by (chose your favorite) god that Irmelin
Sandeman-Lilius is translated to English. It would only be fair,
since she translated a lot of the children's fantasy I filled my
youth with from English to Swedish. Her poetic borderline-fantasies are not only
good stories, but if you are a Godlearner out to plunder you readings
for scenario or background ideas, you could do worse.