| “ | Who's that dancing on the icy roof - stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof? "Hra-hra-hra! To all a good night!" Cheeks painted red. His belly writhes like a bowl full of worm jelly - children's faces press from within distended skin like nervous actors against the theater curtain. He reeks of sugarplums. When will the Krampus Gate open? When will the Holiday Devil come from the little ones? "When mother freezes over," he cackles. "Hra-hra-hra!" | „ |
| ~ The Buzzing (about Krampus). |
Based on the well-known Christmas bogeyman of the same name, the Krampus is an entire race of demonic creatures introduced in the Funcom MMORPG The Secret World. Having been first introduced in the game's second Christmas (2013), they only appear in the game during the Winter Holiday event scheduled from December to early January, but they make the most of their time on Earth by appearing in almost every combat zone accessible to the players.
Much like the Krampus of the original legends, these creatures are driven to kidnap unruly children and take them back to their lair for punishment; with most of the areas having suffered enough calamities without adding child abduction to the list of misfortunes, players must hunt down and kill the Krampus wherever they are found. If possible, they must also follow them back to their lair and stop the abductions at their source.
However, as with many myths and legends uncovered over the course of The Secret World, the Krampus has a much stranger history than its counterparts in traditional folklore: quite apart from being an entire species rather than an individual, following them through the mystical portals they conjure reveal that they reside in the Norse underworld of Nifleheim - and the original Krampus is none other than the son of Hel, the Norse death goddess.
Characteristics[]
The Krampus possess many of the characteristics ascribed to them by legend: horns, cloven hooves, furry pelts and a distinctly goatish aspect. However, they also display more unusual traits: many of them can be seen with a tiny snowstorm hovering over them, even in the baking deserts of Egypt, further cementing the notion that the Krampus have been permanently altered by the magic of Nifleheim. With few if any children in reach in any of the combat zones, they will simply wander in pursuit of victims to abuse; however, if an opponent proves too formidable, they will flee the area and escape through a portal back to Nifleheim.
The two great leaders of the Krampus, the original Krampus and Hel herself, differ somewhat from their underlings: the first Krampus is a giant compared to his lesser brethren and capable of much greater power in comparison, but even he is almost identical to the transformed children who serve him. Hel, on the other hand, appears far more human than her offspring: towering over her son by several feet, her body still bears the scars that Loki gave her in childhood, being stark white and pristine on her right side, blackened and decayed on her left. Her hands are little more than four-fingered claws, her eyes glow a fiery orange, and two massive curving horns sprout from her head - crowning her queen of the underworld.
All of them share a wicked and decidedly childish sense of humor: players can often pinpoint them by listening for their malicious laughter, and their belongings include deliberately-terrible presents for any players intent on robbing them, including socks, underwear, and poorly-made fireworks liable to explode in the players' hands - this last one accompanied by a mocking little note from Krampus himself.
When not terrorizing the people of Earth, the Krampus are sequestered to a large hall buried in the frozen wastes of Nifleheim: built as a traditional Norse feasting hall, the harsh climate has torn most of the roof off, leaving the building exposed to the icy winds of the underworld. For their part, the Krampus don't appear to mind, and in keeping with their nature as childish devils of Yuletide mischief, they have decorated it to fit their appropriately ghastly tastes. Miniature Christmas trees line the walls, decorated with old socks and what appear to be human intestines; desks and chairs litter the hall, clearly borrowed from classrooms throughout the world, cementing the notion that this place is a school for the children doomed to become the next generation of Krampus; photographs of possible destinations surround the portal to Earth, scrawled descriptions indicating Solomon Island, Egypt and Transylvania in childlike riddles; and on occasion, the air is filled with the spectral melodies of Christmas music - Jingle Bells, Frosty The Snowman and The First Noel being among the most popular. No explanation has yet emerged for this last phenomena.
History[]
Grandfather's "Blessing"[]
The history of the Krampus began with Hel, daughter of the trickster god Loki. As a child, Hel was one of the few members of Loki's children who hadn't been born monstrous in some way: unlike Jörmungandr the serpent and Fenrir the wolf, she at least appeared as human as any of the other Norse deities. However, this did not last long.
One day, Hel's father led her to a lake in wintertime, and without warning, hung her between two trees, plunging her body into the icy waters of the lake: half of her was left submerged, the other half exposed to the open air. Satisfied, Loki departed, leaving his daughter hanging from the trees. For hours, she remained suspended there, unable to drown but unable to escape, screaming for a rescue that never came. At time went on, half of her body succumbed to frostbite: her flesh shriveled and blackened, her left eye rotted, and as the agony reached a crescendo, Hel's soul split it two; suddenly, her ruined eye opened and she could see the world of shadows underlying our own, even sensing the ravages of time and approaching death in mortals.
Eventually, Loki returned and released his daughter from the lake. To Hel's confusion, he then gently led her ashore, and gave her a drink that flooded the still-functional half of her body with warmth. As she sat there, dead on one side of her body and alive on the other, Hel could only ask why she'd been punished; Loki only replied that she hadn't been punished at all - she'd been blessed. It was because of this half-death that Hel was granted the greatest privileges of all Loki's children: whereas Fenrir was bound until Ragnarok and Jörmungandr was thrown into the depths of the ocean, Hel was assigned the throne of Nifleheim and dominion over the souls of the dishonored.
However, though her governorship over the frozen underworld was to continue all the way into the 21st century, the Norse pantheon did not last: at present, it is believed that the Aesir had their heyday during the Third Age of the world, a time when magic and technology had advanced to a truly godlike scale, populating the world with marvels often mistaken for gods by their Fourth-Age successors - assuming they didn't literally ascend to godhood. Eventually, though, an apocalypse brought the dominance of the Aesir to an end, likely the same disaster that ended the Third Age itself.
Loki, one notable survivor of this cataclysm, claims that his fellow gods are all dead. However, events throughout the game suggest that Loki is either mistaken or lying: not only are the ravens Huginn and Muninn still active, but his own daughter still resides in Nifleheim. Given that this underworld is likely one of the infamous Hell Dimensions, she would have been beyond the reach of the catastrophes that ravaged Earth, and thus could continue her reign in peace - interrupted by long periods of slumber and dormancy.
The Birth of the Krampus[]
In one of her more active periods, perhaps driven by loneliness or simple curiosity, Hel took a mate and started a family deep in the bowels of Nifleheim. It's not known who she took as her consort, but eventually the queen of the underworld gave birth to a son - the creature that the outside world eventually named the Krampus. As the centuries dragged on, the world they knew began to change: in December of the earthly calendar, the boundaries between Earth and Nifleheim periodically weakened, enough for Hel's son to open a gateway into the realm of mortals.
A malicious young demigod, Krampus spent his days on Earth terrorizing innocents. The Bees suggest that he became known in legend as the monster Grendel, eventually being "slain" by Beowulf, earning immediate retribution from Hel - known only as Grendel's Mother. However, death is of little consequence to gods of the underworld, and both mother and child eventually recovered from the wounds Beowulf dealt them.
At some point, Krampus became inextricably tied with human mythology as a Christmastime bogeyman, renowned for kidnapping disobedient children and eating them. While it's not known why he took to doing this, what is known is that Krampus didn't actually eat them: instead, he brought them back to Nifleheim to spend eternity with him and his mother. Exposure to Hel's grisly domain slowly warped and twisted the kidnapped children beyond recognition, transforming them into demonic creatures superficially similar to their captor, at first mere stunted childlike mimics, then full-grown duplicates. As centuries passed and their numbers grew, these mutated captives gradually became an army - an entire species of Krampus. However, the doorway to Earth rarely opened wide for very long and rarely allowed more than one monstrous escapee at a time, hence why the Krampus remained an individual in legend.
At all other times of the year, the Krampus and Hel remained dormant, patiently waiting for Krampusnacht, when the doorway to the mortal realm would open and allow them to make merry mischief again.
A Gift From Granddaddy[]
One year, the Krampusnacht status quo changed dramatically: at some point in the early twenty-first century, a chronically-depressed retail worker named Ben found himself unexpectedly delving into the darker magics of the Secret World. That December, the rigors of his job had left Ben on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and working through the Winter Holidays had destroyed his Christmas spirit; for good measure, he'd also been left with a black eye, courtesy of a customer unwilling to take no for an answer.
However, just when he felt that his life could never improve, Ben was shown an unexpected kindness by a mysterious stranger known only as "Granddaddy." Over the course of their meeting, Granddaddy bought Ben a glass of eggnog to ward off the winter chill, and gave him a special Christmas present - an ancient tome, inscribed with ancient names, rituals and spells. Then, just as quickly as he'd appeared, Granddaddy vanished, never to be seen again. To date, it's not known who this stranger was: the name suggests that he might be Loki, or he could simply be the original Krampus posing as his grandfather. One way or the other, the end result is all that's known.
Guided by the rites contained in the spellbook, Ben arranged a unique revenge on the world that had treated him so cruelly, following its instructions to the letter and finishing them with a human sacrifice - himself. Hanging himself on a noose of Christmas lights, Ben opened the portal to Nifleheim with his dying breath, allowing the Krampus to escape in droves.
A Mother of A Season[]
It is here that the players become involved. Throughout the Winter Holiday event, portals open across the world - in Maine, in Egypt, in Transylvania - allowing the Krampus to wander forth and make mischief. In order to prevent them from doing any serious damage, players must seek out and challenge one of these Holiday Devils: the goal of this exercise is not merely to kill it, but to force it to retreat. Having never faced an opponent of the players' strength before, the Krampus opens a portal to Nifleheim with the intention of retreating as quickly as possible. However, if they can kill the Krampus before it can actually enter, the portal will be left open, allowing the players to infiltrate Nifleheim.
There, players will do battle with the bulk of the Krampus army, whittling down their numbers until their great hall is empty. Eventually, the original Krampus himself appears as a major boss, requiring numerous players to defeat in combat. However, to complete the next stage, the players must have collected the varying items that Krampus carry: a lump of coal, a pouch of soil, a bottle of whiskey, a dead Yew branch, a wolf fang, a snakeskin, a handful of maggots, and a severed hand. With these items, players can summon Hel herself, finally defeating her in an epic battle. Thus, with Hel and the original Krampus forced into dormancy, the 2013 Christmas missions conclude with the Krampus threat ended...
...until next year.
Trivia[]
- One of the possible rewards for completing the Krampus mission is a familiar known as the Holiday Devil. Essentially a miniature Krampus, flavor text indicates this is actually one of the children kidnapped, too far metamorphosed to return to human form, but not mature enough to become an adult Krampus.
- Another disturbing pet players can earn from the dungeon battle is the Nifleheim Tiny, a miniature version of Hel: flavor text speculates that it might be a fragment of Hel's will made flesh, or a lost soul having escaped from the underworld in Hel's likeness.