You notice it only because
the wind changes its mind.
Not rising.
Not fading.
Just—
turning,
as if something in the rafters
has decided to listen.
The Föhn pulls tight across the valley.
The cattle shift but do not low.
And the shingles of the old farmhouse
rattle once,
like a warning offered too late.
You take the winter path home,
past the barns where the roofs lean wrong
and the frost curls around the eaves
in the shape of hands.
Something scratches above you.
Not on the trail.
On the roof.
Light, skittering,
like long fingers dragging across old wood.
You don’t see it at first.
Creatures of the Rauhnacht seldom announce themselves.
But when you reach your door,
you glimpse it—
a knot of rags and bone
crouched on the chimney.
Small.
Crooked.
Alive in a way that hurts to understand.
The stories call it the Strägerli—
the roof-walker,
the storm’s child,
the winter that grows a face.
It tilts its head,
listening for the hum of a spinning wheel
you forgot to silence.
The snow under the chimney melts in a circle,
too warm for any night in December,
as if something inside it
remembers the shape of fire.
Then the Strägerli moves.
Not down.
Not forward.
But inside.
A rush of soot falls into the hearth.
The smoke twists.
And something
breathes.
You step back.
It steps out.
Rags trembling.
Arms too long.
Hands black with chimney-dust and hunger.
Its hooked face bends toward you,
more bird than woman,
more winter than flesh.
Behind you,
up in the dark of the attic,
another scratch answers—
slow, deliberate,
mirrored.
The old tales say
the Strägerli comes only for those who worked
when the holy nights forbid it.
Tonight,
it comes for anyone
who forgot to fear the wind.
And it remembers
every roof
it has ever walked.
This time, it is real.
❓ If something climbed down your chimney tonight…
would you run, or pray it doesn’t hear you breathe?
🜍 Support & Join (EN)
🍷 Discord Tavern — @Dunchan1712
👥 Facebook Community — facebook.com/groups/mythveilchronicles
🔥 Ko-Fi — ko-fi.com/mythveilchronicles
🏮 Patreon — patreon.com/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames
🎲 Play epic. Feel the story. Join the family — Mythveil awaits.