Strix

Region: Southern Europe
Location:Ancient Rome, with survivals into Italy, the Balkans & Mediterranean folklore

The *Strix* (plural *Striges*) is one of the earliest Roman supernatural beings described as a hybrid between a bird and a witch. Classical authors portray the Strix as an owl-like creature with a long beak, talon-sharp claws, and a cry that chills the blood. But unlike natural owls, the Strix feeds specifically on **human vitality** — drinking the blood of infants, stealing breast milk, or devouring internal organs. Ovid and Horace write of the Strix descending in the night to prey on cradled children, leaving behind weakness, sickness, or unexplained death. Its feathers and body were said to drip with corpse-like cold.
  Over time, the Strix became dual in nature: part monstrous bird, part human witch. Some stories say the Strix is a woman who transforms under cover of night; others claim she sends her soul out in bird form while her body lies lifeless at home. Remedies against the Strix involved fire, iron, loud noise, garlic, or protective amulets. Roman households used charms, ritual incantations, and hearth offerings to ward off these predatory night spirits. The Strix was not simply a predator — she was an omen of moral disorder, a violation of domestic safety that struck at the heart of Roman family life.
  The Strix legend survived long past the Roman era. In medieval Italy, the term “strega” (witch) partly echoes this ancient creature. In the Balkans, similar beings — night-flying witches who consume blood or milk — share traits with the old Strix. This makes the Strix one of Europe’s oldest vampire archetypes, predating Slavic undead lore and shaping the continent’s later fear of nighttime predation. It stands at the root of Europe’s belief that some threats are feathered, female, and hungry for the vulnerable.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The spark is human. The polish is digital.

 

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