Name: Päkkaan, The Northern Light, Lord of the Frozen Beasts
Symbol: Aurora Borealis
Alignment: Neutral

Legends tell of a spirit in the form of a great beast that treads the permafrosted wastes of the north. This is Päkkaan. Petty god, unique monster, genius loci—no one knows with certainty his true nature, nor his origin. Sages have speculated that Päkkaan was the steed and companion of a mighty, now lost boreal deity. Päkkaan is not telling.

Facts are few, but certain traits are commonly ascribed to this enigmatic being. Päkkaan appears as a huge woolly mammoth, fully eighteen feet high at the shoulder, with a pelt of purest snowy white, eyes like smouldering embers, and twelve-foot-long curved tusks graven with magical signs and sigils. Amongst other things, these runes prevent Päkkaan from being injured by any non-magical weapon.

Päkkaan acts as a guardian of the northern tundra and preserver of the wilderness. He opposes the depredations and evil schemes of frost giants, white dragons, and their chaotic ilk, but is likewise hostile to “civilised” exploitation of his domain such as mining or large-scale hunting. If he has any worshippers, they are found in small groups among the indigenous self-sufficient tribes of the Great Glacier and Sossal. It is claimed that Päkkaan grants priestly abilities to certain favoured shamans. He never speaks (perhaps he cannot) but may communicate in dreams and visions.

Those who know of Pakkaan often call on him to aid them when traveling in the north or dealing with the various megafauna (giant mammalian animals) that live in those climbs.