“Leshii”

Leshii In Russia, is a wood spirit that plays tricks on people to get them lost in forests.

 Leshii In the dark pine forests of the Baltic countries there live these wood spirits, skinny little creatures with blue skin, green hair and green eyes. A leshy resents travelers, considering them invaders into the forests, and will punish them by leading them astray. They can cause a bewilderment of the senses and make you lose your sense of direction totally, and during winter they will erase your footprints so that you cannot retrace them if you get lost. They are extremely nimble, and it is folly to try to catch a glimpse of one on your trail as they will always be faster than you and can dodge behind you as soon as you look in the spot where they last were. They can be defeated by the simple albeit uncomfortable methods of putting one's shoes on the wrong feet and one's clothes on back to front. This will confuse the leshy, who will be unable to tell which way you are going and will, in the end, leave you alone.