Tschagats

The monstrous tschagats live in the frozen foothills of the Yelps Mountains. They belong to a group of beasties known as the 'abominable snowmen'. While less abominable than others, they're still considerably more abhorrent than anything you'd like to meet.
Tschagat by Zuza Gruzlewska
The Yelps cross several countries including Austrovia, Fronz, and Siceesee. Wild monsters underwent eradication in most places on Tumultia; wildernesses like the Yelps prove the exception - mainly because tourists like hunting them. They especially like killing things as slaveringly brutish as tschagats. 

Unlike other species, tschagats often look very different to one another. You'll find some with varyingly placed horns or differently proportioned bodies. They also come in a selection of various colours. This can make it difficult to positively ID a tschagat. Unless you're in the Yelps, obviously, in which case you can tell by the way the beast is a giant biped that's endeavouring to smash your skull open.

Tschagats hunt in packs more often than not, and possess enough intelligence to use 'tactics'. Said tactics seldom pan out. Monsters are typically treacherous, and will often try to use their comrades as shields. When every tschagat in the pack tries this at once, things go quickly awry.  


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Abominable Snow'men'

It's worth noting that while abominable snowmen aren't technically 'men', they're not 'women' either. They belong to a subset of monsters that reproduce by splitting down the middle. Confusion around this led to an unfortunately misguided campaign to label them 'abominable snowpeople'.

Generally, when someone utters the phrase 'political correctness has gone too far' it means they're about to say something awful, stupid, or made up. In this instance, political correctness genuinely did go too far - primarily as the campaigner in question travelled to the Yelps and got mauled to death by tschagats. 

The Bigstrong Scale

The biomancer Moopa Bigstrong took it upon herself to categorise the various species of abominable snowmen by how abominable they are. Bigstrong did this despite her detractors saying things like:

This seems pointless?

And:

This isn't what you proposed when you applied for the grant money. 

After years of meticulous research (and several months of hiding from her debtors), Bigstrong finally finished ranking the snowmen by their abominableness. Going from 'thoroughly abominable' to 'merely appalling', she ranked them as follows:


YetiHugefootTschagatBigfootSasquatchMediumfootBarmanouSmallfootFearliathTeenyfootHibagonNofootChuchunaLeftfoots
Although the Bigstrong Scale remains the most popular method of ranking abominables, it's worth noting that other experts in the field have described her work as:

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

And:

The boneheaded gibberish of a hëx addict. 

Bigstrong herself has never commented on the controversy. She couldn't, as she disappeared. Whether she vanished to hide from her debtors or by the hands of them remains a mystery.


A relatively un-abominable snowman
Tschagat Facts


Tschagats make a laughing sound that sounds like old gears creaking against each other.A group of tschagats are collectively known as a 'clobber'. These monsters smell so bad that if you leave an old coin in one of their lairs the abrasive stench will eventually clean it.
Creation Notes

Tschagats are based on a Swiss festival known as Tschäggättä - a monstrous celebration of unknown origin. During the event, locals dress up as monsters that look something like this:





According to  Swiss Vistas :

Tschäggättä is probably the oddest Swiss carnival that you ever will experience. When night falls, the oversized masked figures rampage through streets in various villages...

They are not organized in groups and appear unexpectedly as they please. The spectacular and frightening masques chase children and spectators alike... tossing soot at unsuspecting victims.

There's no written account of the origins of this unique local custom. The first official mention of the Tschäggättä occurs in a church chronicle dating back to the second half of the 19th century. Apparently, the scary figures wreaked havoc and had grown more violent each year, and so the parish priest of Kippel wanted to see an end to this unchristian behaviour, or else, they would have to pay the exorbitantly high fine of 50 cents.

The masques are handmade of Arvenholz - a local pine-related conifer easy to work with - by local carvers. They then are painted and adorned with all kinds of material that give them an even wilder appearance: large cow teeth and horns, wacky hairdos of long goat hair - the weirder the better. 

My original design was closer to the masked figures from the festival:

Zuza deviated quite a bit from my version, but definitely in a good way! Her design for the tschagat is possibly my favourite of all the creatures she did for The Fame Eaters .

See Also

MonstersThe Fame EatersWild Monsters


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