Sombrandian Folklore

Sombrandia is a country with a deep history of folklore and tales from its ancestors, which have been passed down for generations, as well as written in books, but also warnings. Sombrandian folklore is dark. Sombrandia's history didn't have much to be happy about, with a majority of Sombrandian existence being in the shadows in small hideouts in forests and mountains, therefore Sombrandian folklore is very rarely happy. Some say that the reason for the darkness of Sombrandia's folklore has something to do with the isolation of its people, and them going slightly delirious and possibly schizophrenic. Sombrandia does also have a rich mythology, however the folklore tales are more likely to be real, with some of them already being confirmed by historians, archaeologists, palaeontologists and scientists alike. All Sombrandian Folklore tales are about a certain creature of event, so each folklore description will focus on the creature or event being described.
Sombrandian Folklore is split up into multiple sections:
* Reality - these are the tales proved to have been real by various sources, and are now considered part of Sombrandia's history
* Ambiguous - these are the tales which have some evidence to suggest that they are real, but there is either not enough evidence, or the evidence is not trustworthy enough to be considered true
* Stories - these are the tales which currently have no evidence to back their validity, so these are considered untrue, and nothing but a tall tale
* Historical - These are tales which include true historical events, such as wars, famine, disasters, etc
== Reality - Proved to be Real ==
=== The Bretagne Beast ===
The Bretagne Beast is a tale about a mysterious creature which lived in a former part of France known as Bretagne or Brittany, which is now a part of modern day Sombrandia, as it was before the great fallout of 1384. The Bretagne Beast was said to be roughly 10ft tall. People wrote that it had a hunchback and a spine which could be seen poking out of its back. It was also said it had fangs like a sabre tooth cat, and eyes that glowed in the dark. This may sound like a load of rubbish, however in 1962, a palaeontologist named James Erwan discovered the skull of a large dog like creature, which abnormally long canines. Two years later, 4 vertebrae were discovered, one of which fit perfectly into the skull of the mysterious hound found 2 years earlier. Scientists then did a DNA test on the remains in 2004, where it was discovered that this belonged to a new species of animal closely related to a wolf. The species was known as the Hunchbacked Wolf, with the spines of the creature known to bend abnormally, possibly due to an inherited defect. This is further supported by the fact that only 4 specimens of the extinct species have been found, with them all being form the same time period, and all being found at the same site. The species is thought to be native to this region, having migrated away from their red wolf ancestors towards the end of the Ice Age, resulting in speciation and the development of an entirely new species. It is also theorised that Sombrandians may have selectively bred these creatures throughout history, leading to them having the hunchback inherited disorder as a standout feature within their species. 
=== The Wanderer ===
The Wanderer was a being which watched the ancient Sombrandian people. It was said to lurk in the forests where the scattered Sombrandian tribes lived, with other recollections stating that they could feel when the Wanderer was near, because the trees would always rustle, as if to alert them of its presence. However, this isn't even the darkest part of the tale of the Wanderer...
The Wanderer was described by survivors to have a cloak wrapped around them, with a hooded face, the shadow the hood created making the Wanderer's face invisible. The Wanderer wore a white cloak, and looked as though it was floating, not even touching the ground. It was seen and written by many Sombrandians to be a god like or even angelic figure. That was at least until word got around that the Wanderer was far from an angel...
The Wanderer was discovered to be scouting the tribe before striking in the daylight. The being would watch the tribe for a week, meticulously planning what to do. Then, one night the Wanderer would approach the village in broad daylight. The villagers would see it coming, but as it got closer, they could no longer see the Wanderer. Then, a child would be picked up and carried away by the invisible being. Based of historical records, the Wanderer is said to have always taken a child first. This may be perhaps because the villagers would then scatter out into the woods in search of the missing child, giving the Wanderer the ability to much more easily pick off each individual one by one. The Wanderer is said to have sometimes lured its victims to its lair using a trail of blood from its latest victim, only for the Wanderer to once again snatch its next victim and play the same trick on another person. Based of historically accurate records, the Wanderer was responsible for 2,451 Sombrandian deaths, with over 103 individual settlements being destroyed by it as well.
But how can this be true?
Well, in 1807, a group of teenagers stumbled upon an abandoned village. It turns out that it was the first discovered ruins of a Sombrandian tribal settlement, which was found in Cornwall. The teenagers delved deeper into the cave, only to be met with absolute horror at the discovery of a mass grave filled with over 2,000 skeletons. However, one skeleton stood out above all the others. This skeleton was sat on a throne carved out of stone, which was positioned at the top of the mass grave. The cave later became an archaeological dig site, and almost two centuries later, in 2004, as part of the Sombrandian historical collection DNA test, scientists found out that all 2,381 skeletons had DNA which originated to the Sombrandian tribal communities, proving that the tale of the Wanderer was true. However, how was the Wanderer themselves proved to be real? Well, the skeleton sat on the stone throne was analysed separately, and it turned out that this skeleton originated from Norway. This meant that the one which the tribal Sombrandians called The Wanderer was in fact a Norwegian warrior, sent by the Norwegian leader to wipe out any remaining Sombrandians after the Great Fallout of 1384. This was proved by Norwegian historical records of a letter sent by the leader to a man known as Lars Gillbrand, who was a fearsome warrior known throughout Norway to be a ruthless, yet meticulous cold blooded killer, hence the reason he spent weeks planning his attacks, before carrying them out flawlessly, and over time he perfected his craft, leading to the deaths of thousands of Sombrandians, further hindering the Sombrandian race. The Wanderer, or Lars Gillbrand as he is truly known is estimated to have been responsible for hindering Sombrandian development for around 50 years, with the sharp reduction in the gene pool numbers within their communities as a result of the Wanderer's killings to have led to even worse inbreeding within the populations as previously speculated, leading to even more inherited disorders within the gene pool, which may be one of the main reasons why Sombrandia has the 4th highest percentage of people with inherited defects or disorders within their population in the world.