Iku-Turso

A terrible supernatural power from the distant past of the elves is said to live in the water off the northeast coast of Kotime. This being is most commonly known as Iku-Turso, and is said to lurk in the ocean depths near the continental shelf in the spot where a ship sank while carrying an elven artifact called the Sampo. Elves with any knowledge of Iku-Turso and the Sampo assume that the supernatural entity has been in possession of the artifact for the past several thousand years.

Location
Iku-Turso and the ship it fought with are said to rest on the sea floor about 100 kilometers northeast of the city of Talinn.

A human mage has recently constructed a highly accurate talisman which works like a compass to detect supernatural evil. He used this, in coordination with other humans and several mages from the College of the Arcane at Jumala to calculate the location of a powerful source of evil under the sea. Scholars believe Iku-Turso sleeps on the sea floor beneath that location.

Rumors and Patchy History
There are many conflicting ideas about what Iku-Turso and the Sampo are. According to the people of Talinn and the surrounding area, any or none of the following ideas could be true:

Iku-Turso

 * Iku-Turso is a greater demon, though some believe it to be a demigod.
 * Even in this small community, the demon is known by more than a few names and powers
 * Turisas was worshipped as a war god in ages past
 * Iku-Turso was a sea demon associated with pestilence and torture
 * Alternatively, he was a powerful spirit who accompanied raiders when attacking foreign lands
 * Tursas was a giant archer with the lower half of either a walrus or octopus
 * Partalainen is one of his titles, and means "one who lives on the brink."
 * Thuhatsarvi is another title, and means "the thousand horned."
 * Iku-Turso might be a giant, or it might be the size of a big orc
 * It has always been associated with the sea and some of the ancient elves allied themselves to it
 * While it is uncommon (and unprofitable) for any fishing vessels to go out that far, if you fish over where Iku-Turso lives, the only fish you catch will be diseased
 * Iku-Turso was a guardian summoned by Louhi, an ancient rival of the cultural hero Väinämöinen
 * Iku-Turso fought Louhi for posession of the Sampo
 * Iku-Turso is Louhi's child

Louhi

 * Louhi was a witch
 * Louhi was the avatar of the goddess of death
 * Louhi gave birth to the nine great diseases of the world
 * Louhi sank her ship, the Kuldne Nedus, on purpose while battling Iku-Turso
 * Louhi used a ritual that destroyed her soul in order to bind Turisas
 * Louhi is still alive
 * Louhi is a vampire and lives in the catacombs beneath Sarvoda
 * Louhi created the Sampo
 * Louhi was given the Sampo in exchange for permission to marry one of her daughters
 * Ilmarienen married Louhi's daughter after he gave Louhi the Sampo
 * The hero Lemminkäinen stole the Sampo from Ilmarienen to give as a gift to Louhi
 * Väinämöinen got Ilmarienen to make the Sampo and gave it to Louhi in exchange for her daughter

The Sampo

 * Most who know about it say that the Sampo was forged by the legendary smith Ilmarienen
 * Almost everyone agrees that the Sampo is some sort of grinding mill that creates flour, salt and...
 * Money?
 * Magic gems?
 * Cake?
 * Some people say that it brought good luck
 * Others say it brought absolutely terrible luck
 * A particularly religious sea captains swears that it was a world pillar - a representation of the planet and where it sat within the planes
 * Another guy thinks it could transform anything put into it into the vision of what you wanted
 * Almost everyone agrees that whatever it was, it was incredibly heavy, and even five strong heroes couldn't lift it without magic.