And not in an evil, or tricky way either like most monsters in folklore, but a real honest reward. And if a human happens to find it, it’s good luck, because Alp are known to reward the finder of its hat significantly when returned.

If an Alp loses its magic hat, it will go to great lengths to retrieve it. If and Alp takes on the form of a human, it always has a unibrow. Som, if you see a snake with a hat on, you better watch out. The hat gives an Alp the ability to go invisible, and humorously, the cap is always visible when the entity takes an animal form. Much of an Alp’s power comes from a magical hat called a Tarnkappe, which is the birthright of all Alp bestowed upon them beyond space-time by unknown forces. One of their favorite things to do is turn into a bird and spy on potential victims, learning the ins and out of that person’s psychology, making it easier for them to twist their dreams into unique nightmares explicitly suited for them. Though, the form they take is almost universally a type of animal. The Alp can shapeshift and walk among humans. This is a classic and timeless Alp painitng

Monster legend dream